How much RELIABLE car can you get for £1500.00 ?

[grizz]

A good friend is looking for a car for his son who will be running from Guildford to Ireland for university.

He has a 2003 VW Gold TDi that is just going to be a touch small in the long run.

So he is looking for, wondering what you can get in the 3 series/C-Class range, maybe even a Passat or similar.

Advice, ideas, cars ??

Post up what you have please

[craig1010cc]

S60/v70 volvos are cracking motors and are pretty robust motors

[ballbagbagins]

Can't he just get a roof box?

[grizz]

Thanks Craig

I like them too.



Renault Megane?



Opinions?



www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106103711449



Thanks

[mylittletony]

I would 100% NOT be trading in a golf for a Megane if he wants reliability!!!

A 3 series/C-class isn't likely to be noticeably bigger than the golf IMO

I've a 6'4" colleague who has a Golf and I've moved house in a peugeot 205, so I'm hard pushed to see why a change is required tbh.

That era Golf are pretty reliable, pretty cheap to fix, pretty comfortable and pretty cheap to cover long distances in.

[shorty87]

Not sure if it’d be too big but I’ve been running a pd engined a4 estate for just about a year and so far have had 13k trouble free miles (just tyres and a service which would have been on any car) and have used it to lug a lot of stuff around, it’s an 05 plate so the slightly older look but is a sport model so even looks nice enough too
Hope this helps!
Oo Yeap and it was £1000 to buy a year ago!

[Paul Y]

When you buy a second hand car you are actually buying somebody else’s problems….

I concur with others. Keep the golf. If you are driving that distance by yourself how much extra space do you need PLUS you know the cars problems.

Failing that V70 or 850 Get a manual diesel and you will never look back.. one of the most comfortable long distance cars I have owned.

Keep the Golf.

P.

[contrarian]

Jun 15, 2021 21:44:26 GMT craig1010cc said:

S60/v70 volvos are cracking motors and are pretty robust motors

I'm fond of these myself but they seem fairly vulnerable to the old tin worm compared to the earlier P80 series cars.  I've seen two 06 models recently both with rotten strut towers.  Unfortunately one of them was mine and I weighed it in.  The other is still plodding around on borrowed time.  

My 2000 V70 T5 is fine in the strut towers but the boot floor needs welding.  

Cheers

[contrarian]

Jun 15, 2021 20:58:16 GMT grizz said:

A good friend is looking for a car for his son who will be running from Guildford to Ireland for university.

He has a 2003 VW Gold TDi that is just going to be a touch small in the long run.

So he is looking for, wondering what you can get in the 3 series/C-Class range, maybe even a Passat or similar.

Advice, ideas, cars ??

Post up what you have please

My suggestion would be an early Mk4 Mondeo with the 2.0 140hp PSA diesel.  They're big, comfy and safe.  They also drive really well and still look quite modern.  In my opinion none of the German stuff from the same era can match them for reliability.  

[deckchairdave]

Stick with the golf tdi. I've had my gtd 6 years and 50,000 miles, never let me down. If its interior space you need I'd get a roof box as suggested.

[sheeraz552]

1.8 Honda Civic mk8. Easily achieve 45-50mpg on aa steady run. Roomy with the fold down rear seats and boot is huge

[grizz]

Not sure what he is doing at the moment.

To me the Golf is a solid option, as are a few others.

[Mr S]

My (now) 197500 mile 56 plate Saab 9-5 petrol turbo has been 100% reliable for me over the last few years. They are pretty cheap and underrated IMO, very solid car. Really should put it up for sale now I've got the S-Class!

EDIT: It cost me £265 with a split power steering line (£100 part and a b*tch of a job!), all it's needed in my ownership is a battery, regular servicing, tyres, brakes and that's it!

[tineca]

Honda accord is a great car for reliability,also the CRV.i like my Volvo's too and can vouch for the d5 engine.

[geoffr]

Civic Aerodeck? Won't set the world on fire but will haul a fair bit of stuff and cost peanuts to run.

[madmog]

... wondering what you can get in the 3 series/C-Class range

If you look on Autotrader for 'Mercedes' with minimal filters and order by price low to high some nice W203 and W202 C classes come up for reasonable money sometimes. Note the saloons don't have fold down rear seats with access to the boot. It's all metal with the exception sometimes of a small ski flap. If the space you need has to be contiguous get the estate.

Even W210 E classes come up with the frugal 220 CDI engines for bangernomics money often enough.

If put in sensible filters like 'E220CDi' or 'W203' or even 'S202' you miss all the cars where the owner doesn't know what they are called or just describes badly.