Cheap-Cheap Car Buying

[Rooster2212]

Hi All,

My dear mother is in a bit of financial rough patch and I am trying to help out and buy her a car. I don't have much myself but can spend up to £1200 if needed.
All she wants is a run around for work, shops and to come pick up her granddaughter - 5 doors would be easier for this.

I am thinking something along the lines of the following cars, not in a rush to buy for another month or so just doing the research. Cars are chosen for perceived reliability, relative comfort (as opposed to a yaris for example) and cheapness to run, tax and insure. As these models what the follow PH would be looking at too?

Corolla
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103140...

Civic
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102259...

Fabia
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103170...

[Truckosaurus]

Yep, medium sized Japanese car with petrol engine is the way to go.

Lots of people want the smallest cars, (eg. Fiestas, Yaris, etc) so better value a size up.

[Rooster2212]

Truckosaurus said:

Yep, medium sized Japanese car with petrol engine is the way to go.

Lots of people want the smallest cars, (eg. Fiestas, Yaris, etc) so better value a size up.

Thats what I kind of found when searching, I did start with Fiesta, Yaris etc. but realised they are priced similarly to the next size up cars...

Assuming the honda/toyota reputation is to be believed, mileage of up to 120-130k miles wouldn't be too much of an issue if servicing is up to date.

[Trevor555]

Rooster2212 said:

Truckosaurus said:

Yep, medium sized Japanese car with petrol engine is the way to go.

Lots of people want the smallest cars, (eg. Fiestas, Yaris, etc) so better value a size up.

Thats what I kind of found when searching, I did start with Fiesta, Yaris etc. but realised they are priced similarly to the next size up cars...

Assuming the honda/toyota reputation is to be believed, mileage of up to 120-130k miles wouldn't be too much of an issue if servicing is up to date.

You have to treat any car of this value as an individual. Some will be ok, some not so.

I used to take them on a nice long road test trying all the equipment and then leave them idling for 10mins upon return to see if they hold temperature/don't start to smoke etc etc..

If they passed that test I'd sell them to a local dealer, if they didn't they'd go to auction or scrap.

The Jap stuff is generally the most reliable, but you've no idea if a previous owner has not topped up the oil, suffered from coolant loss/overheating etc.. and doing damage hence PXing it into a dealer, because that's what many people do leaving the dealers to fix the problems.

[Mark-C]

As above - petrol and japanese is a good start. That Corolla nails the brief pretty well and seems an OK price given the current market.

Remember to check it's mot history at https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ since there is lot to learn there for older cars. The Corolla has a great history up until the last test which suggests pads\disks\tyres will need some attention at some point and a minor oil leak but it has 11 months on it.

Also remember that there are plenty of cars that will suit so you can be a bit fussy!

[Rooster2212]

Trevor555 said:

You have to treat any car of this value as an individual. Some will be ok, some not so.

I used to take them on a nice long road test trying all the equipment and then leave them idling for 10mins upon return to see if they hold temperature/don't start to smoke etc etc..

If they passed that test I'd sell them to a local dealer, if they didn't they'd go to auction or scrap.

The Jap stuff is generally the most reliable, but you've no idea if a previous owner has not topped up the oil, suffered from coolant loss/overheating etc.. and doing damage hence PXing it into a dealer, because that's what many people do leaving the dealers to fix the problems.

Thanks, ill make sure to ask for a long test drive. And yeah I guess thats the risk with second hand older cars, but hopefully if you buy one thats had full service history it should indicate that its been looked after to some degree and its had the minimum oil changes.

[Rooster2212]

Mark-C said:

As above - petrol and japanese is a good start. That Corolla nails the brief pretty well and seems an OK price given the current market.

Remember to check it's mot history at https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ since there is lot to learn there for older cars. The Corolla has a great history up until the last test which suggests pads\disks\tyres will need some attention at some point and a minor oil leak but it has 11 months on it.

Also remember that there are plenty of cars that will suit so you can be a bit fussy!

I didnt even think to look up MOTs... thank you! single owner and very clean MOT history is a good sign. I picked that out at random to show the models I was looking at, turns out it might be worth a look!

[Trevor555]

Rooster2212 said:

Mark-C said:

As above - petrol and japanese is a good start. That Corolla nails the brief pretty well and seems an OK price given the current market.

Remember to check it's mot history at https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ since there is lot to learn there for older cars. The Corolla has a great history up until the last test which suggests pads\disks\tyres will need some attention at some point and a minor oil leak but it has 11 months on it.

Also remember that there are plenty of cars that will suit so you can be a bit fussy!

I didnt even think to look up MOTs... thank you! single owner and very clean MOT history is a good sign. I picked that out at random to show the models I was looking at, turns out it might be worth a look!

Get there quick.

Good cars of this value sell very quickly.

[Rooster2212]

https://www.gumtree.com/p/toyota/toyota-corolla-ts...

Would the mileage of this put you off (even if the advert doesn't) ? MOT history looks good...Price is good.