Car suggestions

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Thu 4 Dec 2014 15:01
Car suggestions - jamie2012

Hi All

I remember about 2 years ago i recieved a some very helpful suggestion on what car i should get for a first car, I ended up with a toyota yaris 1.3 Auto which was my first car.

Although not the best to look at and apart from being the victim of someone keying the car, it has been really reliable and pass mots no problem. and revelative cheap on petrol.

Now I want to get a larger car with 5 doors and manual not automatic currently do approx 350 miles a week but that may increase soon as a job im a training for will involve visiting clients houses. so economical on petrol

I have about £2000 maybe a little more although car insurance is still pricey at £650 a year.

So if you can throw some suggestions towards me that would be great

things that jump to mind is a vauxhall astra, ford focus

Edited by jamie2012 on 04/12/2014 at 15:14

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Dec 2014 15:22
Car suggestions - RT

Just confirm you passed your test in a manual car - if you passed in an automatic you can only drive an automatic.

The big bonus with an Astra or Focus is that every workshop can fix them if (when!) they go wrong

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Dec 2014 15:30
Car suggestions - jamie2012

yes long story short I passed in an auto because of the need to get to a job which i was starting within a short amount of time, I realised it limited me a bit in the Uk if you dont have a good budget for a automatic and also couldnt drive the works car. passed my manual test with 1 minor if I may add lol

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Dec 2014 23:06
Car suggestions - Avant

Don't be tempted to go for a diesel even though your mileage is quite high: diesels can go wrong very expensively as they get older.

If you've liked your Yaris, why not look at another Toyota, the next size up: Corolla up to 2007, then Auris. The Focus is a good bet too as there are lots of them around.

Ultimately, of course, condition, and preferaby some service history, matter more than make or model.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 5 Dec 2014 09:51
Car suggestions - Andrew-T

It's a 5-way trade-off between cost to buy, depreciation, cost to insure and run, pleasure to drive, and street cred. Oh, and reliability - but that is always a bit of a guess.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 10 Dec 2014 11:32
Car suggestions - VEC786

'it has been really reliable and pass mots no problem. and revelative cheap on petrol.'

with that in mind, I would be tempted with another Toyota possibly a corolla, one thing to watch out for is the oil burning issue.

this is from this website

All Toyota VVT-I 1.4, 1.6 & 1.8L engines (1zz 1.8, 3zz 1.6 & 4zz 1.4) made from 2000 to mid 2005 may suffer from excessive oil consumption of 1L/600miles. The cause was insufficient oil capacity, poor piston and piston ring design. This led to the oil-ways sludging up, eventually causing hardened oil around the rings to misshape the bores. The use of poor quality or overly thick oils (thicker than 5w30) increased the likelihood of the issues above occurring. The fix was re-designed pistons, rings and short block - some were replaced under warranty; after about July 2005 the fix was applied new build Toyotas.

if you see one before 2005, ring toyota with the reg/vin and they should be able to tell you if it has been replaced.

I have ford and vauxhalls the servicing costs are cheaper compared to Toyota but their relibility is not there.

Edited by VEC786 on 10/12/2014 at 11:33

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance