£3000 budget - 13k - 18k a year Diesel or Petrol ?

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Sun 6 Mar 2016 14:14
£3000 budget - 13k - 18k a year Diesel or Petrol ? - Rusties

Hi ,
can anyone give me some advice on purchasing
a used car with a budget of around £3000 .

I do around 12k- 18k miles a year mostly motorway ( around the midlands ) dealing in antiques
and musical instruments , nothing to heavy but quite bulky - guitar cases etc .

Been advised to look for Diesels due to the milage I do but my last two diesel cars have cost me a fortune in repairs / servicing .

Looked on Autotrader but there are so many in my price range
and not too sure what I should be getting for the money - milage , age etc.

I have a ford fusion at the moment that I regretted buying as
soon as I pulled onto my drive but the £30 year road tax - MPG and big boot
make up for its performance / look but the injectors failing - Clutch and flywheel change cost me a fortune.

Any help would be much appreciated

s

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Sun 6 Mar 2016 14:35
£3000 budget - 13k - 18k a year Diesel or Petrol ? - DavidGlos
Hello.

Always going to be a bit of a gamble at that price and age of vehicle.

I'd do go on condition and service history primarily, but I'd stick with petrol, probably either in the form of a Focus/Mondeo or something Japanese, such as a Mazda 626 or 6, an Avensis or an Accord. Longer journeys, driven with a gentle right foot should see 40mpg
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Sun 6 Mar 2016 14:37
£3000 budget - 13k - 18k a year Diesel or Petrol ? - Avant

At your budget level, condition is more important than make or model - so you should be looking for something with average mileage (not too low and not too high) with a service history.

I'd suggest either a Ford Focus estate (petrol) as there are lots to choose from, or else something Japanese and also petrol-powered, such as a Mazda 6 estate (don't go near a diesel Mazda) or a Toyota Verso or Avensis. A Volvo estate - V50 or V70 depending on the size you want - could be worth a look too.

As you've unfortunately discovered, the extra mpg of a diesel doesn't compensate for the risk of expensive failures as diesels get older.

(Edit - Interestingly, DavidGlos was posting much the same advice at much the same time! Great minds think alike.)

Edited by Avant on 06/03/2016 at 14:38

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