A friend is looking for a car.

". ." (xllx) 09/03/2013 at 11:46 • Filed to: advice

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A friend of mine is looking for his first very own set of wheels. His budget is very limited (probably to around 6000z/$1850/1400EUR) and fuel consumption is very much a factor too.

Whan he's looking at currently:

Ford Puma

Mitsubishi Carisma

Opel Tigra

and perhaps an Opel Vectra B, a Mondeo mk 2 or a Chrysler/Dodge Neon. A Renault Safrane is also an option. I've suggested an Opel Omaga or a Ford Scorpio but those could be too expensive to run and too hard to find in decent shape.

Mazda MX-3 is out because good ones are hard to find and they have utterly terrible image. The same applies to Preludes,

He's fine with both diesel and petrol engines (although larger petrols should be easily convertable to run on LPG). Puma and Tigra are the smallest he's willing to go so superminis are generally out (unless they're really cool and I can convince him).

Currently his favourite is the Puma.

So, Oppo. Any ideas what else I could suggest?

dogisbadob > . . 09/03/2013 at 11:50

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That Tigra is awesome! I wish they sold it over here. The Carisma is cool too, being the same car as the Volvo S40/V40.

How about a 90s Toyota? They are awesome cars.

. . > dogisbadob 09/03/2013 at 11:52

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The Puma is a much better car than the Tigra, but Tigras are cheaper to buy and to run.

Your boy, BJR > . . 09/03/2013 at 11:57

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Well the puma is just hands down awesome, and an all around great car. That one gets my vote.

Sparf > . . 09/03/2013 at 11:58

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What about an MR2? I've seen pretty cheap ones for sale in mainland Europe.

The Puma does look pretty nice though.

. . > Your boy, BJR 09/03/2013 at 11:58

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The 1.7 is reasonably quick too.

. . > Sparf 09/03/2013 at 11:59

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MR2s are too expensive. You'd need pretty much twice his budget to have a shot at getting a decent one.

Sparf > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:00

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I was thinking of the 80s AW11, which I've seen for around your friend's budget in Germany.

They were a bit crappy though, I'll give you that.

Your boy, BJR > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:01

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Yeah. those cars are real pocket rockets. And i have nostalgia for it as the "boost" from Midnight Club 2

duurtlang > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:02

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Peugeot 306. Great handling, fun to drive, cheap, reliable, not rust prone (*cough* Puma *cough* Tigra *cough*), easy to get parts for, can be converted to LPG (I drive a Peugeot of this era on LPG myself) and practical. You can get them with a wide range of engines, from powerful ones to economical ones. Diesel and gasoline.

dieselwagon > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:04

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Volvo V40
Ford Mondeo Estate/Wagon
Diesel obviously.
That is all.

. . > dieselwagon 09/03/2013 at 12:11

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From what I remember Mk 2 Mondeos had really, really rubbish diesels.

dieselwagon > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:17

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Those Mondeos wern't great all around, in my opinion. The diesels were very agricultural (as most were in those years) but they last pretty well, longer than the rest of the car.

I should be honest though, I was in a similar position a couple of years ago, similar budget. I opted for a 2000 Honda Accord 1.8 SE. No street cred but it's a really nice car all around, much better fit and finish than anything else in the price range and very very reliable.

. . > dieselwagon 09/03/2013 at 12:21

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I may be wrong here, but weren't those Mondeo diesels very prone to overheating problems on the 4th cylinder? I have a vague recollection of reading that many of them lack compression on the last cylinder because of that.

dieselwagon > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:32

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You may be right, I can't say for sure as I only really have anecdotal evidence. Diesel was far less popular in those days. According to Wikipedia the engine got a redesign in 1998, so the earlier ones may be the problem children.

I would strongly recommend looking at the Honda Accord that I mentioned earlier. I got over 2 years of trouble free motoring and 40,000 miles out of a 10 year old £900 car.

. . > duurtlang 09/03/2013 at 12:32

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I've mentioned the 306 to him and he said that he likes it enough to consider it. Thanks for the tip!

. . > dieselwagon 09/03/2013 at 12:33

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I'll mention the Accord and see if he likes it then. Thanks!

Eazy-O > . . 09/03/2013 at 12:39

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I didn't know MX-3s have a rubbish image. I think they're awesome little cars.

Outta the lot, if I was young again, I'd go for the Puma. It's aged incredibly well and from what I've heard isn't a shabby driver.

What's the insurance gonna cost him? Might be worth taking into account, considering his budget. Over here, until you've held your license for 3 years, you pay about 20-30% more on insurance.

. . > Eazy-O 09/03/2013 at 13:13

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MX-3s have been widely used by boy racers here and most are completely ruined. It's very, very difficult to find one that's not been ruined.

As for the costs, he's likely to ask his dad to buy the car for him and only list himself as a named driver. That should help immensely.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > . . 09/03/2013 at 13:28

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Pumas are great little cars. Definitely a good choice there.

Other than that, how about a Peugeot 106? My friend's had 4 of them so far (1 1.1l and 3 GTis). They're fun in all their guises, cheap, economical, have great aftermarket support (even tasteful stuff) and you can swap parts about like lego.

Also, how about a Mazda 323? I've always thought those looked great.

. . > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/03/2013 at 14:05

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The 106 may be too small for him as he's going to be doing most of his driving outside of town, on dual carriageways and so on.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > . . 09/03/2013 at 14:30

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Seemed to be alright for my mate. I also shared driving his 1.1l a couple of hundred miles to France and back, including a fair amount of driving on 90kph single-lanes and 110kph motorways. It feels pretty good at normal driving speeds, it's just when you give it the beans you realise it's got less than 60bhp.

It might be worth getting something bigger just for cruising though. Being small, the ride is less relaxed than something larger. It's not bad at all, but it's no motorway schlepper.

. . > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 09/03/2013 at 16:53

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Well, my friend's usual journey includes a stretch of 140 kph limited motorway so some horsepower will be needed.