£8000 to spend on a car

[alnitak]

What should I get? My main priority is fuel efficiency and reliability. I have a really old Polo at the moment.

I mainly drive in London but with the odd motorway journey so do want something that feels safe on long drives and isn't underpowered.

I am looking at Skoda Fabias, possibly Toyota Aygo though not sure about long journeys with that. What else would be a good option?

Every day is a school day. Ta

All petrol cars and most diesels now have cats

Goodness why such vitriol to vag ?

With that budget I’d go Suzuki swift, you should get a low milage one for that and they aren’t too small

Get a Yaris, less tinny than an aygo

Mazdas are very reliable and I get 45mph on motorways.

Why the vitriol?

We used to have a VW Passat saloon. It was brilliant. Never went wrong, a dream to drive and we kept it for 8 years only sold it as we needed an estate.

VAG owns several brands, including Bentley. Are they shite as well?

I have one too. No power up hill but god, so cheap to run . I don't like the amount of tailgating I've had in it though. I had a bigger car before and get loads of asshats up my back end now I have a little car.

I'd go for the top spec model if you do.

Love the cruise control etc. Roomy for a small car. Adjustable back seats. Only takes two in back though.

Boot space is tiny though. I'd go ignis over swift.

I’m baffled by this too. I’ve had several VWs and they are by far the best cars I’ve driven. Weird!

Another one baffled by the hate for VW!! We've had a couple of VWs over the years and never had a problem with them. DH currently has a tiguan and it's done nearly 90k miles in 3 years - we haven't had one problem , just the routine tyre changes etc at such high mileage. Weird!

I've got a 20 plate i10 and love it. Feels big inside for a little car, very comfortable to drive, easy to park, cheap to run and insure. I also looked at i20s if you fancy something slightly bigger.

Yes, all VW brands are trash.

There is a reason they are always languishing at the gutter end of vehicle reliability and satisfaction charts.

No vitriol - just facts.

Indeed. Mediocre reliability and build quality at best. Broken ones generate a lot of income for me so there’s an upside at least.

Hyundai i10 for me but daughter chose a Fiat 500 . She looked at Aygo but plastic outer parts looked weak.

I have an Alfa Romeo MiTo 0.9 and I love it. £0 road tax, cheap parking permit (N London) and surprisingly reasonable to insure. Unfortunately they stopped making them in 2018 I think but there are still decent later ones out there. There isn’t much boot space but I think they look good. I’m watching this thread as I’m helping my son look for a similar car, but I’ve also done recent MiTo research since I can’t help steering (no pun intended) him towards one! I looked in my Autotrader account and I’ve only saved MiTos 😂 (I do love an Italian car).

Our mechanic is worth this weight in gold and he specifically told me to choose VAG group. So I have a Seat Leon for work, have had it 2.5 years and it is excellent. It’s a 1.5FSI FR so a sportier spec. I’m a driving instructor so it needs to keep me safe, and it does.

Some of the cars named above like the Aygo are dreadful, it’s well known in our industry if you buy an Aygo you lose your students, because they’re so awful to drive. Ditto with the i10.

I do wonder if people think these are a good drive what else they’ve driven?

Drive a good few cars then make your decision. Also look up NCAP safety ratings too, if you’re in an accident you’ll be glad of that.

I wouldn't get another Ignis. I'd get another Skoda tbh. Definitely more solid.

But I can't argue with how cheap Ignis is to run. I don't do much motorway driving.

I asked DS who is a car mechanic. His view is that, if you live in London, use public transport and then hire a car for motorway journeys. Not sure that's that helpful!

Anything Japanese we are on our second Suzuki with Hondas before that

Suzuki Ignis top of range, I've had 2, cost less than £14 to drive 100 miles

What is VAG ?

I don't hate VAG. But I deal with warranty claims for all makes and models (these are used cars that our business has sold and come back in with issues within the first 6 months of ownership) and the makes that come back the highest percentage of times (pro rata based on the number sold) are generally Volkswagen, Mercedes and Land Rover. The highest cost overall as a percentage is obviously Land Rover, followed by Volkswagen and then Mercedes. That's an absolute fact. I certainly don't hate them, in fact my last car was an Audi. But our business has been selling used cars for 5 years, in that period we have sold about 2000 cars and the fact is they aren't reliable like people think. The ones we sell would usually be 2-8 years old.

Based on my experience and looking at our warranty reporting figures on my screen currently, our most reliable brands are not surprising :- Volvo, Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Kia. Also up there is Ford which may surprise some people. I know people are scared of the wet belts that Ford use, but we haven't had issues with them on Fords but have on a lot of Peugeots that use them. The only cars we have had to replace engines in have been 3 Land Rovers (again not a surprise) and 1 VW Golf.

Oh, Suzuki Ignis is a very good call. I liked the drive of it, small but feels roomy inside, feels solid and well built with no rattles or flimsy bits. We don't sell many Suzukis so I can't comment on reliability but I believe they are reliable unless that's changed recently. I think they look really cool too.

Volkswagen AG