Used car advice - Budget 5K

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 15:14
Used car advice - Budget 5K - naadodi

Hi all, I am new to this forum. I plan to buy a used hatch or saloon with max budget of 5K. I am looking for something that is very cheap to run(Fuel efficiency/Tax/insurance/Maintenance). This is for my personal use for weekend trips and occasional city rides in the evening, I think on an average 10000 miles a year. I had real bad experience with my previous car from a dealer which was my first car so I get worried.

So far I had seen Skoda Octavia, Mondeo, Insignia..They all have done over 70K miles and atleast 5 years old for the budget I am looking at also Audi A3 most of them over 90K miles and 8 years old.

Is it advisable buying cars over 80k miles? I want something reliable and decently equipped. Please advice on any other cars other than what I have listed and also trusted dealers in London, I am not confident choosing one as my knowledge with cars isn't that great!

Edited by Avant on 28/12/2016 at 18:15

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 15:37
Used card advice - Budget 5K - Theophilus

If you are serious about wanting to buy an economical and reliable car for the best value under £5,000 you should perhaps be looking at a smaller class of car, probably Korean such as the Hyundai i10. These seem to be advertised with under 30,000 miles on the clock and 3 years old for inside your budget.

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 15:40
Used card advice - Budget 5K - RobJP

That sort of budget annual mileage, and London most of the use, go petrol and manual gearbox.

Forget 'premium' brands like Audi, VW, BMW, etc. You're paying a lot for the badge. You want every penny possible to go on the car.

Do you NEED a large car like a Mondeo-sized car ?

If a medium-sized hatchback will do, then a Honda Civic - the 'Type S' model is supposed to be fantastic to drive, but doesn't attract the steep insurance premiums of the 'Type R' sports version.

If a smaller hatchback, then a Toyota Yaris is good.

But first you have to decide what size of car you actually need. You mention an A3, but also the Octavia/Mondeo/Insignia, which are considerably bigger.

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 15:51
Used card advice - Budget 5K - gordonbennet

Auris or Avensis, Auris will be cheaper and have a proper parking brake.

If you get too picky on VED bands you will end up with Diesel, which unless its old school will be a world of pain, or modern small turbocharged petrol, which too is likely to be a world of pain, and neither of which will be cheap to maintain properly.

Simple usually means easy and cheap to look after long term, Civic is as said another good bet, but again the model for simplicity might not be that cheap to tax.

There is often a trade off where running costs both in fuel and VED have to be weighed against vastly more potential for other costs.

Edited by gordonbennet on 28/12/2016 at 15:51

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 17:16
Used card advice - Budget 5K - naadodi

Many thanks for all your valuable inputs. In terms of the size I am looking for something spacious so a compact hatch will suffice for our current needs, Two of us and friends may join when we go on trips so something comfortable/spacious for couple of adults would be preferred. I personally aslo like big cars but not at huge expense however Yaris or i10 could be too small for my liking.

I checked out Honda but thought that it may not be fuel efficient. As one of you mentioned, in literal terms I want each of my penny counted. Technically this would be my first car since the previou one i had was for a short period.

If a car would be reliable and if that would mean I will avoid paying hefty service bills then I dont mind paying VED. There is no point in paying £30 tax with huge service bills. Need to find out a tool to figure out how much more I would be spending doing 10k a year on a 45MPG petrol vs 60MPG diesel. Are there any known tools?

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 15:52
Used card advice - Budget 5K - SLO76
I'd advise against looking at a diesel with this budget, there's just too much to go wrong with a complex modern turbo Diesel engine and the repair bills will easily outweigh any saving with a mileage around 10k. When buying on a budget always keep it simple.

The Mondeo uses Peugeot (PSA) Diesel engines and the 1.6 is notoriously fragile, the 2.0 is better but they tend to eat DMF's around 70-80k which will cost £1,000-£1,200 and turbo failure, gummed up EGR's and knackered injectors are common and costly at this mileage and age. The petrol cars are largely vice free but thirsty.

