Help me out here. I think I'm missing the gene that enables me to get excited by cars, or the prospect of buying a new one - and have no idea what to get. I just know it's time for a new (second-hand) one but am finding the process of looking for something intensely dull.
Priorities:
Less than 10 years old, and as low mileage as poss.
Must be cheap to keep. I don't want big garage bills when it goes wrong.
I don't want to spend any more than £10k. The less the better.
Mrs Merman likes the idea of very low tax, and very good fuel economy so am thinking a 1.3L to 1.6L diesel.
Nothing too small, nothing too big. A hatchback or what they deem a 'Mini SUV' these days. We don't tend to do long journeys anymore, and I don't need room for bikes inside. It's just me and Mrs Merman, though occasionally the grandkids or my elderly mum need a ride so maybe a 5-door rather than a 3.
I don't care about the badge on the grill, or which bells-and-whistles pack it comes with.
Are they all the same these days in terms of reliability and parts costs? Or is (say) a Citroen going to have smaller garage bills than (say) a Merc?
I also don't care about resale value. We tend to run cars into the ground or until they explode in a shower of cogs and springs.
Hat's on the side of the head, Singletrackworld Hivemind. Go.
Skoda Yeti
Skoda Octavia 2 ltr diesel. £20 year VED, and easily hits 60 mpg on motorway and A road runs.
Edit: Ignore me, just read the requirements properly, sorry. Yeah either a Yeti or maybe a Fabia.
Watching with interest, as I could have written the OP myself. We'll soon be looking for a car that is a) reliable and b) big enough to get a greyhound in the boot. That's it, I couldn't give a flying wotsits about anything else, I'm essentially buying a household appliance.
Something Korean or Japanese.
I'd avoid diesel, the economy isn't no better than many petrol cars and they're a bit better for the environment/might save you some money on ULEV zones.
I'd be looking at Hyundai's and Kia's as they have 7 year warranties. I reckon you'd get a Ceed or i30 within your price range.
We don’t tend to do long journeys anymore
and
am thinking a 1.3L to 1.6L diesel
are a slight contradiction. If you're only going to do short journeys then generally petrol is better (and I think cheaper in the long run).
You’re an ideal use case for an EV.
I think you're probably right, but with two caveats - I'm nervous about buying a second hand EV, and I'm not sure we get enough electricity to our house (rural property with shared supply)
I’d be looking at Hyundai’s and Kia’s as they have 7 year warranties. I reckon you’d get a Ceed or i30 within your price range.
Me too. If you're going to use it for low mileage/short runs drop the diesel idea and take the minor hit on VED and fuel economy.
That's what I'll be doing when my E91 dies though at 15 years old and 170k miles that hopefully won't be for a while yet.
Yaris/Jazz if a small car will do.
I’m nervous about buying a second hand EV,
I’d be nervous about a Leaf (because early battery tech and Chakademus charging port) but would buy a Hyundai or the BMW without a worry
We don’t tend to do long journeys anymore
Must be cheap to keep. I don’t want big garage bills when it goes wrong.
Don't get a diesel then.
Toyota Yaris, Kia Ceed, Hyundai i30 would be my choices for dull reliable motoring too.
e,g low mileage 2018 Kia Ceed
BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Ioniq
I know there are Nissans to be had around the OP's budget but is an i3 or Ioniq possible at £10k?
Very few cars are worth avoiding these days so I'd just go to your nearest Motorpoint and have a sit in all the cars that fit the brief. Test drive your favourites and buy the one you like the best.
I know there are Nissans to be had around the OP’s budget but is an i3 or Ioniq possible at £10k?
Loads of sub £10k i3’s on AutoTrader. A couple of Ioniqs.
Our new to us car is that: Fabia Estate.
Mazda 3
My 2018, owned from new 168hp petrol hatchback now up to 100k miles, nothing gone wrong, had 6 tyres, 1 set of discs, averaging 47mpg ove it's life
Mrs Merman likes the idea of very low tax, and very good fuel economy
EVs are perfect for this. I would be paying £80/mo for our commute, now I'm paying £8 (because I can charge at home). It's ten times as expensive to drive petrol/diesel, and the servicing is super cheap too.
You can get a 40kWh Leaf for that price, and remember the lower running costs will offset the purchase cost. Mine was ok on short trips, just not longer ones. They are perfectly reliable and don't ruin batteries - you will struggle to find one that doesn't have full battery health on the dash. The earlier ones - 24 and 30kWh are not so good.
The earlier Ioniq Electric with 28kWh battery is great, a much nicer car than a Leaf (or any tiny crappy petrol car tbh), the 38kWh is even better but would cost nearer £11-12k probably.
