Which Car Would You Go For?

[kam05]

OK I'm after some advice/opinions from the LOC on behalf of my brother.

My brother is looking to replace his current car (Peugeot 306 2.0HDi LX, 1999- V reg). The replacement car must be a diesel, a good motorway/duel carriage cruiser and the next car should have some extras such as leather, cruise, sat nav etc although not essential. The replacement car must be under 3 years old with no more than 60,000 miles on the clock, Budget is £10k although he will pay a bit more for the right car.

This rules out the IS220d as a replacement, as he won't be able to pick one up for £10k and also he has read about the issues that the IS220d has (poor mpg etc).

He (brother) has narrowed his choice down to either a Honda Accord 2.2CTDi Sport (138 bhp) or a VW Passat 2.0TDi Sport (140 bhp). Interesting choice for a 25 year old single (soon to-be-married lad)- he wants a family car.

Pros of the Honda- Japanese reliability, good diesel engine, low CO2 (£120 tax for 12 months), comes with all the kit he wants- leather, sat nav, 17inch alloys etc.

Cons- Group 12 insurance, taxi drivers car?

He can pick up a 05/06 plate Accord for £10-£11.5k with under 60,000 miles.

Pros of the VW- good/strong TDi engines, lower insurance group (Group 9).

Cons- no extras such as leather, cruise, sat nav, higher CO2= higher VED (£145) for 12 months, some reliability/build issues.

Again, he can pick up a 05/06 plate Passat for £10-£11.5k, but generally speaking will have more miles, about 80,000+.

Question is: If you were going to spend £10-£11.5k on a family car which one would you go for? Are there any better alternatives to the Honda or VW (Don't want Ford or Vauxhall or anything French).

Also, how much is the 306HDi worth? It is on a V (99) plate and it has 125k on the clock. Bodywork is average for year.

Thanks for your advise/suggestions in advance.

[aaronabbott]

id go honda mate

[Parthiban]

Has he considered something like a 320d? I'm sure the price can't be too far off £10k if you're not too worried about spec

[kam05]

Has he considered something like a 320d? I'm sure the price can't be too far off £10k if you're not too worried about spec

I've been swaying him towards a 320d coupe but the ones he has seen are either 4/5 years old or have done mega miles.

[shake]

i was thinking of the civic 2.2 before i purchased my seat leon pd150..

not having driven the civic but as my budget was around 10K i opted to the leon as it was cheaper and larger.... the extra 10bhp may of also helped in chosing it! i researched the accord 2.2 also but if you go on their forums you will see many people are having problems with cracked manifolds. honda do replace them if they are within 4 years of registration. the same applies for the civic as its the same engine.

i've got a mk1 FR+(55 reg) with cupra R kit from the factory. looks nice and flies! there are loads of after market options so he wont get bored, and the tuning options are huge.

just get him to drive them all then make a choice..

[shake]

he'd be able to get a 54/55 plate leon for around £9k with 40k miles or less!

mine was £9995 with 40k on the clock, and still under warrenty

[hodaz]

Accord for my money. Better reliability and a lot more executive looking than a vw/seat.

I know you said no Fords but the Mondeo ST TDCi (or whatever its called) is a hell of a car, stylign wise its not to my taste, but it drives really well and will be cheaper.

Guessing the 306 is worth around the 1k mark?

[reganlives]

I'd say the accord mate. Thats what I was after before I got the lexus due to already owning a civic as well and not having had any issues with it. Accord can also be remapped to 192bhp and roughly 300 lbft torque. ;) check out the accord owners club for more info on it.

[Monster-Mat]

honda, although the vw is a great car aswell

[Andy-R]

Mondeo ST diesel, didn't someone on here change to one of them?

[jizaah]

My other car's an S40 2.0D (I'm ready for the cheeky replies ). It's a very good car, well-built, comfortable, quick and bound to be cheaper than the equivalent Honda, Passat or BMW. As the others have said, get him to test drive all the contenders.

[Kazi]

Honda gets my vote, they look a lot nicer than Passats. Both well made cars mind so at least his choices are with merit!

[Anuj]

alright mate. we have an 03 honda accord sport 17" its a 2,0 and it is a very good car. coming up 2 100k now and still no problems. id take the honda mate, cant fault them, however, if he wants comfort, he should get a 2.2cdti executive with no more than 16" alloys as the 17" affect the ride quite a bit. suppose its the same with most cars but...

hope this helps. and if he does choose the honda tell him about www.thaoc.co.uk

the honda accord owners club forum. very helpfull people.

[Kazi]

alright mate. we have an 03 honda accord sport 17" its a 2,0 and it is a very good car. coming up 2 100k now and still no problems. id take the honda mate, cant fault them, however, if he wants comfort, he should get a 2.2cdti executive with no more than 16" alloys as the 17" affect the ride quite a bit. suppose its the same with most cars but...

hope this helps. and if he does choose the honda tell him about www.thaoc.co.uk

the honda accord owners club forum. very helpfull people.

Nice motor :)

[kam05]

Thanks for the replies, keep em coming.

[WylieCoyote]

When I was looking for my car, I came across this little beauty.

Volvo S60

[shake]

bloody hell Anuj, how many cars do you have? :D

[dave1]

Kia C'eed 1.6CRDI LS or GS. Golf/Focus size, 50mpg combined cycle, seats 4 adults with plenty of space, wind/road noise not overly intrusive in cabin. Inexpensive to service and 7 years warranty from new. 2007/2008 regd. under 10000 miles for under £10k.

[kam05]

Going to look at a couple of Accord's over the weekend, see what happens...

[84Stoney]

Of the two i'd go honda. but 320d would be favorite.

[kam05]

UPDATE.

Brother has a bought an Accord 2.2-I CDTi Executive. Its a 2004 model (54 plate) with 70k on the clock. 1 company owner (HSBC), full Honda service history. Got all the kit he wanted (Full leather, 17" alloys, cruise etc).

P/X'ing the Pug 306, got £1.1k trade-in, not bad I suppose for an 8 year old car. The Honda was up for sale for £6990 and the Honda comes with 6 months tax, 12 months MOT, 1/2 tank diesel. So cost-to-change is £5890.

Do you think its a good deal? Saw similar aged Accords going for £7k-£7.5k, but these had 90/100k on the clock. The original budget was 10k, but brother changed his mind- wanted to buy the replacement car for cash, no finance/loans to be used. So his new budget was 7k max.

Picking up the Honda on Sunday.

[jizaah]

Do you think its a good deal?

Congrats, does sound like you've done well, especially on the PX value for your 306. Should serve him well with diesel engine, and keep him happy with mod cons.

[kam05]

Do you think its a good deal?

Congrats, does sound like you've done well, especially on the PX value for your 306. Should serve him well with diesel engine, and keep him happy with mod cons.

Yeah, was expecting around about £800 for the 306 as a trade-in price.