Please help me choose a car !

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 24 Jan 2025 15:34
Please help me choose a car ! - Aneng64

Hi. I'm a terrible procrastinator and c******d with indecision. I've been looking to replace my old Civic for two years now and still can't decide on what to replace it with. Whenever I get it down to one or two, I'll end up reading a review that says the steering is awful or the timing chains snap etc and I'm back to square one.

My requirements are;

Budget: £7000

Must be a torque converter type automatic. Must be good over potholed roads. Must get 45mpg at least according to RealMPG here. Must not have a reputation for engines blowing up :-). Not a generic hatchback.

Other criteria I'd like rather than must have include; Good for motorway use, nice interior, nice to look at, not French or Ford.

I've been looking at things like the Volvo S60, Passat, Jag XF, C-class, smaller SUV's, VW CC, Infiniti Q50, that kind of thing.

Can anyone suggest something that might fit these criteria please ?

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Fri 24 Jan 2025 15:54
Please help me choose a car ! - badbusdriver

You will struggle to find something with a t/c auto that can do 45+mpg.

How many miles do you cover annually?. I ask because some people seem to fixate on mpg as the main aspect of running costs, when it isn't if you don't cover that many miles, reliability is far more important. Especially so if you are looking at prestige brands where prices for parts are going to much higher than (for example) Ford.

You are also not helping yourself by a complete blanket ban on French or Ford. Yes, there are cars to avoid in either camp, but they aren't all bad.

I think you ned to be a bit more realistic with your expectations of how far £7k will go.

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Fri 24 Jan 2025 17:13
Please help me choose a car ! - Aneng64

Well, I'm certainly open to suggestions outside of my criteria. Annual mileage is about 18K, 80% of that is motorway driving.

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Fri 24 Jan 2025 18:09
Please help me choose a car ! - badbusdriver

Well, I'm certainly open to suggestions outside of my criteria. Annual mileage is about 18K, 80% of that is motorway driving.

Ah well, that is a lot of miles and certainly points towards diesel. But a £7k diesel brings a lot of potential risk to the table. Yes, your usage should be absolutely fine for keeping a DPF healthy, but what about the previous owner?.

There are a few ways to go with this.

First and probably most sensible is to keep your current car. As said, £7k isn't going to go very far these days, and doing that kind of mileage is going to wipe out the value of a replacement in no time at all, so you'd be aswell keeping your Civic until it dies. And while you haven't said how old the Civic is, assuming regular servicing and not abused, I'd fully expect it to outlast most of the cars you mentioned in your list (though rust may become a factor)!

Spending such a lot of time behind the wheel, I absolutely see the appeal of getting something a bit nicer, but there are other negatives on top of the general "older diesel risks". Parts prices is one, but also the simple fact that the car will be older/higher miles. And because of the higher parts and servicing prices, they are more likely to have been neglected as they get older.

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Fri 24 Jan 2025 19:02
Please help me choose a car ! - Adampr

Reliable means Japanese. All Japanese diesels are r****** except for Honda. SUVs won't achieve the MPG you want. Computer says Honda Accord 2.2cdti.

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Sat 25 Jan 2025 08:44
Please help me choose a car ! - SLO76
You’re looking at the wrong sort of cars if you want reliability on seven grand. The Passat and CC use VW’s twin clutch automated manual box and can’t be recommended, they’re hideously complex and cripplingly expensive to repair when (and not if) they go wrong.

Smaller Volvos use Fords Powershift so you’d need to be certain which box is in any S60 you look at. The 1.6 petrols use the Ford Ecoboost motor which although I’ve never encountered any issues with there are many online who suggest these are troublesome engines and should be avoided. The diesels are mostly Peugeot motors and as with any modern DPF equipped diesel at this money it’ll cause plenty of problems and should be avoided, especially the 1.6. These can be ok cars if you find one with the larger 2.0 Volvo petrol motor and Aisin torque converter gearbox but they’re expensive for parts and not as robust as people think being Ford based.

