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#lifeskillz
We need a new car. Sooner rather than later. Reluctantly with no driveway or garage and a general lack of enthusiasm for banger maintenance I'm going to look at something more newerer.
I would quite like to just rock up somewhere with a modicum of morals, agree finance and **** off with minimal effort. Which I guess leaves main dealers, not main dealers and car supermarket type places. Similarly I can't really be arsed with private sellers.
As for car... We need something bigger than a polo... Looking at yetis and cactuses it will be treated as a workhorse and the dog will see all over it. Pretty much needs to be automatic. Pricewise it seems like 10ish years appears to be the sweet spot between clapped out shitbox and "I am not paying more than that for a ****ing car" Opinions/ideas welcome.
10 ish years old means you are into independent car dealer places not car supermarkets and main dealers.
It really is pot-luck a bit but I’d say don’t rush in - find a few small dealers near you, look at their Google and Autotrader reviews and you’ll get an idea of who will be OK. eBay reviews - look carefully - a lot of good feedback is for purchases they’ve made, not sales.
Stay local too - it’s hard for a dealer to fix issues if they are 3 hours away.
At 10 years, its a local indi. We found the Aygo for the kids this way. Enough Google reviews of the dealer to get a good idea if they were good. Few age issues with car, crusty exhaust etc. But all fixed by myself.
Used car prices are still stupid high at the moment, so first thing: good luck! Especially the bit about finding a car dealer with morals... Ten year old cars can be brilliant or totally clapped out. It also sounds like your budget will be in the Danger Zone - if something major breaks, the car cost too much to throw away and you need to spend ££££ getting it fixed; but also both not new enough to have a manufacturer warranty, and old enough that that major breakage is getting rather more likely. Not saying don't buy in this zone, but you may find yourself spannering anyway. 10 year old cars will certainly need some maintenance, lots of bits will be heading towards the end of their design life. Quite likely there's been some deferred maintenance, too... check for belt changes, transmission oil changes, tired suspension, etc etc.
Look at finance before you start - your bank will likely lend cheaper than garages; or there are specialist companies like Zuto around. If you have your finance in place before you start, there's no need to write off private sellers... some bargains around, often people who have been low-balled on part exchange offers seeing if they can make a little more, or (in my case) just shift it on at that sort of price so someone else gets a good deal instead of giving more profit to the dealer (tho they have to live, too...).
Read Parkers for the pros, Google "problem with xxxx" for both the dealer and the car models you're looking at for the cons. Honest John has same fairly balanced reviews and lists of recalls etc.
On the catualcar choice: Yetis have very small boots; I don't fit in a Cactus but I do think they're spot on for a family sized car; I ended up with a Skoda Rapid Spaceback which I would recommend you look at as it sounds like your needs are similar to mine. However, to show you how prices are at the moment: I bought the Rapid about 3.5 years ago, and it was about 3.5 years old then. It was on 17k miles and I paid £8,500. So now it's 7 years old, just gone over 50k miles and looking at Autotrader, I'd still need to pay £8k to replace it with another 7 year old 50k mile car!
Also worth considering as a workhorse is a much larger car... they tend to be cheaper as they're more expensive to run and so fewer people want them; but often the increase in costs just isn't that big. I've had a couple of A6 Avants in my time and they make excellent workhorses/vans that are also really very nice cars with the rear seats back up; I've got Citroen C5 estates pencilled in as the biggest bargain around at the moment - there's plenty of them, the more recent version looks good inside and out, most are auto which suits your brief (I've given up caring one way or the other), no-one seems to be aware of them... shame most are diesel, but that may suit you if you do big miles.
I get your point about the danger zone, I had considered this. Want I don't want is a car I always doubt. Our polo is starting to get into the "I wonder if it will break down on our holiday to *remote destination"
I also get the point re the prices at the moment but I think so enough or hand will be forced so.
Some good points I hadn't considered re car finance itself.
I also laughed when I typed "with morals"
Jap import golf estate. The importers only pick low mileage good nick ones and they are all auto.
The answer to your question is a Honda Jazz from a local dealer or someone selling privately.
That said, I did buy from a local recommended dealer and it was... less than optimal. But replaced that bag of shit with a Jazz (20 plate) from another dealer which has so far been spot on. Chuck kids in, pets, pallets, bikes, whatever.
The guy I bought it from has one as a 3rd car used to shift horsey things around, bales of straw etc. That was an 04 plate and the only issue he'd ever had in a decade was a sticking handbrake.
I would like to put right a wrong.
Lola will not pee in the car, her bladder is fine. But she will spew in it!
I have had a golf estate before, it's a useful thing. Hadn't considered imports.
Quick Google.... Would a skyline GTR 1993 be a practical choice? Say yes!
