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Fri 13 Dec 2013 11:35

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

Hi,

I'm looking to pick the collected hive mind of the Honest John forum about what car I should purchase! I've never owned a car in my life (I'm getting close to 40), so I feel waaaay out of my depth. However, I am an avid reader and have been consuming copious information from this great forum and other sites, trying to get myself up to speed. I'd really appreciate some guidance about which makes and models I should be going for.

About me:

- Married, two young children (under 4) (buggy goes everywhere at the moment) plus small (mostly functioning) dog.

- Commute 12 miles round trip per day.

- Weekend short journeys max 50 mile round trips

- Every other month 150mile round trip

Looking for:

- Reliable, realitively cheap to run OR cheap total cost of ownership (stuck between diesel / petrol dilemma), as I dont think I have the budget to keep trading up. I think at this stage I'm more likley to pick a car and stick with it for a good while.

- Car with generous boot space

- Few gadets would be nice but not essential.

- Budget: £3k (could budge a couple of 100 higher if it was the right car).

I know its a bit of pot luck at the end of the day, but if there is anything I can do to avoid buying a stinker I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks everyone for your collected time :)

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Fri 13 Dec 2013 12:14

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - Happy Blue!

Petrol engined reliable small MPV. Mazda Premacy or older Mazda5. Ford C-Max. Nissan Tino or older Qashqai. Honda FRV. Toyota Verso. Avoid French cars. Leftfield choice Chevrolet Tacuma.

With young children a decent boot and a higher seating position is vital.

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Fri 13 Dec 2013 12:28

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

Thanks for the great advice. I'd looked at the Ford C-Max previosuly but been put off by a lot of negative reviews of them developing serious faults early on. Saying that, it was more than likely the diesel versions, as I was almost exclusively looking at diesel when I set out to look for a car.

I'll have a scout on autotrader now and see what I can find! :)

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Fri 13 Dec 2013 14:08

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

With the exception of the Focus C-Max they are all ugly as hell! They are cheap though, so I'll give you that. Anything a touch smarter with the reliability out there? Are any estates better propositions?

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Fri 13 Dec 2013 16:01

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - oldtoffee

Petrol definitely. I'd add a Subaru Legacy estate 2.0 manual to the list. Good looking ok perhaps not ugly is more accurate, permanent all wheel drive, almost bulletproof if you get a good one and many are having been properly looked after. A bit thirstier than most but with your mileage that shouldn't be an issue.

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Fri 13 Dec 2013 16:25

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

Cheers, the Legacy looks a bit more respectable. It reminds me a touch of Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters. (Edit: That'd be the estate version!)

Edited by joefez on 13/12/2013 at 16:34

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Sat 14 Dec 2013 00:30

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - Avant

With a tight budget, condition and some service history are more important than make or model. But in general Japanese petrol models give less trouble, even when old: so Happy Blue's list makes good sense. A (petrol) C-Max or Vauxhall Zafira will have the advantage of being plentiful in the market and Ford and Vauxhall have more widespread dealers.

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Mon 16 Dec 2013 03:53

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

Thanks again for the sage advice everyone. I've been out this weekend checking out some of the suggested cars. Whilst having a wander I happened across a Toyota Avensis Estate 1.8 vvti '03 (petrol) and took quite a shine to it. Does anyone have any experience of this model? Does it have similar reliability / characteristics as the suggested models above? Fuel economy seems OK for a petrol and thus far I haven't been able to find any negative feedback about it. Is it a good proposition in general?

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Mon 16 Dec 2013 06:31

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - Happy Blue!

Generally Toyota are very reliable and this model of Avensis was known to be economical.

When buying cars of this age look for condition and service history rather than specific models. However take myvadvice and look after your back. Leaning in to fasten a seatbelt on a car seat puts it under a lot of strain. Buy a higher car; you lean over less.

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Mon 16 Dec 2013 11:44

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - Sam49

I've got one. It's great for families. Here's something I posted a couple of weeks ago to a smiliar question

"..Mine is a petrol 1.8 VVTi – it’s powerful enough and economical for the size of car. It’s comfortable, it’s refined, it’s safe and it’s big – The boot is big, the back doors are wide so it’s easy to our baby seat in and out. You can have the front seats set far back and still fit the baby seat in. And it’s very reliable.

