cars - recommendation?

[Dave20046]

Toying with the idea of swapping my car when I've fixed it.
Should have gone with my gut and traded it in a couple of weeks ago, but alas it's broke down at great inconvenience.
Currently got a 1.4l golf but it's irritatingly uneconomical (possibly the fact it takes 4k revs to do 80mph and weighs 2tonnes), it's a bit slow and I'm just generally bored of it which seems to be making me an angry driver!
The plus sides are it's quality interior, and it's very comfy, solid & quite pleasant to drive - it's also pretty quiet & I like the handling (apart from the heavyness).

Main thing I'm after is firstly reliability then comfort, economy and looks. Also needs to be cheap on insurance nothing more than a group 6 I'd say.
Was looking at volvo s40s cause I'm an old man and everythink but they're far too much on insurance. Now looking at 1.6 astras (sxi?, 2004ish) but no idea what they'd be like to drive, considered a focus but I've had a 1.6turbo diesel and wasn't massively fond, also considering just going for a 1.6 golf....just wondering if anyone had any recommendations really?

[fizzwheel]

Personally I'd stick with what you have, i.e. a Golf, but get something with a bigger more powerfully engine suited to lugging the weight about. Even 1.6 is going to struggle and you'll have the same problems. I really dont understand why they put a 1.4 litre petrol in such a heavy car.

I'd be looking at Diesels TBH unless you do alot of stupidly short journeys, you'll have decent performance and economy as well. But I dont know what they are like for insurance.

We had a 53 plate Focus, that had a 1.8 TDCI engine in it ( 100bhp ) and that was plenty of fun to drive and much better in terms of performance than the later generation 1.6 tdci that I had for a hire car the other day.

What about a Polo same sort of build quality finish, but smaller and therefore lighter so less weight for that petrol engine to lug about.

My mk5 TDI is group 10 I think, goes well though

I'd get a TDI, my tax is only £115 per year.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Personally I'd stick with what you have, i.e. a Golf, but get something with a bigger more powerfully engine suited to lugging the weight about. Even 1.6 is going to struggle and you'll have the same problems. I really dont understand why they put a 1.4 litre petrol in such a heavy car.

I'd be looking at Diesels TBH unless you do alot of stupidly short journeys, you'll have decent performance and economy as well. But I dont know what they are like for insurance.

We had a 54 plate Focus, that had a 1.8 TDCI engine in it ( 100bhp ) and that was plenty of fun to drive and much better in terms of performance than the later generation 1.6 tdci that I had for a hire car the other day.

I use the car daily and do a lot of mixed driving some days I'll do local trips and rack up 8 or 9 miles ( of a few destinations) other days I'll do 200 odd miles.
I think I'm going to struggle to insure anything over 1.6 (although I guess groups aren't solely done on engine size) I was going to trade it in for a 1.6 s40 a couple of weeks ago but my insurers were being ****s. There's 6months left on my policy and they wanted £250 to swap it, I asked if it was fair for me to assume next years would go up around £500 but the answer I got was useless "sorry sir I don't have that information available to me, when we blindfold our assistant and spin them round no one can predict what sum they will point at, at the time of your renewal - would you like to proceed?"...I didn't.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

I was going to trade it in for a 1.6 s40 a couple of weeks ago but my insurers were being ****s.

I'd wager that'll perform even worse / guzzle more fuel than your golf does. Big heavy car, weedy petrol engine = no performance / sh1tty fuel economy.

You need to go smaller car so you can stick with a smaller engine for insurance purposes. I'd try a quote on a Diesel and see how you get on, you might be surprised.

As long as yu arent doing repeated short journeys in it, then theres no reason not to and I bet it'll return better MPG on the longer trips than your golf is currently giving you.

Just had a quick google and a 1.8TDCI Focus, is group 6E so should be in your price bracket in terms of insurance.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I'd wager that'll perform even worse / guzzle more fuel than your golf does. Big heavy car, weedy petrol engine = no performance / sh1tty fuel economy.

You need to go smaller car so you can stick with a smaller engine for insurance purposes. I'd try a quote on a Diesel and see how you get on, you might be surprised.

As long as yu arent doing repeated short journeys in it, then theres no reason not to and I bet it'll return better MPG on the longer trips than your golf is currently giving you.

Thing is I might end up doing repeated small journeys (depending on your definition) my work schedule's really unpredictable I've gone weeks doing a few 2 or 3 mile trips a day then I'll do a couple of weeks doing hundreds.
I think you're right about getting a quote on the diesel though, can't say I've had any and remember a mate going from a 1.6 mk1 golf to a 2l turbo diesel and it being cheaper!

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by specialone

My mk5 TDI is group 10 I think, goes well though

I'd get a TDI, my tax is only £115 per year.

I wish!
I'm not sure the £40 a year saving on tax will outweight the grand on insurance

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

Thing is I might end up doing repeated small journeys (depending on your definition) my work schedule's really unpredictable I've gone weeks doing a few 2 or 3 mile trips a day then I'll do a couple of weeks doing hundreds.

I think you'll be OK TBH. As long as it gets a decent run after a spell of short journeys that should see it right again. I think its particuarly an issue for Diesels with a particulate filter as the short journeys dont get the exhaust hot enough to burn it off and the filter gets all clagged up.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I think you'll be OK TBH. As long as it gets a decent run after a spell of short journeys that should see it right again. I think its particuarly an issue for Diesels with a particulate filter as the short journeys dont get the exhaust hot enough to burn it off and the filter gets all clagged up.

ahh I see,thought you meant for the sake of economy. It's guaranteed atleast one 40-50 mile run a week.
...can I run a modernish diesel on veg oil? Or is it only old'ns that take to it, do you need a conversion or something?

[fizzwheel]

I'd look at a Diesel as well the, but factor in the increasing cost of fuel and the difference between unleaded and diesel costs to.

Originally Posted by Dave20046

...can I run a modernish diesel on veg oil? Or is it only old'ns that take to it, do you need a conversion or something?

No idea, I read alot of stuff as I thought about running our 4 x 4 on it, I think it may depend on the design of the engine and whether its common rail or not. I know that our cacky old 4 x 4 wont run on veg oil as it destroys the seals in the fuel pump and knackers the pump. Our Audi has a specific bit in the owners manual saying not to use bio diesel, I didnt even bother seeing if it would take veg oil after that. Also I think the price of veg oil is on the rise and you need to filter it before you fill your tank with it, so its a bit of faffing about as well.