Alternatives to 97-01 Mondeo?

Yendred · 18-12-2006 3:40pm #1

Folks,
Come the new year poor oul Betsy (94 Punto 1.1s) will have to go. She will be replaced with a car that:

Will not be like driving a bus on ice. I've driven a Vento and been horrified. :eek:
Won't have to do many miles, say between 5 and 10 thousand.
Will be driven on a roughly equal mix of long motorway trips (Dub<->Galway), windy country roads and city tootling.
Will have to accommodate four grown (6') adults.
Hatchback seriously preferred.
Won'd cost the Earth. I'm a 32-year-old Software Engineer (yes, really!) with three years NCD; no claims, penalty points or convictions etc.

Just to give you an idea, I was looking at a '99 Mondeo 2l for around E2500 but the sale fell through when the owner's father hit it with a tractor. :rolleyes:

It seemed to tick all the boxes but I was not too pleased by the rear seat though. It seemed to give less leg-room than a Focus.

What I'd like to know is are there any alternatives in the same price range +-E500 that will be as good to drive that will give more rear room?

Thanks in advance. Probably.

-Yendred.

ninty9er · 18-12-2006 4:06pm

Mazda 626

Vectra

Carina (old reliable)

Some people have issies with the Vectra, but we had one for 4 years and didn't have any major problems

Gary ITR · 18-12-2006 4:12pm

What about one of these?

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=554913

BnA · 18-12-2006 4:21pm

I would say the Mazda 626 or the Mondeo.

The Avensis is a fine car too but would probably cost you a bit more.

TomMc · 18-12-2006 4:23pm

May be a bit long in the tooth and a '96 - but these were always very spacious. I remember getting a lift in one (taxi) onetime and was quite surprised how roomy it was. 1.8L no powerhorse though.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=500391

ninty9er · 18-12-2006 7:29pm

Onkle51 wrote:

What about one of these?

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=554913

I came across that one too, but I'd say the VRT is excluded which shoves it over budget

bazz26 · 18-12-2006 10:46pm

junkyard · 18-12-2006 11:08pm

I'd go with a Toyota Avensis or a late model Carina or, as bazz26 recommends, a Rover 600, as long as it has a Honda engine.

JHMEG · 19-12-2006 12:14am

Primeras can be had for half nothing, and are a fairly good car.

Avensis is the same, but a bit more expensive, and a lot of people consider the Carina E to be a better car (I'd kind of agree).

If the budget stretches to it, an Accord is also an excellent car.

I believe the 626 is a good car but it's been 10 years since I was in one.

The Rover 600... Honda engined or not, the car itself is not built by Honda, and this does make a huge huge difference!

They can be had for almost nothing, but don't be fooled into thinking you'd get legendary Honda reliablity...

ninty9er · 19-12-2006 12:28am

The volve as mentioned by Bazz is a comforttable car to be driven in, but I remember asking about the sonata here a few months ago and was basically told to avoid unless I had my own oil well hidden somewher in the Mid-West

bazz26 · 19-12-2006 1:20am

JHMEG wrote:

The Rover 600... Honda engined or not, the car itself is not built by Honda, and this does make a huge huge difference! They can be had for almost nothing, but don't be fooled into thinking you'd get legendary Honda reliablity...

I thought both the Rover 600 and Honda Accord at the time were built side by side in Swindon?

BTW I had a 1994 Honda Accord 2.0i LS a good few years ago and it gave me no bother over 100k miles. Great car

overdriver · 19-12-2006 7:26am

Get a '97 Carina E.
It'll give you dependable service and is actually quite nice to drive - comfy on long journeys too.

Spit62500 · 19-12-2006 7:47am

ninty9er wrote:

I came across that one too, but I'd say the VRT is excluded which shoves it over budget

If that's the correct reg the VRT shouldn't be an issue - the number range is too low for an import.

That model was said to have more rear leg room than the 7 series of the time...

Redrocket · 19-12-2006 7:48am

i was in a taxi at the weekend, he told me his old carina did almost 400k miles and he only got rid of it because it was beggining to look tatty, he bought another cleaner looking model and kept the old for spares

maidhc · 19-12-2006 7:57am

stevenk wrote:

i was in a taxi at the weekend, he told me his old carina did almost 400k miles and he only got rid of it because it was beggining to look tatty, he bought another cleaner looking model and kept the old for spares

Any avensis I know of will be dead long before 400k. I'll make sure of it.

No, seriosuly, they are not built all that well at all.

bazz26 · 19-12-2006 12:16pm

maidhc wrote:

Any avensis I know of will be dead long before 400k. I'll make sure of it. No, seriosuly, they are not built all that well at all.

