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Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Lookingforamotor
Hi

I’m after recommendations for a small - medium car (no smaller than a cross/fiesta) but ideally more like focus / Astra size.

I have a budget up to £7500ish and would like something with apple car play and rear parking sensors. I’ve seen some astras on auto trader 2015/6 models with either 1.4 turbo or 1 litre turbos. I’m trying to keep mileage under 80k and the newer the better I guess too.

I need something that’s reliable and that wont cost me a fortune in repairs etc. grateful for any recommendations!

I’m hoping it’s possible !!
Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Adampr

Vauxhalls seem to be your best bet. Also Fiestas and maybe PSA (Citroen C3/C4/Cactus or Peugeot 208/308). Look at VW Polos too.

It seems you've discovered a kind of sweet spot where mid size cars are too old to have Carplay and cars with it are too small.

Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Metropolis.
Buy a car for £7000 and buy a double din (or single din fold out) radio with carplay.
Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Chris M

Astra K (2015 on) meets your requirements perfectly. They had Apple Carplay from the start and Android Auto from early 2016. 1.0T has proved the most reliable ( along with the 1.6T). I have a 2016 and my son has a 2015. His has parking sensors which I find annoying, but you can get the parking camera retro-fitted.

Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Big John

As already suggested within budget for just Apple car play something like a Vauxhall Astra or Fiat Tipo might fit in the budget as would possibly a Dacia.

If it was me my priority would be a better car over Apple car play / Android Auto etc. Saying that the Astra is still a pretty reasonable car.

Edited by Big John on 03/02/2023 at 23:30

Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Lookingforamotor
Thanks all - @bigjohn I wondered what car you would pick that doesn’t have car play? I’m keen for something reliable and cheap to run (but with reasonable acceleration ie not 13 seconds! 0-60) not sure what car that would be . I was looking at Ford Focus but the cambelt was putting me off for some reason.
Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - daveyK_UK
Vauxhall Astra
Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Big John
Thanks all - @bigjohn I wondered what car you would pick that doesn’t have car play? I’m keen for something reliable and cheap to run (but with reasonable acceleration ie not 13 seconds! 0-60) not sure what car that would be . I was looking at Ford Focus but the cambelt was putting me off for some reason.

Hmm, my own priority / essential is seat comfort , head, legroom and B pilar position - there are many cars I'm not comfortable in as I'm big AND tall (6ft 4"). My son is in a similar position being 6ft 5" . Despite not being popular on this forum generally I find VAG cars have ticked the comfort box well. My current car is 2014 1.4tsi Superb S model bought in 2015, amazingly comfortable, very refined, economical (circa 46 mog) and 0-60 circa 10 seconds. Thus far (110kmiles) it's been generally reliable give or take a couple of broken suspension springs and it's had a set of front brakes and recently rear brakes & shock absorbers.

My son got a 2016 1.2tsi S Octavia 19k miles back in November 2019 for a little bit over your budget which doesn't have Airplay but I think it's possible for the dealer to add something in software, he's not bothered as the phone integration is excellent without this and we are both still Tomtom navigation fans. Again 0-60 circa 10 secs and he can get 50 mpg on a run.

How about the last Ford Focus to be fitted with the Zetech 1.6 petrol engine - manual? Avoid the 1.0 turbo - especially early versions.

Edited by Big John on 04/02/2023 at 10:33

Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Lookingforamotor
Prices are so much higher than 2019 now though by the looks of things sadly!
Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Big John

I'd agree, prices are strange at the mo. Over 3 years later to buy my sons car would be about the same price now even though it's twice the age with more miles on - Billy Bonkers. We paid around £7800 for a car that had just had its first MOT.

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209230036434?m...1

SE Model ?

Edited by Big John on 04/02/2023 at 12:22

Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Lookingforamotor
Nice model but not in best internal condition and I have to admit that does put me off at that price!
Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Big John
l but not in best internal condition and I have to admit that does put me off at that price!

I was showing as an example.

Actually when we were looking I was surprised at the poor condition of many used car interiors even at main dealers! Fortunately we found a good one in that respect - the only issue was even though only just over three years old the battery was sulking a bit probably through lack of use after being traded in - just to be sure we insisted a new stop/start battery as part of the purchase.

Edited by Big John on 04/02/2023 at 19:43

Looking for car with apple car play max £7500 - Engineer Andy

Would it not be better, considering the smallish budget and what (later, more expensive) cars have Apple Car Play / Android Auto to just get the best car without it and just buy or upgrade your existing smartphone contract so that you can use Google Maps or some other equivalent as the car satnav and get a cradle to hold it?

Most phones now come with a decent hands-free setup, though Using a phone (as a phone or adjusting the satnav) on the move is illegal anyway.