Mazda 3
My 2018, owned from new 168hp petrol hatchback now up to 100k miles, nothing gone wrong, had 6 tyres, 1 set of discs, averaging 47mpg ove it’s life
This interests me, as we'll be replacing a 2005 Mazda 2 that's currently on 120k+ miles, has been bombproof, and to be honest we'd keep until it died except we've acquired a dog the size of a small horse.
Kia Ceed estate. Never lusted after one but acquired one from family, now 14 1/2 years old and just works. Boring, anonymous and functional. Mine is not an estate and I would prefer a bigger boot if choosing rather than making do.
Previously (from 1992 for 9 years) I had a Skoda Fabia Estate. Again it just worked and had a largish boot.
Petrol cars seem to have fewer expensive things to break than modern diesels with filters, adblue systems etc. and are no hassle for occasional journeys in ULEZ type areas. Also often cheaper to buy. YMMV.
Edit: standard electric car like a Leaf probably also worth looking at but never been in one.
I'd third a yeti. 2WD 1.2tsi or 1.6tdi. Possibly a greenline if you can find one. brilliant vehicles.
We've got a Fabia estate, decent car.
I previously had a Honda Jazz, another decent car if you don't want something big. Easy to park
Dacia Duster (or Sandero Stepway if the Duster is too big).
And not diesel. Petrol might not be quite as economical, but the reduced fuel prices wont make it any more expensive to run.
That thread about parts availability from Kia (and by default Hyundai) would put me off trying to run one long term until it drops.
Good luck getting that widget or thingamybob when it's 10 years old.
That thread about parts availability from Kia (and by default Hyundai) would put me off
That's my out-going car: an 11-year-old Hyundai iX20. It developed an annoying rattle underneath. Local garage investigated and it turns out it was some sort of shield on the exhaust with rusty AF bolts. Main dealership quoted my garage £2k for the replacement part.
Very happy to steer clear of Kias and Hyundais.
Local garage investigated and it turns out it was some sort of shield on the exhaust with rusty AF bolts.
That happens to loads of cars. However they aren't usually £2k to replace!
Kia/Hyundai have the best battery engineering in the business so for EVs I'll forgive them.
I’d be looking at Hyundai’s and Kia’s as they have 7 year warranties. I reckon you’d get a Ceed or i30 within your price range.
Toyota's warranty is now 10 years, and it's valid even if the previous owner hasn't had it serviced at Toyota dealers (provided that you do, of course). I test drove a Toyota earlier this year and if anything could be likened to a household appliance, it was that. I really liked the hybrid part. An absolutely competent car. Except for the stupid touchscreen, but there seem to be very few cars available without one these days. Apart from....
This interests me, as we’ll be replacing a 2005 Mazda 2 that’s currently on 120k+ miles, has been bombproof,
Mazda. I loved my 2009 Mazda 3 and have replaced it with a much newer Mazda which also doesn't have a touchscreen. I'm hoping this one will be just as durable as the last.
We just bought a 2020 i3 with 9k miles on it for £14k. It does just under 200miles on a charge.
If you do 7k miles a year at 50 mpg, you'll be spending £1k on fuel. Or £100 on electric at 7.5p/kWh.
To fly in the face of all the Yeti/Fabia love, for what you are asking i'd be buying something with a Honda badge on, in the size that suits your needs.
We have a Fabia 1.6tdi that has been a right pita, the last thing to cause grief being injector 3 & 4 trying to climb out of the engine northbound on the M5 because the stretch bolt failed.
My Yeti, as much as i love it and it's been a good car, isnt cheap to keep. 2.0tdi 4x4 so not going to be cheap to run, however there are a lot of niggles with it that have needed money spending to put right. Only just gone over 100k miles .They also really hold their value so you do get more for your money elsewhere.
I read that and immediately thought "EV" too.
Dacia sprang to mind reading your post. As others have said, Petrol over Diesel preferable for shorted journeys.
Dacia Sandero or Logan
Another vote for the ŠKODA Yeti.
Got mine beginning of February and it’s a fantastically capable car.
fun fact: Škoda is also the Czech word for 'pity'
toyota CHR and Kia Nero are both small hybrid suvs that probably tick all the boxes. Toyota has 4 years warranty left if you service it with them.
if you don't care about resale value, vauxhall is a great option - £11k would get you a 3 year old e-corsa, with very little to go wrong. I think charging with a granny-plug (normal 3 pin) would be fine, it won't draw any more power than your kettle does. It (or a similar car) would take ~24 hours to fully charge in those conditions, but will go 200 miles as a result.