Well my 2003 has nearly 120k miles on it and not an ounce of bother from it, better built than the models before it for sure. Doubt I'll still have it at 400k miles though to compare against the Carina. I think in general cars these days will not last as long as ones made 10 or 15 years ago. Even Mercs are not as good as they used to be. They are a bit like household appliances. I have a 15 year old Sony tv at home running perfectly. Doubt the Sony LCD tvs will last 15 years or so.

Interestingly enough an ex neighbour of mine drives a taxi for a living and he drives nothing but Toyotas, he has had various Corollas, Carinas and Avensis. He currently drives a 2005 Avensis D4-D. He found that the Carina E gearbox was a weak point in the car.

HashSlinging · 19-12-2006 12:27pm

How can you tell a car now will not be as reliable as a 10 year old car in 10 years time, with advances in engineering, surly a modern car should out do its predecessor? I'd say most of the modern Toyotas will out last previous models by miles, just need to find someone who will drive it that long...BAZZ36 maybe?

JHMEG · 19-12-2006 12:35pm

bazz26 wrote:

I thought both the Rover 600 and Honda Accord at the time were built side by side in Swindon?

No. Some engines/gearboxes and most of the design was supplied by Honda. Assembled/built by Rover. In the early days Rover built Civics for Honda, but due to quality isses Honda decided to set up their own factory in Swindon.

bazz26 wrote:

BTW I had a 1994 Honda Accord 2.0i LS a good few years ago and it gave me no bother over 100k miles. Great car

Pretty much the norm...

Yendred · 19-12-2006 4:39pm

Lads,
I was expecting someone to say "Did yeh ever think of getting a Corolla?", not go to all the bother of digging out links to examples!
Thanks!
By the way, did Pyeujoh bring out a hatchback 406?
-Yendred the thankful.

ninty9er · 19-12-2006 4:50pm

Nope. Only saloon or estate.

The Laguna, Carina,Primera, Vectra are the only liftbacks I can think of off hand, though there are more,

The Corolla's not a bad idea, but you seemed to want something a bit bigger, so why try and convince you to go for something outside your search range. We're hedre to help and do sometimes make stupid suggestions in trying to help, but you seem fairly certain on what you're looking for

Yendred · 19-12-2006 4:57pm

ninty9er wrote:

Nope. Only saloon or estate.

Well, I'll take a look and see if I could live with it anyway. Probably not but you never know.

ninty9er wrote:

The Laguna, Carina,Primera, Vectra are the only liftbacks I can think of off hand, though there are more,

I'll have a thrash around and look in the "showrooms".

ninty9er wrote:

The Corolla's not a bad idea, but you seemed to want something a bit bigger, so why try and convince you to go for something outside your search range. We're hedre to help and do sometimes make stupid suggestions in trying to help, but you seem fairly certain on what you're looking for

Well, I'm sure on my requirements more than exactly what car.
Thanks for the suggestions.

BrianD3 · 19-12-2006 5:22pm

Safrane?
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=Car&carID=528974&message=You%20searched%20for%3A%20Renault%20Safrane%2E%20Your%20search%20returned%20one%20vehicle%2C%20which%20is%20shown%20below%2E&CFID=3266722&CFTOKEN=57469825

Bit expensive for your budget but you could haggle him down as these are unloved by the majority

With your budget you are getting close to banger territory. Many cars for your price range will have been abused, clocked, hackneyed, driven into the ground. IMO in this price range condition number of owners, how it's been maintained/driven, genuine mileage and year are much more important considerations than make and model.

colm_mcm · 19-12-2006 7:53pm

I'd say Mazda 626, Subaru Legacy or Honda Accord.

JohnBoy · 20-12-2006 3:37pm

would you consider an estate?

focus diesel estate 117k miles on the clock, 12 months test (i think) 50 mpg, stuck to the road, comfy to travel in.......

stretch your budget just a little bit........

Yendred · 21-12-2006 2:12pm

JohnBoy wrote:

would you consider an estate?

focus diesel estate 117k miles on the clock, 12 months test (i think) 50 mpg, stuck to the road, comfy to travel in.......

stretch your budget just a little bit........

Can't see myself getting an estate, despite any effort you made to drop the price to account for the milage.

Yendred · 21-12-2006 2:14pm

Folks,
Do to circumstances beyond my control either I will have no money to replace Betsy or be able to afford something better than I had in mind.
Thanks for the suggestions but the question was premature.
-Yendred, who is rarely premature about anything. Honest.;)

Alternatives to 97-01 Mondeo?

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