Does it exist? 55mpg, reliable, not tedious?

[DoctorRetro]

I think a well sorted Reliant Robin is the real answer here. Owners have reported good MPG figures (at least my dad did) , and nobody could describe them as boring or tedious! ???

[bigfella2]

1 hour ago, rickvw72 said:

Yaris engine?

Early ones have the Ford / psa 1.6 engine, in all its oil leaking, turbo and injector failure ridden, Black Death producing crapness.

Deliveroo runs on the Yaris d4d 1.3 round these parts. These seem immortal, but there not a bag of laughs to drive.

Yes the early ones had the 1.4 d4d Yaris engine, then the later ones had thr 1.6 hdi engine. Then in approximately 2010 they went to the BMW engine.

[Dj_efk]

I think you should check out the Audi A2 1.4 TDI.

You'll get a good'un for your budget, they're reliable, 55 mpg will be no issue (you may actually get better).

The club is excellent too: LINK

[twosmoke300]

I couldn’t live with that cement mixer engine . Was only talking a few days ago about the a2 and how good a car it was but wished they did a 1.9 tdi version 

[Dj_efk]

3 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

I couldn’t live with that cement mixer engine . Was only talking a few days ago about the a2 and how good a car it was but wished they did a 1.9 tdi version 

Have you driven one?

It's not the last word in refinement - but then it's an older design diesel, certainly not as bad as your comment makes out.

[rickvw72]

Learnt something with the early 1.4 mini engine. Never come across one with a Toyota lump. Still wouldn’t in a mini tho if Im honest.

On the Mk4 window winders, I’ve never changed one, not in my career or on my cars. Done shed loads of Fabias though.

Bit like when I was an apprentice. Rover K series was widespread. In the garage I worked we must have changed as many Zetec headgaskets as Rover, but Rovers reputation...

In the a4 and the Golf I’ve had zero electrical issues and never had the eml on either. You’ll often find this era of Vag cars slated on the internet, but read the comments closely, there always from people who have never owned them.

[bunglebus]

3 hours ago, rickvw72 said:

In the a4 and the Golf I’ve had zero electrical issues and never had the eml on either. You’ll often find this era of Vag cars slated on the internet, but read the comments closely, there always from people who have never owned them.

Same here - to a point. Zero electrical faults with my Passat, but my friend's MK4 Golf has had a few, including the window reg/rear wiper faults I mentioned. We also used to see a lot of MK4s with broken window regs when I was at VW, probably all fixed with the improved parts by now. That and the stupid plastic impeller water pumps failing.

Like I said, all cars have faults but the general build quality and reliability of the VAG stuff (and the torque of the TDI) make them a winner in my book. But the best era ones are all pushing 20+ years old now, I certainly wouldn't want a B6 Passat or MK6 Golf. 

 

[rickvw72]

Same view on the later stuff, it’s why I bought a Honda Accord as a potential replacement. No room in my life for DPFs and electric handbrakes, amongst other reliability issues. I’ve got three VWs from between 1988 - 2002 and they are the best of the era, all things considered. Just a shame they are getting on, and just like rear wheel drive volvos used to be, the owners of the decent, non trashed ones won’t sell them.

[twosmoke300]

8 hours ago, Dj_efk said:

Have you driven one?

It's not the last word in refinement - but then it's an older design diesel, certainly not as bad as your comment makes out.

Driven a few yes . As well as polos with the same motor . 
Prefer a Kubota or a Petter 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Reliable... check.

55mpg... check.

Boring, tedious... definitely not!  

Trabant is the answer, what do I win?!!  ?

[Steve79]

12 hours ago, rickvw72 said:

On the a4 and the Golf I’ve had zero electrical issues and never had the eml on either. You’ll often find this era of Vag cars slated on the internet, but read the comments closely, there always from people who have never owned them.

Golf mk4 seem to have a fairly common issue with the immobilisor in the dash cluster where it'll randomly decide not to disengage. I bloody spent months chasing this issue round on my golf estate a few years ago. Replacement clocks coded to the car eventually sorted it

 

[garethj]

10 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Reliable... check.

