Help with buying car

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Tue 29 Jul 2008 09:39
Help with buying car - Gazz
I would be grateful for some advice please. I am looking for a car but am on a budget of between £4,000 - 6,000. I would prefer a petrol car but need it to be economical so that I can keep the running costs low if possible. However, because I will be using the car regularly, I am also looking for something reliable. Can you recommend a reliable and economical car that falls into my budget? (However, I would consider recommendations outside my budget). Cheers. Gazz
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Tue 29 Jul 2008 09:53
Help with buying car - Mapmaker
When £1,000 cn get you a 5,6,7 year old Mondeo or Nissan Almera (depending on the size you want you're bound to be recommended one of these here), why pay more?

A car that age is not really any less reliable than a new car.

What you save on the car you can spend on petrol...
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Tue 29 Jul 2008 11:34
Help with buying car - Bill Payer
Or you could buy a brand new Mitsubishi Colt CZ1 3dr - on offer in many places for £5999.

Buy the 3yr servicing pack for £185 and, as long as your mileage isn't too high (service is every 12,500 miles or 12mths) then all you'll have to do it tax, insure and fuel it.
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Tue 29 Jul 2008 13:46
Help with buying car - apm
What sort of size of car do you need? As BP says, you can buy a new Colt for just under £6k, but that may be too small.

FWIW, I can recommend a Toyota Avensis if you need larger- reasonably priced and reliable- should get an 05 plate for your £6k, with lots of toys. The 1.8 is relatively low on VED and quite economical too, for its size.

HTH,

Alex.
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Tue 29 Jul 2008 14:04
Help with buying car - *Gongfarmer*
Whgilst agreeing with Mapmaker that £1000 will buy you a lot of car, that price area can also be a minefield if you're not a expert at appraising second hand cars.

Staying with the Mitsubishi recommendation above, I've seen an '06 Lancer 1.6 Estate at a Mitsu' main agent for just under £5K. It Should have the free servicing pack on it and the balance of the manufacturers warrenty.
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Tue 29 Jul 2008 14:17
Help with buying car - jbif
Can you recommend a reliable and economical car that falls into my budget?


To see how much values have dropped, take a peek at the news item on the right from last week:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/item.htm?id=5020
Prices Realistic at Auction Today Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:28

examples below of cars under 70k miles.

Ford Mondeo 2.0i Zetec, 2005/54, 55k miles £3,125s
Peugeot 407 1.6HDI 110 S, 05 reg, 70k miles £3,100s
Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Club, 05 reg, 68k miles £3,800s

All the above will leave you plenty of spare cash to pay for any unexpected unreliability issues. The extra cost of petrol and tax will not make a big dent in your budget.

and how about this:
Range Rover 4.6, 2000W, 67k miles £2,500s !

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