car buying advice

mr_eddy

Ok so I have been without a car for a few years now, My previous cars have either been company cars or in the case of my last 2 cars nearly new cars from the dealership (Ford Focus / Honda Jazz).

I am looking at getting a car again as the missus and I have just bought a new place and will be needing weekend trips to B&Q/The Tip for the next 2 months at least plus my sister has moved away and its a bit too far to cycle when I want to visit.

Given the above and the fact the car will be used only at weekends I am not planning on spending alot maybe £1000 ish. I will still use my bike for 90% of my travel needs just something that I can load up with paint tins at the weekend.

I will also need it to transport my two nephews to and from school as I will be looking after them 1 day a week to help out my sister so two seater's and van's are out.

My question is am I better at getting a older car (10-15 years) with low mileage and lots of history or a newer car (5-10 years) with higher mileage and given my budget probably only part service history.

I am on the fence at the moment as I have seen a really nice Y Reg Ford Focus with 70k on the clock and full history for £995 but I have also seen a 03 plate Astra with part history and 98k on the clock for £1100 ?

What do you think is the best approach ? Also any suggestions on what make / model to go for - It needs to be cheap to run / cheap to insure / Bomb proof reliable with cheap replacement parts. I don't care about performance or street cred as long as it looks half decent.

Cheers

me-109

At that price it is more a question of picking the individual car that looks honest. Low mileage is not always best - the in-law's car hardly went any distance but went through ball joints and steering components like they were going out of fashion. Short trips no good for engines and exhausts - combustion products inc. water cause oil to emulsify and exhausts to rust from the inside. High mileage may be ok but you need to check history and pick up on other clues as to how it has been driven and looked after.

As a rule, European brand cars are cheaper to insure than those from the Far East. Pre-2001 (I think) cars are on the old system for car tax; newer ones are banded by emissions and that may well be cheaper. You can get seat and Skoda much cheaper than VW for much the same thing. If you are not planning big miles, stick with petrol.

southdownswolf

The car doesn't make much difference, just spend about £3-400 and get one in a colour that you like. Then spend the rest on wheels.

Something like this



8)

Vesterberg

tangled_metal

Skoda, seat and vw. Might be same and skoda used to be cheaper but nowadays ppl know their equivalent so not much much different in price. They're all a lot pricier for what you get than a Vauxhall, Ford or a French make. Vauxhall cheaper than Ford, used to be as much as 1k on a 5 year car but not sure now. The vw skoda you're talking a lot more or about 2/3year older car for same money. Some Asian car makes are reasonable secondhand like Mazda but Honda, Nissan seem to cost almost as much as vw skoda cars for same thing.
Just my observations since I've been looking for a new car since last year. Just got can't find something that suits. Waiting a year for 2008/2009 cars of the size I want to drop into my price range. There's new models about those years. I'm spending more but I guess my observations count at your price range too.
If you are confident at spotting good or dodgy cars then private sales get more. Car auctions too.

sloppyschleckonds

southdownswolf wrote:

The car doesn't make much difference, just spend about £3-400 and get one in a colour that you like. Then spend the rest on wheels.

Something like this



8)

WANT

southdownswolf

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

southdownswolf wrote:

The car doesn't make much difference, just spend about £3-400 and get one in a colour that you like. Then spend the rest on wheels.

Something like this



8)

WANT

Available in silver or white, reasonable price too :-)
http://www.performancealloys.com/wheel- ... px?ID=1444

Colinthecop

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

WANT

Is this yours....?



:shock:

bikes`n`guns

At 03 and Y reg, then age and mileage become irrelevant, They are both old cars now. Condition is everything.

Oh, and buy Jap at that age. It will be more likely to actually start when you put a key in it.

kirby700

Owned a 1.6 astra sxi for last 10 years, never caused me any issues, mpg wasn't great and expensive road tax but handled pretty good. The reason we got rid was it was getting a bit old and wife wanted a fiat 500 to go with the other car. The car was a 2003 with 62k on clock. They only gave us £500 for it but wasn't worth hassle.


Would recommend one though!

sloppyschleckonds

Colinthecop wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

WANT

Is this yours....?



