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Author Topic: Cheap daily runaround car?  (Read 9332 times)

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BazaJT

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #15 on: 13 August 2020, 09:32:27 »

For something roughly Astra sized Volvo S40 with[I think] 1.9 diesel,something a bit bigger-both bodily and engine capacity-Volvo S60 with the 5 cylinder D5 or a bit larger body Volvo S80 again with D5.
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Sir Tigger KC

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #16 on: 13 August 2020, 10:21:22 »

Mk6 Fiesta 1.4 petrol!  :y

Cheap to buy, run, insure and maintain, roomy for the size and fun to drive, and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed a cheap runabout.  :)
« Last Edit: 13 August 2020, 10:24:16 by Sir Tigger QC »
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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #17 on: 13 August 2020, 11:07:37 »

Mk6 Fiesta 1.4 petrol!  :y

Cheap to buy, run, insure and maintain, roomy for the size and fun to drive, and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed a cheap runabout.  :)
Would you do 25k miles a year in one?
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VXL V6

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #18 on: 13 August 2020, 11:13:20 »

Volvo's are interesting cars, I guess at the price point it would be late Ford ownership and possibly early Geeley ownership. I don't think the D5 lump would be in the lower tax brackets would it?
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Nick W

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #19 on: 13 August 2020, 11:14:47 »

Mk6 Fiesta 1.4 petrol!  :y

Cheap to buy, run, insure and maintain, roomy for the size and fun to drive, and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed a cheap runabout.  :)


Me too. £750 gets you a nice, tidy car with a decent interior. Spend a day on a major service, new shocks, wishbones and four tyres and it's ready for 25,000 miles p/a with just oil changes twice a year. And there's a decent chunk of change change from your £2k budget.

Same thing applies to an Astra G.

However, if doing that sort of mileage, you do need to pick a car that you find comfortable.
« Last Edit: 13 August 2020, 11:18:17 by Nick W »
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Nick W

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #20 on: 13 August 2020, 11:17:38 »

Mk6 Fiesta 1.4 petrol!  :y

Cheap to buy, run, insure and maintain, roomy for the size and fun to drive, and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed a cheap runabout.  :)
Would you do 25k miles a year in one?


It's like a mk1 Focus. But with comfortable seats. And driving position. And suspension. And a usable boot if that matters. And it doesn't make you wish you were blind every time you look at it.
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Sir Tigger KC

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #21 on: 13 August 2020, 11:25:57 »

Mk6 Fiesta 1.4 petrol!  :y

Cheap to buy, run, insure and maintain, roomy for the size and fun to drive, and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed a cheap runabout.  :)
Would you do 25k miles a year in one?

Yes.  My Mum had one and it was surprisingly comfy on long journeys.  :y

Andy asked for a cheap runabout, not a luxobarge.  ::)  :P
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VXL V6

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #22 on: 13 August 2020, 11:26:26 »

....

However, if doing that sort of mileage, you do need to pick a car that you find comfortable.

That's a pretty key point, I don't really class 25K as high mileage as i've always done over 30K a year since I passed my test (When TV was black and white LOL!), the Omega Elite seats are excellent with the amount of adjustment and there's not many car seats that I find as comfortable and supportive.
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VXL V6

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #23 on: 13 August 2020, 11:29:19 »

I'm really just trying to stir up debate here  :y

If you look at this from a perspective of lower road tax and Ulez exemption you start to be pushed towards newer cars, ironically a rusty 3.2 Omega is exempt for Ulez  ;D
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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #24 on: 13 August 2020, 11:38:35 »

The seats in the S Class are more adjustable than the Omega as you can set the squab length independently of the seat position...

Steering column is electrically adjustable for both reach and rake.  ;)
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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #25 on: 13 August 2020, 11:39:18 »

....

However, if doing that sort of mileage, you do need to pick a car that you find comfortable.

