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New car advice

21 replies

tacomaco · 08/07/2023 08:43

New to us, not brand new.

DH and I both have cars and both very much needed.

DH has a 2009 Cleo estate that is on its last legs. Drives too and from work each day. Round trip about 40 miles. It’s been a great car. No real problems. We use this car as a family car also as it’s really economical with diesel.

I have a 2011 ford. Low miles for its age (85000). I love driving it. It’s an automatic but is all bells and whistles and forever has alarms going off for one thing or another. It’s a 2 litre diesel and I also use it too and from work every day. Round trip of just 12 miles. I do extra miles to take DS to clubs but I’d say a normal week is less than 100 miles driven. I don’t need a 2 litre car.

So, my question is what car do you have that isn’t all singing, all dancing and fancy? We don’t have the budget for big cars like Audi or BMW. We just want reliable and economical cars, one more family sized than the other. Any suggestions you’ve got would be appreciated. Thanks.

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PinkGrapefruitSorbet · 08/07/2023 09:36

I have just changed my 2008 Mercedes A class for a Honda jazz which I'm very happy with so far. Our family car is a Skoda Yeti and we will probably stick with Skoda when we need to replace that as it's been great. The Karoq looks like our potential next car.

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TiggeryBear · 08/07/2023 09:52

I've recently got a 2007 Hyundai Getz. It's fairly basic inside but it drives well. (Copes fine with motorways) I bought it as our family 7 seater needed some work doing & we couldn't be without a 2nd car (DP has his own car) & I now tend to use the little car all the time as I love driving it.

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billyt · 08/07/2023 10:00

You definitely don't need a diesel when only doing ridiculously short journeys.

What is your budget as that has a huge impact on your choices?

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User8907 · 08/07/2023 10:19

Kia, or if you are not bothered by the brand - Skoda.

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TakeMyStrongHand · 08/07/2023 10:47

As above, definitely don't replace yours with a diesel. Newer diesels have DPFs and definitely wouldn't cope with that.

Why don't you want an all singing all dancing car? Treat yourself and have a nice bit of kit inside to enjoy the drive. You usually get more kit with the less extravagant makes.

I'm not a brand snob by any means but I'm a real fan of BMWs. They are so lovely to drive and look great. I drive a Mondeo and it's so practical and comfortable. I really recommend as a family car.

I'd get a Hyundai or Kia for the warranty if buying very new.

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Emmylou22 · 08/07/2023 10:58

I've recently got a Seat Leon 1.5 petrol. It's a great car. Spacious, runs smoothly, reliable. Essentially the model is a Golf but cheaper. I upgraded from a Hyundai i30 which was also a fantastic car.

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tomatotonic · 08/07/2023 11:16

As others have said you probably need a petrol car- as I understand it the diesel filters that are in place on more recent cars need to do regular motorway or other sustained high speed trips where the engine gets up to temperature to burn off the soot (we were told it has to be in the region of 50 miles or half an hour driving at higher speeds) otherwise the filter clogs causing problems.

As you are doing a low-ish mileage each year it might be better to go for an initial high mileage car - provided the car has been regularly serviced and tyres/brakes etc replaced regularly there is no reason why a 3 year old car that has done 60,000 miles wont last for another 10+ years; its probably better mechanically than a 5 year old that has done 20,000 as that will have done lots of stop start small trips that put a strain on the mechanicals.

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bonfirebash · 08/07/2023 11:17

I have a VW polo, my dad has a Kia sportage
Both happy with them

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tacomaco · 08/07/2023 11:44

Thank you. I’ll take a proper read with a coffee shortly.

Absolutely ditching diesel this time round.

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Iamclearlyamug · 08/07/2023 11:48

Really do recommend a Honda Jazz - they win a load of the 'best car' and 'safest car' awards.

Amazingly economical to run and like a tardis inside - when the back seats are down, it's massive!

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Groovee · 08/07/2023 11:50

We went to a local place and got a Renault Captur with 16,000 miles on the clock, 68 plate for £12,000. It's been a lovely car to drive.