The Insignia uses a Fiat 2.0 diesel and suffers plenty of issues also so I'd keep clear of it. The only Vauxhall diesels worth looking at use the tough old Isuzu 1.7 turbo diesel that's unavailable in the Insignia but even this is more likely to give grief than the petrol equivalent.

The Octavia was good with the old 1.9 PD TDi which could easily hit 500k but it doesn't take kindly to the DPF that was fitted later and the newer 1.6 diesel is gaining a bit of a poor reputation. The A3 is basically the same car underneath but costs more to buy, has less space and higher parts prices.

I'd personally avoid any of the cars you've listed and instead aim at the class below and stick to petrol. Honda Civic 1.8 will do 45mpg if driven with care and has a near bombproof chain driven engine with loads of power. The Toyota Auris 1.6 is pretty robust if a bit dull to drive and the Ford Focus with the Yamaha designed 1.6 petrol is also good news but slower and thirstier than the Civic and it does have a timing belt which recomended replacement is at 8yrs.

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 16:18
Used card advice - Budget 5K - SLO76
Mazda 3 1.6 petrol is a pleasant thing also. Sharp handling and mechanically very robust but rust is an issue later on so if you're not keen on getting the polish out...
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Wed 28 Dec 2016 17:17
Used card advice - Budget 5K - naadodi

Many thanks for all your valuable inputs. In terms of the size I am looking for something spacious so a compact hatch will suffice for our current needs, Two of us and friends may join when we go on trips so something comfortable/spacious for couple of adults would be preferred. I personally aslo like big cars but not at huge expense however Yaris or i10 could be too small for my liking.

I checked out Honda but thought that it may not be fuel efficient. As one of you mentioned, in literal terms I want each of my penny counted. Technically this would be my first car since the previou one i had was for a short period.

If a car would be reliable and if that would mean I will avoid paying hefty service bills then I dont mind paying VED. There is no point in paying £30 tax with huge service bills. Need to find out a tool to figure out how much more I would be spending doing 10k a year on a 45MPG petrol vs 60MPG diesel. Are there any known tools?

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 17:23
Used card advice - Budget 5K - gordonbennet
Need to find out a tool to figure out how much more I would be spending doing 10k a year on a 45MPG petrol vs 60MPG diesel.

London use larger car?, revise your figures to 45mpg absolute max on Diesel and 30mpg or thereabouts for petrol, you might push a larger petrol up to 45mpg on the open road once there so long as you keep the speed down but general dodging about and getting to the open road from anywhere in London will see those figures hammered.

The only sizeable petrol cars likely to give you those figures are Toyota hybrids, but you will be into an older higher mileage car given your budget.

Edited by gordonbennet on 28/12/2016 at 17:26

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 18:23
Used card advice - Budget 5K - SLO76
"If a car would be reliable and if that would mean I will avoid paying hefty service bills then I dont mind paying VED. There is no point in paying £30 tax with huge service bills. Need to find out a tool to figure out how much more I would be spending doing 10k a year on a 45MPG petrol vs 60MPG diesel. Are there any known tools?"

You would save just over £250 at current prices running a 60mpg car v one that does 45mpg but as far as the Civic is concerned the 1.8 petrol averages 8mpg less than the much more complex and costlier to fix diesel. The diesel therefore makes little financial sense when you factor in the possibility of costly repairs.

The 2.2 diesel is known for turbo failure, clutch problems and EGR issues whereas the 1.8 petrol is pretty much vice free. www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/honda/civic-2006

Edited by SLO76 on 28/12/2016 at 18:25

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 17:38
Used card advice - Budget 5K - Big John

How about 1.8 petrol Honda Civic- real life economy anmd reliability great

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Wed 28 Dec 2016 17:48
Used card advice - Budget 5K - skidpan

Need to find out a tool to figure out how much more I would be spending doing 10k a year on a 45MPG petrol vs 60MPG diesel.

Why do you need a tool, its primary school maths.

10000 miles a year @ 45 mpg = 222 gallons x 4.546 = 1010 litres @ 1.119/litre = £1130

10000 miles a year @ 60 mpg = 167 gallons x 4.546 = 758 litres @1.139/litre = £863

Thats a dfifference of £267.

How hard can it be.

