On Feb 23, 11:27*pm, gremlin_95 wrote:
On 23/02/2012 22:47, Newshound wrote:







On 23/02/2012 22:08, Doctor Drivel wrote:

"gremlin_95" wrote in message
...

Reliability and fuel efficiency are the most important things for me.

Buy a Toyota or Honda. The rest can't touch them.

VWs should be reliable but not so cheap to fix if they go wrong. Most
things Japanese are likely to be as reliable and cheaper; no problem
with Toyota or Honda, but I've also had good Nissans and Daihatsus,
and Which talk highly of low end Mazdas. But TBH the large volume
stuff is mostly pretty good: Focus, Astra, etc. Avoid higher spec
stuff, particularly French. One of my kids is having endless trouble
with a Pug 307 fancy diesel.

My mechanic says steer clear of common rail, go for slightly older
stuff. I'm currently running a 1.4 diesel Astra estate which I bought
with about 80k on an 03 plate (Isuzu engine) for less than £3k, gives
almost 60 mpg on urban or motorway, and looks like running forever.

Either go for something very cheap, so that you can throw it away if
it gets silly (don't forget that it's likely to be worth £150 just for
scrap), or something respectable and boring.

If insurance is a big issue, look at low rating things like Micras,
Pandas, etc.

Thank you, whilst on Pug, I am learning to drive in a 308 HDI...it broke
down on my first lesson, though this was just after it was serviced by
the main dealer and they apparently drained the battery,

There are independant specialists which will give more reliable
service, look to the Peugoet Motoring Club(for instance) or whatever
their preferred monicker is to see if there is an independant
specializing in your area of choice. This applies across all brands
and usually equates to two blokes who are qualified vehicle
technicians with specific understanding to the brand. You'll pay a
fraction of the cost of a main dealer because the independant can work
much more efficiently.