Out of your choices I would go for the Nissan,but beware of diesel problems. Personally I'd go for petrol. Read the various hj reports on all of your choices. Myself I'd get a nice 1.2 4 cyl petrol manual
Edited by oldroverboy. on 04/05/2016 at 13:51
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£7000 is a lot to pay for a seven year old car (2009 cars are seven years old now believe it or not!). Realistically the Golf and Quasqai have only about three years of life left in them. The Fabia is a couple of years newer so that would be the best of the three, but the 1.2 diesel is incredibly slow and not that economical in real life use.
I'd look for something less desirable and significantly newer. Both the Quasqai and Golf are considered desirable secondhand so command very high prices for what they are.
You should be able to get a slightly high mileage (40-50k) three year old base spec Focus, Astra or similar less desirable car for that money. Better still, if you went for a Kia Ceed of that age, it would still have four years of manufacturer's warranty remaining. I'd go for one of those three as in three years time you'd have a 6-7 year old car instead of a ten year old one.
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Choose a marque that is rarely featured on this forum, Those which need avoiding are anything French, BMWs, VWs (and their lesser brands) Mercedes Benz, virtually every Japanese offering and Fords. Going back through the various threads will prove my point and if anything from the Pacific rim tempts you good luck. No doubt I will be lamblasted for this post but I will await the replies with interest. One is never too old to learn.
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Choose a marque that is rarely featured on this forum, Those which need avoiding are anything French, BMWs, VWs (and their lesser brands) Mercedes Benz, virtually every Japanese offering and Fords. Going back through the various threads will prove my point and if anything from the Pacific rim tempts you good luck. No doubt I will be lamblasted for this post but I will await the replies with interest. One is never too old to learn.
Ha. That cuts down suitable options!
Maybe Wolfan has a point. Track down a Hyundai Sonata or Kia Magentis and it will probably run for years if maintained correctly.
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You haven't given a reason and I'm (and, I suspect anyone else, including the OP) certainly not spending hours 'going though 100s of old threads' to find out why. Rather worthless in my view, especially to the OP, without any credible facts to back up your assertions.
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You haven't given a reason and I'm (and, I suspect anyone else, including the OP) certainly not spending hours 'going though 100s of old threads' to find out why. Rather worthless in my view, especially to the OP, without any credible facts to back up your assertions.
It won't take hours just look at the most recent threads in the technical forum.
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You haven't given a reason and I'm (and, I suspect anyone else, including the OP) certainly not spending hours 'going though 100s of old threads' to find out why. Rather worthless in my view, especially to the OP, without any credible facts to back up your assertions.
It won't take hours just look at the most recent threads in the technical forum.
In fact you only have (according to a search of your posts [not sure if it limits it to ones you've started, but that's all that came up]) 2 posts, one a general one about owning old cars and the other rather similar to that above, giving no details. In today's world of people doing decent mileages of wanting 'creature comforts' such as 'heaters', CD/Radios and that can reach 60mph before you reach your destination, most 'classic' (i.e. old) cars just don't cut it other than those which are horrendously expensive to buy/run.
Most old (i.e. from the early 80s and older) require far more regular servicing (every 3000 - 6000 miles), offer very little in the way of basic useful creature comforts that actually work well and are powerful enough to cope with decent loads and modern day traffic, never mind the 20-25mpg you get at best and presumably difficulties in some running on unleaded petrol or so-called 'eco' fuels (e.g. with biofuel added in). Running a (for example) 50yo Morris Minor compared to a basic supermini (especially the Japanese ones) is a no-brainer. Most older cars are rust-buckets in waiting and require lots of TLC to keep them on the road.
I remember as a child being driven in one (my mum's aunt) and it wasn't much quicker than a bicycle and not good to drive - I shudder to think what would be the outcome if I was in such a car if it was involved in an accident with a modern and/or large vehicle.
As an engineer, I sometimes dismay at car firms bringing new technology to the market too early (for marketing reasons) before sufficiently tested to remove 99% of the gremlins, but not all do that, and some (as VAG and others) are now learning at a heavy financial cost that doing so is not the best way in the long term to look after (and widen) your customer base. Not all firms do this, which is why many people here, including myself, recommend Japanese (and to a lesser extent, Korean) cars (and also choosing the most basic cars with proven technology that meets the needs of the buyer) to ensure a long, reasonably happy ownership experience.
Modern cars may well be built to economically last between 7-15 years, but that doesn't make them worse than older vehicles for the reasons I stated above. If you feel you are are unwilling or unable to make a decent fist of a counter argument (backed up with facts), then fine, but I don't expect many people will believe you if you don't have anything to back them up.
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You haven't given a reason and I'm (and, I suspect anyone else, including the OP) certainly not spending hours 'going though 100s of old threads' to find out why. Rather worthless in my view, especially to the OP, without any credible facts to back up your assertions.
It won't take hours just look at the most recent threads in the technical forum.
In fact you only have (according to a search of your posts [not sure if it limits it to ones you've started, but that's all that came up]) 2 posts, one a general one about owning old cars and the other rather similar to that above, giving no details. In today's world of people doing decent mileages of wanting 'creature comforts' such as 'heaters', CD/Radios and that can reach 60mph before you reach your destination, most 'classic' (i.e. old) cars just don't cut it other than those which are horrendously expensive to buy/run.
