AIBU to buy a 'cheap' make of car?

[Newcarwhatcar]

I have about £10k to spend on a new/ nearly new car. I currently drive a tiny old banger but want to replace it with something newer and bigger which can do longer journeys, we can take on holiday etc.

My plan is to buy a Dacia Stepway, or something similar. However everyone I know is telling me I will regret this, and that I should buy a smaller car, some are saying I should go for either a Ford or Vauxhall as repairs are cheap, generally reliable etc. Others are telling me to go for a BMW or Audi. However any of those makes (esp the prestige ones) I'd have to get a car that was years old to get in my price range which isn't what I want.

So If you were in my position what would you do? Go for a new cheap car, or not?

Id also suggest kia. I've got one and ours been great. I think our next car will be a kia. Just had loads of work done under warranty and its 4 years old - £500 work for free. If you haven't driven anything yet then arrange some test drives, its the only way you'll figure out what you like.

People are very snobby about cars. I’m getting a brand of car that I know some people wouldn’t contemplate. OP, I’d have a good look around and go for the one that offers the best deal. If that’s a Dacia, fine. Or a a Kia, or whatever. Just check what the warranty covers.

Mazda all the way. I have a Mazda 2, bought it 5 years old for just under £6k from a Mazda specialist.
Drives perfectly, decent size, no problems at all. Very reliable. I take it back to the Mazda garage for service and mot which is a smidge more expensive than a local garage but I know they're looking after it and all good parts/tyres used.

There are some surprising replies earlier saying “buy an older Audi or BMW as they’re more reliable”

Starting with Audi - if you buy any of the TFSI petrol engines built between 2007-2012, you’ll find engine gets very hot, they’ll consume huge amounts of oil between services. Took Audi a long time to admit etc, and only fixed cars that had full dealer history.

BMW? Buy one of the late 2000s/early 2010s and you might find camchain failures typical of the N52/N53 engines of the time.

Plus if you’ve seen news recently you’ve got the fuse electric problem, car goes into limp mode. Z4, X1 etc from 2009-2011 need recalling

These are major faults that without a dealer service history etc could cost thousands to fix.

OP, ignore the badge snobs, nothing wrong with a “cheaper” brand - if you’ve got a manufacture warranty on a car that’s had good ratings from the likes of Honest John, then you should have trouble free motoring hopefully

A vote from Kia from me! I am on my second Kia and have been driving them since 2008 and my husband has one too. Had this once since it had 10,000 on the clock, it has now done over 200,000 miles! Really cannot recommend them highly enough. The 7 year warranty (or 100,000 miles) is fab - just had a new key under my husbands warranty policy - without the warranty it would have cost nearly £300! I have a C'eed Eco Dynamic - it also does about 55mpg up to 60mpg on a good run :)

I wouldnt buy a BMW /Merc or Audi as I live in an area that gets snow, and they are RWD.
Hyundais are great cars, but I ended up with a Renault, 3 yrs,FSH and low mileage. Great car and just short of 10K.
I did look at Dacias, but I just preferred the Renault interior

Having owned 3 cars in the last 13 years I've finally switched to leasing. Cannot recommend enough.

We pay under £300/month for our SUV, includes all the servicing, and as it's brand dew and under the dealership anything that goes wrong with it won't be our financial problem.

Previous to this car I had a (very nice) car which cost me so bloody much in servicing/repairs etc. Plus of course I had to buy it in the first place.

Wish I'd leased years ago! Can't see I'll own a car again now.

I bought a Skoda and it's brilliant. I was driving a Polo before, and it's so similar it's made me wonder how VW have the cheek to ask such a big markup! It has all kinds of bells and whistles that you only get in the much more expensive Polos too, including a sat nav that runs off my phone which has been life-changingly awesome as I now no longer fear driving on my own.

I miss my Dacia Sandero. Had a problem with my new car and had to call AA, he said he rarely gets call outs for Dacias.

My Vauxhall is ten this year, just flew through its MOT and is a great workhorse. I'm not interested in its value though, I'm just going to drive it until it dies.

Loads of the taxi drivers round our way drive Skodas.

And they know a thing or two about value for money and running costs.

Don't go for a vauxhall, unless it's the older one (over 2 years). Mine is 2 years old and has been in the garage more than on my drive in that time. Non stop electrical problems!
Horrendous on petrol too.

