Hello guys I have been stuck on what car to buy for both long distance motorway driving and city driving. I don't care for turbos or flashy looks, reliability and performance is most important to me. I want to keep it as cheap as possible so I have a budget of £4000.
Example cars that I have found on Autotrader:
- Honda Civic 2010 Petrol 1.8 VTEC Manual (73,000 miles) (£4000)
- Honda Civic 2010 Diesel 2.2 CDTI Manual (100,000 miles) (£3250)
- Toyota Camry 2001 Petrol 2.2 Automatic (54,000 miles) (£1500)
- Toyota Auris 2011 Petrol 1.33 VVT-i TR (88,000 miles) (£3200)
- Honda Civic 2011 Petrol 1.8L VTEC Manual (93,000 miles) (£3100)
Are any of these good? What recommendations do you guys have? Needs to be good for motorway driving.
I’d go with the 2010 Civic 1.8L
They can last forever with a manual & that R18 engine is barely broken in (if the mileage is genuine).
Be sure to have it checked out thoroughly by a professional mechanic, before purchase.
Another vote for the 2010 Civic 1.8 Vtec. Love that engine.
Honda Civic 2010 Petrol 1.8 VTEC Manual (73,000 miles) (£4000)
manual honda last forever pls get a full inspection on it, price is a bit high for where you live but itll be worth it longterm
TLDR; Honda Civic doesn't matter what engine. Here's all you need to know about all the options.
The 2001 Camry with the good old 2.2L. That engine was designed in the late 70s and the tranny was designed in the early 80s. Those are simple, amazing Japanese engineering.
My mechanics notes on the A140 transmission say "Bellow 200,000 km (=120k miles), The only issues that happen are the oil pump gasket leak"
Both the engine and tranny can easily last you 200,000 miles and if you take care of it the engine can probably even go 300,000 miles.
But the Camry being that old lacks amenities and safety....
The absolute opposite would be the Toyota Auris with the 1.33L. That engine is a bag of snakes, Unreliable, Doesn't last long, and very weak. They last about 120,000 miles. If that one also has the MMT, just run as those are even somehow worse. Because it has a Toyota badge on it doesn't mean it's reliable.
Now the ones I'd consider are the 1.8L R-series Civic and the 2.2L N-series Diesel Civic.
Although the diesel is a bit rare or uncommon, It's as reliable and well built as the R-series. You can expect to get 170k-200k out of each of these engines, although the R-series is very slightly better.
Because you're looking at manuals, It's safe to say that the civics are you best bet.
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/Honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2011
As it is also a very safe car.
Thanks for the heads up on the Toyota Auris, definitely going to avoid that one. I like how cheap the camry is but like you said it lacks the safety, so I will be going for the Civic 1.8 VTEC.
Yeah, the Camry wasn't even great by 90s standards and it wasn't even tested in side or moderate overlap crashes.
https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/toyota/camry/15493
The Civic is super safe even by modern standards. It got the maximum rating in all of the test categories.
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2011
Glad I could help 😊
Nice, though the sedan ones do not exist in the UK. The Civics here are the hatchback ones with the spaceship interior, still as good as the sedan ones though right?
Yes, mechanically they're the same car.
the hatchback also has 5 starts in the euroNCAP test.
The hatchbacks also have better rear advisability as a bonus.
Do you know what goes wrong on 1.33 L engines so early?
@G.T.
There’s no one specific thing, they just wear out. Everything just isn’t built to last the metal is not up to standard I guess.
Toyota does do that on European engines and transmissions from time to time. No clue why.
Somehow the Toyota 1.33 managed to be worse then the 1.33 from Renault. Both terrible engines but the Renault could go 180k miles if you keep constantly adding oil.
It seems Toyota sells better engines in U.S. than in Europe.
Yeah. Toyota is good at competing with cars like the Ford Edge or Chevy Impala, but they get absolutely slammed when they compete in smaller cheaper segments.
They sell Landcruser, 4runner, Corollas, and the hilux. But people want smaller cheaper cars here and Toyota has been desperately failing in that.
The new Corolla Space, and 2021 Euro Yaris are good, but the old Auris and old Yair are not.
(As Scotty said on the old Yaris - “I wouldn’t get one if it was free”)
Diesels are good for long distances. As I am familiar, in UK you are charged if you drive non Euro6 diesels in extra areas
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/uk-hybrid-vs-diesel/
Is anyone familiar when (if) Toyota fixed oil burning issues on 1.33 engines?
I am not too sure about this law, but since I will be doing city driving too I think it is safer to go with petrol right? Since the DPF filter in diesels can cause problems in long run.
They can get clogged if mostly driven on short distances. Modern cars have programed DPF regeneration.
Thanks for the answers guys! This seems like an obvious choice then, I should go for the Honda Civic 2010-2011 1.8 Petrol VTEC. I don't really know any trustworthy mechanics that could help inspect the car, so I might have to go alone. Could I not just teach myself what to look out for? Or is it really complicated and best left for mechanic?
If you are mechanically inclined, why not? Otherwise there is a ton of videos about that topic, even Scotty has some. Do you in UK have a warranty period for claiming major issues? Usually is money back or free fix. Where I live, that period is 30 days from purchase.
Dealerships are required to give at least 1 month warranty, but private sellers are not required to give any warranties so its riskier but cheaper option. I am not too mechanically inclined and I lack the diagnostic equipment, so its probably best to get inspection done professionally. I checked used car inspection prices they vary from £60-£100 depending on whats being checked. A complete thorough inspection is going to cost over £100. Is this worth it?
I just checked and it says there is a 3 month warranty period for the Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC 73,000 miles (Sold by dealership). Whereas the one below with 2011 93,000 miles is being sold by a private seller 0 warranty.
Do you know anyone who is mechanical inclined and you trust him? Let him go with you.
I’d rather pay the £100 and get a professional inspection rather than getting stuck with a clunker post purchase. Who knows what a seller may be hiding which will go past the eyes of a regular buyer, but get picked up by a mechanic. Especially things like prior wreck & flood damage. With that said, test drive both the 2010 & 2011 Civics, and get the one you like better, professionally inspected. Take a call after the inspection. All the best.
Thank you for the good advice ^ I will be arranging test drives first and then a professional inspection
Also I found the same Honda 1.8 VTEC being sold really close to my house so I am considering checking that one out, only difference is it is 2011 and with 93,000 miles on clock and costs £3100. Is that a good buy?