Tight Arse Motoring Options?

[gtd2000]

6N2 Polo TDIs cost £30 to tax, and are less miserable than a Suzuki Alto. Mismatched trims get you extra shite points.

 

A mate of mine got a 2002 Lupo 1.7 diesel - he reckons it's good for 70+ MPG and it's cheaper tax too (I think?) but he picked it up for an incredible £200!!!

[gtd2000]

You need to own a 405 to understand

 

Unfortunately - he's also an "artist" and can't even afford to fuel the bloody thing

[gtd2000]

It's not really sticking two fingers up at the Government to drive a lower banded car - they've still decided what you should pay, you're still paying it, they've just let you pay less.

It's like "sticking two fingers up at Tesco" because they reduced a pizza that was nearly out of date. You got more or less the same thing, but you still paid the money that was asked for it.

 

It really needs everything taking into account - purchase price, tax, insurance, fuel, repairs. Those last two are tricky, I can drive the same car as my colleagues and get 48MPG average and they get 43MPG - over 30k a year that's a fair bit of cash. Depends on driving style, do you travel in rush hour a lot, how much crap do you carry around in the car. Same as repairs, you might get lucky or you might not and get lumped with a mega bill.

 

Tax is one of the more predictable bills car ownership will present, and also is one of the lowest. 

 

Oh, and also insert the usual thing about it not being road tax, and it's not used to fund road repairs since the year 500AD or something.

 

 

Well it's the same road that the £500 per tax payers are using, so I'd say your analogy might not be the best but I understand what you are trying to say.

 

You can drive some extremely nice vehicles on low or no cost tax rates, it's not just applicable to small economy shite boxes that I'm looking at

 

I have generally only bought Japanese or Korean cars so reliability tends to be excellent. That said the Picanto did suffer from the dreaded crankshaft pulley bolt failure...fixed by KIA at their cost in the end.

 

I think I read an article that mentioned they were going to start using the tax to actually improve the roads....? I wouldn't believe a word that comes out of any politicians mouth anyway....

 

My general outlook at the moment is that I'm using an automatic KIA Picanto that has already depreciated significantly but realistically in the 8 years it's been in the family it's probably only depreciated about £800.

 

I like running around in it overall but when I see that I could pay £30 per year and get perhaps 10MPG more from the same model with a manual gearbox - quite possibly at a lower price, as small automatics tend to have higher demand - it makes sense (to me) to save some money (all things being equal).

[sierraman]

My mates mum has an 03 or 02 reg 306 but it also needs about 200-300 quids worth of work for the MoT each year...similar to his 405 estate diesel...

Yes but you are buying another years motoring for £2-300. At this price level you've got to get rid of all notion of what it's worth. If it costs £200 to get another years test could you replace it with something viable for £200? I'd doubt it. A lot of the small 'runabouts' as you mention are usually bags of shit as people run them on an absolute shoestring.

[Isaac Hunt]

6N2 Polo TDIs cost £30 to tax, and are less miserable than a Suzuki Alto. Mismatched trims get you extra shite points.

Don't some of these knock out timing chains at a bit of a rate or is it just certain engine sizes. If you are handy with the spanners buy a Rover 25 with HGF and bung a new gasket and cambelt on it and you have a cheap motor

[HH-R]

Aye, road tax, VED, RFL, EFI, WTF LOL BBQ or whatever it's called this week will be going on maintaining the roads at some point. Would feel less annoyed about paying it then, as at the moment it's just a "fuck you" tax.

[djimbob]

Well it's the same road that the £500 per tax payers are using, so I'd say your analogy might not be the best but I understand what you are trying to say.

 

You can drive some extremely nice vehicles on low or no cost tax rates, it's not just applicable to small economy shite boxes that I'm looking at

 

I have generally only bought Japanese or Korean cars so reliability tends to be excellent. That said the Picanto did suffer from the dreaded crankshaft pulley bolt failure...fixed by KIA at their cost in the end.

 

I think I read an article that mentioned they were going to start using the tax to actually improve the roads....? I wouldn't believe a word that comes out of any politicians mouth anyway....

 

My general outlook at the moment is that I'm using an automatic KIA Picanto that has already depreciated significantly but realistically in the 8 years it's been in the family it's probably only depreciated about £800.

 

I like running around in it overall but when I see that I could pay £30 per year and get perhaps 10MPG more from the same model with a manual gearbox - quite possibly at a lower price, as small automatics tend to have higher demand - it makes sense (to me) to save some money (all things being equal).

