To ask what car do you drive?

[Hairbrush123]

I am searching for a new car. Is your car any good and would you recommend it? My maximum budget is around £15,000, could push it a bit higher if it’s really good but ideally not. Thanks

It depends on your needs really, my needs may be a lot different to yours in terms of what I need from a car.
How many seats do you need?
Do you need a big boot?
What's your mileage? Think about cost per mile, electric an option?
Accessibility? Are you/ your family able bodied?
Etc.

I have a Subaru Forester that I love, but I'm not sure you could buy one new for that amount.

I have a Mazda 6 and an MX-5. You couldn't get either of them new for £15k but could get decent 2nd hand ones (I've never bought a new car). They are a bit different though, so it rather depends what you need it for!

Two hybrids, a Toyota Corolla and a RAV4 previously had a Yaris. Superb cars and reliability to suit. Best thing is if you are buying 2nd hand all Toyotas now with less then 100,000 miles / Under 10 years old. Get 1 Years free warranty every year you have a service at an approved Toyota Garage. This also includes 15 years warranty on battery's for hybrids.

Was a no brainer for me.

I have a Volvo V60 (hybrid). Only had it for a month so far and it's lovely to drive, by far the nicest of the cars I've had. They're considerably outside the £15k budget, but I imagine you could get a used Volvo within that price range with reasonable mileage still. They've always been good, solid cars for me.

A Mercedes ML350 AMG Line. It's bloody lovely - quite fast, easy to drive (auto everything), and looks great when it's clean. You could get a 2013/14 plate for your budget/a little over. Although what you want from a car is so personal though. I'm not fussed on how old or new a car is so long as the service history matches the mileage and MOT history is decent. Mine is big, not economical, and because I want to keep the services etc with MB, fairly expensive to maintain. But for me it's worth it. I also have an old Saab 900 convertible for the 4.7 sunny days a year we have in the UK 😂.

I agree- really depends on your requirements.

Is it a main family car?
How many people regularly need to sit inside?
Do you have a dog?
Like to go camping?
Do you regularly do lots of motorway driving or long distance?

I drive a 14 year old Renault Clio- perfect for my needs.
Cost me £600 four years ago- I love it!! I never drive on the motorway, my annual milage is around 4000, I don't commute, I use it to tootle up to the post office in my village and to get to local Tesco and yoga classes.

I am guessing that would not be the car for you!

Mini Countryman.
It's economical, nippy, reliable and fun.

I went to Available Car and the Minis were the only ones that stood out in a sea of bland, similar looking cars, there are so many accessories you can get for them and many variables of colour, some have different colour roofs or stripes or wing mirrors.

I wanted a car I could spot on the car park and not a generic silver, boring car.

A one year old Hyundai Tucson. Totally love it. Cost £17k with 5k miles on the clock. Bargain.
We swapped down from a Volvo V90 (we have always had volvo previously) but this last one was a pain in the bum, always having problems with it's computer and parts/tyres/fuel were ridiculously expensive.

I drive a VW Up. It’s very small but very reliable.

We live in London so really handy for getting into small spaces etc. Equally, the fuel consumption is amazing, and the tank small, so when you go away on a trip you barely have to think about it.

No got if you want lots of space, are looking for luxury, or have to drive in all conditions though!

It’s 8 years old but nothing wrong with it at all.

I've got a hyundai ioniq hybrid. Love it. Dh has mitsubishi outlander hybrid.

Nissan Qashqai.
It’s 12 years old, diesel and great on fuel. Comfortable and Accommodated all of DDs return to university crap and the dog

We have a Citroen C4 and a focus, both reliable reasonable economy with petrol, decent boot space for a buggy or a family grocery shop, cheap to insure and tax. Not fancy, not exciting, not fun to drive or 'nippy' like the cars of my youth. If serviceable is what you're after either would be fine.

Best cars me and dh have ever had have been Fords. DH got over 200,000 miles out his Mondeo. He now drives my old Focus which has 100,000 miles on it and apart from wear and tear such as tyres, brake pads, wipers has never had any money spent on it and starts every time....it's over ten years old.

I now have an astra which is ok but not as good as the focus.

@MissConductUS work gave me one of those as a hire car for a long trip once. I loved it but it felt huge compared to the mini I had at the time, it was really quick too.

I drive a 1998 Land Rover Defender. Love it but the new ones are so expensive, altho the older ones are too !.

Nissan Qashqai. 67 plate, 1.6 diesel, bought with 32k miles on it. Decent on fuel, comfy, nice to drive and spacious enough for our family of 4. Only had it 6 months though so not long enough to comment on reliability, but no issues so far.

I drive an Audi E-tron GT and an Audi Q3 (The Etron is mine. It is entirely electric, so I borrow my husband's Q3 for when I am driving long distances). I love them both. Gorgeous to drive, powerful, and the Q3 is really spacious.
Before that, I had a Toyota RAV4. It was perfect - not one problem in 10 years and 150,000 miles of driving. I would still be driving it had it not been written off in a car crash. (In the crash, it protected me incredibly well too). With your budget, I would buy one of these again, as new as you could get. They are great. Just what you need.

@JurgensCakeBaby, we also have a Subaru Impreza, which is much smaller. We need the Forester mostly to get the kids back and forth to uni. It is quick.

I've got a Mini John Cooper Works. DH has a company car so we go distances in that, and I use the Mini for just me & DS nipping about.

VW Tiguan, got it for £15k two years old. Very reliable, nice to drive, good fuel consumption.

I got a BMW X6 Sport.
I love my car.💕💕💕
Some days I love it more than I do DH😂😂

Volvo XC 90 you’ll probably pick up an older model within your budget and a Mini Countryman, again older models should be within your price range.

@CottageOnTheHill

Volvo XC 90 you’ll probably pick up an older model within your budget and a Mini Countryman, again older models should be within your price range.

We have the same.