£2500 is enough for a family car?

[whatcar]

Is it possible to get a safe/reliable mpv/large family car for around £2500?

I think it can be done, you just need to be careful and look up as much information before committing. Obviously it won't be top range etc, but we have only ever had hatchback style cars, so before committing to a big mpv beast, I would rather buy a cheaper one and go from there.

OH thinks I'm being unreasonable and should just spend more.

What?!?! My car cost £1500, perfectly fine lovely car, 5 doors, plenty of room, never had a problem with it.

It's enough for 3. My last MPV was £800 and lasted me 7 good years with a new exhaust, a set of brakes and a clutch plate on year 5.

Oh! I forgot the £150 when an electrical wire eroded on year 6 and needed to be identified and resoldered.

Our current car is a Vauxhall Meriva. 40k miles on the clock for £2250

I can't wait to rub his smug little face in this thread! Thank you ladies

Plenty!

Whoa that was some follow up comment whatcar

I bought a Volvo for £1,600 about 6 months ago. I love it, I never loved a car before but this one I could be persuaded to leave my husband for. There's 5 of us (3 kids).

Absolutely! I paid £2000 3 years ago and haven't had a single problem with it! It's a 7 seater typical family car

Vauxhall Meriva - bought as 10 year old, 20k miles, £1700. Put new brakes and tyres on as soon as we got it home and only so probably close to £2200 all in, we've had it 2 years and it's just passed another mot.

DS1 bought a 3 series BMW with 52k on the clock, full leather interior and full service history for £2500. We still think the price was an error.

1.8k 4 years ago for my 3 series bmw. Had 50k on clock . It's never had an issue in 4 years . 2002 plate so yes it's an older car but it's still perfect and a nice looking car . Never spend to much on cars anything could happen even with a newer one. Youl be fine with that better than getting into debt etc

Yes of course you can get a car for that. Obviously there isn't a guarantee that it will be reliable, but there never is with a second hand car, no matter what the cost.

Just take your time looking and don't be put off by a higher mileage, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Better lots of longer trips that 2 x mile trips to the shop once a week. Just look for signs that it's been taken care of, both visually and also by way of a full service history.

I bought our zafira for £995 18 months ago. It's 15 years old mind but no problems

Where are you finding these cars?? I spent ages last year with £2300 in my pocket and struggled to fund anything! X

Nowadays I wouldn't purely look at mileage, it's how it's been looked after. I bought a car in 2008 that was already 6 years old (52 plate) , that car is still running now with over 140k on the clock at 15 yrs old. A friend has it now but I serviced it myself every 6000 miles and changed the timing belt when required. I bought my current car 18 mth ago and it has been serviced twice in that time and had brakes done and timing belt. As with anything, if you look after it, it will last

I can't wait to rub his smug little face in this thread! Thank you ladies

Funny how you didn't get the reaction a man 'suspected' of wanting to do that did.

I think the reliability may be a gamble with your requirements and budget. If it breaks down, I hope his smug little face doesn't help you whatsoever when you're stranded at the roadside.

Try to follow Wheaton's Law

I love my 2004 plate skoda worth 1000 (bought new for 6900 in 2004). No electrics to go wrong. Perfect!

Take a look on auto trader - can get loads for that

I got a 2007 c max last year for that much. It's a great car, loads of space and passed it's MOT with flying colours. I think that's a good amount to spend.

I skim read title and thought you were going to buy a 2500 family cat. 😸

It's a complete gamble. You're headed towards banger territory. Might be reliable, might chuck a £2k bill after 2 months.

My dh persuaded me to pay £5,500 outright for a second car which I didn't really want to do, but hey he knows best. I was keeping my terrible old Clio as not worth trading in. Good job I did.

The new car had an ignition fault, ie if I turned off the engine, it would take me five or six goes to even get it to turn over and I was going to have to call the RAC out when I got stuck in town. Took back to dealers who tried to fix, but no good and I had to return it again. So within a week, it was returned three times. They then wanted to take it back to the main dealership but I refused and used the new Consumer Rights Act to ask for my money back under the 30 day rule.

What a fight they put up, so aggressive it was as though their lives depended upon it. They even asked me to take £500 less because I had driven it for a week!

Back with my terrible old car which has recently decided it cannot reverse. Fixed for £40. But the threat of my DH still insisting on spending upwards of £10,000 to put me in a new car still remains.

I can understand he is fed up of fixing the bastard car but I just want a basic run around and I would stick to your guns op because its a gamble whatever.

Second owner of my 50000 mile Astra, £1700 with MOT, service and delivery to work. Third owner of my Ford Fusion, £2100, full history. Both auto, both solid family cars, neither have given problems apart from routine stuff..😊

In a country where so many drop thousands on cars that drop thousands as they leave the forecourt, £2500 is not an old banger. Look for minimal gadgets, fixing of actual problems rather than service history and how it has been used. While lots of bumps and scrapes indicate a crap driver who may have hammered the mechanics, appearance doesn't matter in itself.

Also don't buy from someone who lives in speedbump central as the suspension will be knackered.