Most old (i.e. from the early 80s and older) require far more regular servicing (every 3000 - 6000 miles), offer very little in the way of basic useful creature comforts that actually work well and are powerful enough to cope with decent loads and modern day traffic, never mind the 20-25mpg you get at best and presumably difficulties in some running on unleaded petrol or so-called 'eco' fuels (e.g. with biofuel added in). Running a (for example) 50yo Morris Minor compared to a basic supermini (especially the Japanese ones) is a no-brainer. Most older cars are rust-buckets in waiting and require lots of TLC to keep them on the road.
I remember as a child being driven in one (my mum's aunt) and it wasn't much quicker than a bicycle and not good to drive - I shudder to think what would be the outcome if I was in such a car if it was involved in an accident with a modern and/or large vehicle.
As an engineer, I sometimes dismay at car firms bringing new technology to the market too early (for marketing reasons) before sufficiently tested to remove 99% of the gremlins, but not all do that, and some (as VAG and others) are now learning at a heavy financial cost that doing so is not the best way in the long term to look after (and widen) your customer base. Not all firms do this, which is why many people here, including myself, recommend Japanese (and to a lesser extent, Korean) cars (and also choosing the most basic cars with proven technology that meets the needs of the buyer) to ensure a long, reasonably happy ownership experience.
Modern cars may well be built to economically last between 7-15 years, but that doesn't make them worse than older vehicles for the reasons I stated above. If you feel you are are unwilling or unable to make a decent fist of a counter argument (backed up with facts), then fine, but I don't expect many people will believe you if you don't have anything to back them up.
Oh dear.
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Why bother being a member of a discussion forum when you don't actually put forward any evidence in making a case?
Or is it "I'm older and wiser than you, so I must be right". That's the sort of thing a Dad says to his son when he can't be bothered and wants to watch TV, rather than 'explain' something. BTW I'm in my 40s so have a reasonable amount of experience in the world.
If you have evidence to back up your claims (mine come from people's experiences here and reviews from across the world, including from HJ himself, who I greatly respect), please give us it.
I'm not holding my breath though, given your previous comments on this and the other threads.
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Hey, steady on with yer bad-mouthing of Morris Minors!
Not good to drive?? Considering the design dates from pre-1948, the saloons are remarkably pleasant to drive, and still useable. Rust, as you say, is the biggest niggle.
I agree I wouldn't want to have a big accident in one, but considering the structural reputation of the Landcrab, and the huge success of the Farina Oxford/Cambridge in banger racing, I reckon you might not fare too badly in one of those if you wear a four-point harness (provided the steering column doesn't spear you) !
;-))
No good for the OP though.
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I was saying they are poor to drive compared to modern vehicles, given Wolfan thinks the world of old cars and they are 'so much better' than newer ones. My Dad's early 80s Ford Escort (comparing at the time I was driven in the Morris Minor) was far better at handling, acceleration and braking. The Minor might've been fine 50-odd years ago, but that was then.
Things have moved on, not just in terms of motoring technology, but more generally, hence why I mentioned about the safety aspects of older cars, given there are far more vehicles (and especially fast-moving larger commercial vehicles) on our roads nowadays. I owned my first car, a Nissan Micra K11 1ltr, from 1998 - 2006, which is I suppose a 'modern' (at the time) equivalent to the Minor, but I would've never considered that for a family car, especially now, and sometimes found it unnerving overtaking because of the lack of power and small size with relatively few safety features compared to the latest cars (even compared to my 2006 Mazda3). You only have to look back at archives detailing the level and severity of motoring accidents back when the Minor was in its heyday to know how far safety in motoring has come, despite there being so many more vehicles on the road (and travelling faster) these days.
As you say, finding an old car that isn't an expensive 'classic' (which still needs lots of TLC [money] to keep it on the road and isn't safe or economic to run compared to more modern cars) or a reasonably-priced but in good nick (and safe and not expensive to run) 'standard' model is very difficult, and, frankly, unnecessary, given there are lots of perfectly decent more modern cars available.
The 'TLC' (i.e. tinkering at weekends and regular trips [ker-ching!] to a friendly mechanic aren't for everyone, perhaps for retired types and/or those with lots of time and money to burn - an ex-colleague of mine who, at the time, was near to retirement, had put £100k+ and many such weekends into restoring a DB5 - nice if you've got the time, no good for commuting and regular trips to the shops!
PS. The DB5 was finally finished (another colleague drew him a joke carton depicting his project as a 'moneybin' poring pound notes down the drain), and to be fair, is very nice and likely worth a small fortune. As you say, though, no use to the OP (hence my original response to Wolfan).
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The Morris Minor's steering was heavenly compared with SWMBO's Mitsubishi Colt CZ1, so definitely NOT poorer compared with modern cars on that front.
In fact, the weird non-self centring, 'stiction'-y horrible horrible (almost dangerous) electric PAS on that Colt, and which I've experienced on a couple of other cars, seems to be very widespread, from what I've read in various places on the web. But strangely it doesn't necessarily seem to affect EVERY example of the same model, and I've yet to read a definitive diagnosis of quite why it happens.
Something for an engineer to investigate, Andy!
:-)
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