Peugeot 207 - What first car to buy for motorway commute and low | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Mon 9 Jan 2017 22:10

Peugeot 207 - What first car to buy for motorway commute and low - Lucy Nicole Rogers

Hi, I am buying a car soon with a 2k budget. My new job will involve commuting 60 miles a day 5 days a week. What is the cheapest car to buy? For low running costs, reliability on the motorway and cheap tax and insurance.

Any advice will help?

So far I am looking at the Peugeot 207 SE, 2006 model

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Mon 9 Jan 2017 23:02

Peugeot 207 - What first car to buy for motorway commute and low - Lrac

These cars have a history of problems with water getting into the electrics via a capillary action. Usually serious and expensive. This is recorded on this site and also on youtube. Often affects a connection in the module marked maron or something like that. C3 also affected.

I work with someone that uses a 107 for a 90 mile daily commute. No cam belt very easy to service and only service items and a windscreen in three years.. C1 and Aygo are the same car.

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Mon 9 Jan 2017 23:03

Peugeot 207 - What first car to buy for motorway commute and low - Avant

At this budget level, condition counts for more than make or model. If you can find something smallish with some service history that will be best.

If you want somewhere to start looking, a Toyota Yaris 1.3 is a good bet, but also look at the Ford Fiesta as there are many more of these around. Personally I'd avoid the Vauxhall Corsa (some have enginbe problems and they're not great to drive) and anything French (you can find good ones but they don't stand up well to neglect).

The Peugeot 107 is very small but may be worth a look: it's the same car as the Toyota Aygo and Citroen C1.

Best to go for petrol rather than diesel, as diesel engines can fail expensively when they get older.

Edited by Avant on 09/01/2017 at 23:05

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Mon 9 Jan 2017 23:12

Peugeot 207 - What first car to buy for motorway commute and low - SLO76

Firstly despite the mileage you intend on covering I'd rule out a diesel at this price range, especially any Peugeot with the now notorious 1.6 HDi. They're much more complex and far more likely to go wrong in the first place not to mention the fact that it would have a higher mileage and generally be an older car for your money than the equivalent petrol. Any fuel saving would be wiped out through the almost guaranteed higher repair costs.

The 207 was a dated design even when new, using ancient petrol engines that are quite reliable but aren't great on fuel and lack performance. They're prone to trim and electrical faults and require a timing belt, tensioners and water pump at 10yrs so budget £250- £300 if it's not been done. Do not buy the 1.6 diesel but the older 1.4 can be ok. Petrol is the safest bet though.

But since you're looking for reliability and economy over all else I'd be looking mostly at Japanese products such as the Suzuki Swift 1.3, Toyota Yaris 1.3, Toyota Corolla 1.4 and Nissan Micra 1.2/1.4 all of which are very robust if they've been correctly maintained. Best for comfort on the motorway would be the Corolla and it's also the best built and most reliable but it's certainly no looker and will use a little more fuel than the smaller Yaris/Swift and Micra.

The Micra is particularly cheap and you'll get more for your money thanks to its quirky looks not appealing to the boy racer brigade but there's a lot of neglected Micra's about and they're known for stretching timing chains if not serviced regularly so don't touch one without a full service history with proof of oil changes every year. But they're pleasant to drive and cheap enough for parts because there's so many of them and don't need a timing belt change so this saves money.

The Swift is a hoot to drive and hard to kill. They're small and a bit noisy at speed but they last well and are cheap to run and again don't have a timing belt to worry about. Avoid at all costs the Fiat Diesel engine.

The Yaris is spacious and a bit more comfortable than the Swift but not as much fun. Chain driven again and pretty tough, good on fuel too but a little tall and top heavy so gets buffeted a bit on the motorway in crosswinds. Check clutches carefully as a lot of elderly drivers and first time drivers buy them.

A MK V Fiesta with the Yamaha designed 1.2 16v petrol is a good bet too and the best of the lot to drive but they're not brilliant on fuel and again need a timing belt at 8yrs so make sure it's done or knock the price down by £250-£300 to have it fitted.

No matter what you buy, look for a good, preferably full service history, longterm previous ownership (if they've only had it a year or less it's likely to be a lemon so look for 3yrs plus) and check for misaligned panels and bodged paintwork repairs that're common to backstreet dealers.

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