What’s the oldest car you would buy right now?

[Maztek]

Looking at buying second hand but not sure how old is too old really! Current car is an 08 plate and is on its last legs. Not looking to spend much more than 15k, big enough for 2 adults, toddler and car seat and an 8 year old.

Any suggestions from anyone?

Found a car I like buys it’s 15 plate and not sure if it’s stupid buying a car that old?

How many miles on the clock?

Be careful about the ultra low emission zones with older cars, especially diesel. If you are near an ULEZ I'd run the plate of a car through their checker before buying as the charges are ridiculous

It all depends on the mileage and how it has been looked after. I'd rather have a 2015 plate with 40k miles that's been well looked after than a 2019 plate with 100k and poorly maintained.

2015 is too old?
We live different lives; I’ve never had a car newer than 12 years old!

This.

I have no idea what an ULEZ is so I reckon I’m safe haha!

Read up on how reliable older models are. Some makes maintain their reliability for a long time. Of course they also tend to keep their value secondhand because people know they’re a good bet. It means a car which looks a bargain may be inexpensive simply because it’s a make that becomes unreliable with age.

I just bought a luxury spec 2014 BMW with fsh and reasonable mileage. It's a v well looked-after and basically the same price as a 2015 or 2016 Kia Sportage or similar SUV. Don't go too low mileage as not being driven much can also be an issue and many cars sat on people's drives during lockdown. A 2015/16 is really more like a 2017/18 imo

I love a bit of grunt! We have a really old 02 plate - compact, we’ve taken it to Longleat, I’ll squeeze in to ANY space with it etc, take the dog out, it’s full of sand 🤣and then a new car for family days out, transporting guests etc.

As it says in the bit you quoted, ultra low emissions zone. Put it another way, are you likely to drive in a large city? Most of them either have or are planning a ULEZ

Wouldn’t you be better judging this on mileage and general condition that just age? It could be two years old and thrashed to death by a sales rep going up and down the country, or ten years old and driven once a week to church by the proverbial little old lady.

I'd happily have a jaguar e-type from the 60s

About 75k miles on it

I would buy at about ten years old. Get one that has been serviced annually. That is the most important thing. Low mileage isn't good for cars especially diesels. It tends to indicate lots of short journeys. Higher mileage with mostly long journeys is better.

Most diesel cars will happily do at least 250k miles as long as kept serviced. It's when people neglect to change the oil and filters that you get expensive problems.

Choose a high mileage newer car over a low mileage older one.

If I could afford it I’d have a 1920’s model t Ford.
but most cars newer than the 80’s are reliable especially Japanese ones.
and they have the advantage of being an appreciating asset.
over 20 years old they are classed as a classic so the insurance is cheap over 40 and you don’t need to worry about emission zones and the TAX is free.

I would buy a seat, recommend by multiple mechanics and good cars. For 15k you can get a pretty car

Forgot to answer, if I could I would
want a 5 year old car, I wouldn’t go older than 10 years

For 15k I’d have thought you could buy newer than that?

Yeah I could but newer but I really like the one I’ve found 🤣

I would go newer with higher mileage if it’s got full service history
if I was spending 15k I would try and get something around 5 years old

Something like this is in budget. 2019 and 35k on the clock.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305247723733?journey=PROMOTED_LISTING_JOURNEY&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=&maximum-mileage=35000&minimum-badge-engine-size=1.6&postcode=ln12ln&price-to=15000&quantity-of-doors=5&radius=50&sort=price-asc&year-from=2019&year-to=2023&fromsra

I’d like another Audi ideally which why for my budget I’d need to go slightly older.

Audi’s are good well built cars, their engines will run for a long time (generally)

We had to drive in London last week. I was surprised that our ten year old diesel was exempt from ULEZ.

My Ford focus is a 14 plate, has about 60k miles, and has never needed anything done to it ever. Runs like a dream. It's a 1 litre with turbo boost so ulez compliant too.