:shock:

John Candy is dead in life

diy

As said above its often about the person selling not the car at this price.. One of the best cars I ever owned was a Volvo 740GLE - I bought it when it was 10 years old at 170k miles. I scrapped it at 245k miles about 4 years later. We used it as a family car, pick-up truck and skip. Spent a couple of 100 on tyres and a lot of cheap oil as it got older.

IMO Go for bigger cars that are seen as semi luxury and not necessarily good fuel economy. You will find plenty of 5 series estates, volvo estates big merc estates around that sort of money that have loads of mileage left on them. IMO a car with a good history and 100k on the clock is better than something low mileage and many owners.

Best old mercs are anything mid-late 90s.

Small fuel efficient cars hold their value. Bigger engined larger cars go on for ever.

BelgianBeerGeek

diy wrote:

As said above its often about the person selling not the car at this price.. One of the best cars I ever owned was a Volvo 740GLE - I bought it when it was 10 years old at 170k miles. I scrapped it at 245k miles about 4 years later. We used it as a family car, pick-up truck and skip. Spent a couple of 100 on tyres and a lot of cheap oil as it got older.

IMO Go for bigger cars that are seen as semi luxury and not necessarily good fuel economy. You will find plenty of 5 series estates, volvo estates big merc estates around that sort of money that have loads of mileage left on them. IMO a car with a good history and 100k on the clock is better than something low mileage and many owners.

Best old mercs are anything mid-late 90s.

Small fuel efficient cars hold their value. Bigger engined larger cars go on for ever.

+1 to this. My elderly Merc is used as described above and is indestructible. The older your Mercedes is, the cooler it is 8)

SmellTheGlove

Started looking recently because of impending job change which will likely put commuting out of range. Tried a 03 Corolla Verso which is pretty much like a van; it might set you back a smidge over the grand but it was pretty good I thought. It felt like it needed a new clutch so I let that particular one pass, but I'm on the lookout for another. And I'd say those upthread ali wheels were made for it...

anonymousblackfg

I'd pick the Ford over a Vauxhall, genuinely are very good cars that drive well, go for the 1.6 over a 1.8 as the engine block is lighter.

However, the big old semi luxury is very good advice, their values can't now head much further south. If you fancy a BMW 7 series you'd be amazed what £5k can buy you!

diy

One more to add to the bargain list.. Rover 75. These were actually quite good cars but because they went bust, people avoid them.

russyh

As someone who has worked in the motor trade for a number of years include auction companies, I would recommended buying something like a ford focus, honda civic or Toyota corolla. They don't really go wrong, are pretty cheap to run and parts are easily available. Whilst I agree that buying a big executive barge offers allot of bang for your buck, a grands worth of 5 series is going to be high mileage and whilst fairly reliable will be susceptible to electrical issues which tend to be fairly pricey to fix. To my mind you can't go wrong with a focus. They drive well, are reliable, relatively cheap to run and easy to sell once you no longer need a car.

VTech

If your spending a grand then think about ongoing costs. You will almost certainly find it cheaper to buy a brand new car on a deal. There are plenty of deals around the £100/month mark which in turn will work out much better value.

rolf_f

VTech wrote:

If your spending a grand then think about ongoing costs. You will almost certainly find it cheaper to buy a brand new car on a deal. There are plenty of deals around the £100/month mark which in turn will work out much better value.

A mate of mine has just replaced a few year old Seat with a new Fiesta on this sort of basis - his MOT alone was a grands worth so the Fiesta seems a pretty good deal. He's young so he still thinks new cars are cool!

But the OP is talking of a 1k spend. No £100 month deal is going to work out better than a 1k car chosen wisely. He's not doing many miles so a new car will just mostly be sat on the drive losing money.

Another mate of mine rarely pays more than 1 or 2k for a car. He does quite decent mileage, rarely pays for anything more than servicing, keeps the car for a year or two and generally sells the car for what he paid for it. Finance deals can be good if you want a shiny new, or fairly new car - but if you just want reliable transport to get you from a to b and no more, they are an expensive solution.