opel off topic .. need help choosing a car in the NL

Im not good at typing in dutch yet so please excuse me.



I know this is a Opel forum and I love the Astra 2002 body style but I want your input none the less.



OK So im moving to the Netherlands from the US and looking at cars on gaspedaal.nl



Top Options are

1. reliable

2. decent on gas without being too slow ( i hear alot of camera's

3. 4 door & Safe ( i think almost all new cars are )

3. under 180,000 km do you consider this high km ? or still fresh ?

4. Price Range 3,000 to 7,000 Euro



also should I buy diesel ? or benzine pro's cons ?



What Ive found so far are...



Honda Civic 2008 high millage 180,000 km

Honda Fit ( Jazz ) low millage 40,000 kind of ugly without a body kit

Seat Ibiza 2008 like the body style

Opel Corsa - 2008 + 1.4 is this going to be fast enough ?

Opel Astra 2002-2004 I found a turbo in my price range but are they reliable ?

Lexus IS 200 high miles



Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I don't know much about foreign cars so I don't know how much HP i really need or want given the cost of fuel.



Thanks !

Hey, welcome on our forum.



A friend of mine lived in the USA for almost 7 years and we he came back, he bought a Ford Focus ST. He sold it within a few months because of the high fuel costs. The prices here are very high compared with the prices in the USA.



I drive a 2008 Seat Ibiza 1.6 16v and it's a very nice car to drive. I've driven the Corsa 2008 1.4 and it is a lot slower then I expected (also slower then the Ibiza I drive now). I've also driven de Seat Ibiza 1.4 16v. That car is slower and less fuel efficient than my 1.6 16v Ibiza.



The Opel Astra G OPC (I think that is what you mean with the Astra 2002/2004 turbo) is also a very nice car to drive, but it weighs more and with the 2-litre turbo it's also more expensive to drive. Or do you mean the Opel Astra Coupé Turbo? That is the same engine as the OPC has, but then in the body of the Astra Coupé, which is a very nice car to drive (I had one for three years, but it was non-turbo).

Hello!



Where to start... hehe... Gaspedaal.nl is a great site to find you a car. So that's right in the first place

Your budget is right to meet your needs as well. Most cars you found are quite reliable. High milage shouln't be a problem when the car has been serviced on regular basis. Also the way it's been driven depends on the quality. The first thing shouln't be too hard to find out.



Personally I wouldn't buy a car without an unknown history...



The choice between a diesel and petrol car in our country is depending on how many miles you'll drive with it in a year. Diesel-taxes for an average car are about €250,- for three months, while a petrol-powered car will cost you around €100,-



I actually don't know wheter there is much difference between the insurance prices of a diesel/petrol car...



Diesel prices are at the moment around 1.40 per liter. One gallon is 3.78 liters. So this will make it €5,29 per gallon! And yes that's expensive (thans government). Thats why most Dutch cars are economical... Benzine will cost you around 1.75 at the moment... *3.78 is alot...



But hey, most cars will do around 35MPG...



I'm not that experienced with other brands other than Opel (you could ask RISL at this forum for ibiza experiences). But I can say that Opel's a really good and reliable car (when properly maintained). Servicing is cheap compared to alot of other car-brands (like lexus).



The Corsa 1.4 (I guess 90HP, the 2011 model has 100) will be a fine car to drive around over here... :thumbup



Edit: Oh, RISL already posted. The Ibizas are just more 'sporty' cars compared to the Corsa's I guess...

Why do not you import your current US car.

This is possible as you are moving to the Netherlands.



Depends on the car though, some minor adaptions are needed to get it on the road here.

@Corsa_GSi wrote:Why do not you import your current US car.

This is possible as you are moving to the Netherlands.



Depends on the car though, some minor adaptions are needed to get it on the road here.

I guess he'll save alot of money by just not doing that. Those cars with our gas-prices is a reason to cry

Import will cost you a lot indeed. The friend I told you earlier about found out that dispatching his car to The Netherlands would cost €1500 for the container. That's without all the checks and modifications he had to do.



An other site for second hand cars is: http://www.autoscout24.nl/

Almost every second hand car in the Netherlands is posted on that site. And you can also visit our own 'Marktplaats': buysell/index.php?mode=cat&id=2

if your buying an astra turbo, keep in mind that the fuel in holland is around 1.70 a liter.



its a really fun car, but he loves te nip some fuel.

what do you suggest ????