 

Am I understanding right that you already have a nice little car that you know well and seems to do the trick?

 

I am an auto box guy, have been for years since the daily commute got too much, and I would stick with yours as they are usually understressed, and an all round relaxing experience in town driving, save your money I'd say.

 

Mind you, if you just want a change, carry on sir, nothing wrong with a bit of strange

[pompei]

I would have said get an old Fiat 126 BIS  -  the are the water cooled unloved cousin of the 500 and 126 air cooled but reliability is an issue and prices are on the up ...

[pompei]

In fact they are fucking loodicrously expensive  --  nearly 3 grand 

[RoadworkUK]

My A4 1.8T might make everybody on here yawn uncontrollably, but I genuinely think of it as free motoring, or rather it costs so little every year that I don't even think about it.

 

Cost me a grand eight years ago, and it's bound to be worth £750 now,

It's probably going to need a couple of ball joints at the next MOT, but that'll be about it.

Servicing is for the cost of parts; and a cambelt every 60k miles which I'm brave enough to tackle myself.

 

Road tax £210 (I think) a year, insurance £250 ish but these are just universal rip-offs which are as inevitable as the moon rising.

 

Comfy, fast, reliable motoring.

 

(Though I accept it means owning an Audi A4)

[drum]

Free tax, good mot, lots of character etc

 

1960 so might be mot free too depending on build date.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wolseley-1500-MKII-new-wings-and-front-panel-also-available-/131719692379?hash=item1eab1b005b:g:WDwAAOSwXshWszh8

 

Just up the road too.

[Negative Creep]

My A4 1.8T might make everybody on here yawn uncontrollably, but I genuinely think of it as free motoring, or rather it costs so little every year that I don't even think about it.

 

Cost me a grand eight years ago, and it's bound to be worth £750 now,

It's probably going to need a couple of ball joints at the next MOT, but that'll be about it.

Servicing is for the cost of parts; and a cambelt every 60k miles which I'm brave enough to tackle myself.

 

Road tax £210 (I think) a year, insurance £250 ish but these are just universal rip-offs which are as inevitable as the moon rising.

 

Comfy, fast, reliable motoring.

 

(Though I accept it means owning an Audi A4)

 

 

What's the MPG like around town?

[RoadworkUK]

What's the MPG like around town?

 

Not really sure, TBH, much, much better than the 825!

 

It's always given me 35mpg overall, measured brim to brim, including commuting.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Thats what I get out of my Volvo 760

[320touring]

My brother's e38 730i auto gets 23-24mpg on a run. If I was to use it to commute, it'd still e 3quid a day cheaper than the fecking train..

 

So even that could be called cheap

[gtd2000]

I would have said get an old Fiat 126 BIS - the are the water cooled unloved cousin of the 500 and 126 air cooled but reliability is an issue and prices are on the up ...

Noooooooooo not a Fiat 126.....

 

I was mentally scared when my father traded in his Ford Cortina for a brand new 126 in '73 (NSG916M) due to the oil crisis and his 50 odd mile commute....

 

Hated everything about it

 

Unreliable, rusting heap of shite that ironically stunk of Ziebart when new, fat load of good that stuff was, might as well have sprayed salt onto it......

[gtd2000]

Free tax, good mot, lots of character etc

1960 so might be mot free too depending on build date.]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wolseley-1500-MKII-new-wings-and-front-panel-also-available-/131719692379?hash=item1eab1b005b:g:WDwAAOSwXshWszh8

Just up the road too.

image.jpg

That's pretty horrific but like the idea of free road tax and no mot!

 

If only there was a Datsun Bluebird/Sunny etc with the same...

[gtd2000]

Don't some of these knock out timing chains at a bit of a rate or is it just certain engine sizes. If you are handy with the spanners buy a Rover 25 with HGF and bung a new gasket and cambelt on it and you have a cheap motor

My mate has the three cylinder petrol variant that has (is known for) some sort of top end problem.

 

His underwent surgery last year...

[gtd2000]

Am I understanding right that you already have a nice little car that you know well and seems to do the trick?

 

I am an auto box guy, have been for years since the daily commute got too much, and I would stick with yours as they are usually understressed, and an all round relaxing experience in town driving, save your money I'd say.

 

Mind you, if you just want a change, carry on sir, nothing wrong with a bit of strange

Yes, have the use of a well fettled Picanto...in fact spent part of the afternoon greasing up the front brakes...just the weather for it!

 

I do rate the Picanto overall and there's nothing to complain about other than higher mpg and lower tax with the manual version.

