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Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - Adam Stevens

Hi, I'm looking for a sub £1500 car for commuting, I've decided on Toyota because they are known for reliability just can't pick what one.

I can easily get a high mileage diesel Avenesis d4d that has service history.

I can get a well looked after corolla but I'd probably have to travel a bit as the late 90 models I like which have less electronics are getting rarer.

I could probably get a yaris petrol as well but for the price id struggle to get one under 120k miles and these tend to be driven on the cheap and can go years between servicing.

I only plan to do about 3000 miles per annum if that as my main transport is a motorcycle. But as winter is closing in I think it would be sensible to have a backup.

My daily commute is about 15 miles each way. So dunno if that would be a issue for a diesel..

What would you recommend?

I'll be doing the servicing on the car myself to keep costs down.

I'm also considering getting a Skoda citigo new but Im pretty sure 3k miles a year isn't enough milles to justify a new car cost wise.

Edited by Adam Stevens on 22/07/2018 at 22:21

Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - badbusdriver

Ludicrous to consider a diesel for 3k miles per annum, stick to petrol. Less likely to wrong and much cheaper to put right if they do. As for which of your 3 Toyota's?, horses for courses really, depends how much space you want/need. But as the Avensis is the least 'trendy' (relatively speaking!) your probably going to get more for your money with one of them. Here you go, this would be just the ticket (depending on where in the country you are):

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20180711835...1

Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - badbusdriver

Sorry, just read the rest of your post and am left somewhat confused?. If you can afford a new Skoda Citigo, why is your Toyota budget only £1500?. Not sure what the cheapest Citigo is, but surely at least £7.5k?. That is a fair difference in price, surely somewhere in the middle would be a better place to be?. That is not to say you can't get a decent reliable £1500 car, but you will have to sift through a lot of tat to find the hidden gems. £3.5-4k would be a much better hunting ground.

Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - Adam Stevens

That's a nice car although I suspect the cam belt would need changing if not already done.

Ideally I've like a Yaris as they are small and great for parking and cheaping to tax/insure/fillup. But a avenesis will do the job if i can get a decent one for a few hundred cheaper.

Would you rule out buying a Skoda citigo as well considering I'm doing 3000 miles pa?

Edit:

read your 2nd post the reason I'm reluctant to buy a citigo is because I don't think I'd get enough use out of it to justify spending that amount of money.

Edited by Adam Stevens on 22/07/2018 at 22:59

Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - Leif
I had a VW Takeup, which is essentially the same car as the Citigo. You def8nitely don’t want a base model, too basic. You would need things like seat height adjustment, full steering wheel adjustment, and air con. A used higher spec. Citigo would not be a bad idea, my VW felt well screwed together. But boot space is limited, and the engine would be okay but no more. Depends what you need I guess. Very good mpg.
Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - SLO76
When shopping on such a tight budget don’t limit your options by only looking at one brand. You’d be far better off with a well looked after Mk II Ford Focus or Mk V Astra than a tatty Toyota. Condition is far more important than make and model. That said there are some cars that have a better reputation than others but this list is somewhat larger than just a couple of Toyota’s. At this money I’d be looking at...

Mk II Ford Focus 1.6 petrol (don’t touch the 1.6 diesel!)
Mk V Vauxhall Astra 1.4/1.6 petrol (1.7 Isuzu diesel is good but it’ll have far more miles on it for the money)
Honda Civic 2001-2005 1.4/1.6 petrol
Toyota Corolla 1.4/1.6 petrol
Mazda 3 1.6 petrol
Volvo S40 1.6 petrol

I’d generally avoid diesels as they’re much more complex and thus likely to go wrong and aim for condition and history over make, model, mileage and age. The Focus and Mazda 3 stand out as the best drivers cars on this list.

Edited by SLO76 on 22/07/2018 at 23:16

Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - nellyjak
When shopping on such a tight budget don’t limit your options by only looking at one brand. You’d be far better off with a well looked after Mk II Ford Focus or Mk V Astra than a tatty Toyota. Condition is far more important than make and model. That said there are some cars that have a better reputation than others but this list is somewhat larger than just a couple of Toyota’s. At this money I’d be looking at... Mk II Ford Focus 1.6 petrol (don’t touch the 1.6 diesel!) Mk V Vauxhall Astra 1.4/1.6 petrol (1.7 Isuzu diesel is good but it’ll have far more miles on it for the money) Honda Civic 2001-2005 1.4/1.6 petrol Toyota Corolla 1.4/1.6 petrol Mazda 3 1.6 petrol Volvo S40 1.6 petrol I’d generally avoid diesels as they’re much more complex and thus likely to go wrong and aim for condition and history over make, model, mileage and age. The Focus and Mazda 3 stand out as the best drivers cars on this list.

As much of a Toyota fan as I am...SLO is right in that you would be wise to widen your search criteria to incude other makes.

History and condition are far important in your case.

If you MUST go Toyota...then for me, it's the Yaris.!

Even with high mileage, these little beggars just seem to keep on going.!

Edited by nellyjak on 23/07/2018 at 08:35

Toyota - Toyota Avenesis, corolla or yaris? Best cheap car - Avant

We can try to help, but ultimately only you can decide what your budget is for a car - £1,500, £7,500 or somewhere in between. Also only you can decide on how big a car you need.

If your commute is 15 miles each way, assuming you work 5 days a week and for 48 weeks in a year, 5 x 48 x 2 x 15 = 7,200 miles. And presumably you'll travel a bit at weekends. So a lot of this will depend on how many miles you prefer to do by motorbike.

if you work out the answers to these questions you'll be able to narrow your choice down.