reliable car for less than £4k

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 18:16
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

Interested what people would do if they either had £2k in your pocket or with a loan had £4k

Would any of these cars ( assuming they all had good history etc etc ) stand out for reliability in general..and would one of the cheaper cars be just as good a buy ?

Honda Civic 1.6 £1690

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112020169743

Kia Ceed 1.6 £2000

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111229822555

Toyota Corolla 1.6 £3000

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111239861612

Seat Leon 1.2 £3995

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111219804313

Ford Focus 1.6 £3995

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108256644695

Hyundai I30 1.4 £3995

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111189728360

VW Golf 1.2 £ 4495

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110258874184

Vauxhall Astra 1.6 £4495

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110068209330

I bet I am going to get lots of different views which is what I love about this forum

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 18:36
reliable car for less than £4k - nellyjak

I would always advise Japanese, petrol, manual...and I'd add the Yaris to that list.

Though both Kia and Hyndai should not be underestimated these days.

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 19:41
reliable car for less than £4k - Xileno

The Focus looks like the front passenger door has been sprayed and not very well. At that money I would look for a late MK2 with the 1.8 engine that unfortunately was not carried over to the MK3. The KIA looks good value but a few on here have mentioned they rot underneath as they age.

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 20:05
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
Wouldn’t touch any one of them, well maybe the Civic is worth a look. The Seat and the Golf use an early chain driven TSi motor that’s notorious for timing chain issues, the Astra is tatty Inside with stains on the seats and damage on the dash, the Focus is multicoloured, the Corolla is overpriced and the Hyundai i30 at £3995 has actually done over 75,000 miles as it had a new dash display at 45,000 miles according to the Mot history. It’s not worth anything like that figure.

Give me a search area and I’ll look for alternatives.

Edited by SLO76 on 03/12/2021 at 20:17

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 20:19
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

That every good of you

near crewe cheshire

£2-3k without a loan, £4-5k with a loan

ideally avg 40mpg ish petrol

decent acceleration ( I dont mean 8sec lol )

5 door

enough boot for a large dog ( eg golf 350litres seats up )

..this is as a 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' question but something that looks stylish

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 17:01
reliable car for less than £4k - conman

Hello

looking at the cars your thinking of buying they nearly all seem to have past their best.

It reminds me of one of our neighbours who was always buying 10 year old cars then having to spend hundreds of pounds on them to keep them on the road. especially as he could not afford it as he was paying off the loan he used to buy the car in the first place. 3 years ago he bought a new Dacia never looked backl.

I bought a brand new fiesta in 2003 looked after it and after 19 years my son is still driving it about.

Have a look at a brand new Dacia Sandero with the 0.9 turbo engine. £10 K is a lot of money but you can be guaranteed no repair charges in the first 3 years and most probably nothing for the first ten years, that works out at £1000 a year depreciation, except for tyres and servicing.

One of my sons has had one for 8 years, I have had one for 4 years so has my other son and total repair bill for all 3 is £0. plus 100% reliability. I think the PCP was £99 down and £99 a month. Worth a look at if you could put a £2000 deposit.

good luck.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 17:02
reliable car for less than £4k - conman

Hello

looking at the cars your thinking of buying they nearly all seem to have past their best.

It reminds me of one of our neighbours who was always buying 10 year old cars then having to spend hundreds of pounds on them to keep them on the road. especially as he could not afford it as he was paying off the loan he used to buy the car in the first place. 3 years ago he bought a new Dacia never looked backl.

I bought a brand new fiesta in 2003 looked after it and after 19 years my son is still driving it about.

Have a look at a brand new Dacia Sandero with the 0.9 turbo engine. £10 K is a lot of money but you can be guaranteed no repair charges in the first 3 years and most probably nothing for the first ten years, that works out at £1000 a year depreciation, except for tyres and servicing.

One of my sons has had one for 8 years, I have had one for 4 years so has my other son and total repair bill for all 3 is £0. plus 100% reliability. I think the PCP was £99 down and £99 a month. Worth a look at if you could put a £2000 deposit.

good luck.

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 23:08
reliable car for less than £4k - Andrew-T

Every couple of weeks someone asks where to find a car that is both cheap and reliable, and the same group of characters try to find an honest answer, especially SLO, whose nose is closest to the ground. But there's no real answer to the question, as it always comes down to the questioner trawling round his patch and striking lucky - or unlucky. Condition and history are the important ingredients, plus a private sale if possible, to save money and find out real facts about the car.

