Which car to buy: Help me decide.

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Thu 30 Jun 2016 22:49
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - O_Relly

Hello dear forum members,

I am new here and need your thoughts and suggestions on which used car to buy.

My requirements:

A good driving experience, a good looking car, reliable and low maintenance, good MPG and lots of boot space to put buggy and travel luggage.

Budget:

Ideally 7K but wouldn't mind paying upto 10K for a really good car.

Petrol vs Diesel:

Daily commute of 12 miles. But looking at weekend getaways etc, probably 5000 miles/annum. So I don't need a diesel, but would it hurt a diesel engine if run for such low mileage and kept idle for a month ?(annual 4 week vacation).

My options:

I quite like the Nissan Qashqai (one with panaromic view) and the Honda Civic.

What other cars should I include in my search ? or should I avoid either or both of the above (what reasons?)

Where to buy ?

I see a significant price difference between private sellers on autotrader and dealers such as Peter Vardy, Arnold Clarke etc.

If I did due-diligence such as purchasing full vehicle report, and see a full service history, then is it safe to buy from a private seller or are there other things to consider ?

If buying from a dealer is it better to buy from Arnold Clarke, Peter Vardy or the approved used cars from manufacturers such as Nissan and Honda direct ?

Other considerations:

I am first time driver in the UK. I hold a full british DL for 4 years now and have hired and driven a few times, but that is about it. So need to consider insurance groups.

Also what value will the car hold if I were to sell it after 3 to 5 years considering it is well maintained, no accidents, full service histroy etc.

BMWs vs Audis:

Finally, why do people spend 10 to 12K and buy a Ford, VW etc when they can buy a good BMW 3 series or an Audi A4 ? I thought this was purely due to high maintenance costs such as the cost to replace a rearview mirror or a break pedal would be significantly cheaper for a Honda when compared to a BMW ?

However when I asked this question to a work colleague who bought a VW Passat for over 10K, why he didn't consider a BMW, he said there was too much stigma associated with owning a BMW.

If I overcome the stigma what are the reasons to consider not buying a BMW over the Nissan or a Honda ?

Apologies for the rather long post. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read. Your thoughts and suggestion will be much appreciated.

Cheers,

OR

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 00:24
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - Avant

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you for giving us plenty of detail: some people don't give us much to go on, and giving advice can be difficult.

If you need lots of boot space (as you do with a buggy) the Qashqai is a good bet, although it's not very exciting to drive. The Honda Civic Tourer (which you'd need for the boot space) probably hasn't been around long enoiugh to be within your budget, although i may be wrong.

Don't go for a diesel: you don't need one given your annual mileage, and some of them can go expensively wrong as they get older.

I'd also suggest you look at the Skoda Octavia estate 1.4 TSI (cheaper than the equivalent Passat), the Ford Focus estate 1.6, and perhaps a petrol Mazda 6 estate. If these aren't big enough, then look at the Skoda Superb and Ford Mondeo estates - again with petrol power. Or the Toyota Verso, which has plenty of room in the boot provided you don't use the third row of seats.

There need be no stigma in buying a BMW - but all the premium German makes carry a premium price, and for the same money you would get a much older, higher-mileage car than you would if you go for, say, a Ford or a Skoda.

Ultimately you need to make a short-list and test-drive the cars on it to make sure they meet your needs.

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 10:11
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - RobJP

As Avant has said. You really don't want (or need) a diesel with that low annual mileage. And you'll get a lot more car for your money by not going for a 'premium' brand. Think of it as paying £2k for the BMW / Audi / Merc badge, and the rest of the money buying the car. If you can save that £2k - or spend that £2k on buying an even newer 'normal' car then you'll be doing well.

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 20:02
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - O_Relly

Thanks for the feedback.

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 20:00
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - O_Relly

Thanks Avast for the quick response. Yes, Skoda Octavia was recommended by friends too, and I will include the other options too.

Like you said, I will need to start test driving them to get a feel for myself.

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Fri 1 Jul 2016 23:23
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - daveyK_UK

skoda rapid or seat toledo

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Sat 2 Jul 2016 00:48
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - O_Relly

Thanks guys. Also would appreciate it if you can also comment about buying approved used cars from manufacturers or from dealers such as Arnold Clark or Peter Vardy?

Thanks,

OR

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Sat 2 Jul 2016 09:33
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - oldroverboy.

Don't get "persuaded" into buying an extended warranty from any of them, or "minor damage protection" "paint protection" or alloys or gap insurance.

Read the reviews about those dealers and also check motorpoint as you will find the fabia estate there,

If you need to go to the top of your budget to get the newest car do it.

bit left of field for you but bags of room (i have one) kia venga... 7 year warranty. make sure it has service history, feels good on the road, i get up to 39ish to 40 to the gallon but 30-35 around town.

Might add excellent seating position, good dealer network. £10k will get you a kia venga 1 air or kia venga 2 (both with aircon) about a year old. motorpoint have some, but you should find one at a main dealer.

www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/kia/venga/po...0

Edited by oldroverboy. on 02/07/2016 at 09:42

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Sat 2 Jul 2016 23:37
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - O_Relly

Thanks guys for all the feedback.

I called Western Nissan showroom to ask if I can come in to test drive a used Nissan Qashqai and was told I would come in and they would decide which car is best for me and we would sit down and go through financing options and it will be the last step when I get to drive the vehicle.

I asked him what if I dont like the driving experience and wanted to try a 1.6 engine? He fumbled and said its your choice eventually, but didnt appear too welcome.

The conversation just got me uncomfortable enough for not wanting to go in.

Eventually got busy with other things. I will try other options.

Cheers.

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Sun 3 Jul 2016 01:45
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - Avant

"....they would decide which car is best for me...."

NEVER buy from any dealer who even implies that that's how they do business. You can ask for advice, but you're paying the money and YOU decide!

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Sun 3 Jul 2016 22:19
Which car to buy: Help me decide. - O_Relly

Thanks Avant.

I stepped into Western Honda and took a test drive of a 2013 August registered, 1.4 Petrol Engine Honda Civic, which has less than 25K miles on it and is priced at 9K.

Quite liked the car I must admit, and it was interesting how the car sales man, tried everything he could to get me to pay a holding deposit and just clinche the deal, and then tried things like what if you phoned tomorrow and found the car was sold ?

I told him, if not this car, am sure there will be others that will come up, I just want to take my time to think it over and I will phone him tomorrow.

I come home and run an Experien Vehicle report check and it comes up as the car has outstanding finance !!

The best part was I told the salesman, I know the car is coming through Western Honda and I don't need to do this, but I am going to anyway just for my own peace of mind. And he assured me that what I was doing was redundant, and that they would run Experien "Gold standard" reporting which would include absolutely everything etc

Western Honda will probably have cleared this prior to handing over the car to me, but should he not have been upfront and let me know about this?

Strange! I am going to just ask what the car salesman has to say when I phone him tomorrow.

Whilst there I asked him who owned the car prior to this and he said it came in from Mobility services, when asked what that meant, he said it essentially meant a disabled person was given this car, and if it ever had a problem, the problem would be fixed etc for them, and typicaly is the reason for low mileage etc. So I am not sure if that similar to company owned car.

It's all so vague !

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