Car advice for completely clueless

[Brainfogmcfogface]

Hi, my car died today, again, I’ve now spent more on it the. It’s worth and am expecting a call from the garage to say needs another couple of hundred if not more, which I don’t have, I’m a lone parent on benefits with little savings and it’s my little girls birthday next week so now looks like the little money I have saved will have to go on the car as I need it, I’m a carer for my mum who has dementia and she lives off the Beaton track, no public transport goes near. My daughter also goes to school out of catchment and it’d be 2 busses away (6yo) which would mean she’d be late anyway as I couldn’t get her there on time, so I need it for her when she goes back too.
Current car is a very old fiat panda that I took advice from a friend on to buy as I’m clueless. He pretty much looked it over said it was good and negotiated. No longer in touch as I moved and lost contact.
All I care about is reliability, it could literally look like shit I just need it to get me to where I need to be and not cost the earth to run/maintain. I have 2 children and it will be used for some long journeys about 6 times a year (6hr+)
Right now apart from my daughters birthday money I’m potless, so can’t afford a car, bad credit rating so cant get a loan or credit card (checked only cash builder cards available) but I’m going to sell anything and everything I can, and stop paying a few non essential bills to try and get something ASAP.
I’ve seen some cars that are relatively new (less then 10yrs) but have hugh mileage, is it worth getting a car with high miles?
What mileage would you recommend as a Max?
Any car recommendations?
I’ve only ever driven 2 cars my whole life, what should I be looking for on a test drive?
Is there anything I can check over that’s easy to spot to show the cars a dud?
Any advice gratefully received, I’m on my own this time so literally anything would help!

and if anyone knows the location of a money tree that’d be great to!!! Haha!

High mileage cars can be good, if they have been looked after. A well looked after modern car will do 150,000 to 200,000 miles. I've just bought one with 120,000 miles on the clock. I'm expecting to do less than 5,000 miles a year in that car, so it should still last me a while. I probably wouldn't buy a car with more than 150,000 miles, but if you really are skint, the right car with 160,000 to 180,000 miles could be a decent buy.

I'm not good with the mechanics and probably wouldn't spot many issues. What I look for is a full service history. Most cars need to be serviced every 10,000 or 12,000 miles. Check if that has been done. Ask your garage if/when that type of car needs timing belt changes and check they have been done.

Can you get your garage to give any car you are looking at a quick once over before you buy?

I’d suggest a Toyota Yaris as being probably the most reliable small car you can buy. High mileage shouldn’t necessarily put you off if it’s been well maintained. I’d rather buy high mileage with a full service history than low mileage with none for example.

Rough rule of thumb?
Toyota or Nissan cars. And Hondas. Tend to be bullet proof and as rugged as a park bench. AVOID anything French or Italian. So no Citroens or Peugeots. Fiats are very hit and miss. No British minis.
Yes to VolksWagens or Seats (Spanish but VW designed).

And of course service history trumps low mileage.

I think you will be doing really well to get an older, reliable car for less than £600.

I have a Ford Mondeo has 126,000 miles on the clock and is diesel. As it's diesel it has plenty of life left in it. Paid £700 for it. So far it's been brilliant. No problems at all. Everything working and a lovely car to drive.
I think you can be either very lucky or extremely unlucky with cars.
If in doubt I'd buy a make that's relatively cheap to fix should anything go wrong like "Ford" and not "BMW"

Forgot to say I've had it about 18 months and it had full service history when I bought it and it's 13 years old.

Another Toyota Yaris vote - the AA man who rescued me years ago in my broken down Peugeot 205 recommended them and he was right. Said they only ever saw them for batteries and punctures.

I had my Yaris until it was 12 years old, and only got rid because I was in a position to buy something newer. It was still going perfectly well.

I had a Toyota Yaris too from 2009-2015 and only sold due to needing a bigger car. It was very economical on fuel too. Got a good mileage for the money

Thank you for the advice everyone, very much appreciated!

Nissan Micra - 2004 ish - there should be plenty around for around for £500-£750 and all the ones we've had were bombproof - DD1 is still running around in hers (2004) after 2 years and it has cost her pennies to run.

A VW golf, they are a good car. Are you looking for something petrol or diesel and what would your price range be? I bought a Opel corsa 1.0 petrol when I first started driving and it was honestly the best car ever, cheap to run, cheap insurance, cheap tax etc. I bought it for €500 and it was the best money I ever spent.