Ford Mondeo or Toyota Corolla

reid123

Hi, Im starting to drive and I need some advice on getting a car.

Im tied between a Ford Mondeo 1.8 Saloon (+04) and a Toyota Corolla 1.4 Hatchback (+02).

I need a good reliable car that wont break on me in a few months time and one that is relatively cheap to run. Iv been told that the Toyota Corolla is my best bet but I cant get the Mondeo out of my mind. Love the design of the car. I have about €4000 odd to put towards the car at the end of summer and maybe another few hundred by Christmas.

Any taughts and opinions would be great!

JohnBoy26

reid123 wrote: »

Hi, Im starting to drive and I need some advice on getting a car.

Im tied between a Ford Mondeo 1.8 Saloon (+04) and a Toyota Corolla 1.4 Hatchback (+02).

I need a good reliable car that wont break on me in a few months time and one that is relatively cheap to run. Iv been told that the Toyota Corolla is my best bet but I cant get the Mondeo out of my mind. Love the design of the car. I have about €4000 odd to put towards the car at the end of summer and maybe another few hundred by Christmas.

Any taughts and opinions would be great!

If reliability is your main concern and your starting out driving then it's the Corolla id be going for.

Leonard Hofstadter

1.8 Mondeos from 2003 onwards are fine for reliability, the earlier Mk3 models are best avoided due to the fact that the engines have a tendency to burn plenty of oil as the miles pile on.

A Corolla will be cheaper to run and if you're only starting out driving, they should be a lot cheaper to insure, though.

The Mondeo will be more comfortable, have a better spec, will be much nicer to drive, and is safer with more airbags and a better crash test rating. Corollas from that vintage only have two airbags; a Mondeo has six!

colm_mcm

Any corolla from mid 04 onwards will have front and side airbags

unkel

reid123 wrote: »

Hi, Im starting to drive

Did you check how much insurance is on either car?

reid123

Iv looked around and insurance for the Mondeo is coming out at €1600 and the corolla is €2170. Big difference from a 1.8 to a 1.4??

The Mondeo iv come across is:
2005 1.8L Zetec (Chain driven)
130K miles
petrol
€2000

Cant seem to come across many toyota corollas in that price range in the 02-07 model.

colm_mcm

You won't. Corollas are sought after and command higher prices.

bazz26

Have a look at the Avensis, you will get a 2004/2005 model for €4k these days, bigger and cheaper to buy than a Corolla but less thirsty than the Mondeo.

reid123

How are the 2005 MK3 Mondeos? Do they guzzle petrol? Any major issues?

Leonard Hofstadter

reid123 wrote: »

How are the 2005 MK3 Mondeos? Do they guzzle petrol? Any major issues?

As long as you avoid the petrols before 2003, you'll be fine. Mondeos are good cars. 1.6 Avensis guzzles fuel on the motorway as it is too underpowered. The 1.8 is the engine to have in the Avensis, it's faster and it is much better equipped. It's also considerably quieter on the motorway as the engine has more power and runs at lower revs.

unkel

reid123 wrote: »

Iv looked around and insurance for the Mondeo is coming out at €1600 and the corolla is €2170.

That's crazy dude. Would you not consider driving a low risk car like a Micra / Fiesta for a year or so until you are less of an insurance nightmare?

sean1141

unkel wrote: »

That's crazy dude. Would you not consider driving a low risk car like a Micra / Fiesta for a year or so until you are less of an insurance nightmare?

When I started driving I paid 3.5k to insure a 7 year old 1L micra. After a year I changed to a 5 year old 2.0td avensis. It cost 200 quid more to insure than the micra. If I had known that at the start I would have started off in the avensis.

It might be fook all less to insure a micra/fiesta starting off. Check with your insurance op. No point in being stuck in a little POS when you could get a bigger one!!

unkel

sean1141 wrote: »

Check with your insurance op. No point in being stuck in a little POS when you could get a bigger one!!

Aye. See the advice in my first post on this thread. But a little birdie is telling me that if he was quoted over 2k for a Corolla, he'll be quoted a lot less than 1.8k for a Micra