Opinions on cars i'm thinking of buying

Dampsquid

I'm thinking about getting a new car in the next month or two.
Has anyone got any opinions on any of the following cars?

Opel Astra 1.4i
Opel Vectra 2.0 Dti
Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi

I'm gonna spend between 6k and 10k, maybe a '98 or '99 car.
Or has anyone got any other suggestions. I’m looking for a 4 door car, 1.6L max for petrol or 2L max for diesel.
Are diesels more expensive to service?

Blitzkrieger

I wouldn't touch an Opel with an extendable 20-30ft barge pole. Everybody I know who's had an Opel does nothing but complain about major defects.

I wouldn't get the Octavia becuase of image, and because I wouldn't want a diesel.

How big a car do you need? I'm in roughly the same price bracket myself, and I'm planning on getting a Mazda 323 1.4L with as much toys as possible.

mike65

Of those buy the Octavia the 1.9 TDi is a great value car.

See the review here- http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/car_reviews/main_review.asp?model_id=780

http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Skoda_Octavia.html

Opel Vectra
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/car_reviews/main_review.asp?model_id=293

Mike.

Dr. Dre

Diesel's (farmer fuel) are the work of satan.

Nothing wrong with the octavia, except you need to get a big an engine as possible, the 1.4 takes 15 secs to reach 60 !!! :eek: :rolleyes:

KoNiT

Don't worry about diesel, Octavia should be ok if you can check service history. Its a Tdi so it will be quick enough.

Depending on the county you live in, diesel is way cheaper than petrol - 63p / litre verses 83p (thats in Claremorris, Mayo.)

I would prefer the Scoda over the Opel if it had more "gimicks" , alloys ew, SR, etc.


Do you come from an Opel Family?

I would suggest the Honda Civic, i have one for 4 years now & the only thing I can complain about is the small boot opening.
Its a 4 door '98 1.4i SRS- easy on petrol when serviced regular.
& quite nippy when driven over 5000 rpm.
Have a look at them & see what you think.

Dampsquid

Yeah i'm thinking more about the diesel because of the fuel economy and its cheaper anyway.

Do you come from an Opel Family?

Nope, I just seen them around and thought they looked nice, but i'm edging back towards getting a Skoda.

I would probably go for the Ambiente model, 90 bhp. The insurance wouldn't be too bad on it either.

Does a service for a diesel car cost more than a petrol?

KoNiT

in this day & age service cost is down to labour. I would find it doubtfull that the costs are excessively expensive. You'll have to ring up a few garages. Ask the bloke your purchasing from how much the service costs are. Come back with the info!

mike65

Service interval on the Octavia TDI is a whopping 30,000 miles or 2 years so you wont have too much labour to pay for...

Mike.

Aragorn

You could get a 97 Audi A3 or a 98 Golf Mark 4 for under €10K, both quality motors.

jamesd

Defn the TDI Skoda ,
The Opel diesel engine is useless - they should have stuck with the 1.7TD engine they had in the earlier cars as they did not make that engine themselves.

daveg

Originally posted by Dampsquid
I'm thinking about getting a new car in the next month or two.
Has anyone got any opinions on any of the following cars?

Opel Astra 1.4i
Opel Vectra 2.0 Dti
Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi

I'm gonna spend between 6k and 10k, maybe a '98 or '99 car.
Or has anyone got any other suggestions. I’m looking for a 4 door car, 1.6L max for petrol or 2L max for diesel.
Are diesels more expensive to service?

I'd go for the Skoda. I have a diesal also (Audi A4 1.9Tdi) and she is as fast as I need + I do a shít load of milage to the gallen. I never owned a diesal before my A4 and tbh you wouldn't know the difference (except for how much you pay in fuel).

Bluehair

Interesting topic as I'm seriously considering a second hand Octavia myself atm. (1.9 tdi)

Does anyone have advice on whether or not it's worth it to plump for a more recent 01/02 or save the money and go a couple of years older?

It was suggested to me there may be a few high-mileage models out there due to their popularity with the taxi-drivers.

All online reviews seem to be positive though (thanks mike65)

Lord Nikon

Audi A4 1.6petrol, lowered with 17" S3 alloys. Oh, and get it in black.