Recommend me a car

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Ricochet J

Soldato
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
12,957
The mk1 X reg Focus is on its way out. It has 6 months MOT and tax on it, so I'm going to sell it whilst I can. This means I have to look for a replacement.

- I have a £1000 budget.
- In terms of the kind of mileage I do, on average over the last three years I did around 15,000 miles per year. I'd like a petrol.
- I'm after a manual.
- I do a lot of A road and motorway driving. Cruise control is desired (something which the Focus annoyingly lacked!).
- The objective is economy and practicality. I'm not after anything particularly fast, or that corners great, compared to my Focus, so please don't recommend me a Type R.
- Saloon or hatchback, I don't mind. Preferably nothing smaller than a Focus.

My initial thoughts was to buy a fantastic 2.0L Mk2 Ghia X Mondeo, however the newest models are 12 years old now, and the Mk3's at this price range are bottom of the market drag - unless I'm mistaken?

Honda Accord? I'm looking into them, and they look like an attractive alternative to the Mondeo.

Buy a nicer Ford Focus? Honda Civic?

It's a rubbish budget I know. I'm open to sensible suggestions. Thanks for your help.
 
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I spent around £900 on a W reg Accord 2 years or so ago. It was fine. It drove well, was super comfortable, had cruise control which was a nice gimmick and loads of room, in the front, in the back and huge amounts of boot space. I slept in it a few times and I was comfortable enough.

I did find it quite thirsty though.
 
The Accord looks attractive. What's defined as thirsty? I.e. what MPG did you average in the city, and on a long trip? :)

In the Focus I average around 34mpg urban, and around 40mpg combined.
 
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I can't remember figures I'm afraid, I just found myself filling up more than I felt that I should have. I appreciate that sounds a bit stupid. Sorry! I had the 2.0 engine.
 
I would just get another Focus for that kind of money. The Ghia models tended to have all the add ons like cruise etc.
 
My friend has a ~2000 2.0l petrol Accord that he bought for around a grand a year or so ago. It has cruise control but it averages about 30mpg which isn't too great by modern standards.

I can see your desire for having cruise as I really wish I had it too, however for £1000 I would be looking at a slightly newer focus.
 
A ghia focus or mondeo should have everything you need, it should be possible to pick up a decent example of either as there are so many around but I suppose it depends on your expectations really.

The accord is a good car but as above its not great on fuel for a modern car, think low to mid 30's on a run, high 20's around town and you wont be far off. They tend to be quite well kitted so finding cruise should be easy enough

Look at the toledo, the 1.8 na is an ok engine should be economical enough and if you dont care for performance I would imagine will suit you perfectly well. Again cruise should be easy to find

Octavia with the same engine would be worth looking at, may be hard to find one though.

Mazda 626 again thirsty and dull but reliable and well specced
 
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Janesy B said:
What's on the way out? There's nothing all that expensive to break on a Focus.
Click to expand...

I'd echo that.

What's actually wrong with your Focus at the moment? It'll probably be cheaper to just fix that than get a slightly newer, potentially problematic car. How long have you owned for Focus for?
 
Janesy B said:
What's on the way out? There's nothing all that expensive to break on a Focus.
Click to expand...

DaveyD said:
I'd echo that.

What's actually wrong with your Focus at the moment? It'll probably be cheaper to just fix that than get a slightly newer, potentially problematic car. How long have you owned for Focus for?
Click to expand...

- The clutch is on its way out.
- Recently I've found the exhaust is "blowing" and has a hole in it.
- Recently the car has developed a tendency to make clunking noises when turning. I suspect it's either/combination of the CV joints/track rod ends/suspension. I'm going to get it on to axle stands to have a proper look.
- The oddometer has started to cut out randomly. :confused: Google suggests the speed sensor in the gear box needs replacing.

- Needs new tyres soon (obviously this is a consumable).


But then one thing that IS stopping me from doing the sell is that I'll be replacing an old car with an old car to which I don't know the history of. On the Focus I know I have changed:
- The pads, and rear shoes and drums
- Belts and tensioner
- Wheel bearings
- A load of other small things.

Thankfully the engine is fine. Mechanically the car is starting to ask for attention (which when under the influence of car ownership I am prepared to to take responsibility for, however I have to wield some sort of technical conscience and decide wheather it is economical to keep the car or not). I admit on hindsight the above issues don't seem that large. Does this thread just sound like an excuse to change cars? Perhaps the thread should be renamed to "Should I change my car?" :s :confused: As trivial as it sounds (and trust me what I'm about to say is trivial, but very annoying) the car doesn't have cruise control. As I find myself doing more A road/motorway driving I yearn for cruise control.
 
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Better the devil you know. your better of spending the budget repairing the focus knowing its not going to need anything major for a while than buying something that needs a grand thowing at at in 6 months time.
 
How far are you driving and at what time of the day?

I only find my cruise truly useful when I'm doing very long (I.e 400 mile) journeys at a quiet time of day. I must admit I use it quite a lot but the time of day I tend to travel means that its never a case of set it and leave it, more set it then have to cancel, press reset, cancel, drive for a few minutes without it until it clears up again, press reset etc etc.
 
Ricochet J said:
- The clutch is on its way out.
- Recently I've found the exhaust is "blowing" and has a hole in it.
- Recently the car has developed a tendency to make clunking noises when turning. I suspect it's either/combination of the CV joints/track rod ends/suspension. I'm going to get it on to axle stands to have a proper look.
- The oddometer has started to cut out randomly. :confused: Google suggests the speed sensor in the gear box needs replacing.

- Needs new tyres soon (obviously this is a consumable).
Click to expand...

Also consumables:

Exhaust
Clutch
 
Have to agree with fixing the focus. Am i the only one who finds CC abit distracting? When in the company mondeo i gave it a while but didnt think it was all that good?
 
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