Astra estate.manual? Petrol.

Edited by maxime on 13/05/2023 at 21:07

Keep it simple, stick with a non-turbo charged petrol engine and avoid prestige brands and diesels. Look for mass market cars with plenty of aftermarket parts availability and look for longterm ownership and proof of regular servicing.

On this question of choosing well-used cars, how do the experts value (or otherwise) the presence of a tow-hitch ?

As much as I’m a fan of Mazda and Toyota, when you’ve a tight budget of £3,500 you can’t restrict yourself so much. Cast the net much wider, I certainly wouldn’t walk past a tidy Astra, Focus, Mondeo etc etc to buy a tatty Mazda or Toyota. Condition and history mean more than make and model at this money. Keep it simple, stick with a non-turbo charged petrol engine and avoid prestige brands and diesels. Look for mass market cars with plenty of aftermarket parts availability and look for longterm ownership and proof of regular servicing. If you find anything locally post links to the adverts here and we’ll pick them apart for you.

Not sure if it would be low enough in price, but the 2nd gen (2008-12) Mazda6 2.0 petrol estate (manual) in the lower-mid spec TS and TS2 might do for their space requirements, and that car's REAL MPG is under 3mpg below (35.7 vs 37.9) the Mazda3 (2009-13) 1.6 petrol and its a bit nippier. Obviously avoid the diesels.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/mazda/

That Mazda6 estate also has a decent boot size at 519L vs the 3 at 340L (hatch) and around 430L (saloon - rare). Of course, its Mondeo cousin (sharing engines and other components under the skin with ethe inter-company tie-up back then) will be very similar in what it can do.

It's why I considered both the Focus mk2 and the Mazda3 mk1 back when I was looking in 2006 - I only went with the Mazda because I liked the saloon shape (and bigger boot than the hatch) and there were big deals to be had on new (unused) cars at Motorpoint.

Might be worth a look at the 6 mk2 estate if it's in decent condition and has a FSH? I agree that at that age, the condition of a car is as important as what it supposedly can do.

A late MK2 Focus estate with the 1.8 engine would be ideal. No cambelt to change on that model. Keep an eye out for corrosion. At this price I would be looking at a private sale.

£3000 is pretty much entry level, almost banger, territory these days. What was £1500 or less in 2019 is probably equivalent of £3000 today so be realistic.

To be perfectly honest you can't afford to be too fussy. Don't get obsessed about colour, model or make or exact features.

If you can find a reasonable Mazda 3 1.6 petrol for £3k-£3.5k then its a good bet. Not bad cars and usually reliable apart from being prone to a bit of oil use. However as others have pointed out if you find a decent Toyota, Focus or whatever don't discount it.

If you're budget is £3500 you might be better buying something for £3000 and saving back £500 to fix whatever niggles it'll probably have.

Edited by pd on 14/05/2023 at 19:36