Recommend me a car for commuting: Yaris, Fiesta, Clio?

Question

Hi guys. I need to buy a car for commuting 130 miles a day return so it must be economical and most importantly reliable. I cannot afford a new car I'm afraid so I'm limited to 4k. What do you make of a Toyota Yaris 2002, Ford Fiesta 1.4 2003 or Clio 2002? All with a diesel engine of course. Any other recommendation will be much appreciated. If you have experience on these cars please share! If you are a car dealer / car sales person / mechanic / know a lot about cars please also do share your thoughts! Help me to decide, I know almost nothing about cars. All I know is that a Clio could be cheap to buy but they break easily. A fiesta is easy to maintain. Toyota is great for reliability and the yaris gives 60+mpg but would you commute every day for 2 hrs in a Yaris? Clio? Fiesta? HEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!

Cheers

Edgar

Answer 1

I dont think the Yaris gets 60mpg.  Its more like 41mpg.  Also, fuel economy is based off of traveling at 55mph.  Fuel economy will drop, the higher your speeds.

If you want 45+mpg, look at the Prius.

Answer 2

the Yaris is terrible, noisy engine, bad brakes and a choppy Hwy ride.

the Honda Fit (Jazz) is 10 times better

Toyota Corolla or Echo 00

Answer 3

Have you considered a Prius? That should save you a lot of money

Answer 4

For four thousand i'm sure you could buy yourself a vw passat TDI .  Much better than the three you have listed.

Answer 5

look for the the one wich is cheaper to tax that means the emmissions are lower and supposed to be more econimical i find renaults are very economical hope this helps

Answer 6

If you want reliable go with Toyota.  No need for a prius unless you have the funds to pay top dollar.  Those things do not save you that much $$$ if you go above 40 mph.  Yaris or corolla is good.

Answer 7

I would widen the net a bit and include other small models such as the Saxo, Nissan Note etc.  Go to about four used car dealers and grill them on your needs.  I would say that it's a very competitive market so you have some room to manoevre when it comes to negotiating.

For such a large amount of mileage a diesel engine would seem to be cheaper, but I heard that diesel fuel will rise more steeply to come into line with Lead free petrol, so here would be another area to discuss with the car salesperson.

Hope things work out for you.

PS I'm not exactly a car expert myself.

Answer 8

It sounds like you need to look into moving a little closer to work.

Barring that, I would definitely look into some hybrids, because any extra you have to spend on your car payment will be more than covered by the extra mileage.  Unless you are really tall (I'm 6'3") it shouldn't be too bad for commuting in.

Definitely take whatever you are considering buying for a nice long test drive, and make sure it comes with a good warranty.

Depending on where you live, you might consider picking up a motorcycle, although even my approx. 50 mile a day (round trip) commute makes me hesitant to ride if there is even a slight chance of rain.  My Suzuki C50 (800cc) gets such ridiculous mileage, I will literally almost forget to put gas in it.

Fortunately it has a light that comes on to warn me, and then starts flashing when it gets down to the last lil' bit.

Good Luck!!

Answer 9

You cant beat japanese technology for economy and reliability. The Yaris is by far your best option.