Most reliable work horse car ?

Combat squirrel

Combat squirrel

Combat squirrel

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As title, I have been doing abit of research into what the most reliable cars are - nothing fancy here £2000 budget. The one and only concern I have is reliability & then fuel economy.

I am in no way affected by the cars 'looks or fashion', I really don't care, cars are not my 'thing' - except as much as sensibly possible reliability.

I always look after my cars anyway & always have diesels, change the oil/ filters every 6000 miles, other air filters etc when needed (so understand maintenance makes the car last).

After asking around and some research I have concluded one of the best ones is the 2002 or newer Ford Focus Estate TDdI - NOT the TDcI.

Seen this car for £2000 or a lot less.

Anymore to add to this from any car experts on here?
 
If you want super reliable, forget anything tdi and get a simple 4-cyl petrol engine in a Japanese car. Something like a Honda Accord.
 
My brothers Seat Leon TDI is still going strong at 175k miles, hardly any servicing. Very economical too.
 
The older mechanical diesels are probably more robust than some old petrols. I've seen Pug 406 2.2s past 300k. Was there not someone on here who ran a 406 diesel up to moon mileage using chip fat as fuel?
 
The earlier VW 1.9 TDIs are pretty robust - my parents had a VW Sharan that they put 200K miles on then sold to someone who used it as a taxi for another 200K miles with very little work needed (issue with the turbo at ~70K IIRC but wasn't that expensive to sort), replaced with a Passat for every day running that did similar mileage without issue.
 
This has been discussed a lot and usually the top runners include late 80's early 90's mercs, pug 406 (already mentioned) and older lexus such as an ls400. these can all go for about 200-500k+ miles
 
Primera petrol is a good solid uber reliable car. Accord as mentioned above is pretty decent, the diesel isnt bad either. I'd avoid the Avensis, the VVTI's arent all that reliable and the D-4D has a habit of chewing up bottom ends (due to a poorly designed mesh filter in the sump).

But simply speaking, pure value for money is either a Octavia mini cab special or a Mondeo petrol.
 
Avensis or Accord would probably be a good call.

For ref, and from Warrant Direct Reliability Index:
- Accord (02-08) - 60
- Avensis (03-09) - 71
- Passat (05- ) - 157
- Mondeo (00-07) - 114

As can be see, VWs really are nothing special for genuine reliability, regardless of how nice their interiors might be considered by some.

Link here:
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/396
 
As a long time 90s/early 2000s jap owner, I can confirm that the engines on these are pretty solid - however they do seem to rust a lot!
 
Manyyyy different cars! lol

Miles around 10-15k a year, all depends how much work I have coming in. It's more that it 'must work that day' than how many miles I can get out of it.

Seems Honda I guess, wanted to avoid petrols if poss though due to running costs, mondeo is another idea but been told the focus TDdi is just as good and cheaper?

EDIT: Are Honda diesels any good ?
 
Last edited:
acemastr said:
An American car, terrible gas mileage but everyone here has 300k miles+ lol
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The trouble is when they do need parts they pricey. That said many years ago I bought a 8 year old Chrysler Neon for £1200. I ran it for about 5 years and the only things it needed was suspension arms and brake disks.

The VW 1.9tdi in it's 90 or 110 bhp forms are fairly indestructible. My Octavia is about to clock up 200,000 miles. It is however a thoroughly horrible car, it's basically a VW Golf that's been 'improved' by the accounts department.
 
Toyota Previa. Our old one had 400k miles on it and was still going strong on the engine front. Just suffered from a bit of rust!
 
Combat squirrel said:
Manyyyy different cars! lol

Miles around 10-15k a year, all depends how much work I have coming in. It's more that it 'must work that day' than how many miles I can get out of it.

Seems Honda I guess, wanted to avoid petrols if poss though due to running costs, mondeo is another idea but been told the focus TDdi is just as good and cheaper?

EDIT: Are Honda diesels any good ?
Click to expand...

Do you do a lot of long journeys (45mins+) or mostly short ones? its an important question as your mileage isn't that extreme and you really need to get the engine warmed up to make a diesel worthwhile. Most on here would advice a petrol as they often end up being more economical in the long run, so don't rule them out.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Avensis or Accord would probably be a good call.

For ref, and from Warrant Direct Reliability Index:
- Accord (02-08) - 60
- Avensis (03-09) - 71
- Passat (05- ) - 157
- Mondeo (00-07) - 114

As can be see, VWs really are nothing special for genuine reliability, regardless of how nice their interiors might be considered by some.

Link here:
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/396
Click to expand...

Those numbers as BS for a number of reasons, wouldn't read too much into them.
 
Haggisman said:
As a long time 90s/early 2000s jap owner, I can confirm that the engines on these are pretty solid - however they do seem to rust a lot!
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That seems to be a major problem with a lot of Japanese cars from this era. My Primera rusted out along the sills and rear arches and became unecomical to repair. Even though the rest of the car was still tight as a drum, pulled 180psi across all cylinders and produced factory horsepower on a dyno. This was at 140k.

I would have thought Japanese cars are a lot better now they have learnt what it is like to be in Europe during winter.

For a 2k budget you are looking at taxi specials. Avensis, Accord, Vectra, Octavia etc. I would go petrol though if reliability is your main concern.
 
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