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!

Thanks all-lots of suggestions but no clear consensus 😂

We've had Hyundais before and they've been great cars and I currently have a Toyota, which is also great but there's so much more to think about re insurance costs etc due to her age. Also need to repair her current car as best we can and sell it first- I Spent ages looking online with her and nothing really seemed to fit the bill exactly so will keep looking and try these suggestions too!

Peugeot 108 instead of an Aygo. They're the same car (Citroën C1 too) but the Peugeot is cheaper than a Toyota. I used to drive one, the only downside is I had to re-teach myself to reverse as I got used to the camera. Nippy little thing, £0 tax and cheap insurance.

I’d say the Polo as well. We’ve had them in the family for years and barely spent any money on repairs.
I’d also recommend going to a dealer rather than a private sale. If anything does go wrong, you can at least go back to them and if they’re reputable they won’t be selling on dodgy cars which you can’t guarantee with a private seller.
If you’re in the SE there’s a guy with a small garage I can recommend who our family have all bought first cars from and never had any issues.

Hyundai i10. That's what I drive and it's never let me down. Cheap to run too!

We had 1986 C reg Polo that we sold to a friend at 160K miles when it was about 15 years old. That friend put another 100K on it before scrapping it.

Great little cars.

I had a little Nissan Pixo for a while. Not exciting in the slightest but it didn't put a foot wrong mechanically, I paid £30 to tax it for a year and could fill it up on £40 of petrol and it would last forever. Insurance was a packet though, bizarrely!

Hi Mummy. I'd be interested to know , as we are in the same position as the Op. we are (roughly ) SE. would you mind messaging me if you don't want to share it on the thread ? Thanks so much.

Peugeot 206 convertible. Great fun, nippy, good with fuel & can be picked up cheaply.

Look for some kind of Kia - if you look after them they just go on and on .

@Mummypete I'd love the name of that car dealer too if you don't mind messaging me with it?

@Almahart @ohyesohyesoh just messaged you both

I've had Colts and they've been lovely cars. Super roomy in the five door. Would be great for trips to festivals, if that was on the cards.

The only major thing I'd say would be to avoid Peugeot or Citroen. I know people love theirs but I've seen too many things go wrong with French cars. For example, you wouldn't see a Citroen available from a car rental company. They're just not reliable enough.