55mpg... check.

Boring, tedious... definitely not!  

Trabant is the answer, what do I win?!!  ?

When I ran Tatras for a few years I knew a lot of people with Trabbis.  One conversation I remember is “The engine is very simple; it’s only got 7 moving parts.  Unfortunately they’ll all stop working at some point” ?

[Asimo]

21 minutes ago, garethj said:

When I ran Tatras 

Tatra - no wonder you find the Civic tedious!

Tell us about life with Tatras please.

[jonny69]

What about early Honda Civic Hybrid? Won’t run the same numbers as the Insight but it’s not far off. 55mpg should be easy and hybrid makes a lot of difference round town.

Should be able to pick one up for £1500. I think they might all be Jap imports, so you’ll have £160 tax and higher insurance. You’ll have to number crunch that one because it’ll quickly eat up the difference in fuel savings between 50mpg and 55mpg. 

[Steve79]

27 minutes ago, jonny69 said:

What about early Honda Civic Hybrid? Won’t run the same numbers as the Insight but it’s not far off. 55mpg should be easy and hybrid makes a lot of difference round town.

Should be able to pick one up for £1500. I think they might all be Jap imports, so you’ll have £160 tax and higher insurance. You’ll have to number crunch that one because it’ll quickly eat up the difference in fuel savings between 50mpg and 55mpg. 

Don't forget the dreaded IMA light of death, warning of imminent battery failure and instantly exceeding the original purchase price to fix.

[jonny69]

4 hours ago, Steve79 said:

Don't forget the dreaded IMA light of death, warning of imminent battery failure and instantly exceeding the original purchase price to fix.

Grid charging and carrying out a set of maintenance discharge cycles usually fixes this. When I plotted my charges and discharges, I'd regained around 40% capacity in mine.

[garethj]

Update!

I had my eye on a Suzuki Swift diesel but there was only one close by.  I went to see it and the clutch was utterly fucked and there was an interesting dent in the sill like it had driven off a very high kerb.  I didn’t buy it.

There are a few up north and the sales manager in Leeds definitely earned his commission but elsewhere they’re thin on the ground.

A Toyota Corolla diesel is apparently quite a good drive and the 3 door ones look alright but again - finding one that isn’t fucked is a challenge.

Amazingly they hold their value better than the newer Toyota Auris which just shows what an appalling image problem they have.  Again, couldn’t find one that wasn’t 100+ miles away which is a risk with shonky dealers.

I did an Auto Trader search for 55mpg, under £2000 and waded through an awful lot of porridge before finding a Kia pro_cee’d (I think that’s all the punctuation).  It’s a 3 door version of the cee’d and the 115bhp engine does 60mpg which isn’t bad in something the size of a Golf.

The coupe shape has got the same wheelbase as the regular saloon (probably inspired by the Morris Marina) although unlike the British car they’ve made the doors longer so it looks ok.  I took it for a test drive and it drives a bit like a VAG car with loads of boost midrange and then falling away sharply.  Perhaps I’ve got used to driving petrol cars again.

Steering is ok, ride is fine and it’s got things inside.  Unlike the MX5 I’ve borrowed which basically has a main beam light to keep you company, this has cruise control, climate, aux input for the stereo, little lights above the interior mirrors and other things which most people care about.

It should be reliable too and fingers crossed I’ll pick it up on Wednesday.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 8/17/2020 at 12:25 AM, Steve79 said:

Golf mk4 seem to have a fairly common issue with the immobilisor in the dash cluster where it'll randomly decide not to disengage. I bloody spent months chasing this issue round on my golf estate a few years ago. Replacement clocks coded to the car eventually sorted it

The only electrical thing that's happened on the diesel Borat is that the remote central locking from the key fob doesn't work. It stopped working shortly after the car's ECU was remapped.....

