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So my beloved Renault Megane is on the way out, 140k miles on the clock and things are starting to break, new front shocks and springs is the latest expense, new turbo was done last week, it will need a cam belt soon as well. So it is time to cut the losses and get a new one. I know nothing about cars, they don’t really interest me and I see them as tools, hence reliability being top of my requirements list.
My requirements are, in order of priority:
Reliability – The car is pretty important to me so I need to know it won’t break down very often. Happy with a very basic model to aid this.
Fuel economy – I do over 25k of motorway miles each year and whilst I hope to cut this down I still don’t want anything that uses much fuel. I also like how little it is to tax the 1.5d Megane at the moment (£30 per year).
Can fit football and bike kit in the back – An estate would be ideal but not essential.
I don’t want to spend more than £15k, second hand I guess and low mileage to begin with as I will rack it up!
So STW, what do you think? Or should I just stop wasting your time and buy an Octavia?
Peugeot 205 T16
Think that fits all the requirements? 🙂
What's wrong with buying another Megane then?
Ford C-max or mondeo estate. You'd get plenty of bells and whistles for £15k, I paid £5k for mine with 30,000miles and it's managed 40mpg despite being petrol so the diesels should be pretty economical.
Added bonus of the C-max, you can sleep in the back and get changed with plenty of (sitting) headroom which has made roadtips a bit more civilised.
Get a Mk3 Mondeo. Seriously.
If you just want a car to do motorway miles with fantastic mpg then you cant beat the 130bhp tdi. Ours does about 50mpg at 80mph.
One of the most comfotable motorway cars I have ever driven. Ours has done 100k miles in 4 years and no breakdowns.
Yeah, Mondeo is my vote. The 1.8 diesel isn't the most modern of engines but is still economical and utterly bombproof. A Focus with the 1.6 diesel would be my other choice (more modern engine, very economical, still bombproof).
You've just spent the money on a turbo, shocks and springs need replacing at increasingly frequent intervals (in direct proportion to the number of speed humps appearing on the roads), why not keep it?
Alternatively, spend half your money on a V8 M5 and use the remainder to cover the increased fuel costs!
They have a very spacious boot. 😈