Dacia Sandero or Logan
If you want a 2* Euro NCAP car over a 5* one in the Jazz - sure.
Another vote for a Mazda 3, we've a 2.0l manual hatch, can get 60mpg on a long run & normally aspirated, so no turbo to go wrong & still a fair bit of torque. Should be able to get a pretty good low mileage pre 2019 for £10k
As others say, avoid diesels, to make the emissions standards they have several systems that go wrong often and expensively (EGR, DPF, etc).
If you want low tax, then it'll be pre 2017 petrols, you can pick up a decent Ford Focus that'll be £20 tax or tax exempt, same with a few other types, but anything post 2017 will be 180/190 to tax as the emissions standards were changed then.
To be honest there's probably a dozen cars that'll fit the bill, but you ask on the internet and you'll get positive/negative experiences as it'll all be personal, the big thing is how and where to buy, after recently getting another car similar to your requirements, i found that:
Facebook Marketplace - Has a lot of dodgy cars being sold on, several people doing repairs and selling on categorised cars that look cheap. You then have the people selling their car because they were offered a lowball offer by WBAC, Carshop, etc, but trying to get the same money as you'd pay for those.
Carshop/Carbase/etc - Basically a warehouse operation with a conveyor belt approach to selling, if you see something then go for it, but do a bit of checking, will come with 3 months warranty to cover peace of mind as well, but they can be an absolute nightmare to deal with as well.
Cinch/online - As above, but without the test drive, you do get 14 day 'peace of mind' returns on it though.
Local approved dealers - This can be less painful as it's local and more personal experience, but again, you're buying a car they want rid of quick, so check everything you can.
Local sales garage - Starting to get into auctions territory 😂
As above, the car, well there's loads of choices, it's how you'll buy it that's the hard part, the car you're looking for is something a lot are looking for and it's still a hard market to find something quick and without issue, you're effectively looking for a car that someone else has sold because they're worried it's getting close to having an expensive issue, it's why i'd avoid electric as well, just too much can go wrong with the earlier models, and you'd require getting a supply for the house as well, so more upfront cost.
If you want low tax, then it’ll be pre 2017 petrols, you can pick up a decent Ford Focus that’ll be £20 tax or tax exempt, same with a few other types, but anything post 2017 will be 180/190 to tax as the emissions standards were changed then.
We ran into this buying the Fabia. Some cars early 2017 were £20 tax, others later 2017/2018 were at the £180 rate. But, the purchase price for identical cars was £500ish more because of the cheaper tax - which made no financial sense.
As a petrol it is proving way cheaper than diesel - as our old Ibiza estate did. Less maintenance. Almost as many MPG, I would say maybe more on town/local pootle journey's. On a long run it is 55mpg, sometimes 58/59mpg indicated, around town 47-50mpg.
Civic 1.6 diesel? Fantastic engine, smooth, quick enough, extremely economical, £0 tax. EGR valve heats up quickly, so less likelihood of problems with short runs. Well built. loads of space inside. Infotainment system isn't very good, but you can't have everything.
Cinch/online – As above, but without the test drive, you do get 14 day ‘peace of mind’ returns on it though.
We bought from Cinch, happy with the car and process. Just as described.
We have just made a warranty claim (electric window switch failed) and apart from a slow set of calls to the help centre and slow comms from them, the claim is underway and the car will be fixed next week after a wait for a spare part at our local Main Stealer.
Our local Main Stealer had identical Fabia estate in to Cinch - it was same miles, plate etc, just an auto instead of manual. The price was £10k instead of £8300 we paid, and the car was really, really poor cosmetically, dodgy tyres and with no service history...we went Cinch.
"Yaris/Jazz if a small car will do."
Bought a Yaris a few months back to replace my 16 year old Astra estate which was a tardis. Nothing wrong with the Yaris, it's lively but am struggling with a small boot. Son's new XL roadie was a big struggle, the Toller will also be a struggle when he's old enough, if I'm having a clear out for the tip then can't fit much in.
Also, was shocked at used car prices.
All day and every day. Done 80k in ours (hers). Parents bought one too after we did.
2 litre Skyactiv naturally aspirated engine (168hp MX5 spec engine is rare, most are 120hp). Unburstable. Chain drive. No real known issues. 45mpg constant without any attempt at trying - 50 if you do.
1.5 is available but a bit weak, especially for motorway driving.
Extremely reliable - two coil springs in 80k, serviced by me on the drive. Brakes etc dirt cheap.
SE-L (below) has 16" wheels, very very comfy ride and, Sport Spec has 17".
