A request for help with a friends new(ish) car

carlazai

carlazai

carlazai

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Well my friend rang me to tell me the gearbox on his astra just went and the replacement cost is not worth it for the cars value. So i've told him i would ask on here for the views on replacements. His parents are going to lend (give!) him £6k to get him a new car as he needs it for work and seeing his gf.

He canes about ~1.3k miles a month with work and travelling to gf so needs something sensible on the MPG front. I suggested a 1.6L petrol ford focus as he can get a low mileage example and it has some decent figures for motorway travelling. He was on about a golf as its similar performance but i guess the costs for servicing etc would be higher. He doesnt want any crazy bills in the next 2 years so wants something that is reliable.

What would the OCUK suggest as alternatives for the money?

He seems set on a hatchback so no point in suggesting a ST220 :p
 
I suggested a 1.6L petrol ford focus as he can get a low mileage example and it has some decent figures for motorway travelling
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bad advice.. underpowered engine will be unhappy doing 1.2k of motorway a month.
 
1300 miles a month isnt actually that much...

Its 15k a year...

Or breaking it down a bit more, 65 miles a day if he works 20 days a month. Thats a whole 32.5 miles each way!

I cant see a Focus being a problem myself, what engine has his Astra currently got so we can draw some comparisons?
 
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for me, yeah. 65miles a day is a lot. i certainly wouldn't like to do that in something the size of a focus with a 1.6 engine in it.
 
Berger said:
1300 miles a month isnt actually that much...

Its 15k a year...

Or breaking it down a bit more, 65 miles a day if he works 20 days a month. Thats a whole 32.5 miles each way!

I cant see a Focus being a problem myself, what engine has his Astra currently got so we can draw some comparisons?
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the astra is a 1.6 16v chav mobile :) The major part of the car trips is the M1 part of 150miles each way to the north at weekends.

I understand the ideas about a saloon so will suggest that to him as well.
 
How much do the 1.7tdci focii go for?. I was pretty impressed by one I had recently as a rental, for what it is. Comfy, modern, fairly gutsy, economical etc. Thumbs up.
 
for motorways he should get a deisel cause the mpg would be a lot better than a petrol.
6k is a lot you could get a GT TDI Golf, BMW 3 series pretty much anything, what type of car is he after?
 
BD10NNF said:
for motorways he should get a deisel cause the mpg would be a lot better than a petrol.
6k is a lot you could get a GT TDI Golf, BMW 3 series pretty much anything, what type of car is he after?
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Generally though if you consider the extra cost of diesel and the car it is not worth it unless you are doing more miles. I understand the figure to be around 25k miles per annum.
 
JonRohan said:
Generally though if you consider the extra cost of diesel and the car it is not worth it unless you are doing more miles. I understand the figure to be around 25k miles per annum.
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That figure doesn't translate as well into the lower end of the second hand market, and certainly not since parity was achieved on the fuel front.

Still, I'd consider 15k a year to be on the border, possibly slightly into diesel territory.

For 6k I'd be looking at a Golf GT TDI, as someone suggested. Or a larger engined Focus, none of that 1.6 rubbish.
 
The figure used to be about 25k per year... probably quite a bit less now fuel is around the same price. Anyone got a spreadsheet with it all setup? I'm sure someone on here did.
 
Hxc said:
The figure used to be about 25k per year... probably quite a bit less now fuel is around the same price. Anyone got a spreadsheet with it all setup? I'm sure someone on here did.
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Arh didn't know that fuel was the same price now. About 6 - 8 months ago it was almost 10p more for diesel.
 
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