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Best small car for long-term ownership?
My wife has been running a Y-reg 1.0-litre petrol Yaris since new, and has now clocked up over 120k miles at over 50mpg, mostly commuting 15 miles each way into Leeds with the occasional longer journey. It is now starting to show its years and we are looking at a replacement. We will probably buy new or nearly new, and will aim to keep the car for at least 10 years.
Do you think we should concentrate only on Korean or Japanese makes? Should we go for the long-term economy of diesel, or the long-term reliability of petrol?
As an aside, we recently had to replace the rear wheel bearings and the Toyota parts were £250 per side, plus fitting at our local garage! They would only sell the complete hub, including ABS hardware. Even pattern parts would have cost over £500 to fit. In the end, we went for the bearings off a low-mileage scrapped car...
Do you think we should concentrate only on Korean or Japanese makes? Should we go for the long-term economy of diesel, or the long-term reliability of petrol?
As an aside, we recently had to replace the rear wheel bearings and the Toyota parts were £250 per side, plus fitting at our local garage! They would only sell the complete hub, including ABS hardware. Even pattern parts would have cost over £500 to fit. In the end, we went for the bearings off a low-mileage scrapped car...
Asked on 14 December 2012 by YorkshireJumbo
Answered by
Honest John
Stick to Toyota or to Honda. Even out of warranty these two companies look after carbuyers best.
Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.
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Dear Honest John,
Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
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