Just look at a Astra 1.6 1.4 2.0 ??



Im thinking to buy a 2 door before we have kids so i can have a toy after we buy the wagon

If you really want a twoseater in which you can play, why don't you look at the Opel GT of Opel Speedster?

Or a Honda S2000?



But the Astra Coupé is also a very nice car, but you need to lower it to get a real sporty handling.

Also what would you consider enough horsepower to get around without feeling to slow ? 100 or 80 ? I know weight depends alot on feel as well.

Without feeling slow, I think you´ll need something about 1 hp per 6 or 7 kg.

And the less it weighs, the faster your acceleration will be. Something like an older Lotus Elise or Lotus Exige is very fun to drive because it is such a lightweight car.

@RISL wrote:If you really want a twoseater in which you can play, why don't you look at the Opel GT of Opel Speedster?

Or a Honda S2000?



But the Astra Coupé is also a very nice car, but you need to lower it to get a real sporty handling.

the opel GT is way to small.. i'm not verry big, but my knees touch each other when im in a GT.



the astra coupe is way more spacious compared to the GT

I'm 6 foot 3 inch (or 1,90 m) and I could sit perfect in de GT.

I also fitted in the Opel Speedster / Lotus Elise, but I had some problems getting in the car. And I had to remove the roof to get out :jerry

Honda Civic 2008

Seat Ibiza 2008

Opel Astra 2002-2004 (turbo or the 1.6 16v or even better, but no 1.6 8v since this motor would be to slow for your wishes)



These cars are worth looking for, they are nice to drive around and got enough speed.

The high millages don't matter a lot as long as they had their regular services indeed, never buy a car without knowing the history.

The choice between Diesel or Benzine depends on how much you will drive with it, i thought it was at 15.000 or 20.000 km a year that it would be cheaper to drive on diesel.

,,,,,,,

@DarkSpeeder wrote:Honda Civic 2008

Seat Ibiza 2008

Opel Astra 2002-2004 (turbo or the 1.6 16v or even better, but no 1.6 8v since this motor would be to slow for your wishes)



These cars are worth looking for, they are nice to drive around and got enough speed.

The high millages don't matter a lot as long as they had their regular services indeed, never buy a car without knowing the history.

The choice between Diesel or Benzine depends on how much you will drive with it, i thought it was at 15.000 or 20.000 km a year that it would be cheaper to drive on diesel.



wonderful thank you !!!

on average what is the cost per year to own a car

estimate on insurance ( i know it depends on age and location ) Im 30 y/o married probably going to live in Utrecht

and tax on the car does this depend on Horse power ? Polution ?



thanks !

if you want to drive eco, then its better to drive the 1.8.

But when you dont mind that your car needs a little bit more fuel then go for the 2.0 :angel



The average cost of how much owning a car would cost,

Depends on some factors:

Insurance costs (age,type of car,motor type, how many years you got your drivers license (sometimes) and how many years you haven't claimed anything.

You can check the insurance price for your type of car on independer.nl if you know some dutch, its a site that will compare the insurance company's on their fee's.

For the tax it depends on what part of the country you will live and on what kind of fuel you will drive...also the weight is part of the deal.

Benzine is the lowest in tax, but your paying a lot for the fuel (thank you goverment)

Then lpg, it cost a bit more then the tax of benzine, but when you own the car for 1 year you can ask a part of that tax back and Lpg cost around 70-80 cent a liter.

But you can only drive around 400km with it before you need to tank again.

Then you have the Diesel its the most expensive in tax, and it goes only for about 20-40 cent a liter less then benzine but you can drive longer parts with it.

Diesel tax vs petrol tax for a year

~€1000,- v.s. €400



Insurance: See DarkSpeeders post. Based on your experience and stuff I would guess between €15 / €30 a month... If you can transfer your insurance information of US to NL (should be possible)... If you can prove you owned a car in the U.S. without damaging it (for a while)...



Petrol: 15.000 km / 9400 miles will cost you about €2100,- (based on 8L/100km with a price of 1.75/liter petrol)

Diesel: 15.000 km / 9400 miles will cost you about €1400,- (based on 6.67L/100km with a price of 1.40/liter diesel)

wow thank you so much for the information !



1 more question. what is the 4 buttons below the ac button on the console.

@silver2kws6 wrote:wow thank you so much for the information !



1 more question. what is the 4 buttons below the ac button on the console.

do you got a picture?