No idea what car to get - max £10K to spend - help!

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Ancient Seat Ibiza coming to the end of it's life, so we're looking for a new car. Don't need anything massively bigger, but a wee bit bigger would be nice. New or used, 3 or 5 door, manual or auto, don't mind. Just something sensible and reliable, which will last us 10 years or more...

I don't even know where or how to start looking

Depending on how much bigger, I would guess you be looking at Focus-sized models, which gives you a hell of a lot to choose from. Seat Leon if you want to stick with the brand, Ford Focuses are highly regarded in this sector, Honda Civic, Audi A3, VW Golf, BMW 1 series (bit ugly though); most manufacturers will have something in this class.

You might also find that newer models of the Ibiza (and Polo, Fabia, Fiesta, etc. etc.) are slightly bigger than older models; cars tend to inflate over time, it seems.

The best thing to do would be to get down to a large dealership/car supermarket and have a look at and a sit in various cars.

I can recommend Honda Civic. I loved mine and never had any problems at all with it.

I'm a big fan of VW's so a polo or golf.
Ford Fiesta or Focus?
Go visit a few showrooms and sit in the cars - you may love or hate some of them.

Thanks, that's all very helpful.

I do like our Seat it's done very well for us with very little cost servicing etc. and has only just started falling to bits, bit by bit, and is 15 years old.

Does anyone know how the Leon differs from the Ibiza? They look bigger but when I've looked online at dealers they often seem cheaper than the Ibiza

Nissan Micra - they are roomier than they look so go and have a test drive. The Note is also a possibility as I think it has slightly more room inside.

For reliability and practicality they can't be beaten. Ours did 120,000 before we part-exchanged it for a new car. In that time it had new brakes and discs and new wheel bearings, and other than regular servicing didn't cost a penny. There was one fault on it (electrical) which was fixed within warranty - the AA man who came out to us said he had never been called out to a Nissan Micra that had broken down in 8 years of working for the AA. It was my 5th Micra and all of them were extremely reliable, got us through the snow and ice, even did a bit of off-roading when needed.

Cheap for insurance and ridiculously good mileage if you go for the 86 diesel (don't go for the lower diesel engine as the 0-60 is about 3 hours). If you are only doing low mileage then a petrol version may be a better option, we do about 20K miles a year private mileage.

I'd go for a German car, have always driven BMW Audi or VW and then did the ford focus test drive and was like driving a rollerskate, didn't feel terribly safe at all.

The main difference is the chassis size and available engines (although some engines will be shared between the two).

Price difference will probably be a down to a mix of age, mileage and spec.

I like the sound of a Nissan, have never been in one and don't know anyone who owns one, so will look into the Micra thank you.

We do about 5000 miles a year so not much, I think petrol version definitely.

If you are willing to buy a second hand car, you could get totes luxury for that budget. I´ve always bought second hand BMWs - always been smart and new, never spent more than 3k.

newish i mean, nae bangers.

Have a look at kia's. Cheap and you get a 7 year warranty!

I think we would rather a used car Fergus, don't want to lose money as soon as we buy it.

am very very tight

Everything we spend under £10K comes off our mortgage when we remortgage next year so under budget would be a bonus.

So Far have Focus, Micra, or another Seat on my list. Or VW Polo (mum has one and is v v fussy about cars, is the only car she has not moaned about constantly).

Looking online can get v newish ones for £10K so could easilly spend under budget

can I just ask those BMW owners, are they expensive to service and repair? we are also looking to replace our galaxy soon with something smaller and have a max budget similar to OP. DH likes the 3 or 5 series tourers but my DF said they are expensive to service and the garages always find something extra wrong to try and get more money out of you.

with regards to OP, as far as I know, japanese cars are renowned for reliability as are german cars. skoda are also part of the VW Audi group and definately worth a look.

With your mileage I would definately go petrol. Some manufacturers do eco boost petrols now too to give more mpg, I know ford do.

I second going to showrooms or supermarkets to get an idea of size etc

7 years

I have heard Kia's are expensive to service etc., is this true? Are they economical/reliable etc? Am not at all into labels so will happilly get Kia/Skoda/Hyundai if it's the right car! I am going to have to start going out and sitting in cars and annoying lots of dealers...

oh yeah, forgot about kia's. DF keeps going on about the cee'd and it's wonderful warranty. apparently it gets good write ups in car magazines

I have an Ibiza and DH has a Leon - both fantastic.

DH bought his just after a new reg came out, so we had the previous reg but brand new and they knocked loads of money off.

Yes I do love our little Ibiza Bella, but after sitting in mum's tiny 3 door and way-more-comfortable VW Polo last week I realised how ancient it is

For that budget and size, a Honda Jazz would be the most reliable. Observations from recent 2 week 2000 + mile trip was that Audis were often seen on motorway hard shoulders - to my surprise

You only get 7 yr warranty if buying new, which OP doesn't want to do, I think?
Our Kia is a lemon, costs us a fortune in repairs, cannot recommend.
I would look for a VW or Citroen if buying today.

I heard that Kia's were expensive to repair lljkk, thanks.

DPIL have Honda Jazz, is v nice.

I have a civic,2.2 diesel so gives me plenty of power with still giving 45 mpg round town.Its now done 177,000 miles and shows no sign of slowing down,although ds is a mechanic and it is well looked after.
May be worth considering that Honda have just been voted the most reliable make for the seventh year in a row.Full list is here

interesting list motion. I noticed that mazda were in 6th. we have had a mazda previously and had no problems with it and had thought of getting a mazda 5 or 6 but then read reviews online and they have recurrent problems with their DPF's but maybe they are worth reconsidering after seeing that list. Another make in our shortlist was skoda which was 12th but seeing as BMW are way down in the 20's, I don't think we will be going for one of those afterall.

A lot of makes get trouble with DPFs, but that's more down to how the vehicles are driven than any particular make being better or worse, I think. They get clogged up and start failing. The way to clear them is occasional hard driving (full throttle acceleration, e.g. joining a motorway) - this burns the soot off clogging the filter.

The AA site says driving for 10 minutes above 40 miles an hour is enough, but you might as well have some fun while you're doing it

Am surprised to see VW and Seat so far down on that list Motion, very interesting thank you for posting that. Have added Honda to my list of possibilities.