Buying a 2nd hand car advice please

[Randsta]

Hello a little off topic but I'd like to get some motoring advice >
I want to buy a new (2nd hand) car and it must have the following requirements
Air con
>40 mpg
<7yrs old
<50k miles
<£130 tax
5 doors
Budget £4k>6max
on my radar are > in order are
Fiesta
Cilo
C3
207
So basically a cheap economical little hatchback kinda thing ...what are your thoughts and feelings

 

[Biscuit]

Recently (April) bought a Peugeot 307. Love it. Surprisingly comfortable to drive, plenty of leg room. Handles my London to Brighton trips very well. A little slow to respond but ample for city driving. You could do a lot worse,

 

[StonehamPark]

Fiesta, Skoda Fabia (Diesel) or Mini Cooper (Diesel).

The Skoda might not turn may heads... But it's genuinely a quality car with a good price-tag.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

Fiesta, Skoda Fabia (Diesel) or Mini Cooper (Diesel).

The Skoda might not turn may heads... But it's genuinely a quality car with a good price-tag.

For what it's worth I have a Skoda Fabia 1.9 Diesel. Well put together, up to 55mpg, fine all day at 80mph. Bought new in 2009 and now done about 58k. Immaculate. I'm not selling it but I doubt if it's worth much more than £3.5k and you can get tremendous bargains, even from a dealer, because a new model is coming out later in the year.

 

[sir albion]

Up your budget a tad and you could pick up a bmw 320d

 

[AmexRuislip]

beware of the new car tax changes.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

After having one as a courtesy car, I would not recommend a C3 at all. Fiestas IMO are the best out of what you've listed.

 

[StonehamPark]

For what it's worth I have a Skoda Fabia 1.9 Diesel. Well put together, up to 55mpg, fine all day at 80mph. Bought new in 2009 and now done about 58k. Immaculate. I'm not selling it but I doubt if it's worth much more than £3.5k and you can get tremendous bargains, even from a dealer, because a new model is coming out later in the year.

I've just had a look on Auto Trader. There are some amazing deals out there.
I'd definitely consider it for my next car.

£30.00 Yearly Tax
65-80 mpg
Great Engine

OP:

Auto Trader Results - Click Here

 

[Chinman3000]

Hello a little off topic but I'd like to get some motoring advice >
I want to buy a new (2nd hand) car and it must have the following requirements
Air con
>40 mpg
<7yrs old
<50k miles
<£130 tax
5 doors
Budget £4k>6max
on my radar are > in order are
Fiesta
Cilo
C3
207
So basically a cheap economical little hatchback kinda thing ...what are your thoughts and feelings

Do NOT buy a Clio. Ive owned about 20 different cars in the last 11 years and the Clio I had has been the worst for issues by far. Complete and utter Sh*t.

To be honest stay away from anything French in general.

 

[Shoreham Gull]

Just buy German car, be silly to buy anything else

 

[algie]

Just buy German car, be silly to buy anything else

I prefer Jap cars myself

 

[Justice]

After having one as a courtesy car, I would not recommend a C3 at all. Fiestas IMO are the best out of what you've listed.

Ford? I cant believe you recommended a Ford.

 

[Stevie Boy]

Just buy German car, be silly to buy anything else

Yes if you want expensive bills when it goes wrong which will be quite regularly. Buy Japanese.

 

[Cian]

Just buy German car, be silly to buy anything else

Based on recent experience with Vauxhall (yes, they are German) and VW reliability and part costs, plus seeing the tinworm that a lot of Mercs suffer from like its 1984 still; I'd run away from them faster than pretty much anything else.

I also had a company Toyota from new, which had more electrical gremlins than the worst France could offer up; required a new turbo and part of the driveshaft replaced as warranty failures within 3000km and felt like it was in monthly for recalls. It was replaced by a Ford which was the most reliable of the succession of vehicles that job gave me (Citroen->Ford->VW->Ford again->Vauxhall->Toyota->Ford again). Did the guts of half a million miles across those.

 

[algie]

The most reliable cheap run about car i've had to date is a Fiesta. Brilliant little cars.

 

[Foolg]

In contradiction to the 'don't but a clio or a fiesta' posts....

I had a 2003 Clio Dynamique (my first car), loved it, nothing went wrong in the 2 years I had it and was cheap to run/insure. My old man wrote it off 3 years ago.

I have, since then, had a 2004 Fiesta, and it's also been fine. Fuel economy has dropped a fair bit (to be expected) from what it was, yet despite doing 139k miles, it still runs absolutely fine. In fact, the last service it had, all that needed doing was a new bulb which I bought myself for £19. The service before that it needed about £50 worth of stuff doing to it. I can't complain.

Looking at upgrading, going to look at a 2008 Fiesta 2.0L ST, and a 2005 BMW 1 Series, if anyone has any experiences of either?

 

[Chinman3000]

The most reliable cheap run about car i've had to date is a Fiesta. Brilliant little cars.

What kind of sick ******* forced you to date a Fiesta?!

 

[Superphil]

Skoda, VW or Audi, all in your price bracket. Not only will you get good mileage, but you'll also get great quality. It might break down, but nowhere near as often as a Renault/Ford/Pugeot etc, if you find an independant garage to service it etc for you it will cost little if anything more. In my experience, it might not break down, I've had 3 Golfs and 5 Audis, over the past 20 or so years, and can count on the fingers of one finger how many times I've been left stranded in one. Oh, and I get 50mpg+ in my currnet A6 2.0tdi automatic.

 

[The Rivet]

You can buy my Audi A6 3.2 that's up for sale if you like!

Wow someone got an ad in there but that sure as hell wasn't me. Oh well.

 

[Cian]

What kind of sick ******* forced you to date a Fiesta?!

Probably cheaper than "dating" an Escort, I guess.