If you had this amount to spend on a car...

[doggybootcamp]

What would you buy?!
Dd has approx £3500, can maybe stretch a little bit more.
She's 19 and been driving for two years. We know nothing about cars so keen to get something that is as reliable as possible, easy to repair and low insurance.
4 or 5 seats is fine and manual petrol preferred.
Mainly for local driving to and from uni and work.
She's nervous about buying as the last one she bought (KA) turned out to be a turnip so she is cutting her losses and looking for a replacements. She's saved really hard and just doesn't want it to go wrong again!

Honda Jazz, reliable, bomb proof, nice and roomy but still compact.

I recently got a 15 plate ds3 for 3.5k. Fantastic little car.. Previously had a Mazda 2 that I bloody loved... Until a van hit me head on. Twat.

VW Polo.

We had one from it being 18mths old and got rid of it about two months ago when it was 14yrs old. It didn’t cost us a penny in all that time, despite having almost 130k on the clock when it went, other than normal stuff like tyres etc. Both our kids learned to drive in it too.

DS2 bought one when he was at university which served him well too. He’s only got rid of it because he and DDIL are having a baby and 2 small cars won’t work anymore.

I’ve had a Seat for about 9 years and it’s been amazing. It had 1 issue in all that time and not a big one. I think it was no more than couple hundred to fix. Been a very reliable car

I'd go for a mini , great fun

Dd has a Skoda fabia and it’s been fab.

Skoda citigo
Small but sturdy, fits in tiny parjing spaces but goes fine up hills, very reliable, really good for petrol, easy to repair and parts are everywhere as they are identical to the seat mii and the volkswagon up.

VW polo. I’m on my third one now and they are so reliable and solidly built. Plus if you get a 1 litre tsi it has a bit of a kick and isn’t slow to get going

I'd go for a Citroen C2 or C3. We've had a few, and still have a 15 year old one that's never let us down and still looks good as new. They're incredibly well built for the price.

Ford Fiesta or something similar. Ford are reliable cars, also they've got a heated from windscreen, which is so handy in winter (miss mine)

Skoda Fabia. Insurance is cheap and is very reliable! Bought mine second hand 4 years ago and has sailed through its mots. It is also quite roomy for a small car. It has been very handy carrying my 2 dcs and husband around!

Definitely a Seat.

You’ll want the lowest insurance group possible at that age, and something reliable. I’d say that rules out the Skoda suggestions on both counts, and the Jazz on the first. Toyota Aygo would be my suggestion.

100% a Polo. I bought mine when I passed 18 years ago and it’s survived me, my sister and my younger brother still drives it. Fab little cars.

Smarts have often very low mileage and are in very good condition even if they are many years old, as they are mostly used as a secondary car.

Most cars’ prices are reduced when they are getting to 60,000 miles as most will need an expensive time chain change. Smarts are reduced too but… they don’t have a time chain!

The most I have spent in a family size one was £5000 but it only had 9000 miles in the clock so, practically new. My previous one had 62,000 and costed me about £2500 but lasted me for about 6 years without a single problem. Smarts ForTwo are even cheaper.

Having said that… Smarts are now made by Renault rather than Mercedes Swatch so… we’ll see if the quality has diminished in the next few years.

Ps. I insure the smart for about £120 a year and do not pay Road Tax. I also get discounted parking and fill the tank with £35.

I used to drive a Ford KA hated it but now have an Aygo which I love. When I was shopping around for that car I also tried the Skoda Citigo which I quite liked and the Fiat 500. My mum has a vw up which is quite nice and hasn't had any issues in the 10 years she's had it

Agree with polo

Either a Polo, a Jazz, or even a Suzuki Alto. Definitely a Japanese or German brand. Either way, I'd be keeping the engine as small as possible. Insurance is through the roof even for very experienced drivers.

But considered a old man’s car, probably the least cool car when you are 19 🤣

Honda Jazz hands down.

I would also recommend a VW Polo. I absolutely adored mine, drove it for years and it never gave me any bother at all. Funnily enough I had a Ford Ka as my first car too and when I bought the Polo I was amazed at how much better it was!

Toyota Aygo all the way.
Terrific little work horse and you can't go wrong with a Japanese car IMO

Hyundai i10, toyota aygo or Yaris, suzuki Alto or swift or a mitsubishi colt

A nice old Toyota Corolla. Love mine, haven't had any trouble from it.