Hopefully getting a career change which would require me to drive from Chelmsford to Clacton Everyday.

 

I was just going to get a 1.1 run around but my old man reckons i am better getting a 1.4 or 1.6 because the little engine will work harder to do 70MPH on the A roads and probably burn off more fuel.

 

How true or untrue is this?

 

also could anyone recommened a good runaround that is reliable? I was looking at another BMW as i saw a 1995 Compact 1.6i for £700 with Full Service History and MOT.

 

any ideas what else would also be a reliable runaround for A roads? :scooter:

i recently got a 306 1.9 td for running around in and its a great little car goes very well plenty of room carries 4 easy and really good mpg.

 

dan.:biggrin:

i recently got a 306 1.9 td for running around in and its a great little car goes very well plenty of room carries 4 easy and really good mpg.

 

dan.:biggrin:

 

 

funny you should mention that. someone else mentioned that i should get a diesel but i have never had one (dreads the thought of putting petrol in the diesal car and diesel in the petrol car :)

Renault laguna. Reliable and cheap

Renault laguna. Reliable and cheap

 

that is also true, mate had one. but whilst the engine kept going the electronics were awful (could be bad luck)

 

i seriously thought another BMW and whilst ther go forever they are expensive to fix Once they go wrong.

 

i wonder a polo would be a good choice as they seem to go forever but i think they would be higher than my budget which is around 1k

found this which seems fairly good. Not getting it as i need to get the job yet but im kind of going with it as a basis for what i am looking at.

 

http://essex.gumtree.com/essex/86/50398186.html

Anything diesel for economy!

 

Your old man speaks alot of sence, a tiny engine is fine in town but for a reasonable commute it'll be screaming. Also if your doing long commutes, get up 5 mins earlier and drive at 65 instead of 85, makes a massive difference to economy. I used to get nearly 40mpg out of a 2.0 petrol laguna, which according to the book would only do 33.

 

I also had a xsara hdi after the laguna died, that did about 60-61mpg. Cracking thing for economy, rubbish in every other way but what do you expect. Basically, if you want a petrol get the most modern thing you can. If its a diesel you want it doesnt matter so much, just make sure it runs okay. Older diesels not as economical as newer ones, BUT they are more reliablle.

Old 306 1.9d has about 4 moving parts, it just simply cant go wrong!

 

Although im a huge BMW fan, i woudlnt buy an e36 as an economical car, those old 4 pot bmw engines werent much cop "back in the day" many moons have passed since then and they havnt got better with age. THey are old engines, all 8 valves unless its an 318is/ti, not a bad motor but again hardly top of its game. Also very heavy cars (even the compact!) the more weight to pull round the more juice it uses.

If your going to be doing a lot of motorway and fast A-roadd

driving then you want to avoid most small city cars... It's not just the engine size but the gearing too. Small hatchbacks are geared for town economy and at faster speeds would be working harder at higher revs to do the same job as other cars.

 

Can't go wrong with anything VAG really, and the French do make decent diesels. You do have to be carefull with cheap diesels though...fuel pumps tend to go in older/high mileage diesels and will cost more to repair than you paid for car. A lot of car traders who sell cars for under £1k won't touch diesels for this reason.

 

When it comes to economy for a lot of commuting then you can't beat diesel though.

Edited January 1, 201015 yr by Yowser

cheers for the info guys. i will try to look at a diesel then :)