Cheap motoring...

[joshwa]

Hi,

I have a classic car (Nissan PAO) but need a "run around" car for family trips etc. My kids are still quite small so I can get away with a fairly small car.

I'd like a car with £30/tax - but do I get a cheap diesel (eg Ford Fiesta 1.4TDCI) or a cheap petrol (eg KIA Picanto 1.1)?

A decent or reasonable petrol car in this class can be picked up for around £600. A decent diesel in this class seems to be much nearer £1200.

I do around 10K miles a year.

Josh

[Millennium]

With a fairly reasonable annual mileage I would advise petrol over diesel for you joshwa. The emissions are much better too - and the governmeansh are cracking down on this so you may find it cheaper in the long run for taxation.

also it'll drive more fun etc etc

if you are planning any reasonable amount of motorway driving is a 1.1 enough though? I haven't kept up with engine tech really it may well be. Probably the sensible choice factually.

I will perhaps repeat my recommendation for Toyota or Honda or perhaps similar. Kia is pretty sorted I think

[Smudger]

If you're only doing short trips, get a petrol. Modern diesels have a DPF which needs to be blown out by a long run at least once a month.

[joshwa]

I tend to drive on motorways going to work and back, but it's normally set to a 60mph speed limit. Sometimes it's 70mph. (ooh!)

Every couple of months I might do a long journey - say an hour or two. But not that often.

[Smudger]

You'd probably be OK then.

[DanceswithUnix]

At 10K miles per year either fuel is OK. It would be more down to what cars turn up that doesn't look like a complete liability. I would say set a search on Autotrader for what cars are in your price range in a 5 mile radius and see what turns up.

[Kumagoro]

I had a 1.4 Diesel Fiesta (2002 I think) £30 Tax

I dont think it had a DPF as I drove it mostly on short low speed journeys and it was fine. In the end it had done over 220,000 miles on the original clutch.

The main problem it had was a leaking injector that had been left too long and changing the washers didnt fix it and soon after it would start leaking again. So check for that if you go looking at a diesel fiesta of that era (2001-2008?)

[Smudger]

I think the DPFs came in around 2004...

[joshwa]

A lot of the Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi engines I've seen seem to have leaks in various places. So that puts me off. One even noted on the MOT certificate "engine smell in cabin" or something like that, so I'm definitely put off diesels.

[Zak33]

I'd strongly suggest Japanese over Euro, but you knew that already.

[Smudger]

French diesels go on for ever. Only problem is the electrics fall apart around them.

[joshwa]

I've bought a VW Polo 1.4TDI (2004). The reason why: it was reasonably priced, and had an excessive service history, being serviced every year (at great expense) with the MOT. Also having the cambelt (and accessories) changed at the right time

[Dashers]

Sounds like a good deal.

I don't think the second hand market is there yet, but electric cars have very reasonable running costs. If you buy a second hand Zoe with battery rental that's £50-£60/m. Battery rental means no worries if the cells wear out, they're guaranteed for life.

Service parts are next to none. Although I haven't seen if anybody apart from the main dealer are doing them yet.

Cost of charging, a few quid depending on the model/capacity.

Only significant catch is - you need a drive or somewhere similar to put a charging point on.

[spacein_vader]

Sounds like a good deal.

I don't think the second hand market is there yet, but electric cars have very reasonable running costs. If you buy a second hand Zoe with battery rental that's £50-£60/m. Battery rental means no worries if the cells wear out, they're guaranteed for life.

Service parts are next to none. Although I haven't seen if anybody apart from the main dealer are doing them yet.

Cost of charging, a few quid depending on the model/capacity.

Only significant catch is - you need a drive or somewhere similar to put a charging point on.

I'm keeping an eye on this as I'd quite like a second hand Zoe or similar as our second car but as you say the pricing isn't quite there yet.

Servicing wise it's pretty much just brakes, tyres and air con.

[Dashers]

And "Anti-corrosion check". If it wasn't for that, I'd service it myself.

Looks like you can pick up a second hand Zoe for under £5K. They'll be the lower range ones (we usually got around 70 miles pottering about, got it up to 90 once on a long trip).

We just bought a new one, with longer range, but I think we could have probably just paid off the lump sum (£6K) and ran it into the ground. Hey ho.

Next time it's a Tesla!

[spacein_vader]

What's the anti corrosion check? Surely they're no more or less likely to corrode than any other car?