Alas looking for sensible car ??

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marksman

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As my defender refurbishment come to its conclusion I'm thinking of looking for a sensible replacement for my L322 (11 years in my possession LPG converted) swaying toward a skoda fabia, does anyone run one and have an opinion pos / neg
 
Running costs of the Rangerover, Ins, tax Fuel etc, maint is manageable

40 + mpg minimal tax, (low running costs)
 
Fabia would be a good shout, Skoda top reliability at moment. I've got a new Golf for a daily which I think was described once as:

If someone was going up the supermarket and you said 'while you're there, pick me up a car' they would come back with a Golf.
Just does what it does pretty well. Pleased with it.
 
Do you need two large vehicles? Or one for short journeys and one for long? There are some interesting options, a Smart Car, or a small classic which will be tax and MOT exempt and very low insurence. Only any good as a local runabout but very cheap to run. Or electric, I think we will get one electric car in the next couple of years, for all the local runs.
 
They are, I think its just too soon. We run 3 cars and it was 4, just becuse theise things accumulate. I would say you want to aim for:
At least one that is tax exempt / classic - this gives you a back up car for very little money and becuse it will be MOT and TAX free you can leave it on the road.
2 cars that are quite different, it makes no sense to have a choice of things that are similar. Small / Large, fast / slow, what ever.
 
We bought used Fabia 1.2 petrol cars for both our children to learn on and then to have when they passed. Both have been excellent, we still have my daughter's and my son's was passed to my father in law (80 yr old) when he bought a D90. Very honest little cars with the feel of a bigger car, very durable, quite comfortable, fairly economical (40+ mpg), simple to work on and parts are cheap. As yoof insurance not an issue, go for something more interesting that the 60hp 1.2 petrol.
 
The wife has just swapped from a BMW E46 convertible with a thirsty petrol engine and automatic gearbox, to a Fiat 500 Sport .:eek:
The 500 is tiny and fun to drive, but more importantly comes with tiny running costs by comparison to the Bimmer. The insurance and tax for the 500 are much less than the tax alone for the BMW, the parts are 1/4 of the cost and the Fiat does over twice the MPG too, so she's cut her motoring costs by about 60% simply by going to the budget Italian run about. It's a doddle to work on too, which gives me more time for my own projects, so it's a win win really. :D
 
Do you need two large vehicles? Or one for short journeys and one for long? There are some interesting options, a Smart Car, or a small classic which will be tax and MOT exempt and very low insurence. Only any good as a local runabout but very cheap to run. Or electric, I think we will get one electric car in the next couple of years, for all the local runs.

You have mirrored my own thoughts exactly, never thought I would ever consider an EV (at one time I'd never even say the word !) but we are ideal 'candidates' for one as our daily driver parks right next to the home (for charging) & we are very unlikely to make any return journey beyond an EV's range so wouldn't have the hassle of public charging.
A 40+ year old classic as a second car (we are rural dwellers) & an entry to classic car shows (these requirements currently fulfilled by the RRC) & an EV 'daily' would be ideal. The only down-side of this plan is that purchasing a really decent old car today will require more financial investment than a modern (even brand new in some cases) car, so savings would be on a long term basis for both vehicles as EV's are also seriously expensive.
 
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