The only possible way to get 100% cost free and and hassle free motoring is to buy new.

This is simply not true. Firstly, new cars are not free(!). Secondly, new cars break down, quite oftewn in some cases!. Thirdly, if a new car breaks down, it is going to cause just as much hassle as a used car, even though (in theory) there won't be any cost to the owner for the reapair.

A couple of months ago, browsing Autotrader, i came upon a 2008 Toyota Avensis 2.0 petrol auto with an asking price of around £2.5k. I don't remember the mileage but it wasn't high, maybe around 70k and it was being sold with a full MOT. It had a full service history, and it had passed ALL of its previous MOT's with no advisories. Personally, i'd have more faith in the reliablity of that car than in most new cars.

I think that SLO has nailed this one for you. £5K over 4 years at £111 per month is a no brainer, especially for a Honda Jazz. Honda are inherently reliable anyway and the Jazz is a nice little car. You will own it so sweet wrappers and general dirt are down to you as to how they affect the future resale. Start looking at Honda's. Cheers Concrete

By putting max £3.5k, max 40k miles, max 8yrs old, five-door, manual, max 1.4-litre engine, trade-seller-only, I can whittle down Autotrader's adverts to just 243 cars across the whole UK, of which only 37 are within 50 miles of my location.

And MINI coopers !

..... barge poles ....

Does it have aircon? It's useful for demisting in winter (with blowers set to hot) in addition to its usual use for cooling in summer.

The Hyundai i10 is one of the larger A-segment/town cars - noticeably bigger than a VW Up -so make sure you're happy with the 1-litre engine's ability to pick up speed when joining fast busy motorways, or to keep up with traffic on 50-70mph roads (otherwise you will have angry white van men aggressively tailgating you - they like to bully 'weak' small cars unless you drive it with vigour and confidence).

Around town the engine will not have any problems keeping up with traffic.

Back again what’s your opinion on this ! Approved used Hyundai I10 No deposit 0% 5 years 30,000 miles petrol 2017 plate 1.0 litre £108 a month over 5 years ? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for your help

Well its better than an almost 7 year old Jazz that will at best have a worthless dealer warranty. But its still the best part of 3 years old and that means only 2 years Hyundai warranty left and that only applies if the car has been meticulously serviced to Hyundai's requirements.

After 5 years you will have paid £6480 for the car which will then be 8 years old and possibly have been costing you money in repairs for the last 3 years, all 5 yuears if the warranty conditions have not been met.

The best bet purely for reliability would be a new or nearly new car under a long warranty

Thanks for agreeing with me SLO.

So I have looked again at the Kia Picanto and there is actually a better way of buying one than the PCP. Kia are currently doing a £2000 scrapage scheme and providing your Corsa has a current MOT that means a brand new Picanto will cost you £8000. According to this forum low cost finance is available from banks etc for about 3% interest, no idea if its true, not had a loan since the 80's and then the best interest rates were about 5%. So if you could get such a loan and pay it back over 5 years you would be paying back approx £145 a month. After 5 years the car would still be under warranty (if you service it correctly) and will have cost you nothing in repairs (providing you have serviced it correctly).

I agree that 100% reliability cannot be totally assured but its a better bet as SLO said above with a new car.