spend €1250 on diesel repairs or buy a cheap EV

tom1ie

hi all,

I'm in a predicament and looking for some advice if possible.

My beloved 2011 Vauxhall Insignia SRI with 304K KMS on it requires some work.

I've been quoted at least €1250 for timing belt and water pump, front discs and pads, plus fan belt.

I also know that the Dual mast Fly wheel is knocking and starting to sound like a tractor.

Knowing that I have a Diesel Civic available to me (its our second car for the missus), to do the long journeys I require for work, I'm thinking maybe I should get rid of the insignia (is there a place that I can get rid for free? I doubt it has any value at this stage).

If I got rid of the insignia i could replace it with a cheap Leaf with limited range.

The missus works within 15kms of the house, and everything else we travel to is quite close also.

I don't have a charge point at home though so would need to budget that in to the purchase.

Any advice for me folks?

witnessmenow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058357623/spend-1250-on-diesel-repairs-or-buy-a-cheap-ev

If I was in your position I would make the change, great opportunity to dip your toe in to the EV world for not a lot of money.

We were in a similar position earlier in the year, other than our regular trips were a bit longer, so we originally were thinking a super cheap EV, but we ended up spending a decent bit more on a 221. We love it, one of the issues we have at the moment is we use it too much (we'll run out of warranty due to mileage before years on our current driving) cause its nicer to drive and cheaper to run (about 1/10th of the cost roughly) than the diesel car.

I was only saying to my wife the other day, if insuring a 3rd car wasnt such a hassle in Ireland we'd nearly be as well off buying a super cheap EV if one came up for some of the school run type trips to take the pressure off the other one. We still need the ICE car as its an estate and we have two dogs.

To answer your question on getting rid of the Insigna, I got €300 off cartakeback.ie for my 08 Astra that was not running anymore. They collected it from the house and gave me €300 in cash.

The best option for an EV is a dedicated charger ok, factor roughly €1000 for this. But for the mileage your doing you could potentially use a "granny charger", an EV charger with a regular 3 pin plug on the end. They are pretty slow, but you'd make up 30-40KM of range in a few hours (I'm not 100% sure of the maths of them). This only really works out if you have a socket in a decent place.

User1998

So brakes, timing belt, and a fanbelt? So the car is driving alright? Theres no reason you wouldn’t get €1000+ for that car. Could be ideal for someone who just needs a car for a few months. Definitely not worth spending any money on it tho.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122314725#Comment_122314725

yeah it’s driving perfect at the minute and great on smashing motorway miles tbh.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122315227#Comment_122315227

Thats a €1000+ car if you were to sell it IMO. Personally I wouldn’t be spending any money on it tho at this stage of its life. Either get rid now or play timing belt roulette until your NCT expires.

Definitely not a bad idea replacing it with a cheap Leaf or even a little Yaris or something.

liamog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058357623/spend-1250-on-diesel-repairs-or-buy-a-cheap-ev

How old are the electrics in your house, there's a few people who've been stung with expensive electrical works when installing a home charger. It might be worth doing an assessment to see if you have a simple install vs replacing the consumer unit.

McCrack

The work on the insignia is just routine maintenance, get it done and you have another 60 to 100k miles until they need to be replaced, and regular oil and filters changes along the way. The flywheel again is just routine if it's needs replacing.

A cheap leaf instead would be a miserable place to be.

donal.hunt

Was in a similar position with a VW passat estate (B6 highline 2010 w/ 260K km). Needs ~ €2.5k of age-related work (clutch kit, flywheel) but probably valued in the €5-7k range with the work done (secondhand prices are silly right now).

Just bought one of the VW E-UPs that are being offloaded at the moment as it's all I need. Given my current needs and the fact it has a similar spec to my highline Passat (heated seats, heated windscreen, simple entertainment system that just works, buttons!!), I'm very happy paying what I did. Price of any newer generation, similar age/mileage car would have been multiples of the sale price. Likely to get enough value out of it before switching to something in 3-5 years time - should be a lot more choice new and used then. And the Up will likely be a great starter car for my kids when they get to that stage.

teediddlyeye

At a 15km commute, cheap leaf all the way. No contest in running cost. Even at that mileage I wouldn't bother with a proper charger, a 3 pin plug will do if it's handy enough.

No €1/2k "routine" maintenance popping up. Tyres and screenwash is all.

Red Silurian

Buying a used leaf is a great way to dip the toes in but be aware of the limitations of the car. If all you are using it for is short journeys you will be fine though

2013/14 versions with about 80km range are going for €3,500 asking at the moment, add about €1k for a proper charger or get an outdoor 3-pin installed and "granny charge" the car. That way if you change your mind you still have a fully working 3-pin socket for a lawnmower or something.

A 24kWh leaf with 20% degradation should have 29kWh usable, about 80-100km range so should suit the 15km requirements. It will charge from 0-100 in a little over 9hrs on a granny cable. You'll never charge from 0% though, same as you'd never fill a diesel from 0L

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058357623/spend-1250-on-diesel-repairs-or-buy-a-cheap-ev

If it's driving fine and needs 1500 odd of maintainence to keep it driving I'd say go ahead and get it done.

A "cheap" EV wouldn't be anywhere near the car that you currently have.