That's a pretty key point, I don't really class 25K as high mileage as i've always done over 30K a year since I passed my test (When TV was black and white LOL!), the Omega Elite seats are excellent with the amount of adjustment and there's not many car seats that I find as comfortable and supportive.


I thought that until I rebuilt my 160,000 mile driver seat with the base and back foam from a passenger seat. That made it even better, in the same fitting new shocks and springs always does.


When buying a cheap car to do that sort of mileage, a good, clean, unmolested interior is high on the must have list.
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VXL V6

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #26 on: 13 August 2020, 11:45:42 »

....

However, if doing that sort of mileage, you do need to pick a car that you find comfortable.

That's a pretty key point, I don't really class 25K as high mileage as i've always done over 30K a year since I passed my test (When TV was black and white LOL!), the Omega Elite seats are excellent with the amount of adjustment and there's not many car seats that I find as comfortable and supportive.


I thought that until I rebuilt my 160,000 mile driver seat with the base and back foam from a passenger seat. That made it even better, in the same fitting new shocks and springs always does.


When buying a cheap car to do that sort of mileage, a good, clean, unmolested interior is high on the must have list.

Yes, There's a definite difference between my 105K and 237K Elite's as you'd expect, but I still maintain that the Elite seats are some of the best long distance seats ive spent time sat in on any car. I think the range of adjustment is equally as important as the sculpture and support of the seat.
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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #27 on: 13 August 2020, 11:47:41 »

Mk6 Fiesta 1.4 petrol!  :y

Cheap to buy, run, insure and maintain, roomy for the size and fun to drive, and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed a cheap runabout.  :)
Would you do 25k miles a year in one?

Yes.  My Mum had one and it was surprisingly comfy on long journeys.  :y

Andy asked for a cheap runabout, not a luxobarge.  ::)  :P
True, but there's a big difference between popping to the shops every five minutes (my definition of a runaround) and doing work mileages ;)

ULEZ could be a problem though, unless the charge is built into job pricing/offset against tax :-\
« Last Edit: 13 August 2020, 11:50:58 by Doctor Gollum »
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Nick W

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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #28 on: 13 August 2020, 12:01:39 »



Yes, There's a definite difference between my 105K and 237K Elite's as you'd expect, but I still maintain that the Elite seats are some of the best long distance seats ive spent time sat in on any car. I think the range of adjustment is equally as important as the sculpture and support of the seat.


I'm not a fan of lots of adjustments, as it encourages designers to skimp on the basic design/installation. And then you end up constantly fiddling with the adjustments to stay comfortable if you ever managed it in the first place. Mum's '12 Focus is like that;it has the usual rake, front back, height, lumbar etc, but the adjustments are far  too coarse and the height adjustment is done by a weird mech that moves in more than arc. With 3 of us driving it, I can never get the seat in the same barely good enough position twice.  The Omega seats got all of those right(they're by Recaro, so that's hardly a surprise) so that I took a few seconds to adjust the seat when I bought the car and never fiddled with it again. The memory function was useful to return to that on the few occasions my sister drove the car.


I found the sports Recaros that Ford used in the '70s and 80's to be better still: perfectly supportive and instantly comfortable, even though they have barely any padding on sheet steel frames and only the rake was adjustable. Somebody spent a lot of time actually designing the things to suit real bodies!
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Re: Cheap daily runaround car?
« Reply #29 on: 13 August 2020, 13:16:18 »

Volvo's are interesting cars, I guess at the price point it would be late Ford ownership and possibly early Geeley ownership. I don't think the D5 lump would be in the lower tax brackets would it?

Personally I'd go pre-2006 as the facelifted cars have a more modern interior but are less comfortable. The D5 of that age is in the £300ish tax bracket, later ones are similar. Something like this (although no heated seats in this one):

S60 Linky

The C30 hatch is also worth considering if you are looking for astra size car. The D5 lump is big for a hatchback and gives them genuine poke. Here do  :y
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