To hope that I can get a reliable good car for £3000

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Need a car for new job....they don't supply a car. Its a fantastic opportunity...start in March. I need a car and have been turned down for car loan...previously had a debt management plan 5 years ago...all resolved and paid up now however its still affecting my credit...which is fair enough. Past years have not missed any payments with anything and been excrutiatingly good were money is concenred.

I have 3grand saved (painstakingly saved for towards a house deposit over the past couple of years) (Two jobs one full time and one satueday/sunday job). I was hoping for the loan but now that is not possible unless I want a high APR 35 per cent ish apr.

I might beable to stretch to 4 grand at an absolute push, but would be skinting not only the savings account but the birthday account. I rent and worried if the landlord wants the house back I will have to find the deposit and moving costs for another place with higher rent :()

Is it possible to get a good reliable car for 3000 ish that would be used for about 15000 to 20000 miles a year or am I delusional and need to grovel to my employer that im serving notice with and apologise to the new one saying I cant get a car.

So fed up...I've a few Gnt's on my todd (my kids are dtweens, they are safe) and fed up as I don't know what. Am I car snob and are there good cars out there for 3grand that wont have to pour money into

Thank you for listening to my drunkard worriying ramble

Chipped, you would need a boyfriend called Ken and a Malibu Beach house to go with that.

Littlefluffyclouds, I wouldn't always judge a car by the house the seller lives in. I take much better care of my house than my car whereas DH looks after his car well. He evenvacuums his car but seems unaware that the same appliance also works indoors.

I'm not wrong. Petrol cars have turbos. Golf Gti T is the first one that comes to mind! Hardly a sports car...

I also agree with Hyundai or Toyota. Definitely don't go French. Have had nothing but trouble from Citroen and Peugeot.

I got a 2005 Mazda 3 18 months ago for £3k. It's been fab so far, no problems whatsoever and flown through both its MOTs.

The AA will check it for you before you buy it for a reasonable fee; I'd recommend doing that.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/radius/1500/keywords/Turbo/latitude/52.5950592387/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/longitude/-1.1924254967/sort/atcustom/maximum-age/over100yearsold/r/2/fuel-type/petrol

Here's a list of old cars with petrol engines and turbos that are extremely standard.

I'd definitely also recommend an AA mechanic going with you but don't rely on them. One drove my car when the turbo was bolloxed and said 'seems fine to me'

Here's a list of old cars with petrol engines and turbos that are extremely standard

So you put up a load of niche sporty/performance spec cars that represent a tiny fraction of those models sold.

Definitely possible. One of my best was £2.5k and gave me 5 years of trouble free motoring, just tyres and brakes and wear and tear type stuff.

No compos, I searched in auto trader for petrol cars over ten years old with the key word turbo. Meganes and saabs are not niche or sporty. They're bog standard cars that go a little bit faster than their non turbo friends...

Cars are about luck and previous owners. Ten years ago I paid £400 for a then 17 y-o Astra. It was from a friend's mum and she had to give up driving. We're still doing fine, it will be 28 in April and the last MoT had nothing to fix. Probably what will finish her off will be some unobtainable plastic grommet as there are few spares around now. I don't care what people think of me.

I've always had cheap cars, £300 - £500, they can be as good as fancy new ones. If they last three or four years that works for me. This latest one is a bonus, best deal ever.

Get a friendly local mechanic too, not a branded dealer, to come and look at your shortlist.

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pamish - I am genuinely jealous of your 28 yo Astra , I aspire to that kind of longevity with mine!

Then the next day I came out to find this:

Took a bit of a search to find a replacement glass, that's the problem with us older girls. Glass cost £30 and I think it's an easy-ish job. Meanwhile I have posted in the window some curses from the goddess Sulis Minerva, found in Bath. That should shrivel their dicks.

Why didn't they see the Cobra stickers and the bloody great yellow Krooklock?