Anyone good with cars? Need help finding one please!

[BrumsHornBeepBeep]

We need:

Around North West area
7 seats
Automatic
Reliable of course
7k budget.

I've never bought a car before so know NOTHING about them. Absolutely zilch.

Or any manufacturers to avoid?

Hopeful bump, still sat on autotrader feeling useless 😂

I had a Vauxhall Zafira for years. Bloody loved it.

We've just bought a ford galaxy. Proper seven seater with decent size far rear seats. There seemed to be more automatic than manual ones when I was looking, so you might be quite likely to find one. Volvo V90s also seem to always be automatic, they are a bit pricier though. I think vauxhall zafiras are cheap 7 seaters for a reason...

Main things to think about when buying a used car - a full service history ideally. Then you know oil has been regularly changed, filters etc. Mileage for the year, and BIG thing is the timing belt (also known as cam belt). Most cars (but check as all different) need this changed every 10 years/100,000 miles. It's an important job because when it goes, it fucks the engine. So if you're looking at a 10 year + age car, or one close to 100,000 miles, you need to either see receipts that this job has been done, or factor in planning to get that done ASAP. The one I just bought only has 60k miles but is 9 years old, so I will get the cam belt replaced early next year at the latest. I've had a car die on me a week after purchase because I didn't know to look for this.

If you buy from a dealer at around that year/mileage they're likely to have done it or agree to do it as they know it'll need doing.

and BIG thing is the timing belt (also known as cam belt).

Not all cars have belt driven camshafts, many are chain which in theory last the life of the engine although some manufacturers are notorious for cam chain issues.

Most cars (but check as all different) need this changed every 10 years/100,000 miles.

Many belt driven cars are 5 year intervals, particularly VAG group ones.

It's an important job because when it goes, it fucks the engine.

Mostly true, but some engines are non-interference which means you can get away with belt failure.

Many of the seven seaters in OPs budget will be belt driven. And as you say even chain driven often aren't lifetime even if they say they are.

OP as Shade has pointed out it's slightly more complex, best thing to do is look up the exact car you're considering and check the interval needed.

The autotrader website is best in my experience - go to https://www.autotrader.co.uk/ and select the more options heading and you can specify gearbox and number of seats as well as price and the distance you are prepared to travel.

Realistically at £7,000 you are going to be looking at 8 years plus old cars with 80,000 ish miles on them - this is fine as long as they have a service history and as others have said they have had cambelts changed at the recommended intervals. If there is no indication of cambelt being changed (and obviously if it has one!) then it is in the region of £400 at a local garage which you can factor into the price.

Ask about when it last serviced and check the MOT history for each car online. I You should get a car with as long an MOT as possible and ideally they will put it through an MOT test before you buy it so it has a year.

For a seven seater MPVs are probably best - these have fallen out of favour a bit in recent years as attention has moved to SUVs. But that does means they are comparatively cheaper.

One thing to consider is how often you will using the seven seats - in many 7 seaters two of the seats are quite small and maybe only suitable for children, also in many cases with all seven seats in use there is a very small boot space. For these your main choices are Renault Grand Scenic, Citroen C4 Spacetourer/Picasso or Peugoet 5008 - or Ford SMax, Ford CMax, Vauxhall Zafira or Volkswagen Touran. These are all fairly similar sized and are fairly widely available with reliable engines. As long as they have service history by this stage they should be fairly reliable and as these are major manufacturers servicing and spares will be cheap. They will also be good for fuel economy / insurance costs.

If you are going to need more space with the seven seats / the seven seats will be used by adults more you will want something a bit bigger - Ford Galaxy/ VW Sharan/ Seat Alhambra which are basically the same car.

Try and find a garage that has several suitable cars in stock - nothing beats actually sitting in to make sure everything is comfortable for you/ passengers.

One further thing to think of is the fuel type - diesel is cheaper in terms of fuel consuimption but if you are only doing around town journeys petrol is probably better as the diesel filters can get clogged (they need to go on a long journey every so often to clear the filter) plus London and many cities are banning disesels/ charging for them due to pollution issues.

We had a similar choice about 3 years ago and opted for an eight year old Peugeot 5008 with 85,000 miles on it which so far has been fine, previously we had a similar Renault Scenic. We did look at an SMax as well which felt good but was more expensive and the Touran which again was lovely but VWs are considered better made and so was more expensive. We also looked at the Volvos and Audis but these are premium brands amd were more expensive to buy and parts and insurance are more.