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Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG

HI everyone

My 07 Yaris failed it's MOT on emissions as it's burning oil - been advised the engine is worn - taken it to 2 garages who gave same opinion on this so no dispute on that.

I know a little bit about cars but not loads.

I need a car to do my job and drive a mix of motorway and city getting in approx 150 miles a week including leisure.

The car is for solo use, no kids so can go small but don't want a 1L engine as that wasn't great for me on the M1!! I've had both petrol and diesel before but need whatever will be more reliable with less likely to go wrong.

Budget is small as I've just bought a house. I know it's always a lottery when funds are limited but all ideas very welcome

Cheers

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Xileno

£2k to £3k does not get much with inflated prices at the moment. If you are confident doing so then buying privately is the way to go. Any car in this price range at a garage will be quite ropey and any warranty not worth much.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG

Thanks, I've been looking at Autotrader initially (thinking FB marketplace would be a nightmare to filter) but there does seem to be a lot of traders on there. Maybe marketplace is the next place to go.

Any suggestions on makes? Does it make any difference at this budget? I'm filtering by lowest mileage first then checking out the MOT history.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Big John

I know quite a few people who have or previously had a Nissan Note and they have all been great. The previous model (2013 and earlier) has the fabulous 1.4 or 1.6 original Nissan cam chain petrol engine that's really lasted the test of time. There seems to be some examples around your budget on Autotrader. I presume you are considering manual but the 1.6 auto also has a v good / reliable gearbox with overdrive (lower revs on motorway).

Avoid anything diesel with your budget as the potential/likely bills will significantly outweigh and fuel/car tax savings.

Edited by Big John on 14/10/2022 at 10:28

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Adampr

Maybe a Suzuki SX4? I see an awful lot of old ones driving up and down the M5 looking remarkably good for their age.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG

I know quite a few people who have or previously had a Nissan Note and they have all been great. The previous model (2013 and earlier) has the fabulous 1.4 or 1.6 original Nissan cam chain petrol engine that's really lasted the test of time. There seems to be some examples around your budget on Autotrader. I presume you are considering manual but the 1.6 auto also has a v good / reliable gearbox with overdrive (lower revs on motorway).

Avoid anything diesel with your budget as the potential/likely bills will significantly outweigh and fuel/car tax savings.

Cheers, I've heard the same about diesel. I'll have a look for a Note but in the meantime (Am I ok to post links?) I saw this old Escort - the MOT history looks decent and the mileage is insanely low. It's a private sale, is it too good to be true?

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210130687084?s...1

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Adampr

There seem to be a lot of cars hiding in barns up and down the country! I wouldn't touch that - it's been sat for 8 years and the seller sounds a lot like a trader; it would be normal to provide a little background on why the car hasn't moved, but I think he's picked.it up from somewhere and is trying to make a quick turn on it

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - elekie&a/c doctor
I think the op means this is a Focus . These are great s/hand buys , but this one is seriously over priced. Why not another Yaris ?
Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG
I think the op means this is a Focus . These are great s/hand buys , but this one is seriously over priced. Why not another Yaris ?

There isn't a Yaris for under £3k, just checked otherwise I'd have no problem getting another.

Comments on that 2001 Focus taken aboard and I wont be pursuing. I have seen the following Mazda2 (definitely private sale as I've spoken to him. Looks pretty decent and MOT good but he's not had it serviced in the 18 mths he's had it and in that time it looks like it's racked up 19k miles. Would you not pursue this either due to no service? Again, thank you in advance for any advice.

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210030370594?s...e

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Engineer Andy
I think the op means this is a Focus . These are great s/hand buys , but this one is seriously over priced. Why not another Yaris ?

There isn't a Yaris for under £3k, just checked otherwise I'd have no problem getting another.

Comments on that 2001 Focus taken aboard and I wont be pursuing. I have seen the following Mazda2 (definitely private sale as I've spoken to him. Looks pretty decent and MOT good but he's not had it serviced in the 18 mths he's had it and in that time it looks like it's racked up 19k miles. Would you not pursue this either due to no service? Again, thank you in advance for any advice.

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210030370594?s...e

You have to ask the question why it hasn't been serviced for 18 months, given the mileage it's done. Normally they are very reliable and reasonably cheap to run, but the lack of a service (good idea to check how long the current owner has had the car and why they are selling it) would be a concern.