There was a thread on import cars not long ago - not always straightforward even for common vehicles…
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/buying-an-import-secondhand-car-any-riskier/
I bought the Rapid about 3.5 years ago, and it was about 3.5 years old then. It was on 17k miles and I paid £8,500. So now it’s 7 years old, just gone over 50k miles and looking at Autotrader, I’d still need to pay £8k to replace it with another 7 year old 50k mile car!
Same thing but with an 8 year old 60k miles Peugeot partner..... We paid 8.5k at 6000 miles 5 years ago......
Currently in the same boat.
Trying to buy a small-ish (VW Golf etc) automatic for under £3K is proving to be an absolute ballache. My budget is limited due to being a student and I start community based placement in 3 weeks.
Where I live they tend to get snapped up and sold on again with a day for twice the original sale price, most of them don't even get a wash. Almost all of the local garages are way out of my price range or only have larger cars.
I've been wondering the same but when I look at upgrade cost Vs the current car (12 years old and 105k) the options seem to be
1) 20k to get into a much better position than now (e.g. a 4 year old medium to large estate)
OR
2) take a punt on something at £10-13k that's 7-10 years old with 75-125k with lower daily running costs but potentially as big a risk of a financially fatal repair bill as the current car and may also not be ULEZ friendly
OR
3) put up with the risk on a 12 year old car that I've been doing my best to look after and ask the garage to help deal with the big stuff proactively and live with the poor mpg and odd ULEZ charge
Really I want to go back from mpv to estate, an auto and another 20mpg but the economics and risk of it don't stack up really.
Back to the OP if I needed to change I'd be targeting a dealer/ supermarket for option 1 and independent with good reviews for option 2. At least with a dealer you have SOME legal recourse.
Fwiw if I was to bite the bullet I'd probably spend the extra right now, aim to keep it 7 or 8 years and target this with being my last ICE car. I think that's where we'll be in a year or two.
Currently in the same boat.
Trying to buy a small-ish (VW Golf etc) automatic for under £3K is proving to be an absolute ballache. My budget is limited due to being a student and I start community based placement in 3 weeks.
Where I live they tend to get snapped up and sold on again with a day for twice the original sale price, most of them don’t even get a wash. Almost all of the local garages are way out of my price range or only have larger cars.
Need to be prepared to travel, and have all your ducks in a row for buying. Worth looking older but kept tidy/garaged; Cat N so cheaper; pre-dented but old enough it'd be a write-off if repaired (this one is where we picked up my daughter's Toyota Corolla 1.6 auto, 2005, £1400. really nice car to drive, tbh. Bashed/scraped all down one side but it's her first car and she's added a couple herself since 😉 ). I'd mainly aim at private sales... people offered £250 part-ex knowing they could get a grand by selling it themselves.
A friendly dealer might let you have a traded in machine, that’s how I got my last A4 Avant.
@garage-dweller exact same position we are in / conclusion we've come to.
Although something big-ish seems to need doing every year on our 15 year old VW Touran it's generally reliable and the other options don't seem to put us in any better position from a risk/cost point of view.
So going to try to keep it running for another few years, then probably look at something new ish. Maybe ready for EV by that point.
We too are in the same boat, looking for a small car for my partner to ferry the child about in, as the current landship (407sw) is too big for her. Everything that should be an £800 shitbox is twice that price, and anything priced sensibly shifts within hours!
407 is staying as once she's gotten used to driving we'll drop back down to just having the landship, as it's far more practical, and will hopefully be the last diesel we own.
I'm in the same boat, well, will be soon,
6 Avant maybe?
Great bike carier, A4 is good too - I've had a couple of A6 before and loved them - but the cambelt gave up at 130K.
Right now I have a 17 year old A4 (it's the dreaded non Euro 6 diesel of course).
Mate bought a Hyundai estate - Ioniq maybe, £12K at 5 years old with 2 years warranty left on it. Sadly according to the Internet - German and even Japanese cars have fallen down the satisfaction / reliability ladder and Korean cars top that list now.
Amazing.
20K for a 4 year old car is a lot, but maybe a long term option.
I doubt most independent places will get any reasonable finance rates, you're probably better off getting a loan separately or, better still, borrowing against your house if you have a mortgage.
Jap imports are all sold as low milage but show reasonably significant wear and have zero history. I'd be very wary of any of their milage claims
Would you recommend duct tape or zip ties for the dog Nick?
We just brought a VW Polo with a genuine 30000 miles on the clock for £1500.00, it's a 2002.
Car prices are mental.
Quick Google…. Would a skyline GTR 1993 be a practical choice? Say yes!
Had you have bought one for £10k ten years ago, you'd be quids in, because they've tripled in price now.
I'm a bit sceptical of mileage on imports. No idea what it's like these days but they all used to have almost the exact same mileage on them.