How much for a cheap second hand car?

[onlysomany]

I'm hoping to have passed my test soon (in my 40s )

How much should I budget for a decent second hand car? Money is tight so we're talking cheap n cheerful?

But I'll be driving the kids around so it needs to be not a total pile of rubbish!

Try Ford for size and reliability and value

It can be luck I've had great cars for £3K but my. Current car was 9K and 3 years old. I was lucky though as it was a total bargain

I also had a Golf in my early 20's which was only £300 and lasted years without any problems till it finally fell apart

Our second car is an 11 year old Toyota and runs as well as when I bought it 6 years ago. Costs around 3-4k to buy now, think I paid 8k when I bought it.

Second hand car market is through the roof.
I wanted a safe run around with decent ish boot and struggled but managed for 10k

It really depends what you want. I was after 3-5 year old pref ex motability vehicle

The Vw golf and polos which i was initially looking at were ££££.

Whatever you do - Make sure you exclude all cat S/C/D/N when looking.

A agree it's all down to luck. A lot of people on Mumsnet seem to get years out of a £600 runaround without needing anything except oil and tyres, but you could equally spend thousands on something that needs thousands more spending on it and because you have money invested in it, you have to get it repaired instead of scrapping it and starting again.

It's also unfortunate that second hand cars are expensive right now. I dropped lucky when I bought a 2 YO Skoda Citigo about a month ago, because I looked at the website where I bought it the other day, and the nearest equivalent is about £1k more and the only car of that type that was still for sale had actually been increased in price by £300.

To save money, go as small as you can manage and shop around. Don't be afraid of higher mileage if it's been looked after. Maybe look at something like a Skoda Fabia? Similar to a Golf/Polo but should be cheaper. Also look carefully at the tax rates - up to about March 2017 a lot of cars had £30 a year or lower in tax, so will give you a little saving in running costs.

We usually soend about £2k and the cars last about 4 years.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Make sure you exclude all cat S/C/D/N

What does this mean?

No wat can I afford £8K

£2k is about my limit right now, at a push.

Good to hear that's not totally impossible!

Bought mine just over a year ago. 10 year old Peugeot automatic, just under £3K. I'd had £4K saved so used the remaining grand to pay for insurance (astronomical as a new driver) and road tax.

We spent 2k back in 2009 and the car is still running perfectly. It’s a Toyota Corolla….they have a great reputation and last forever. Mine is 22 years old and the best thing is it’s easy to do any maintenance as it’s not all computerised.

Go for Toyota or Mazda.

For £2k I have bought cars which are about 8 years old. First a VW golf, then a Citroen Picasso for our growing family.

I would also factor in the insurance cost, new drivers tend to have higher premiums, however you may have age on your side

If you can afford it it's cheaper in the long run to spend a bit more and get something roughly 3 years old or less.

Prices vary hugely based on how fashionable the car is. We now have 2 Dacias, we've had Vauxhalls too, similar standard of Ford would have cost around 50% more.

I agree prices are high at the moment with less room that normal to negotiate.

@onlysomany

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Make sure you exclude all cat S/C/D/N

What does this mean?

Cat S/D/C/N means it’s been in an accident and been repaired

If it was me I’d go for a Toyota Yaris or a Honda Jazz. They’re both well made and reliable but they’re not typically boy racer cars so have usually been driven carefully and well looked after.

It really is down to luck. My husband only passed his test when he was 29 and he bought a second hand car for £500. He only had it for 6 months because he got a job with company car. He sold it to our friend and she had it another 2-3years without it needing any work doing to it. It was a fab little car. On the other hand I bought a second hand car years ago for £2500 and 9 months later it was falling apart!

We just bought our daughter a 6 year old ford ka for £3000 but struggled to find anything within budget and close by (all other similar cars were lots more so I don't know why this was a bargain!) we had to travel for 90 minutes in the end to buy something that fitted our spec. If you have someone who can check it over before you buy then buying privately is cheaper but there is still a real shortage.

@onlysomany

No wat can I afford £8K

£2k is about my limit right now, at a push.

Good to hear that's not totally impossible!

I bought a family sized diesel hatchback in March 2021, 11 years old with 108k miles on it for £2.5k and I absolutely hate it. It's a shed. The market is mad right now.

For your kind I’ve budget I’d avoid anything diesel - far to many things to go wrong with them and very expensive when they do. A nice simple petrol engine is the way to go. The Ford 1.25, 1.4 and 1.6 petrol engines (non Ecoboost version) are a good bet. They have a reputation for being virtually indestructible and easily being able to reach 200k+ mikes. Should be able to get a nice little Focus or Fiesta for your budget.

5 years ago I bought a Fiesta for £750 from a local garage . It’s tatty but still going after 210,000 miles though I will retire it this year . No really expensive repairs as parts are readily available. I was lucky though .

I always buy cheap cars. Last 2 have been Mitsubishi colts and the one I got 6 months ago was 1.1k and has full service history and 53k miles in clock. I usually get around 5 years out of my cheap cars and as soon as they start to gust money I scrap and get a new one. Mitsubishi’s are great little cars, solid and reliable

I second the Toyota Yaris suggestion. Mine is an 07 model and I think I'm just going to run it in to the ground. I've had it about 4 years with no major issues. You could get a similar one in your budget, maybe with slightly higher mileage, according to autotrader.

Prices are crazy right now and it's unfair to talk about what we paid ten years ago. I'm looking for a used vehicle and a car I bought five years ago is 35%more expensive now! Saw a 2010 Rav4 for sale for 10k yesterday, which is crazy.

I’ve been driving for 30 years and have never spent more than £1500 on a car.

The best have been a Toyota Yaris (£1200) and my son’s Corsa (£400!)