Morris Minor Owners Club

There is a possibility that next month I may have to start a 130mile round trip for work on a daily basis. As much as I love the Mog, its not cut out for that and I will arrive frazzled. The Rover isn't much cop either as it guzzles fuel like no tomorrow when going at a decent lick (And its got a tiny fuel tank so I will have to fill it up each day )

So, any Ideas for a cheapo long distance cruiser thats decently economical for motorway/dual carriageway driving and isn't going to destroy me on insurance? Only has to last a few months...

that suprises me dan has your metro got a k series in i had a rover 200 for a couple of years and it was good on fuel,i would say any small jap car would be a good starting point .

fiat barchetta.. 2 seater convertible i get 38 to the gallon sticking to a steady 80 mph and i do 100 miles a day. just check that the cam belt has been changed recently..

in london..
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LOVELY-FIAT-BARCH ... 500wt_1182


in bristol...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-FIAT-BARCHET ... 871wt_1165

Peugeot 205 diesel,405,or 406 especially the turbo estate versions. My old 405 1.9TD went like a rocket and did 50-65mpg. I still have it but it needs a head gasket, otherwise still plenty of life in it.
The Citroen ZX diesels are also excellent.
As Dale says small Jap cars are good Civics are brill.
I have owned a Civic, Integra, ZX, 405,406 all over 5 years old and only the headgasket has let me down , however this was after 250,000 miles, so not bad, they have all been ultra reliable and never a breakdown.

They look a lot of car for the money are they only available in LHD

kevin i assume your question about LHD is aimed at the barchetta.. they were only ever made LHD but DTR ( http://www.dtrsports.com/) did a few conversions to RHD.

underneath they are puntos so parts are readily available and cheap

You know about old Fords
But the 1.6 Escort isn't too uncomfortable
Cheap bits.
40mpg+ (even the estate)

and guilt free when you scrap them

So, any Ideas for a cheapo long distance cruiser thats decently economical for motorway/dual carriageway driving and isn't going to destroy me on insurance? Only has to last a few months...

Cheapest on insurance and good on fuel might be a 1.1 Cinquecento (if you can stomach it!)

Small diesels are plentiful, but they are all too new for you price range. Older diesels will be high on insurance due to engine size!
e.g. ZX diesel is fantastic value for money but 1.9 diesel is high road tax and higher insurance. (same goes with 1.8D escort, 1.7D punto, 1,9D old golf etc..)

So what is left?? 1.5D 106 XND
Check the insurance quote first as a few are group 5 and the rest are group 3
http://motors.shop.ebay.co.uk/Cars-Moto ... 86.c0.m282

Other choices?
For insurance try parkers and look for stuff in groups 1-4 (probably nothing interesting/affordable in 1!!)
http://www.parkers.co.uk/insurance/#ig=0

Move house ... anything else is just mental/ecological suicide. (believe me, I've done the whole 3 to 4 hour commute thing before and the result wasn't pretty ... do your mental health a favour and either reject the job or move house ... renting out your existing house while renting an alternate is always an option)

Alain, I will be moving house as soon as I can find somewhere however its one of those things that can take some time!

The Rover generally delivers pretty good fuel economy - it averages 36mpg - but being the GTA its got a short ratio 'box - fantastic around town, not so fantastic on the motorway!

For those who have suggested little 1.1's I'm not sure they would be any better, small cars tend to be good around town but as soon as you start to stretch their legs you can see the fuel gague falling!

Must say that I was thinking of an oil burner and Rays suggestion has reminded me that you can get 1.5 derv metro's

I'd say get a Diesel Citroen, I love them. A nice 1.9TD Xantia, people are scared of the suspension which drives the price down. You should be able to pick one up with a long MOT for next to nothing and it would last you the year on that mileage. I've never had a problem with them, 45+ MPG......

AIXAM - potential 100 mpg. Not necessarily a 'cruiser' though!
In fact -doing these miles - you should look seriously for an LPG converted car - half the fuel costs! And since fuel is going up and up and UP - LPG will be the way to go.

There are really not many small diesels available unless you can afford one less than 6 years old!

Diesel metros are rare, therefore harder to get parts if needed.
At 750 miles a week for a few months you may be needing parts!!
You just missed this one - I nearly put a link but the 106 is much more available and insurance is lower, so I left it at that:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

I'd say japanese cars are the best to go for, you'll get good power and economy from as a fairly small engine, maybe a nissan micra or toyota yaris...

I think the diesel Metro used the Peugeot XU diesel engine which may help with parts

A pushbike will give you 100 GPM


... Thats Grunts Per Mile

Escort diesel van. 45 mpg, cheap parts, massively useful, can park them anywhere, and loads of them about.

Escort diesel van.

Escort diesels are much higher insurance group than their counterparts, and vans are yet again more expensive to insure

Sidney'61 wrote:I'd say japanese cars are the best to go for, you'll get good power and economy from as a fairly small engine, maybe a nissan micra or toyota yaris...

I'm afraid I don't follow modern cars and I'm assuming the train/staying over Mon - Friday is not an option. Someone, who works for a breakdown service, tells me that Japanese cars suffer the fewest breakdowns and that some cars, which once had reputations built on reliability, have lost it in the maze that is modern automotive electronics.

I suspect that the Japanese, having decades of experience in electronics, have proved more able to apply the technology to cars than others.

StaffsMoggie wrote:Escort diesel van. 45 mpg, cheap parts, massively useful, can park them anywhere, and loads of them about.

But make sure it has a long MOT and inspect the sill/underfloor area around the "B" post. Nightmares ahead when they start rusting through there!