Hello Matt,
Whilst a student and in my youth, I have had a succession of terrible cars, failed M.O.T's and bits falling off. I currently own a very old P-reg Volvo 850 estate kindly handed down to me by parents, who were fed up with helping out with repair bills and taking me to dodgy car auctions over the years. Although it has been a good car I have realised I am spending 60 pounds a week on petrol getting to work 30 minutes away. Which I can no longer afford. I have scrimped and saved (teachers wages!) 2000-3000 pounds and am looking to buy a reliable LPG or diesel car. I am interested in a 1.9 306 Diesel turbo, or a Range Rover LPG. I prefer cars with bigger engines over 1.6. Please, please advise as this will be my first ever "proper car".
Regards.
Rob Scatchard, Welwyn Garden City, UK
Answer
Rob,
When motoring on a budget, you really need to do your homework (sorry, couldn’t resist).
LPG and all alternative power cars are seeing sharp upturns in price. But those prices will drop in the future so they are bad value at the moment.
Diesels are cheap to run initially because of the high MPG. But I have found they go wrong sooner than petrols and cost more to fix. So a 306 1.9 Turbo is a good choice now, but if you want to run it for several years, it may cost you.
Plus you get more for your money now if you stick to petrol. I would buy a 2001 Ford Focus 1.6i Zetec, which will achieve 41 MPG. The 306 Turbo will achieve only slightly more - 43 MPG. But the Focus will be cheaper to repair and is a better drive.
The Range Rover is just a set of bills that you could do without. Not because it is especially unreliable, just parts and labour are expensive.
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