My friend has a Kia the same age and never had any problems, I also had a Kia as a hire car and it was much nicer to drive than my vauxhall, even though the vauxhall is the top of the range model too, the Kia was still nicer.
Also had a ford whilst it was in and that was great to drive.
If you want new I'd go for a Kia

Honestly you’re overthinking.

You have an idea of size of car and price you’re willing to pay. Whittle down by that.

Then look at repairs etc. My friend bought am amazing Toyota for cheap but it was an import and the parts were eye watering so more expensive in the long run.

Then look at reviews.

There is talk at the moment I thought of cars over 10 years old receiving fines or something for emissions? So I would not get an older car.

What about VW? I rate them very highly - they are less expensive but highly quality cars with quality parts.

I've got a seat Ibiza. I love it it's fab. I'm told that the engines are made by Volkswagen, but the overall car is much cheaper.

We have a Hyundai as a run around and I love it. Basic but easy to drive and simple to use. My sister and sister in law have both bought Seats recently based on them
Winning car of the year or something like that so might be another one to consider. Think Audi, VW and Seat are all made by the same people.

On the flip side our family Car is a Volvo which is lovely but it’s expensive to maintain, everything costs so much money.

Also all the parts are made by Renault so availablity for parts isn’t an issue

Renault parts are really expensive. I had a Clio for years, brilliant reliable and economical car that did huge mileage for me but parts were expensive when it needed them.

I would say best value for what the OP wants would be a small but not tiny car (fiesta, clio, yaris, corsa size) purchased at 6months, 1 year or three years old.

This class of car holds their value better than bigger ones and are more economical to run but are still pretty comfortable on a long distance providing you aren't hugely tall or fat. Try driving a few to see what is comfortable, for example I feel less cramped in a toyota aygo than a fiat 500 despite the fiat looking bigger.

I wouldn't go bigger than a focus/auris/astra unless I really needed to.

When I was looking recently my mechanic cautioned against Fiat and anything French. He said he has never known anyone dissatisfied with the current fiesta and would also recommend something Japanese.

@SusanneLinder

Fair point re BMWs and Mercedes (although they have their 4WD models too)

However I have to say, Audis are not rear wheel drive (with the tiny exception of one of the models of the brand new R8).

Vast majority of them are FWD, so predictable handling in snow - and many of their cars offer the Quattro all wheel drive system.

I definitely don't want a small car. I have one now and I know I need something bigger. I also want a higher driving position.

I don't need anything massive admittedly but I am very definitely looking at a mid range size crossover. So a Stepway or a Stonic (which is the same as a Rio essentially), or that kind of thing. I know Ford have a version in my price range, there's also a Nissan Juke but I never hear much good about them and they always seem to be owned by terrible drivers (apologies to anyone on this thread who drives a Juke!)

I could definitely get a good deal on a smaller car like a Fiesta but that isn't what I want. Part of the reason for giving up my trusty old banger is to get something bigger and higher up.

Look at a second hand Seat Altea (they don't make them anymore so you can't get new). We've had one for 5 yrs and love it.

I just bought a brand new corsa for a little over 11 grand, I could have got it for nearer 10 if I'd waited longer for a factory standard one.

I looked at cheap brand new ones but to be honest once you start adding air con etc that is usually standard in others the price soon rises.

Have you looked at the scrapage scheme? Ford, seat Audi and others all do it and you can get thousands for your old car if it falls within the guidelines.

My mechanic friend says Vauxhall's in his experience are the easiest and cheapest to fix

Also if you get brand new you don't have to worry about mots for 3 years and my insurance reduced dramatically.

Nissan Quashquis (sp) are pretty reliable and nicer than the Juke. Or Renault Capturs.

Having owned 3 cars in the last 13 years I've finally switched to leasing. Cannot recommend enough.

Leasing can be good if you want a brand new car every 3 years, you pay handsomely for it though. It works out much cheaper to buy a new car every 5 or 6 years.

The stepway is definitely not any bigger than a fiesta. It looks bigger but honestly it’s an illusion it’s just higher up. If a fiesta isn’t big enough neither is a stepway.

Skoda Octativa! Everyone loves them. Runs like a dream.