Very few diesels will average 60 mpg with a lot of city driving and very few petrols will average 45 mpg with a lot of city driving. My Seat Leon 1.4 TSI has averaged 45 mpg for the 3 1/2 years I have owned it but its probably a 40% town 60% highway mix.

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Thu 29 Dec 2016 10:14
Used card advice - Budget 5K - 72 dudes

Need to find out a tool to figure out how much more I would be spending doing 10k a year on a 45MPG petrol vs 60MPG diesel.

Why do you need a tool, its primary school maths.

10000 miles a year @ 45 mpg = 222 gallons x 4.546 = 1010 litres @ 1.119/litre = £1130

10000 miles a year @ 60 mpg = 167 gallons x 4.546 = 758 litres @1.139/litre = £863

Thats a dfifference of £267.

How hard can it be.

Very few diesels will average 60 mpg with a lot of city driving and very few petrols will average 45 mpg with a lot of city driving. My Seat Leon 1.4 TSI has averaged 45 mpg for the 3 1/2 years I have owned it but its probably a 40% town 60% highway mix.

Well said Skidpan, just what I was thinking.

OP, being a pessimistic (realistic?) soul, I would follow the examples above, but as you are mainly driving in London, I would input 28 MPG for a medium size petrol hatch and 40 MPG for a diesel version. You'll be surprised how small the difference is, especially when you factor in higher servicing and repair costs plus the fact that you'll get more 'bang for your buck' purchasing the petrol one.

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Thu 29 Dec 2016 11:32
Used card advice - Budget 5K - daveyK_UK

go for a petrol toyota or honda

alternatively, try and find a 1 year old Dacia Logan MCV that will have 2 years warranty left (petrol engine)

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Thu 29 Dec 2016 20:40
Used card advice - Budget 5K - naadodi

Many thanks for that detailed break down. Wish i had thought about the obvious way to calculate :)

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Fri 30 Dec 2016 12:56
Used card advice - Budget 5K - naadodi

If I go by what you are all saying, I should totally stay away from Diesel if I intend to do roughly about 10K mile a year. All my search earlier were focussed on Diesel especially the eco ones of whichever car I was looking at.

Now I am considering based on all your advices and further research. Cars that I am considering now are Civic, Auris, Avensis if I should stick to the Toyotas or the Hondas.

How about some other cars such as Seat Leon, Mazda 3, Astra, Golf & focus for my budget? Which ones should I stay away and look out for ?

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Fri 30 Dec 2016 14:00
Used card advice - Budget 5K - SLO76
The Mazda 3 is a nice all rounder. Shares floorpan and suspension with the Ford Focus but uses bombproof Mazda petrol engines. The 1.6 is a bit lacking in torque but it's a free revving wee engine and has one of the nicest gearchanges on any car you'll find at any price.

I've got a 2005 1.6 with 117,000 miles I took as a part ex that I use as a runner and courtesy car. It's a great thing to hussle down a twisty B road and rarely gives any trouble thus the reason why so many older 3's are still on the road. Rust is your biggest enemy with these but it is usually cosmetic, particularly around wheelarches so keep it well polished to protect it. I sold this car to its last owner and know it's history. It's never needed anything other than wear and tear items such as tyres, brakes and an exhaust and drives no differently today as it did when I sold it to him nearly 8yrs ago.

Kia Cee'd is a cracking option too, especially if you can find one with a full dealer service history as you'll have the benefit of the remainder of the 7yr manufacturer warranty. Ignore salesmen telling you that the warranty is still valid if it has a non-dealer history. Technically it's true but try proving that it's been serviced in accordance with manufacturer guidelines, without every receipt for every part and a full checklist that matches dealer schedule you've no chance so you must regard the warranty as void without a full history.



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Fri 30 Dec 2016 13:35
Used card advice - Budget 5K - naadodi

Also Kia ceed if its with in the manufacturer warrant period.

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Fri 30 Dec 2016 13:43
Used card advice - Budget 5K - oldroverboy.

Kia venga, ( sister hyundai ix20) and you will get some warranty if fully dealer serviced. Bags of room for 4 large adults.

I have one and its great!

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?sort=distance&...l

look here!

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