Economic diesel for long distance travel.

[ianlea73]

I'm hoping that by August the country will be in a better position to allow travel & holidays etc. So myself & the wife have decided to drive to Southern Spain to our house.
The drive is about 23 hours through England, France and then on onto North east Spain & coastal motorway down towards Mercia.
We normally fly to Alicante and then hire a car to drive down the 2.5hrs to our place.
I'm after advise on a modern car to use.
Must be;
1.Very reliable.
2. Economic.
3. Diesel.
4. Preferably automatic.
5. Hatchback with reasonable boot space.
6. Less than £4k.
7. Cheap road tax bracket.

I've looked on what car & Googled but I'm after real life advise.
What modern reliable cars do you guys & girls drive?
The reason I have no experience is because I always rag around in absolute bangers sub £1k but obviously need something that isn't going to keep popping an EML on the dash & scaring me to death midway through France/,Spain.

[xbl]

SWMBO runs a Giulietta JTDM2 170, 65mpg on a run, loads of space and absolutely faultless and a hoot to drive when the mood takes you.

[ianlea73]

Mar 6, 2021 14:54:42 GMT xbl said:

SWMBO runs a Giulietta JTDM2 170, 65mpg on a run, loads of space and absolutely faultless and a hoot to drive when the mood takes you.

A reliable Alfa Romeo??

[Ryannn]

Has to be hatchback?

Surely you just want a 5 series or a non rusty e-class? I went to Barcelona in my Jag S-Type a few years ago, they aren’t super reliable but they’re rarely undriveable 😆

[pseudonymous]

Mar 6, 2021 14:49:20 GMT ianlea73 said:

I'm hoping that by August the country will be in a better position to allow travel & holidays etc. So myself & the wife have decided to drive to Southern Spain to our house.
The drive is about 23 hours through England, France and then on onto North east Spain & coastal motorway down towards Mercia.
We normally fly to Alicante and then hire a car to drive down the 2.5hrs to our place.
I'm after advise on a modern car to use.
Must be;
1.Very reliable.
2. Economic.
3. Diesel.
4. Preferably automatic.
5. Hatchback with reasonable boot space.
6. Less than £4k.

I've looked on what car & Googled but I'm after real life advise.
What modern reliable cars do you guys & girls drive?
The reason I have no experience is because I always rag around in absolute bangers sub £1k but obviously need something that isn't going to keep popping an EML on the dash & scaring me to death midway through France/,Spain.

Early E91 320d.

[ianlea73]

I've edited the list to add cheap road tax because f it's a good car I'll keep it.

[xbl]

£30/year for the Alfa.

[henspeed]

Anything VAG won’t go far wrong
Personally I’d go estate though 530d estate

[gtidreamer]

If you are willing to compromise on your diesel criteria I think a honda civic could be a good option.

[skkylinedave]

Tbh thats quite a lot to try to find for the money. I would say if your really determined to have cheap tax then you need a 1.6 diesel , probably vw. Vw is out of price range so I would look at a soda octavia,estates as well. A few dsg autos around , you will be doing well to find one with less than 100k. I would rather get one thats got great history than worry about the mileage.

[Dez]

Lupo tdi sport. 65mpg, 30 quid tax, hatch, you can fit a washing machine in the back with the rear seats folded down. Tall gearing so good for motorway work. Spacious in the front (much more so than a mk4 golf) and Drives like a much larger car.
Done over 50k in ours, only thing it’s really had I’d class as not routine for a car of its age and mileage is a injector loom that was £40. Everything else has been wearing parts like CVs, wheel bearings, cambelts, etc.

[andyg16v]

I ran a 2008 E91 320d BMW from 221000 to 303000. Engine and gearbox were faultless, but i did have issues with suspension arm bushes causing tyre wear.

Buy the right one though and it will give lots of comfortable miles 😎

[joem83]

Is this a long term car or just a 1 off journey?

[jpr1977]

Second vote for a Honda Civic Diesel can't fault them ran a few as company cars then bought my own following redundancy and self employment, following dramatic VAG failures ( my favorite being a pd diesel Golf throwing 2nd gear out of the bottom of the gearbox on a roundabout in front of a McD truck, followed by a A3 that shat itself after 50k ) None of them ever let me down seriously beyond an occasional puncture on the sport rims ( I used to do 30-50k per year...)

Used to do the run to the south of France 3 or 4 times a year in the Civic with no worries and you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in them, (got stopped for suspected booze and fags smuggling by the gendarme...) could get late 50's early 60's on the autoroute's. Only got rid as i needed a bigger car for the dog and prams and ended up with a 2.2d CRV, which is basically a Civic after a few extra pies.

[carat 3.6]

You have to ask yourself if you and the wife will be happy to spend 23 hours in a small hatchback? I certainly wouldn't be.

My advice is to buy whichever 530d, A6 avant, or E320cdi wagon fits your budget.

[igor]

I've done a 1000 mile journey pretty much non-stop in an old Civic. Seventeen and a half hours driving time. If there's just you and the missus and you're not hauling a ton of luggage an economical small hatchback is not a terrible idea.

[bstardchild]

I helped my niece buy this yesterday

Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 Ecoflex (114g/km so £30 VED)
MOT to Jan 2022
111 K Miles
2012 (2 Owners)
Full Service History
Very recent Bill for clutch, flywheel, cambelt and water pump (Old parts were in the boot which was nice)
3 mths warranty on engine and gearbox
Michelin on both the rears in near new condition (Mix of Bridgestone and Uniroyal on the front with 3-4 mm max)
Steel wheels and trims (looking at the pictures I would have said they were alloys but on closer inspection found they weren't - good because her parking skills are suspect)







Dealer quite happy for an unaccompanied test drive so we went for a 40 mile drive - town work - dual carriageways and a short stint on the M25 - brakes in a straight line, ABS works fine - it has a few minor age related marks but at the price point perfection in paint work is a rare thing

£2490

Best bit for me was it still has it's badge on the front - should I use sikaflex or superglue?

They seem to rack up huge mileages looking at examples for sale on Gumtree and Autotrader

It's a lot easier to find a hatch version than a saloon above - Niece wasn't bothered about hatch or boot as long as it wasn't an estate because that would be too big!!!!!

I always buy on condition first, history second and mileage third

During the search I noticed a few common issues

Knackered headlights (full of water)
Drivers seats that are cracked or collapsed bolsters (the part leather versions seem really common for this)
Little or no service history
No knowledge of last cambelt/waterpump change
Giffer scrapes on corners
Alloy wheels with chunks missing
I know looking at 9 - 12 year old cars I expect to see a few owners but these seem to change hands every couple of years (so 5 owners is quite common)

[ianlea73]

Thanks for the replies so far.
I like the alfa option & the civic diesel.

I'm put off by vag as I've had a mk3 golf & a 2litre touran, both had turbo issues & used to drop into limp mode on acceleration.

I would prefer a hatch back so I can fold the seats for up to 4 suitcases & loads of gear we've had in the loft ready to take with us.

I'm not an estate car fan.

Ive also got rid of an e91 petrol that had head gasket failure looming & the rear end felt like it was completely detached from the car.

[madmog]

Is this primarily:

A: A road trip where you leave/dump/sell the car in Spain?
B: A car you will leave at your house in Spain so you have something there in future?
C: Something you will drive back to the UK after?

[wildy]

Not sure where you are located but areas such as Bristol/Bath are bringing in clean air zones and nice cars are being given away. My friend just picked up a mint Insignia estate with full history just had new clutch/flywheel etc £1k. Person selling because they work in Bristol.