I get the point about MPVs - though most of the time I'm just clicking the seat into and out of the base unit so it's not too much hassle with the car being lower - time will tell! Best way is to test for yourself, as well as ensuring it's a good example, as also mentioned above

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Mon 16 Dec 2013 15:02

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

I had a look on the Toyota owners club website and apparently pre-2005 1.8 vvti's have a serious oil consumption issue which is well documented over there. After 2005 they apparently made a raft of modifications which addressed the problem. No suprise then that there is a glut of '03 models kicking around.

Seems everytime I find a car or make/model that I like, I un-earth some hideous defaults which put me off buying one! Certainly explains why some seemingly good cars are going for a song on autotrader, even with FSH's and in good condition. Who's want the ticking timebomb of knowing your car has likely got a well documented issue that is no longer covered under the manufacturers warranty! Bah, buying used cars is harder than I thought!

Despite my gripes, the Avensis is a good looking car, especially in my price range.

ps: If I upped my budget to around £4k would there be any other models worth considering?

Or should I just be looking at newer versions of the cars already mentioned?

I've said it once (or twice) but i'll say it again, cheers for all the advice - much appreciated!

Edited by joefez on 16/12/2013 at 15:04

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Mon 16 Dec 2013 15:23

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - skidpan

Seems everytime I find a car or make/model that I like, I un-earth some hideous defaults which put me off buying one!

The simple fact is when you are buying cars for the kind of money you are spending and the age you are looking at there is a better than 50/50 chance of getting a money pit.

You need to buy based on condition and not on interweb reviews. Most people only go on a forum when they have a problem thus the vast majority that have a trouble free time do not post feedback.

If you read every forum you would never buy a car.

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Mon 16 Dec 2013 16:32

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - oldtoffee

>>ps: If I upped my budget to around £4k would there be any other models worth considering? Or should I just be looking at newer versions of the cars already mentioned?

Spending £1k more won't really buy you the extra peace of mind you'd like. As skidpan says buy on condition and have several models in mind. Put the £1k aside for unexpected repairs. Make sure you don't buy something that will need a new cambelt, service and discs, pads and tyres early on in ownership otherwise that is the £1k gone south.

Looking at a newer Avensis could be a plan as Toyota are known to be very sympathetic with out of warranty claims on quite old cars, one I read of (maybe on here) had a known problem with an 8 year old car sorted out foc by them. It would be important that it has a full Toyota service history. For the price of a 5 or 6 year old Avensis, I'd also keep an eye out for seriously cheap leasing deals funded by manufacturers on a new car. Your low annual mileage (around 8,000?) means you'd pay the lowest rate achievable. It could cost a bit more than a trouble free used car but could easily be a lot less than the money pit dangerous alternative.

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Tue 17 Dec 2013 11:21

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - joefez

The simple fact is when you are buying cars for the kind of money you are spending and the age you are looking at there is a better than 50/50 chance of getting a money pit.

Ewww, I dont like those odds. Kinda makes you want to go down the leasing option as suggested by oldtoffee, just so you dont pick a lemon and have to deal with repairs.

Still you are right in what you say, and it's true of the internet in general. Few people go on the internet to say what a brilliant car they have got. Mostly its to ask how to fix their car or moan about it always going wrong.

This forum and you guys have been a massive help. It's certainly cleared up a lot of questions and confusion I had.

@HappyBlue & Sam49: Agreed on the Avensis. I'm now looking at >2005 models. After checking the toyota forum again this morning, it seems the later Avensis is very reliable (well at least very few problems have been reported and no major faults at that). I like the fact it's got a chain not a belt, so hopefully one less thing to be replaced, plus the spec is generally quite high given the price point.

Edited by joefez on 17/12/2013 at 11:29

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Thu 19 Dec 2013 16:36

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - Ed V

One of HJ's favourites is the Honda Jazz. It's a Tardis inside, reliable as a Golf would wish to be, no money wasted on stuff you don't need or notice.

Loads around (they sell/sold like hot cakes do in February), cheap spares, economicle, space for all the junk with a much better height to it than with a conventional estate. Easy to park. Air con if you want it.

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Thu 19 Dec 2013 17:09

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - madf

+1 for Jazz unless you do lots of motorway miles. I have a CVT automatic- very relaxing to drive and easy to fill with things or people. Will take 4 adults with ease.

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Thu 19 Dec 2013 17:13

Buying advice for a newbie (& an old one at that!) - corax

If you buy an Avensis with FSH, you would be very unlucky to have any trouble. I sold my 1.8 Avensis earlier this year after 2 years and my dad has owned his 03 1.8 model for around 7 years and nothing has gone wrong except for the fuel filler release motor.

Extremely reliable, economical, and easy to live with workhorse.

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