Have a look back over the threads in the last few months to see what I mean.

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 23:40
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
While I can’t verify the condition of any car without physically viewing it I did spot a few that I’d personally want a look at considering your budget and requirements.

Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC. Mechanically very robust, gutsy yet decently economical.

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109207565958

One owner Ford Focus with the tough Yamaha designed 1600 petrol. This is worth paying more for if it doesn’t a as described. These are reliable yet fun to drive. Not fast but always an enjoyable steer.


www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111290044204

Always liked these. Tough chain driven engine that’s very robust and reasonable on fuel.


www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108276699251



Edited by SLO76 on 03/12/2021 at 23:42

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Fri 3 Dec 2021 23:57
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

Thanks

The Honda and focus look good but the boot on the mazda doesn't look as though it would suit a big dog

May I ask what you opinion is on the corolla 1.6 and 1.8 vvti cars?

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 00:06
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76

Thanks

The Honda and focus look good but the boot on the mazda doesn't look as though it would suit a big dog

May I ask what you opinion is on the corolla 1.6 and 1.8 vvti cars?

The Corolla is a tough car but it’s an old one now. Rust is the big concern now so you’ll need to get under it for a good look. Check the front crossmember in particular. Check the Mot history carefully before viewing. The Avensis is worth a look too, it’s not much worse on fuel and costs no more to buy.
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Sat 4 Dec 2021 00:07
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
Apologies for the mangled English, the predictive text on this b***** phone is a pain and the short period you can edit posts irritating.
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Sat 4 Dec 2021 08:33
reliable car for less than £4k - badbusdriver

The Honda and focus look good but the boot on the mazda doesn't look as though it would suit a big dog

The Mazda 6 is from the next size up compared to the other two cars here, i.e, Mondeo sized. Not only does its boot have the greatest capacity at 510 litres (vs 485 for the Civic and 363 for the Focus), it also has the largest floor area.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 15:54
reliable car for less than £4k - thunderbird

The Honda and focus look good but the boot on the mazda doesn't look as though it would suit a big dog

The Mazda 6 is from the next size up compared to the other two cars here, i.e, Mondeo sized. Not only does its boot have the greatest capacity at 510 litres (vs 485 for the Civic and 363 for the Focus), it also has the largest floor area.

Neighbour has an estate that age. Boot may have a big floor are but the floor to roof is not great, a big dog would never stand up. He bought it to get his bikes in but still has to use the roof rack like he did on his Ignis. The one in the link is a hatch and that would probably make the height even worse.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 09:32
reliable car for less than £4k - barney100

You don't know if it's reliable 'til you've had it a while. A reasonable option is to spend less on the car and keep some back to fix anything that goes wrong. However a good check of pads, exhaust, tyres, discs etc and making sure every thing works when you get it can keep the bills down.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 09:59
reliable car for less than £4k - badbusdriver

You don't know if it's reliable 'til you've had it a while. A reasonable option is to spend less on the car and keep some back to fix anything that goes wrong. However a good check of pads, exhaust, tyres, discs etc and making sure every thing works when you get it can keep the bills down.

Quite agree and no point in spending any more on a 'cheap' car than you have to.

To that end, I had a look at the MOT history on the first and cheapest of the cars in the OP's first post, the £1700 Civic, it really isn't bad (with no mention of any potential rust problems, possibly the biggest worry on a mechanically simple 17 year old car). Currently MOT'd til next November, they are very reliable cars in general with an extremely spacious cabin. I'm not convinced the boot is big enough for the dog (if the OP thinks that on the Mazda 6 isn't), but the only way to be sure is to go and look at it.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 11:30
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
I’ll vouch for the Civic as a dog carrier. We ran one for years and it took our two dogs (Alsatian and Lab/Lurcher cross) in the back no problem. These are very robust cars but watch for steering racks failing, you’ll hear and feel a knock from the front end that’ll usually be described as “just a bush” by the seller. It’s not a cheap job but they can run with it for ages. We bought ours for £2200 and ran it for over 4yrs then I got £1500 back on it. It cost me nothing other than servicing and a full set of tyres. I loved the practical interior, the excellent economy, the rev happy 1.6 VTEC motor and the slick gear change but hated the numb electric power steering which constantly has to be corrected to keep the car in a straight line. It feels slightly sticky in the straight as the power assistance is slack, they all seem to do this except the Type R which used a different rack.
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Sat 4 Dec 2021 16:33
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

Thanks.. so could your dogs sit uo in the back..it looks like a sloping boot ?

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 16:40
reliable car for less than £4k - badbusdriver

Thanks.. so could your dogs sit uo in the back..it looks like a sloping boot ?

Very few cars don't have a sloping rear end, so if it is a factor then you need to be looking at estate cars or possibly MPV's.

What breed of dog are we talking about?

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 17:40
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

2 dogs.. Roti cross and a Sheperd cross.

The old golf gti we have at the moment ( mpg really bad ) has a square back and they sit up ok...

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 18:32
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76

Thanks.. so could your dogs sit uo in the back..it looks like a sloping boot ?

It was a 2003 Civic which was quite boxy. The boot was tall and fine for the dogs standing up.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 17:23
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

do you mean the older civic model like this

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111219809396

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 15:29
reliable car for less than £4k - FoxyJukebox
I would have a close look at the Mot history of every car on your list-that would be most revealing re condition, maintainance, state of repair and past care.
I would also factor in new brake costs all round, 4 new tyres and budget for silencer/exhaust replacements.
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Sat 4 Dec 2021 18:02
reliable car for less than £4k - badbusdriver

2 dogs.. Roti cross and a Sheperd cross.

The old golf gti we have at the moment ( mpg really bad ) has a square back and they sit up ok...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

do you mean the older civic model like this

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111219809396

Well yes, but a better example would be the 5 door you posted yourself, the first one!. But I think for a couple of bigger dogs, I`d be looking at something with a bigger boot. Something like a Focus or Astra estate, maybe a Ford C-Max or Vauxhall Zafira?

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 18:36
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

Most of the time it will be one dog so as log as the boot is as big as the golf ( 350l ) and as square it would be fine..

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 19:05
reliable car for less than £4k - Big John

Your dogs would be happy in this.

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111129516778?k...1

The 1.6 mpi is the older design of engine but reliable/simple 8v that's capable of star-ship mileage.

Whatever you buy at this price point condition is all and beware rust, it's still very much a car killer.

Edited by Big John on 04/12/2021 at 19:19

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 21:23
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
Spotted that Octavia too. Good car. Old fashioned engine is hardy enough but it’s due a timing belt every 5yrs or 100k so I’d want it done.
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Sun 5 Dec 2021 00:06
reliable car for less than £4k - Big John
Spotted that Octavia too. Good car. Old fashioned engine is hardy enough but it’s due a timing belt every 5yrs or 100k so I’d want it done.

Agreed, at 10 years old it'll be due its second cambelt change - good bargaining point. I wasn't ready at the time but this was a bargain run out model new,

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 21:13
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
I spotted this which would be a useful dog wagon. It has a useful turn of speed, plenty of room, it’s mass produced so parts prices are low and while I spend much of my time on here telling people not to buy diesels at this money this one has a very robust Isuzu motor with a great reputation for longevity, I’ve seen these with 250k upwards as taxis. Don’t get it mixed up with the fragile Fiat diesels in other Astra’s such as the 1.3/1.6 and 2.0 diesels.

I’d want the timing belt, tensioners and water pump done if there’s no proof it’s been done in the last few years as it’s due every 6yrs or 100,000 miles (whichever comes soonest) so it’s likely overdue. It is over budget but costs £30 a year to tax and it’ll do 60mpg plus easy enough. It’s certainly worth a look.

www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2012-vauxha...l

Edited by SLO76 on 04/12/2021 at 21:13

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 21:37
reliable car for less than £4k - Xileno

Seems very low mileage for a diesel but the MOT history appears clean.

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 21:53
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

thanks

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 21:56
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

can this still suffer from def problems with low mileage ?

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Sat 4 Dec 2021 22:19
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76

can this still suffer from def problems with low mileage ?

It can, much depends on your usage. If it gets a regular longer run 20/30 miles at 50mph or so it should be fine.
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Sun 5 Dec 2021 00:12
reliable car for less than £4k - Big John

can this still suffer from def problems with low mileage ?

It can, much depends on your usage. If it gets a regular longer run 20/30 miles at 50mph or so it should be fine.

That's why I mentioned the 1.6 mpi petrol Octavia - at this age / price point I personally feel a DPF fitted diesel car might be a liability. Early diesels circa 2010 can be the worst - as time advances the technology stabilises and reliability improves.

Edited by Big John on 05/12/2021 at 00:17

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Sun 5 Dec 2021 01:14
reliable car for less than £4k - SLO76
“ That's why I mentioned the 1.6 mpi petrol Octavia - at this age / price point I personally feel a DPF fitted diesel car might be a liability.”

I generally agree but some exceptions do turn up occasionally and the Isuzu 1.7 diesel as used here and in the Honda Civic was a robust design and this one has sensible miles and it’s an estate which fits the role required here. It’s one I’d buy assuming it’s in good condition and has a full history.
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Thu 9 Dec 2021 17:01
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

Ok..I know I have mentioned the corolla before but I've heard they are ultra reliable, good mpg etc..

I have found 2 corollas

First one is this ( waiting for full info on the other )

2006, 1.6 T3, facelift model, 98k miles, 12months mot ( 2 v minor advisories ), good history, been told zero rust anywhere and been looked after.. he wants £2k

Is that ok money ?

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Thu 9 Dec 2021 17:18
reliable car for less than £4k - Andrew-T

2006, 1.6 T3, facelift model, 98k miles, 12months mot ( 2 v minor advisories ), good history, been told zero rust anywhere and been looked after.. he wants £2k

Is that ok money ?

This car is 15 years old, and you say you have found two. When a particular model becomes hard to find, you have to answer your own question, by checking its history, examining the car, test driving it (for a usefully long drive) and then deciding whether you want to pay that much - allowing for whether you think anything which is likely to fail will be expensive to fix.

Not simple, but you are basically on your own.

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Thu 9 Dec 2021 17:30
reliable car for less than £4k - sammy1

Have you considered a category car? In this price bracket if you look for a car that was repaired in the distant past and has a good MOT history you may get a more modern motor particularly if you look in the private sellers

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Thu 9 Dec 2021 18:56
reliable car for less than £4k - Older99

Thanks

Never thought of a category car..scares me to death..

Are they ok ?

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Thu 9 Dec 2021 20:40
reliable car for less than £4k - badbusdriver

Thanks

Never thought of a category car..scares me to death..

Are they ok ?

If it is a category N or D, that means the damage was not structural. Depending on circumstances, I might consider one of those, but definately none of the others.

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Thu 9 Dec 2021 21:12
reliable car for less than £4k - sammy1

They are generally no different from an insurance approved repaired car which you have no real way of telling in most cases!. Cat D or N are generally repaired by independent body repairers. They are typically valued at 20% of the retail price. If you view and ask questions as you would of any other car and test drive you should be fine. If you go to Autotrader and in the box ""Key Words" type cat N or cat D that should eliminate all the ""normal " cars.

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Thu 9 Dec 2021 23:15
reliable car for less than £4k - Andrew-T

Thanks Never thought of a category car..scares me to death.. Are they ok ?

Our current car was written off at 8 years old after minor front-end damage, all cosmetic and non-structural. It runs as it always did, and only an expert can tell it's been repaired.

There must be quite a few perfectly roadworthy cars like ours with a Cat. mark on their record. The important factor is the extent of the damage - writing off a new-ish car probably means an expensive repair. An older car may have been superficially damaged, and one over 10 years old would have been hardly marked. You have to discover when it all happened (and what) :-)

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Fri 10 Dec 2021 12:44
reliable car for less than £4k - Engineer Andy

Thanks Never thought of a category car..scares me to death.. Are they ok ?

Our current car was written off at 8 years old after minor front-end damage, all cosmetic and non-structural. It runs as it always did, and only an expert can tell it's been repaired.

There must be quite a few perfectly roadworthy cars like ours with a Cat. mark on their record. The important factor is the extent of the damage - writing off a new-ish car probably means an expensive repair. An older car may have been superficially damaged, and one over 10 years old would have been hardly marked. You have to discover when it all happened (and what) :-)

I suspect in the coming years, many cars built in the last 5 years or so will be CAT D or N, given how expensive crash repairs, even minor (non-structural) ones have become, ironically (see that other thread about interesting YT videos) because of the huge increase in 'safety' devices in cars, as well as the plethora of things where you can't replace sub-parts any more.

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Fri 10 Dec 2021 14:22
reliable car for less than £4k - Heidfirst

Ok..I know I have mentioned the corolla before but I've heard they are ultra reliable, good mpg etc..

I have found 2 corollas

The Corolla was replaced for the next generation by the Auris so search for those as well.

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Sat 11 Dec 2021 19:43
reliable car for less than £4k - Steveieb

When looking for a Corolla , the country where it was built is on a sticker on the drivers side windscreen.

First choice IMHO Made in Japan.

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