Help! I have to buy a car. Please tell me if you love / hate your car.

[Wasgijenaj]

Hi, my old car has finally gone to the junk yard in the sky & I have to replace it. I think I need to get an approved used car, but really not sure where to start.

Can anyone recommend their car make & model & let me know why they like it?

Alternatively has anyone bought a car they hate? Please share so I can avoid if appropriate.

I don’t really have a wish list for a new car but obviously reliability is v important. Thanks!

No, that's weird! People used to waive at me when in had a VW Beetle but no punching

Ford B-Max. It has sliding back doors, which I love! Great with kids. It's my second one.

Love my Audi A3. Reliable, feels safe, but fun to drive. Had two mini coopers before that. Also ace cars.

I’ve got a Smart ForTwo convertible and bloody love it. Put it in automatic and it drives like a demented go-kart. Best fun ever and makes me smile. Cost £20 a year to tax and around £30 a month in fuel but I don’t commute so mileage is low. Parts are expensive though which is probably the only downside.

I don't get it. What's wrong with yellow cars!?

Toyotas are consistently the most reliable cars in which? tests every year. Toyota auris is automatic and sooooo cheap to run.

These are brilliant, thank you all so much, really helpful.

Automatic Ford Fiesta, 2018. Absolute dream to drive and can really shift.

If I won the lottery I’d keep it.

I believe Lexus is the most reliable make in Which? and pretty much everything else. I know because I have bored myself stupid reading all these reviews recently.

I only buy Mini, Mini's are my life. Would never buy another car. I treat it like my 3rd child

I wouldn't have a Vauxhall now if you paid me, shows how crap they are when you filter by price on autotrader as clearly no one wants them. Love my Focus, helps it's a top of the range one husband chose, need to replace it and struggling to find comparable that isn't so expensive sadly. Had a couple of brilliant Golfs in the past too, quite like the look of T-Roc now which is essentially a Golf on steroids 😂

I'd forgotten. We had a T-roc as a hire car and DH (who did the lion's share of driving) LOVED it. Obviously that was just for a week so didn't have time to have any issues or need to worry about boot space or passenger comfort.

@Xyz1234567 You punch the person next to you
(in the arm) when you spot a yellow car!

@TazTheFairy my old car was a Focus, yes absolutely loved it (& loved the heated windscreen too)😊

VW Golf. Mine is 13 years old. I love it and will drive it into the ground.

@Carsarelife which Mini have you got? I'm going to look at the Countryman or Clubman for my next car in a few months, any thoughts on those?

Skoda Citigo is a great runaround - small, but holds loads in it. Also it's practically the same car as the more expensive VW Up. I hired a Peugeot 2008 on holiday - beautiful car imho.
Toyota Yaris is supposed to be brilliant and dependable.
Nissan micra is ok - a Juke is a micra on steroids - tiny boot and v cramped in back seats.
Recently got a hybrid Yoyota - soooo economical.....

VW golf.

We are on our second one now. The first was old but solid, unfortunately written off by someone else's driving...

I just love our VW cars. Our golf was great, and now our T-Roc is also.

Big advice I'd give you when shopping for used cars is try and buy one with a key lock where you can- the keyless entry cars are a lot more vulnerable to theft, and I think the cars of 3-5 years ago are especially so as some newer ones have extra protections built in to keep pace with hacking technologies.

I didn't realise it was quite so bad until we nearly bought a wireless entry Hyundai and our insurance company said they wouldn't offer cover at any price for that vehicle (as they were so often stolen) and when we did find an insurer who would offer us insurance it was £1k premium. In comparison our key lock T-Roc which came out around £300 premium.

I have a Tiguan. Amazing car.

@User100000000000000000001 I love the Clubman although they've stopped making them now so used ones will either increase in price or decrease it's hard to tell. My friends have the countryman and love it. The brand new countryman's are lush. Mine is an F56 it's a hatch back twin turbo so very fast. I also have a convertible too which is a a tiny bit smaller in body length.

Hyundai I10 with low mileage. Mine was a 2014 model in 2022 for 7k with 12k on the clock. Owned by a vicar. Although maybe all car sales people say that.

Citeon C3 is pretty reliable. Toyota Aygo. Ford Fiesta.

What is your budget?

I made a spreadsheet 😂

This!! BMW do exactly the same and can’t get parts changed anywhere but there (1 series 2019 onwards anyway!)

Depends on needs/budget but here’s some of my experiences:
Had a few Corsa’s/Astra’s which were great.
Peugeot 208- hated it.
Evoque- loved it!
Golf- wasn’t a huge fan, overpriced and very basic.
KA- terrible.
Juke- okay but felt flimsy and like it would damage easily.
Older BMW 1 or 3 series- both brilliant and reliable.

Honda if you want an easy life. Civic mk9 here and 90k in with nothing to fix apart from consumables. 1.8 vtec is a great engine and it drives good, prefer it to a focus.

Automatic Ford Fiesta, 2018. Absolute dream to drive and can really shift

One of the slowest cars around!