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Which car to buy suggestions -£7k - enigmam

Hi

I'll be buying a car in the next couple of months and I was hoping for some suggestions.

i'm looking for an automatic, five door hatchback for around £7,000. I drive at least 60 miles a day to work in a round trip which can take around 2-3 hours in total so I'm thinking something which doesn't give a really hard ride. I'm guessing diesel would be better than petrol as I do a few miles?

i was looking at a VW Golf or Polo but after reading on here about possible gearbox problems (?) that's put me off a bit.

As I know nothing about cars reliability is also high on the list.

Any help greatly appreciated, thank you

Which car to buy suggestions -£7k - sandy56

For that sort of commute I would want something bigger and probably diesel. At that price I can suggest you look at the Ford Mondeo. You will get a better deal than with a VW Golf. VW have had a lot of problems with their diesels, and also their new petrol engines.

Which car to buy suggestions -£7k - unthrottled

Ford have had at least as many problems with their diesels. the 1.4TDCI is pointless, the 1.6 TDCI is pretty good-apart from the leaky injector seals issue-which can consequently goose the turbo while we're at it.

VW had a problem with the 2.0l PD engines around 05-06. Shorting piezo injectors and a dodgy oil pump drive on the early 16V engines. Other than that Vdub diesels are very good.

Unless you really need the extra space the Golf is a better commuter car. 130hp diesel in the Golf is frugal and fun. 130 hp in the Mondeo is much less of both. The Focus is the direct competitor to the Golf, rather than the Mondy. Earlier diesel Mondeos often have a healthy appetite for DMFs.

Which car to buy suggestions -£7k - Happy Blue!

60 miles a day in any car is easy. If you really want an automatic with diesel without too many problems try the Kia Ce'ed or Hyundai i30. Both have diesel and slushbox autos.