 

I'll only change if something comes up at a good price.

 

I've just found a fairly low mileage Honda Jazz (53k) advertised that might be worth a look though and is under a grand.

[gtd2000]

Mission complete!

 

Well, I sold the original Picanto 1.1LX Auto and I'm now the owner of a 2010 Picanto 1!

 

Only 12,500 miles from new and two owners, fresh MoT this month and new tyres in September last year.

 

Drives like a new car and the last owners (since 2013) had the car undersealed and the upholstery treated as well as the paintwork.

 

Comes with a full service history too!

 

Has a slight paintwork issue on the rear passenger door but I can easily sort that out.

 

Just swapped over the insurance for zero cost (Kwik Fit)

Bought the tax - £30 per year...saving £100 per year over the previous model.

 

Best of all - it only cost me an additional £300 to change

 

Feeling quite pleased so far, to be honest!

 

[red5]

205 1.8 n/a xld ðŸ˜

 

Nothing much on it to go wrong. Doesn't mind standing for months...

 

Picanto ftw! £300 to change is not bad at all.

[gtd2000]

Well I picked up a set of Wolfrace alloys and tyres in virtually new condition on Gumtree last week and now I'm in full on Fast n Furious mode...

 

 

 

MPG is generally swinging upwards from high 40's to high 50's and 60's and a ridiculous one off result of 82.44MPG!!!

[gtd2000]

Well, the Picanto went off to a new owner a couple of weeks back - the old boy was thoroughly impressed with it.

 

Told me that his elderly neighbour swears by them and has owned two so far.

 

Made a decent bit of coin on this one and the old boy got it for almost £1400 less than the local dealer wanted for an example with 3 x the mileage (this one only had 14,000 on it), so he's very happy.

 

In the meantime, I've been keeping it Korean and picked up a 2010 Hyundai i20 1.4L CRDi which is amazing on fuel.

 

This is my personal best MPG to date...

 

 

It basically gets mid to high 70's with just me in it tootling around the local A roads.

 

I went down to London over the weekend with two adults, 3 kids and bootful of luggage and got 70.1MPG on the way down and 65MPG on the way back up with more frequent stops, including a trip to Knowesley Safari Park. Those baboons are little bastards to say the least but the park does indeed warn you!

 

The cherry on top is that it's still in the £30 per year road tax bracket and was £600 less than the Picanto

[D Spares & Tyres]

We have my other halfs mothers old 1993 Peugeot 306 that was inherited last year and shall probably never be parted with.

 

It cost £900 15 years ago and 160,000 miles later it is still working fine and worth £300. It was already on 100,000 miles when she bought it with a full history so we know that at 260,000 miles the engine has never been apart.

 

It is still doing at least 50mpg and shows no signs of engine failure. Its had an axle and a bit of welding, but I can say nothing bad about the car apart from tax is high but that`s such a minimal expense really compared to what another vehicle would cost to run over 15 years.

[twosmoke300]

With that sort of mpg on the i20 i would be putting my fuel savings into a pot for EGR and manifold replacement/ cleaning

Diesels dont like being driven like that for long .

[gtd2000]

With that sort of mpg on the i20 i would be putting my fuel savings into a pot for EGR and manifold replacement/ cleaning

Diesels dont like being driven like that for long .

It had a good ten hours being driven at roughly 2750RPM on the A1 and M6 to be fair.

 

I think I read that it needs to be driven at 2500 to help clean out the DPF or suchlike?

 

So far I've just given it an oil and filter change but next item to do will be to change the fuel filter - it's in the boot waiting for an empty day to undertake the task.

[gtd2000]

We have my other halfs mothers old 1993 Peugeot 306 that was inherited last year and shall probably never be parted with.

 

It cost £900 15 years ago and 160,000 miles later it is still working fine and worth £300. It was already on 100,000 miles when she bought it with a full history so we know that at 260,000 miles the engine has never been apart.

 

It is still doing at least 50mpg and shows no signs of engine failure. Its had an axle and a bit of welding, but I can say nothing bad about the car apart from tax is high but that`s such a minimal expense really compared to what another vehicle would cost to run over 15 years.

Thats pretty good going.

 

My pals mother has one of these as well but it's had a few issues over the time she's owned it and it's very much a lower mileage example -  I think less than 100k on the clock?

[gtd2000]

It's actually my first diesel car that I've owned..so any diesel specific tips happily received

[HH-R]

Hyundai FTW.

[twosmoke300]

Don't drive it like a fanny ! Even more important if it's got a dpf