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keen to understand people’s experiences with makes / models in terms of reliability.
after a car for the wife, i’ve got a big estate so doesn’t need to be massive. probably golf/focus/astra sized. Big enough to be comfortable & to fit a baby, toddler and buggy in.
Want to keep it for 4/5years doing circa 10,000 miles a year (45 mile round trip daily commute on duel carriage ways).
She doesn’t work in IT & knows how to use indicators so no audi’s Or beemer suggestions! She says she likes qashqai’s but i’m not convinced!
budget circa £5-8k.
usual question I guess:
Diesel vs petrol? Future likely rises in diesel tax?!
car supermarkets vs main dealers?
auction houses for ex lease cars?
new car vs older car?
low vs high mileage?
reliable brands? Brands / models to avoid?
any thoughts or experience welcomed.
A pink one?
That didn’t take long did it?! Dickhead haha
Big enough to be comfortable & to fit a baby, toddler and buggy in.
Grand Scenic, S-Max, Viano, Transporter, etc.
In pink.
In pink.
Yeah. Just like your frilly pants.
Petrol focus. Good all round car. Can be had for a decent price.
likely to be as reliable as any other mass produced car.
astra/golf or others are overall just as good.
ford consumables are usually cheap.
Definitely pink. Ideal car for the laydeez.
APF
She says she likes qashqai’s but i’m not convinced!
So she’s getting a qashqai then
How about a Yaris? In blue.
OP - Obviously you know better than your wife about cars so why don't you just take her to look at few cars that you think are appropriate and see which she likes.
Obvs it'll be the pink one though.....
Just get her to tell you which car she likes the most out of these ones.
She says she likes qashqai’s but i’m not convinced!
It’s not for you, you won’t be driving it, so your opinion is largely irrelevant. Qashqai are fine cars, and while I’ve never owned one, I have, quite literally, driven dozens of them, and many of those for a couple of hundred miles at a time. They’re comfy, dead easy to get in and out of, (which is why SUV’s are so popular), and they’re well equipped. They have a very neat reversing camera system that gives a vertical view as well as directly behind, and I’ve driven quite a few with heated windscreens. There are also shit-loads of them around second-hand, they’re very popular with Motability clients, so many are only two or three years old with very low mileage, I’ve seen them with between 1500-16,000 miles on the clock on a two-three year old car.
The Qashqai’s little sibling, the Juke, might be worth considering, they’re terrific fun to drive, great handling, but the styling is somewhat idiosyncratic*, to say the least!
The Renault Captur is based on the Juke, but much better styling, and the Kadjar is Renault’s Qashqai equivalent, same engine, but to my mind a much prettier car, especially in the Flame Red.
The Ford Ecosport might be worth a look as well, I’ve driven a couple of 18-plate examples, and they’ve even upgraded a bit, 6-speed ‘box, big infotainment screen with reversing camera and heated ‘screen, and the rear hatch opens sideways, and has a flat loading area, which is handy. The petrol version has the better motor, a 1.0 litre 3-cylinder, 128-135bhp depending on spec.
*Yeah, they’re pretty ugly, really.
The Renault Captur is based on the Juke,
I just had the misfortune of having a Captur as a hire car, I hated it. I've had many a not so great hire car but this ranks as one of the worst.
It's probably perfect for its target audience, but the 90hp (I think) one I had was painful to drive, the stereo wasn't at all intuitive and the switches were dotted all over the place. It was comfy enough though and you could probably get a couple of kids in the back and the weekly shop.
Shameless, opportunistic plug...on the off chance your near the Midlands, we are about to sell the Wife's Focus...
64 plate, 1.0 petrol, 31k miles. In lovely condition. Looking for about £6400. She actually prefers it to the new Tiguan we've just bought. 🙁
Shameless, opportunistic plug aside, its been a great little car. Nice to drive, would happily buy another.
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In the spirit of recommending what you had, Honda Civic. Even the old bread van I had was like a TARDIS, easy to fit a pram and shite in the boot, buggy would be even easier.
Given how cars get bigger I imagine a newer Jazz would fit the bill as well.
More economical than a heavy arsed fashion brick.
Just get her to tell you which car she likes the most out of these ones
Hah!
<h1 class="post-title">What secondhand car for the wife?</h1>
Age? Condition? Mileage? Pics?
I can do her a good deal on a sweet red kia ceed. One careful owner.
I’d echo phil5556 on the captur! Hired one and took it to the mountains in Portugal - long dash and big pillars made it a nightmare on twisty roads in terms of visibility. The lag on the turbo was horrible too, it felt like a digital all or nothing power surge that I just couldn’t control smoothly (which was a problem when tackling lots of hairpins up the hillsides). I despair at the rise of the SUV, it’s just not the tool for the job for most people, you’re compromising handling, efficiency and interior space for ease of access, feeling higher in traffic and I’m not sure what else? (Fashion?). I wouldn’t mind but I’m reading stuff about manufacturers moving focus away from normal cars to target the mini suv market segment.
Skoda yeti 2WD
Whatever Mazda you can find that fits your needs.
keen to understand people’s experiences with makes / models in terms of reliability
Look at Which or other car review sources.
Mazda RX 8
Renault Sport Clio/Megane
Civic Type R
Ford Focus ST
Any V6 Alfa
BMW Compact 325
Forester Turbo
All the above would be on the list if things didn't fit in our Panda 100hp, which they do, quite easily.
Not quite reliable Porsche money.
Don't buy anything French. Unless it's pink.
Why not let her get what she wants? Unless you're paying for the car in full - in which case, crack on matey sorting a car for '...the wife'.