What uber-economical banger?

Kitchster_uk said:
Rover 600 - fun with turbo???
Volvo tank
Saab 9000
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None of the above are going to be remotely economical in petrol form, especialy the Saab. My boss owned a 2.3 CSi for a few months before selling it due to the 20-23mpg fuel consumption.

If you can find an Audi 80 TD for your budget, then go for it. A friend of mine drove to Le Mans and back in an L reg Estate with nearly 200k on the lcock and managed around 50mpg. They are very well built cars (much better than the early A4's).

Also consider the Citroen ZX with the 1.9 TD engine. If you can find the (rather rare) 3 door version they actualy look quite nice, are dirt cheap and have quite respectable performance. Or get an estate if you want to use it to lug loads of crap around. The Xantia is a better specced car, but slower and more to go wrong. Build quality on either of these is laughable compared to the Audi, but if you can live with a few bits of trim breaking and some interior squeaks and rattles they make cheap motoring.

Don't laugh, but a Rover 420 TD would also fit the bill. Go for the intercooled version if at all possible, performance is realy quite good on these (0-60 ~10.5 seconds). No, they don't eat head gaskets, but can suffer from throttle position sensor failures which are quite expensive.
 
Kitchster_uk said:
Rover 600 - fun with turbo???
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I'd stay away from the Ti if you want anywhere near 35 mpg lol. I can pretty much watch the needle go down on mine if i'm constantly on boost.

I'd go for a diesel. If the cav 1.7 tdi is the Izuzi turbo diesel engine a friend of mine has in his nova (he's not a boy racer!) then it's actually quite fun and reasonably quick.
 
Well, I've bought a Xantia TD 'Dimension' with 2 owners from new, good service history, N plate with 138k on the clock and a year's MOT for £495 - can't really grumble I suppose, other than it runs on satan's spendings and is just short of hateful to the eye ;)
 
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Less than 24 hours between starting the thread to buying a car, you don't hang around do you? I can guarantee you will never see Fox start a thread with the same conclusion :D

Good luck with the Xantia, give it a whack with the ugly stick from time to time to preserve it's looks, and remember that GSF and EuroCarParts are your friends when it comes to service items.
 
Congratulations, welcome to the exciting world of Xantia ownership, may I wish you many miles of cheap and reliable motoring, and remember it’s not an ugly car, it’s just very ‘interesting’ looking from a number of angles.

One thing I probably should mention, if you have a cable clutch and it feels very heavy I’d recommend replacing the plastic clutch clip with a metal one. This is because your car is fitted with the older weaker clip and chances are it’ll break if the clutch is heavy. Replacing the clip is a simple, if slightly fiddly job, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours if you know what you’re doing.
 
Kitchster_uk said:
Well, I've bought a Xantia TD 'Dimension' with 2 owners from new, good service history, N plate with 138k on the clock and a year's MOT for £495 - can't really grumble I suppose, other than it runs on satan's spendings and is just short of hateful to the eye ;)
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Congrats mate!

My girlfriend has an Xantia TD, she previously had a 1.8 Fiesta.

The Xantia is better on fuel than her Fiesta was, not to mention, it goes very well.

The electrics are a nightmare though, little that should work, does!

Despite the electrical hell it is,overall, she's very happy with it!

She was very glad to see it has an Airbag fitted , like the Fiesta had, alas, I doubt this Airbag works along with anything else electric in the car! - Hope she never has to test it! :eek:

Have fun! ;)
 
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