Changing my car

[CaptainChaos]

Not sure if there are any knowledgeable motorists/mechanics in here, but I am about to say a sad farewell to my old V-reg Honda Accord 1.8i VTEC.

It is still going, the most reliable car I've ever owned (for the last 8 years) but I think I need something different.

This could be an expensive version of Shineyitis, of course, but this device will have wheels & an engine!

My budget is around £4000 (not too much more).

The cars I have "shortlisted" are ..........

Honda Civic 2005 - 2008
Toyota Auris
Toyota Avensis
Honda Accord

Not sure whether to go for the diesel version to get better Tax rate.

I have a couple of weeks before I get paid & can add a bit more money to the £4000 I'll have, so ANY advice/reviews/damming condemnations will be gratefully received.

ps. I LOVE the Honda Civic by the way lol

pps. The other vitally important thing is this ... with ALL of the above cars, I believe they are all very reliable, but does the mileage matter as much these days as it used to (in my youth) ... would it be safe to get one of the above that is in brilliant condition but has 135,000 miles on the clock or should I just avoid those like the plague?

Thank you in advance for ANY advice/lookouts/anything

[wibble]

with my history of cars I daren't comment as everyone will laugh !

[enjay]

If you love the civic then get the civic

[ronaldo]

if you go down the diesel route 200,000 miles is only just run in they really do run on forever we have some works vans with literally 600,000 miles on them I would have to look but I think mine has over 450,000 miles on it and has never missed a beat and I have a mini-bus with over 400,000 miles on it as well so mileage on a diesel means nothing

[meeee]

I agree the mileage does not mean a lot on a diesel, the last vw golf I owned had over 180000 miles on it. The engine was still fine but the clutch and gearbox were definitely show signs of age. I would go for a lower mileage car if you can as there is going to be less wear on it in general .

[mybad]

All the cars you have listed are known for their reliability ,, as for diesel or petrol models for me it would depend on what sort of mileage you cover , if you do lots of 50 mile + journeys then it would have to be a diesel or for lots of short runs i.e. local shopping / school run type of driving then a petrol as the newer petrol versions do more mileage to the gallon these days.

[xs2man]

As mybad mentions, it really depends on your driving habits. Longer runs are where the diesel shines, but nipping to the shops just down the road a couple times a week and you're probably better off with a petrol.

Test drive the cars on the shortlist to see if you like them. Have a look at local garages for going for a spin, even if they are out of budget. You can at least try them before buying privately. Which I would do. Small independent garages, where you will find £4k examples, can be great, but they are few and far between. Mostly, their warranties are worthless, so not worth paying the premium for. And they will try to get away with spending the absolute minimum on the car before sale. I would far rather buy privately so you can get a sense of how well the car has been looked after by it's previous owner.

[dalealan]

My vectra c dti is now on 215k. If I was spending that amount of money I'd avoid the high milers though. Not for reliability as they seem to go forever but for the resale value which will dip quite a lot with bigger mileages then you've got your mileage going on top so when it's time for resale you might take a big hit unless it's a massive bargain to begin with. As for the cars you've mentioned I'd go for the civic. My mate has a type r and it's fantastic and the shape is much better than the rest but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.

[Deleted]

CaptainChaos

what mileage if you do a week ?
Is the car just for travelling to work / shops ?
Do you have a second car at home?
Do the cars above have FSH?

Ps regarding Hondas, I love them . I've got an Integral type r , 1680000 miles on clock, had for 12 years ( wife wouldn't let me buy Ducati lol) it's done track days , road trips , and it's never never ever gone wrong.

My daily work car ( audi turbo diesel ) is crap!!!

Honda Honda Honda

[Q]

The main thing is 'how much mileage, and what SORT of mileage' you do, most diesels now have a DPF, if you're only doing short runs this will clog and need replacement and they can be very expensive to replace, the silly thing is that there is a company who will remove the DPF completely and re-tune the engine to make it cleaner and give more MPG but it will fail the MOT because "If a car is fitted with a DPF at the factory it has to have one at MOT time"

To summarise, short journies = petrol, long ones = diesel

[CaptainChaos]

@purple1234

130 miles a week including a huge 5 mile motorway journey to work.
My car is the primary car and out of 2 (the other one is a slightly older Civic 1.6)
My current car is a 1.8i Honda Accord - 144,000 miles & is an awesomely reliable car.
The cars I am looking at all say they have the FSH.

The main reason of looking at the diesels available from the list is cheaper tax & slightly better average MPG. Is that false economy & bad thinking by myself?

[piddy]

Have you considered Mazdas?

With the exception of the RX-8 they are super reliable and tend to be a really good drive too.

[chrisjw]

Must admit, I'd never considered owning a diesel until I actually bought one......I've had 2 now & wouldn't be tempted back to petrol.........Ok, diesel fuel is a bit more expensive, but there is less to go wrong on them & they aren't the noisey, rattly cars they used to be..........



"Life...........is just a bowl of tricks!!!!!!"

[dalealan]

Whatever you go for if it says fsh make sure it's had all the belts done at the specified intervals. Dealer fsh is always good as they tend to go overboard with changing as much as possible. Avoid all the usual salesman crap like it's been owned by a mechanic who did all his own servicing etc as it's their usual ploy. And anything what doesn't fit the bill exactly walk away from there's always another one for sale. Some garage warranties are also good but some aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Another thing to consider is paying an independent checker to give it the once over. Might cost a few bob but at least it'll get a clean bill of health and if there's any major faults crop up they offer a guarantee. Both the RAC and the AA used to offer this and it could save you buying a lemon.

[CaptainChaos]

piddy - I did own a Mazda a while ago & I think the previous owner must've parked it in the sea for years, as after the first MOT, thhe garage said to me "get rid of it, get rid of it now!"

With regards to diesel vs petrol, will giving it a blast up the motorway help, or does it need to be consistent motorway driving to make a difference to gunking the engine up?

Thank you all who are joining in this, because it (whichever it is) will be bought in the next 2-3 weeks