[loserone]

On 8/13/2020 at 4:19 PM, garethj said:

not tedious

I'm so lost, did you just buy a Kia C'eed?

[garethj]

7 minutes ago, loserone said:

I'm so lost, did you just buy a Kia C'eed?

Ooh, back atcha with the PistonHeads comment 😀

I’d never driven one before (I guess most people haven’t) but it’s a similar drive to the Civic but with VW Tdi acceleration and fuel economy but hopefully with Japanese levels of reliability.

It’s also not a bad looker for what is a sea of modern, bland vanilla.  It’s no Peugeot 504 coupe, but we’ll see how it goes for a year as dependable and “slightly interesting” transport.

[beko1987]

It's probably a fairly safe bet to place £2k on anything it's age... Their not renowned for being utter shit heaps are they

[willswitchengage]

Anything with the 1.9TDI engine? Pretty obvious choice - very reliable, popular, very good on fuel, seem to last forever and came in different comfort and sportiness flavours.

[Dan_ZTT]

I know it's a bit late as you've bought something but I used to have a Delta, it'd get 70mpg on a run, was quite nice to drive and certainly looked a bit different... they're fairly cheap now, here's one just over £2k

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009103573938?

I did 100 miles a day for a couple of years and nothing broke, only sold due to change in life circumstances. Might get another in a few years when they're down to a grand or so. 

[loserone]

Can you easily rebadge them back to being Lancias?

[motorpunk]

1 hour ago, Dan_ZTT said:

I know it's a bit late as you've bought something but I used to have a Delta, it'd get 70mpg on a run, was quite nice to drive and certainly looked a bit different... they're fairly cheap now, here's one just over £2k

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009103573938?

I did 100 miles a day for a couple of years and nothing broke, only sold due to change in life circumstances. Might get another in a few years when they're down to a grand or so. 

What, precisely, is that? It's a Chrysler thing, yes, but it is a rebadged Lancia, which is almost certainly a tarted up Fiat of some sort which, in turn, may well be a GM or Ford thing underneath.  What actually is it?

[Dan_ZTT]

54 minutes ago, loserone said:

Can you easily rebadge them back to being Lancias?

I've seen pictures of a couple done so I assume it's not super difficult, though I never properly looked into it when I had mine. 

I did see a few actual Lancia ones last time I was in Italy

[Mally]

I've had a Kia Ceed SW.

It was very good at being an car. Cost little money, drove well, and never broke down.

[Dan_ZTT]

Just now, motorpunk said:

What, precisely, is that? It's a Chrysler thing, yes, but it is a rebadged Lancia, which is almost certainly a tarted up Fiat of some sort which, in turn, may well be a GM or Ford thing underneath.  What actually is it?

Ha. Yes, that. I remember being amused on mine that the outside had chrysler badges, engine had fiat logo, headlights were labelled lancia, and the locking wheel nut key was in a box marked alfa romeo...

It was sold as a Lancia Delta in Europe but it's mostly Fiat Bravo underneath, with bits of Alfa Giulietta, I think. 

[garethj]

When I was in my early 20s, I had a succession of Alfasud Sprints.  Obviously they weren’t the pinnacle of reliability because cars of the late ‘70s and early ‘80’s were like that.  However I do remember the visits to the dealership for parts and the distain in which they treated their customers.

Customers?  Fucking ignorant twats, is what they thought.  Just because people came into the dealership and paid an extortionate amount in advance for parts, they then somehow expected the parts to actually turn up at some point.

I remember going to a Toyota dealers at the same time and thinking I was in a cross between heaven and the John Lewis customer service centre for high achievers.

Something came up on here a year or two ago about the Alfa dealers (amazingly still in business) and they’re just as crap and a friend has a Fiat Panda that’s about 3 years old and they treat him like dirt.  When something went wrong with the car leaving him with a £1500 bill and the car just out of warranty, the service manager giving a shrug of the shoulders wasn’t great but does seem typical.

Maybe I’m just old now, but life’s too short for Italian car parts and servicing😀