It's MOT history is generally ok, however I'd need to see a good full service history before even contemplating buying it.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG

Yep, this one's now off the list.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Adampr

I should add; personally I avoid Marketplace as everyone seems to be either illiterate or lying. Likewise with gumtree, although some swear by it.

I've had surprising success with eBay at this sort of price. You certainly have to have your wits about you, but there are plenty of private sellers on there just trying to sell cars on.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - badbusdriver

There isn't a Yaris for under £3k, just checked otherwise I'd have no problem getting another.

Where are there no Yaris's under £3k?. I've just checked on Autotrader and excluding insurance write offs, diesel, auto and more than 100k miles(*), there are 189 of them nationwide.

Any suggestions on makes? Does it make any difference at this budget? I'm filtering by lowest mileage first then checking out the MOT history.

*Had something similar on another thread recently, someone obsessing over low miles!. You are doing yourself no favours here and probably ruling out really nice cars on account of this odd notion that a low miles car is better than one with average or higher miles for its age. It really doesn't work like that, the mileage (within reason) is irrelevant, in fact I'd actually be inclined to avoid very low mileage (for their age) cars, because of the suspicion that it isn't genuine, along with the fact that doing nothing but short journeys is doing most cars no good at all. Most of the wear and tear accumulated by an engine is done while it is warming up. The condition of the car along with the service history and MOT history is what is important.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Steveieb

My daughter in laws Yaris is a Y plate and was really surprised that yours several years newer should be traded in for something maybe not as good.

Have you thought of getting yours fixed? Maybe a sensor is in need of replacement ?

Suggest you take the car to another recommended garage and get one more diagnosis. The Yaris is a hard act to follow.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - sajid

My daughter in laws Yaris is a Y plate and was really surprised that yours several years newer should be traded in for something maybe not as good.

Have you thought of getting yours fixed? Maybe a sensor is in need of replacement ?

Suggest you take the car to another recommended garage and get one more diagnosis. The Yaris is a hard act to follow.

Or a recondition engine if it burning pistons seals head gaskets need refurbishing generally cleaning up the gunk attaching new seals. It might be a cost effective way as the used car

Market prices are still high

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG
badbusdriver: That maybe so but I’m not able to travel nationally to view a car.

Point taken over mileage vs service history/MOT. The Mazda 2 was a no go, 19k miles with no service and he’d cancelled the insurance (I’m only covered for my own) and road tax so couldn’t take it for a test drive.

Edited by Zoë Georgiou on 14/10/2022 at 21:53

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Big John

Re second hand cars in my opinion it's best to go for a newer car with more miles compared to older with few miles- well within reason!

Edited by Big John on 14/10/2022 at 19:25

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - brambobb

Perhaps this is a bit left field but have you looked on Youtube for a trader called Chops Garage? He deals in cheaper second hand cars and always sells cars with a new MOT with no advisories and is fastidious about preparing vehicles for sale.

He is particularly keen on the Hyundai i10 and sells quite a lot of these at or perhaps slightly above the top end of your price range. He seems to be building up a large following and people are coming from a long way away to buy from him on Youtube. Therein lies the problem though - he lives and trades in North Devon.

Apologies to mods if I have infringed any site policies in suggesting a specific trader.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG
Yeah, I’m near Leeds otherwise I’d check him out!
Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - badbusdriver

badbusdriver: That maybe so but I’m not able to travel nationally to view a car.

I wasn't expecting you to!, I said what there was nationally because at that time you had not said where in the country you are.

But now that I know (vaguely) where you are I had another look on Autotrader. Using my same criteria from earlier, within a 50 mile radius of Leeds city centre, there are 40 Toyota Yaris's . Even if the 1.0 engined version is discounted, there are still 22, so quite a few to choose from.

Including this black one owner 2009 5 door example in Burnley. One owner from new, no MOT failures and not even any advisories.

202210130704865

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - ZoëG

Ended up being able to increase my budget and got another Yaris within 5 miles of where I live: 2011, 1.3L petrol with a full service history and less than 50k on the clock due to previous owner being a teacher and just using it to get to work and back. Hopefully these short journeys she made won't have had a negative impact on the engine with her getting it serviced regularly. I really don't want to be getting another car in 12 mths time.

Ideas please! Budget of £2k - £3k - Xileno

Thanks for coming back to update us. Sounds like a a good car that will hopefully last.