The Jag is a terrible idea with an awful reputation for reliability, this is the quickest way to lose £7k you could possibly come up with. Don’t even think about it.

£7k doesn’t go far with SUV’s and the diesels as mentioned above will be a total money pit. A Honda CRV 2.0 petrol auto is possible but it’ll be thirsty, slow and nowhere near as nice to drive as a conventional saloon or hatchback.

The Infiniti was a complete failure in the UK and Nissan withdrew them years ago. They didn’t sell well and although service items are easy enough to find other parts are expensive and harder to come by. Mechanically the 4cyl petrols are Merc engines and most use Merc gearboxes which are ok if looked after - but any you look at for £7k will almost certainly be overdue a gearbox oil change which isn’t cheap. As with most of what you’re looking at they’re complex prestige cars that you can’t really afford on £7k, it’s too high risk.

A Merc C class can be ok, but they’re not the quality item people think they are. The diesels at this money will suffer timing chain problems, turbo failures, EGR problems, injector faults, DPF issues etc etc etc etc. The petrols are ok if looked after but they can also suffer timing chain failures and super chargers can wear out if fitted. Parts are expensive and you really need a good genuine Merc specialist if you want any chance of maintaining one longterm. It’s not something I’d buy on a limited budget.

You need you lower your ambitions to meet your budget. You can’t afford a reliable prestige cars that or SUV on £7k, you’d need £15k to do this realistically. Diesels fitted with a DPF are trouble prone and costly to fix and should be avoided at this age and money, go for petrol and stick with conventional Japanese mass market models.

I’d be looking for a tidy Mazda 3 or 6 2.0 SE Skyactiv petrol auto, these are robust chain driven engines with straightforward torque converter gearboxes. Rust underneath, particularly in suspension components and subframes is the only real concern so you’ll need to get the Mot history for signs of serious rot and get underneath for a good look. They can be covered in surface rust underneath but be good for many years. Find a good one that’s clean underneath and pay someone to underseal it and it’ll run and run and run.

A petrol Toyota Auris or Avensis CVT is another worthy. But as with any CVT you need to try before you buy as they’re not for everyone. The Auris hybrid is another good car but they’re very much in demand so your £7k isn’t enough.

A Honda Accord 2.0 petrol auto is another good car, but they’re getting old now. Many are in the hands of elderly retired people who really look after them however so a nice one is very worthy. You won’t hit 45mpg though.

A Honda Civic 1.8 auto is a good car, but avoid the pre 2013 models as there was an oil usage issue for a short period at the start of production.

Above all when shopping on a budget keep things simple.

Edited by SLO76 on 25/01/2025 at 08:47

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Sat 25 Jan 2025 11:52
Please help me choose a car ! - Engineer Andy

To add to SLO's comments above the Mazdas, The 3 in SE-L trim is fine as well (if you can find one at that price range in good condition / reasonable mileage for its age) as it also can (some people spec up the lower profile 18in rims) come shod on sensible 16in (60 profile, 123mm high sidewall) tyres rather than low profile 18in ones, which firm up the ride.

As I understand it, the Mazda6 in SE and SE-L spec (including Nav variants) comes shod on medium profile (55, probably still fine) 17in because it has a bit higher trim spec than the Mazda3 does, in line with most vehicles as they go up the sizes. They can be on 18in rims if a previous owner up-specced them.

I suspect with the £7k budget the OP would have to look at early examples around the 10yo mark. The auto versions won't achieve 45mpg average, but probably 38-42mpg for the both cars if driven sympathetically an in mixed driving (at the higher end for on faster flowing roads).

As per some previous comments of mine on another thread, would the Auris be a viable option (it may depend on which of the two generations of the car is chosen / in the price range) as at least one of them has an unsecure CAT and supposedly can attract higher insurance premiums like the 1st gen Honda Jazz.

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