Buying a car

[EggandStress]

My car is no longer driveable; steering motor apparently and will cost more than the car is worth (20 years old, Nissan Micra, I've had it about 4 years. It's been amazing actually, first problem I've had with it).

It was my first car, I passed my test just after I got it and my husband did all the asking questions, checks, test drive etc. We got it from a local secondhand car place. I think we were incredibly lucky, it didn't cost much and the mileage was low.

Anyway, I now need another one and I don't know where to start. I'd like to do it myself or at least have more input.
My budget is small (6k?) and I want a small car.
Where would you look? Am I unrealistic with that budget?

Second hand car for 6k will always be bit of a lottery and that Micra definitely served you well.

I would take two approaches. Firstly take a look at the newest lowish mileage small car you can get with the money looking at non prestige marques with higher depreciation e.g. Dacia, MG, hyundai, kia, suzuki . Secondly look at brands with fantastic reliability and look for an older lowish mileage (50k or under) with one previous owner and a shed load of maintenence history e.g. Toyota Yaris or a Honda Jazz. I could make an arguement that a suzuki swift would meet both criteria and there's a reason deliveroo drivers and taxi drivers often have a Toyota.

Also meant to say pay attention to any bad Google reviews if you're looking to buy from independent dealerships.

If your Micra lasted you that long, then maybe stick to what you know. Nissan are pretty reliable.
My first car was a Micra.

I would avoid MG, Vauxhall, Suzuki.

VW, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota all pretty good.

Read some What Car reviews.

Why would you avoid Suzuki Horace out of interest?

They're regularly top 5 for reliability and satisfaction in many automotive surveys. I had friend who had a lemon of swift but bought it high mileage, 3 previous owners and negligible maintenance history. The owners were the issue not the manufacturer in this instance. Personal family experience of 2 suzukis bought new now over 10 years old sailing through MOTs with nothing but consumables needed in costs. I wouldn't discount them for a cheap reliable run around.

Thanks all for these tips, lots to work with!

Yaris every time, fantastic little cars.

Why not just have your existing car repaired. It doesn't matter what it's worth to sell, as you're not selling it. If the cost to repair is less than the cost of a replacement car, it makes sense to have it repaired and keep it. As long as you're otherwise happy with it.

I did that a few years ago. Car worth £750 to px, but cost to repair was £2,500. I had it repaired. It's still going strong, and nothing has gone wrong since, so other than annual service and MOT, it's cost far less than buying a replacement, and has sailed through it's MOT 3 times since. That is a 08 reg, so now coming up to 17 years old!

Hi @Badbadbunny
Thanks for your post. We did look into this after you suggested it.
Unfortunately found out yesterday that it will be impossible to repair (or at least very very difficult).
DH has spent this week ringing around various garages, Nissan specialists etc. and the conclusion was that it's not possible.
It was worth thinking about though so thank you.

So now on the hunt for another one. There's a Suzuki Alto for sale nearby; old but low mileage and affordable so I'll have a look at that over the weekend.