It's the luck of the draw what's in as they handle all the trade in cars from the local garages. So we got a great deal and car. But I just went by along with an open mind and landed our wee car.

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tacomaco · 08/07/2023 17:28

Thank you. Some really good help here.

We have had a look on auto trader today for some ideas. Garages seem to want a lot of money (or may be not) for cars that are 10 years or so old with 100,000 miles on the clock - £7-9k. Places like Facebook marketplace where people are selling themselves seem to have better deals. I am not sure if that’s a red flag though. A work colleague has a mechanic for a husband so she has offered his services to look at anything we might buy.

We would want both cars for £20k, preferably less.

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tacomaco · 08/07/2023 17:32

Just as an example, a seller on market place has a fiat 500. 2018 plate with 25000 miles on the clock and wants £4000.

Garage on AT has a 2011 with 50000 on the clock and wants £5500.

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IMissTerryWogan · 08/07/2023 17:34

You can get a newish Ford Fiesta 30k mileage for under £10k. Really fuel efficient and nice to drive. We manage with 2 kids and 2 grown ups on long journeys plus good for a commute.

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Sunshineandrainbow · 08/07/2023 17:37

tacomaco · 08/07/2023 17:32

Just as an example, a seller on market place has a fiat 500. 2018 plate with 25000 miles on the clock and wants £4000.

Garage on AT has a 2011 with 50000 on the clock and wants £5500.

That's cheap Dd fiat 500, 2010 was £3500 6 months ago

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Hugasauras · 08/07/2023 17:38

Second-hand car prices have been sky high for a while. FB marketplace is pretty rife with scams so be careful there. You also lose a lot of protections using private sellers v a garage or business.

I used Cazoo for my latest car and they were great. I'd be a bit suspicious of someone asking £4K for a low mileage 2018 model with today's second-hand market personally although perhaps Fiat 500s fetch a low price generally. But that would be a big red flag for me. Our 2016 Sportage with 50k miles is worth more than double that.

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wonderstuff · 08/07/2023 17:43

I love my Fiat 500x, it’s got a nice big boot, keyless entry, comfortable drive. It’s our family size car, I regularly drive motorways and country lanes, including a road that regularly floods so I wanted reasonable ground clearance. Biggest draw back is it isn’t terribly comfortable in the back o long journeys.

it’s my second car in this model, first one was written off when someone rear ended me, my car protected us well, all the damage was to the exhaust under the car. So I feel really safe in it, it’s NCAP rating is good. I’m surprised there aren’t more of them on the road really.

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MissConductUS · 08/07/2023 17:45

Subaru. We've owned several and they're extremely reliable and fun to drive. The all wheel drive is a plus in bad weather.

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BarbaraofSeville · 08/07/2023 17:49

Have a look at car supermarkets, they often have decent prices and give you some protection. You never know, if you're looking to buy two cars at the same time, you might be able to negotiate a bit of a discount.

For the second car, I'd go as small as possible if you're only ever doing short journeys because then you'd get the newest car possible for your budget and running costs will be low.

So something like a Skoda Citigo or Seat Mio for example. Then you can afford to pay a bit more for something to replace the Clio. But it might be worth having someone look at the Ford, if they can fix the 'bells and whistles' for not very much, it might give you a good few more years of economical service, rather than replace it right now.

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TakeMyStrongHand · 08/07/2023 18:57

Buying from a garage will be much more expensive but you get added security. Read reviews of both the car (honest John) and the garages.

I used the carshop for my last purchase. It was over priced but I knew I had time to take it back if I had noticed something they missed. 14 days no quibble return and something like 3k/90 days and everything is fixed. I honestly get so nervous buying cars and seem to do it a lot. DP went privately and was lucky and got a much better car for much less.

Cinch have very mixed reviews but I would use them.

There is a place up north that kept coming up on my searches that seems amazing. Rose something. I just didn't like the distance to me if something does wrong.

Car prices have been crazy for a while and are starting to settle but you won't get much for your money compared to 5 years ago.

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Shade17 · 08/07/2023 20:59

A petrol Toyota is the answer, very little else is going to be as reliable.

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