Cheap As Chips
 

Budget £1500

Need:
35-45mpg, cruise at 85 on the motorway, be able to handle 300 miles a week.

Reliable, cheap, and easy to insure.

Is there anything you can suggest, apart from taking the bus? ;)

rover 218 turbo diesel :)

Seems a good idea. Any others....

nissan primera egt

well within budget. electric everthing. 150bhp and a good chassis. very reliable and 40mpg :D

Anything with the PSA 1.9 TD engine would fit the bill nicely, so 306, ZX, 405, Xantia. Cheapest of these to insure is the 306 as the TD's are group 5. But on all of them beware of any head gasket problems, clutches and the cambelt has to be replaced every 60k tops. But bought carefully they'll easily do the job.

Just to let you know I had a 306TD, and it was giving 43mpg at a steady 85mph.

My father ran a Citroen BX TD for 120k - no clutch or head hasket problems. Agree on the cambelt though, very expensive if it goes bang.

The BX and the Rover have the 1.8 TD which don't seem to be as affected by clutches/gaskets, but that's probably also becuase there weren't as many sold in comparison to the 1.9's. More cars there the more likely to hear of any problems.

But the beauty of the 1.9 also is the fact it is dirt cheap to service and run. Just to let you know I did a full service for £30 using genuine parts and top quality oil. Cambelts are about £100 to get done for you. Clutches are a little more obviously, so beware a heavy or stiff clutch pedal. You'll want to see documentary evidence of cambelt changes, either that or get it done immediately after purchase and use it as a bargaining point. And very closely inspect the water and oil, to check its not been mixed in the past, and also check to see it the heater matrix is functioning, many head gaskets only reveal themselves when they blow the heater matrix which is the weak point in the cooling circuit.

This is what my sister just bought as a cheap run about :cool: Very good car and loads more fun to drive than a diesel ;) Before that she had a 306 xrdt that didn't let her down once in 2 1/2 years including when her boyfriend put unleaded in it :eek:

I've got a rover 218 turbo diesel for sale K reg 12 months MOT 5 door green drives fine new battery,£550

A better choice would be the slightly later Rover 220SDi, quick and economical, but make sure it's the SDi and not just Di.