suggestions for boring next car please

hello...need a newish car soonish please:

up to £5.5k- will do auctions...
i need a big boot for my digital piano (its 135cm wide, and i don't wanna fold down rear seats)
i also want decent fuel economy
i definetly want to be able to put in my Alpine h/u
ample legroom for me- as good as my Fiesta is, i'm 6"1 and i'm a bit cramped
i also want a fair bit of get up- and go
and finally i don't want it to get nicked- especially as it'll go under 3rd party f+ t cos cost for comprehensive is royally taking the urine at the moment!! so thats why i'm after something thats boring, run of the mill, but will cost around £5000-5500 cos thats 3rd pty f+t cut-off price. Clear??? :roll:

i have drawn up so far:
Fiat Marea Weekend JTD105 (103bhp)
Citroen Xsara Estate 2.0HDi (110bhp)
Citroen C5 Hatch 2.0HDi (90bhp)
Vauxhall Astra Estate 1.7Dti 16v (75bhp)
Ford Focus Estate 1.8 TDDi (90bhp)
Ford Mondeo Estate 1.8 TD (older shape, 90bhp)
Skoda Octavia Hatch 1.6lx (75bhp, non-diesel)
Mitsubishi Galant Estate?????
Mazda 626 Estate????

I know that the piano will go into all above, and i'm sure that the stereo will go into all but i'm querying the Citroens- CAD do stereo adaptors for the Fords and Fiat but no C5s or Xsaras there

All diesels above afaik are common rail and have a fair bit of getup and go except for the Fords, which won't be the TDCIs, just the normal Turbo Diesel TDDi

Any more ideas, or any experience with above please holler

Cheers

 

What ever the taxi drivers use in Ipswich - thats exactly your spec right? My N Peugeot 405 turbodiesel still has 100000s of miles left to go. Nice handling but noisy above 70 [allegedly, officer].
What about a 406, 306 etc? Newer French cars have all that authorized dealer crap in them, like immobilizers and engine management that screw up after [x] years. Find a local garage who won't fleece you, and just spend £3500 instead. How about Honda?

 

Get a bike and use taxis when you have to move something eg the piano.

Sorry - not a very helpful answer...

 

out of that list i would say that galant for the price you can get a 2000 model with only 60,000 on the clock, and i've seen these things go above 200,000 miles

oh and it would be a 2.0L but the japs are prety good for fuel econmy

 

Erm I would avoid the Focus although they keep their value and won't go rusty I am not sure exactly how durable they are long term compared to some of the other cars mentioned. The Fiat Marea Weekend is a good car if you can get them cheap but they have to be cheap as they loos their value quite fast.

After my dads problems with his Escort I have come up with a new ananchryn(sp) for FORD. Fix Or Repair Daily. It is mainly wear and tear stuff on my dads car though.

 

If there's a TDI version of the Skoda Octavia (or similar Golf) that's what I'd go for. Even the non 'hot' TDIs have a surprising amount of grunt and they are unbelievably economical and anything from the VW camp will be solid.

Michael.

 

I'm a Skoda user. This may seem strange advice, but get yourself down to one of their main dealers, they have a special insurer who can do amazing deals.. and as far as I know you don't have to buy from a main dealer. My Octavia is absolutely awesome. It's got the 90 bhp TDi engine in and it shifts like buggery. The hatch has the same boot space but not the height so it will easily fit a portable piano in. I know cause I do it too. I've done 5000 miles in it since I got it and it hasn't missed a beat. The best thing it does between 50 and 60 to the gallon. Now look at it this way, if you halve your petrol costs what else could you afford to pay for. And the best thing about them is knowing all the VW owners paid at least 3K more the privelige of owning the same car.

 

£5.5k will get a very nice Galant estate. I have owned mine for 5 months, covered 10000 miles in that time, (bringing it up to 79k), and I paid £4400 for it.

Theft risk on the galant is very low... no one knows what it looks like, no one takes notice of it, etc. Check on fully comp though, because for the insurance group, it's very reasonable indeed (mine is less than £1k to insure, despite being 2.0 and my being 21. It was barely more than a focus 1.6 to insure).

Mine averages (average, ie combined town and motorway) 30.5 mpg, and that's the 134bhp 2.0 auto. There is a diesel (2.0 turbo) but it is extremely rare indeed. Best bet for economy is a manual 2.4 GDi (direct injection petrol), which should combine around 35-36mpg or so.

Servicing is reasonable, with 63k service (done on mine at 69) costing £150, and 72k (at 78 on mine) costing £250.

Used values are very low simply through lack of awareness... most complaints the car mags have are simply that it's dull... competant but dull. You could get a very tidy one for £4000 or so, and offset the rest of your budget against petrol and fully comp insurance.

Head unit should be no problem, as it offers two DIN slots. Speakers are 165mm per door, and separate tweeter pods on each front door.

Spec (all models ABS, 4-wheel discs, front fogs, alloys as standard, air con on almost all (was no cost option in lieu of sunroof on GLS, climate control standard on V6)) and reliability are absolutely unmatched by the europeans for the price.

If you want any detailed pics or any more qs about it, just let me know.

 

i'm a picky git:
Pug 306s- some of my mates have them, and the dash board rattles like heck- not the sort of thing you want going on with some nice sounding ICE- i'm assuming the 406 is the same, but i'll give it a test drive- looking through the Parkers I could probably get a W plate HDI110 or even the HDI136 bhp diesels...

Had no probs with my Fiesta AT- the Focus isn't an 'old skool' Ford though, and reliability is supposed to be pretty good, and insurance costs are extremely reasonable

Come to the conclusion I probably can't find an Octavia TDi with even moderately respectable (ie. less than 70k miles) on the clock, unfortunately. I'm having a test drive in an old 1.6 75bhp petrol model on Friday though. Lordsummit- I take it your 'portable piano' is a full 7 octave job- my 5 octave Yamaha fits in a Fiesta!!

Will look into the Galants but the only Galant Estate that would suit my budget would be a 2.5 V6 as they didn't make the 2.0 and 2.4 GDI estates till 2001/Y. And Insurance group on the V6 is 16 . And I did check the boot on the Charisma, and its too small

Despite all this, I am getting very intrigued by the Marea Weekend- its supposed to be a pretty good car, with really good handling and versatile luggage space. Heavy depreciation early on means a good buy for me, as I'd be after one just after the 1st MOT..

keep 'em coming please

 

The engines there have been....

1.8 petrol. These were very very very rare, and only available right at the start of the model, on 97P plate. Underpowered, and worth avoiding if you ever do find one.

2.0 petrol. This ran from 97 to 02 or so. 134bhp, 131 lbft. 0-62 around 10 sec, 131mph max.

2.4 GDi petrol. Introduced around 2000 I think. A little more power and torque than the 2.0, and better economy, thanks to GDi.

2.5 V6. Ran from 97 to 03. 165bhp or so. Not hugely faster on paper, but more mid-range punch I should imagine.

2.0 TD. 97-00? Very rare indeed. Don't know anything more than it exists. If I went and got the handbook from the glovebox I could give you spec.

VR4 2.5V6. Twin turbos, evo 4wd drivetrain, 5 speed auto, 280bhp, etc... basically an evo with a torquier engine and a grown-up body.

The 2.0 is easily available... have a look in auto trader.

 

thanks Isaac
realistically, all except for the rare-as-hens-teeth TD and possibly too expensive 2.4GDi aren't going to be frugal enough. Parkers doesn't even list the TD, but as I said Skoda test drive on Fri, and the Mitsubishi dealer is literally next door so I can ask there

cheers