Cheap Commutor car

[J4MES]

1) Has room for 3 (including baby seat!)
2) Reasonably comfortable on the motorway
3) Cheap to buy (~£1000)
4) Cheap to run
5) Is a drivers car

1. You need a 5 door
2. It needs to be Focus size or above
3. It will be over 10 years old
4. Diesel?
5. You might struggle.

I'd seriously consider a Mondeo (but the diesel is not fast) or a 306 (XRDT/XTDT) but a big old Merc? It'll be pricey when the auto 'box needs work. Or the head gasket goes. Or a window motor packs in. In a rain storm. When it's raining. And it's open.

[Rack]

lol, I know, i would never buy one just out of fear something happened and I had to just bin it because of cost.

I'll probabaly get one of these:
Mondeo diesel
Primera diesel
Corolla diesel
Vectra diesel (unlikely)

Depending on finding one in good condition that's been treated well and drives well.

At least I'll have a month, and I'll probably go for gardening leave too

[Rack]

Any ideas about the Rover 420 2.0TD? I see a lot for sale cheap... low mileage, good condition, '98 model fsh for £700... seems too good to be true.

[herulach]

Theyre ok, and will probably suit you nicely, (reasonably economical, not that likely to break down) its probably worth getting one of the higher spec ones though, cruise control is a massive boon on that kind of journey.

[arbitor]

id go witha mk3 golf tdi , not fast or anythng but wont break, and is cheap and looks ok too and iis also very big. i bought one fro 700 and it did 20k without anything going wrong at all. i mean nothing

[Nickg]

mondeo/primera/almera for that budget.

i have owned a maz 323F 1.5 and would go mondy/primera

i now own a Primera GT, and would recommend one, however look ' SRI's and SE's which are both decent spec and cheap.

edit; dont get the primera Diesel, it sucks, as does the mondeo TD. maybe look at a cheap Pug 405 or 305 DT if you want diesel, but dont expect it to save you that much £££

[Rack]

I can get a 2001 Rover 45 2.0TD for £1500, 100kmiles, looks like that's it for me. It's supposed to be very reliable, and rover gave the engine a bit of a boost from the 400, as well as the ride/handling. No point getting something low mileage if I'm just going to clock them up anyway.

If I feel like wasting money I can get it chipped to the MG spec (or better) for about £200...

Yeah, I've tried a primera diesel and they stink... only the 2003 2.2TDci is any good, and that's wwaaaaay over budget. much like the mondeo, the 1.8 is average.

[Nickg]

aye, agreed. even the new primeras suffer from turbo probs, although not like the old ones.

yea if that rover has a service history etc you cant go wrong really providing it all runs okay!

i would also look at - fiesta 1.4 or 1.6 probably around similar age, less tax, decent cars and most of all they arent rovers!

[Howard]

That rover will have a BMW engine so it'll last forever

[kalniel]

Astra diesel? (dti onwards)

Good condition ones are outside the budget, but you might get a slightly battered one for the price.

[Nickg]

find one with the isuzu 1.7 diesel turbo and you'll be laughin all the way to 200k miles and beyond!

[Rack]

I ended up buying the rover


It's a 420SDi - 2.0L TDi, and it puts out up to 130bhp, I can't beleive how well it goes. Would give my old A3 tdi 130 a run for it's money. And it's a smoother torque curve.

Ended up costing £1000, with new brakes, tyres and alternator, then £50 for a little tuning box to smooth out the fuel pump supply and increase the boost slightly - awesome product, great results. Done 90k miles.

Highly recommended, and the lump in these was developed by Perkins, it's been around for donkey's and super reliable (at least as good as the Isuzu I had in my old Cavalier).

I think this is my favourite diesel I've owned, just for value for money! Sure the A3 was much nicer, but it was 8x the price.

[arbitor]

nice one mate

[Zak33]

I ended up buying the rover


It's a 420SDi - 2.0L TDi, and it puts out up to 130bhp, I can't beleive how well it goes.

good find

[menthel]

Cracker. It is always going to be a diesel for those kinds of miles.