If you spend under £5k on a car how long would you except it to last ?

[mamatomany]

I've always preferred to buy cheap cars unless I get a company one due to have little knocks and scuffs and not wanting to spend much either.
But I bought one, had a full RAC check, all seemed great, 2 months later the cam belt went and it'll cost more than the car did to replace it.
So I'm wondering if I spend about £4500 this time, how long would you expect to get out of say a Grand Voyager type car for example, or a Honda if I should be so lucky ?

I bought my VW Polo years ago for £1,500 - it's 16 years old now and I swear it has never, ever let me down. It gets a service (by DH) every year and I've just had to change the exhaust at the end of December - cost me £60. To be fair it only had 20,000 miles on the clock when i bought it and I've taken it to over 60,000 now but I love my car. In fact, on the basis of my Polo I would always consider a VW in the future.

7 years ago for £1,500.

My VW is 26 years old and has never let me down apart from the glow plugs going on it once and needing replacing and sometimes I leave the headlights on and need a jump start.

If the cambelt went after two months, it's been poorly maintained or clocked and possibly both. Chances are other problems lie in wait so I'd get rid.

You can easily get a decent durable car for less than £4,500, esp if you're not fussed about colour/spec. Go for something that's low-mileage and that you know has been well-maintained. You can get more bang for buck if you buy something ugly and unfashionable!