Good to drive. Has a little bit of Mazda zoom-zoom in the steering feel and handling, whilst not being in any way sporty. Interior fit and finish is more Golf than Kia. Cloth seats show zero wear after said 80k of family abuse. Has a screen, can be upgraded to Android/Apple BUT crucially retains full suite of buttons for climate, volume, radio station etc. Easy to use (my mum has one, thats evidence enough).
Loads on Autotrader - 10k, 2014 on, 2 litre, manual. Sorted.(Get a Red one!).
My enthusiasm for a Mazda 3 has been dented by being reminded by MrsIHN that a friend has one, and although it's a hatchback the boot lid when closed is too low/angled to allow them to have their golden retriever in the boot, which thwarts our greyhound transporting ambitions. We need something with a squarer back.
Also, when we buy something we'll be looking to keep it for 10+ years, so that knocks any thoughts of an second hand EV on the head too, right? I know they're getting better, but the batteries don't have a 10yr+ lifespan do they?
My enthusiasm for a Mazda 3 has been dented by being reminded by MrsIHN that a friend has one, and although it’s a hatchback the boot lid when closed is too low/angled to allow them to have their golden retriever in the boot, which thwarts our greyhound transporting ambitions. We need something with a squarer back.
Maybe you just need a small or medium-sized estate?
I have an older Skoda Octavia hatch and it's fine for whippet transportation, although I do put the rear seats down and pop his cage in there.
Maybe you just need a small or medium-sized estate?
I'd be happy with an actual-sized estate, but it's a game of softly-softly-catchy-larger-car-monkey with MrsIHN, as the Mazda 2 is the largest car she's ever driven...
I did suggest something Berlingo/Yeti-ish this morning and it wasn't met with the usual "but that's massive" response (as is everything bigger than a Mazda 2 apparently), so I'm getting there.
Stealth ad alert - I have my sister in law's partners Toyota IQ for sale.
It ticks none of the OP's boxes but at £1500 it leaves plenty left over for coke and hooker's!
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A lot of Yeti love here, but they seem to command a very large price premium even for older models. Are they really that much better than Octavia estate etc?
I test drove a few a couple of years ago but couldnt bring myself to pay the Yeti tax at the time. We still look at them now but they dont seem to be good value.
I know they’re getting better, but the batteries don’t have a 10yr+ lifespan do they?
The warranty on the battery in my car is 8 years. The warranty on the rest of the car is only 5 years. What do you think that says about the manufacturers expectations on the likely lifespan of the battery?
That it's not much more than eight years?
By that logic, the rest of the car should disintegrate around the perfectly functional battery in years 6 to 8
That they’re trying to entice early adopters?
£10k for a 10y old Mazda? Really?
By that logic, the rest of the car should disintegrate around the perfectly functional battery in years 6 to 8
Ah, yes, I see now. Ahem.
If you want a 2* Euro NCAP car over a 5* one in the Jazz – sure.
The NCAP scores can be misleading these days as there's an emphasis on active safety equipment like lane assist or auto braking.
A car can perform to a five star standard in the crash test but only be awarded a one star rating due to lack of annoying electronic assist systems.
Didn’t find my nephew’s Yeti very comfortable and it rusted much more than I’d expect a modern car to.
It’s a 10y old car that only cost at most £25k when new. You’re paying a premium for a petrol car in a small market. Under normal circumstances, that car would’ve lost 35-40% in the first 3 years and around £1k a year thereafter.
I’d much rather buy a much newer EV for a little more than a 10y Mazda that people are overpaying for.
The warranty on the battery in my car is 8 years. The warranty on the rest of the car is only 5 years. What do you think that says about the manufacturers expectations on the likely lifespan of the battery?
Manufacturers know that the main concern for people is the battery, so are offering 100k miles / 8 years on some, but that means anyone buying a secondhand one will be the ones taking the risks, even in the secondhand market you pay a premium still for anything covered by warranty, so it's all a bit weird to be honest.
"Yaris/Jazz if a small car will do"
This has got to be the winner.
@rustynissanprairie : where in the country is that and is it an automatic? I have a friend that might be interested. (A donation to the server fund would be made)
Under normal circumstances, that car would’ve lost 35-40% in the first 3 years and around £1k a year thereafter
News flash. Normal is gone.
10 year old Civic 1.8 mk9.
Very well screwed together and will probably go a long way before it starts causing problems.
Skoda Roomster? Look just as practical as the Yeti but better value IMO (Yetis are cooler though, especially when they're sat high on chunky steels) Quick Ebay search gets a 1.2 with 36k for just over 5 grand.
