To ask what car you would buy if you had 8k to do so?

[Greatly]

I've inherited 10k and desperately need a new car as mine has done 165k and is knackered. I drive a lot, probably 12k a year easily. So economical would be good.

I wish Mnet still had the Car topic!

OP, don't focus on the mileage too much - I haven't bought a car with less than 80k miles on the clock for years, and haven't had issues with any of them! Just do your due diligence with regards to service history and scheduled maintenance/replacements etc. I'd rather buy a car that has been meticulously maintained with 100k on the clock than one with very little service history and 50k on the clock. Also look at the MOT history of the cars, check for lingering advisories etc.

Get a Toyota, they all are covered by Toyota relax warranty now as long as you buy one less than 10 years old with below 100.000 miles and get it serviced at a Toyota garage you get 1 year free warranty every time you get it serviced up until that point.

There are plenty of old ones been used as taxies ect on auto trader and you'll still have warranty on it. Toyota's are bullet proof.

I recently bought a Citroen C4 Picasso 2014 for £8500. It's great. 3 proper seats in the back that go up and down individually and each have their own isofix (including middle) if that is likely to matter to you. It has various bells and whistles that the heap of crap we drove before didn't have so feels proper luxurious, although I'm sure isn't anything fancy really.

I have a Honda Civic 2013 plate 65k miles for £7k. I bought it for reliability, free tax and great build quality. It's been brilliant during the last year. Focus on mileage rather than year

Skoda Fabia. The best car I ever had. I bought it 2nd hand in 2012 and would still have it today if it hadn't been murdered by an Astra. 😢

Despite looking like the world's most boring car 😔 this is what I keep coming back to.

They're not going to set the world on fire that's true, but it was a proper little workhorse and very reliable. He (yes it was a he), passed every single MOT and never let me down. The only reason I don't have one now is I needed a car quickly and, as it was 2020 during lockdown, I just took what I could get.

i LOVE a fabia. Didn’t suggest it as I thought you wanted suv. Great car, can’t fault them. Autos great, diesels great, little engines great. there was a tax change in March /April 2017 that meant the ones registered prior to that date had a lot cheaper yearly car tax, so just double check that if your looking at those cross over years.

Honda CRV. Massive boot and really good cabin space for people. Just got rid of by husbands one that has done 185k as he has had a stroke and cannot drive and I already have a newer CRV of my own! Brilliant workhorse of a car

I would also buy a decent Ford. I love mine to drive and it's been 100% reliable there's nothing irritating about it either

I am on my third Fiesta and really like them (plus there's usually lots available) but when you say 4 or 5 people - are you likely to want 3 adults across the back of the car? My kids are now teens and getting three of them across the back is a real squash, last time we tried they were so squeezed in I think I'm down to 3 passenger spaces really.

Toyota Avensis estate, 2.0, 2014, euro 5, 150k miles.

My last one did 280k miles without a whimper.

I worked on the development team of that engine. They were given to cab drivers to test and brought in every few thousand miles for inspections. Not too much bolt on shit to go wrong

@VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji and a chain driven cam so no major rebuilds. Took ages to find a facelifted one with the last of the Toyota engines and the right spec ie no leather seats to crack.

Do you know what happened to the car topic and why it was removed?

Skoda Yeti. Great car for rural driving, high driving position & ground clearance, big boot, great build quality. I love ours.

We paid £6k for our 13 plate Yeti 18 months ago, 60k on the clock.

If you need a big boot for stuff, we had a Peugeot 307 SW, which was brilliant. Massive boot. (We now have a Citroen Picasso.)
Alternatively, perhaps look at a Subaru Forester. Not the best looking car ever, but useful. :)

Look for ex lease cars as they have been looked after even if high mileage.

I bought my bmw x3 3litre diesel auto for £13k in 2016. It had 120k miles on the clock fsh ex lease car fsh and AA 12m warranty.

It's not done 235k miles and is still going strong.

I get 40+mpg, it's fast and it feels so safe.

I've been looking at a 2nd car to take the load off my x3 and I've considered a 2011 Renault megan convertible - I had one before my BMW it's was brilliant car, so reliable, fun, big boot, they're less than £5k and cheap to insure and tax and behaved impeccably in the snow. If you're going to consider on, you need a diesel or the 2l petrol.

If you want something newer, then a golf or polo are good choices imo.

The cheap badge from tge Renault stables, Dacia are given a hard time by ncap cos they don't have auto stop as low speed to prevent collisions, but you could get an almost new sandero for £8k.

Love my Honda Jazz, and have just discovered that they come in a slightly longer version - Jazz shuttle (and hybrid), which I may well hunt for when the current dies. More space for your horse feed 🤣
The seats fold completely flat, or fold up for a large space behind the front seats (big enough for a small tree in a pot). I've also fit a cubic metre of firewood in the back of mine (with the seats flat). Mine is a slightly odd 4WD vairant.

Would love a Skoda Yeti though!

Whichever Toyota suits your requirements.

None of them really!

I'd buy a 1.4 golf, economical 50 mpg and £30 road tax!

I now only have 5k - sad times. I think I'm just going to keep my Citroën until it actually dies.

I might even just get another one, despite it being such a mum car. I like it and it has a good high driving position

I had a Avensis as a company car, it was the most unreliable piece of junk i ve ever had, i paid an early return fee to Lex to get rid of it a year early, one fault alone cost £3000 to fix, it was also prone to suspension/steering issues, no matter who or how wheels were balanced, inc new wheels and tyres, they never resolved a steering wobble issue.

A friend had a Toyota pick up, brand new, engine and body work QA issues, need new panels and a gearbox, took months to fix, then the engine developed a knocking sound, which Toyota tried to say was "normal" after threatening court action, they eventually put in a new engine.

Parts for Asian built cars can be a pia to get now.

Personally, i d get a VW clone, like a skoda or a seat.