2k -3k used car
Discussion
Posted in here a while ago asking for used car advice (£2-3k / min 1.4 ltr / ULEZ compliant) I did initially want automatic but this isn't required anymore. Most suggesting came back with Mazda/Toyota/Hyundai/ford/Vauxhall which i have neem researching but not had any skoda suggestions which have also come up in my search, they seem fairly robust cars; looking at the Octavia. worth looking into? Any other suggestions in the price bracket? TIA
+ ideally 1.4 ltr upwards as will do multiple long distance motorway trips yearly, hence also ideally looking at large hatchbacks/saloon or estate cars.
+ ideally 1.4 ltr upwards as will do multiple long distance motorway trips yearly, hence also ideally looking at large hatchbacks/saloon or estate cars.
Edited by akucha91 on Tuesday 13th August 14:02
dunc69 said:
Why minimum 1.4L? The smaller petrol turbos, 1.0 and 1.2 are excellent with small cars.
Do you need as much room as an Octavia?
Yes i need a car that can do long distance motorway driving, I often do trips to France and planning a road trip to Italy next year. +also will be using it as a run around in the city i live in. Do you need as much room as an Octavia?
Be open minded and buy the best car that comes your way, rather than a model that peope recommend because they are good 'on average'.
You're not buying ' the average Mazda', you're taking a punt on an individual car.
Also, there are cars you can buy for £2k which will be nice cars for a year or two, but will then likely be troublesome or worthless.
There are other cars which are maybe not so nice or desirable but have more years or miles left in them.
You might even get better value paying a bit more for something with more years and miles left in it.
Personally, for long motorway trips, I find it much nicer to be in a 'quality' quiet car than in a Honda that's noisy at 70, but if you want to waft around in a £2k limo, you risk big bills and probably have high fuel consumption for your more mundane driving.
There's over 200 Alfa Romeos to chose from on AT under £3k.....
You're not buying ' the average Mazda', you're taking a punt on an individual car.
Also, there are cars you can buy for £2k which will be nice cars for a year or two, but will then likely be troublesome or worthless.
There are other cars which are maybe not so nice or desirable but have more years or miles left in them.
You might even get better value paying a bit more for something with more years and miles left in it.
Personally, for long motorway trips, I find it much nicer to be in a 'quality' quiet car than in a Honda that's noisy at 70, but if you want to waft around in a £2k limo, you risk big bills and probably have high fuel consumption for your more mundane driving.
There's over 200 Alfa Romeos to chose from on AT under £3k.....
OutInTheShed said:
Be open minded and buy the best car that comes your way, rather than a model that peope recommend because they are good 'on average'.
You're not buying ' the average Mazda', you're taking a punt on an individual car.
Also, there are cars you can buy for £2k which will be nice cars for a year or two, but will then likely be troublesome or worthless.
There are other cars which are maybe not so nice or desirable but have more years or miles left in them.
You might even get better value paying a bit more for something with more years and miles left in it.
Personally, for long motorway trips, I find it much nicer to be in a 'quality' quiet car than in a Honda that's noisy at 70, but if you want to waft around in a £2k limo, you risk big bills and probably have high fuel consumption for your more mundane driving.
this is my headache, im not set on any make or model I'm just trying my best to gather evidence on what to look out for/avoid when taking a punt on a car that will likely be 10-15 years old and could have 80-120k miles on it. I do agree that it may be worth considering spending a bit more and getting a car with more life in it. As for Alfa romeo's, i like to think im to risk averse to even consider one of those !You're not buying ' the average Mazda', you're taking a punt on an individual car.
Also, there are cars you can buy for £2k which will be nice cars for a year or two, but will then likely be troublesome or worthless.
There are other cars which are maybe not so nice or desirable but have more years or miles left in them.
You might even get better value paying a bit more for something with more years and miles left in it.
Personally, for long motorway trips, I find it much nicer to be in a 'quality' quiet car than in a Honda that's noisy at 70, but if you want to waft around in a £2k limo, you risk big bills and probably have high fuel consumption for your more mundane driving.
How important is fuel consumption in your considerations?
Something like this should be very reliable and much nicer to drive than the average economy car, however you'd be lucky to average more than 30mpg.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408092...
Something like this should be very reliable and much nicer to drive than the average economy car, however you'd be lucky to average more than 30mpg.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408092...
Do you need a ULEZ compliant car or you think you'll make 1 or 2 trips per year into the ULEZ zone?
I have an 07 Skoda Octavia VRS but a non-ULEZ compliant TDi, which would tick all of your boxes except for being ULEZ and its manual.
Personally if I was looking at a 10-15 year old car I'd be looking for a manual rather than an older auto / DSG gearbox.
As others have suggested, keep your options open but buy a car that meets your needs rather than hunting for a specific car / model as the market @ £2-3k is relatively small.
Good luck.
I have an 07 Skoda Octavia VRS but a non-ULEZ compliant TDi, which would tick all of your boxes except for being ULEZ and its manual.
Personally if I was looking at a 10-15 year old car I'd be looking for a manual rather than an older auto / DSG gearbox.
As others have suggested, keep your options open but buy a car that meets your needs rather than hunting for a specific car / model as the market @ £2-3k is relatively small.
Good luck.
I have found myself in this market twice in the past 18 months. The first time was to save costs, and the second was because my first car was hit by a truck.
My first car was an Insignia Elite, which I didn't mind at all. It was very well-equipped, with great heated seats, economical at £30 a year to tax and very good on fuel. It had 120k miles on it. I would still have it if it hadn’t been hit. Annoyingly I did the cam belt and full service a few weeks before it got whacked! Owned it for 6 months.
My current car is a 2010 A6 Avant with 163k miles. It’s a decent car and looks much nicer, but it’s more expensive to run. The most frustrating thing is that it lacks a way to connect a phone for music without using an FM transmitter. The MMI port was an optional extra. Had this one since December.
My advice at this price range is to be patient and avoid traveling too far. Cars will come up locally! Some of the cars I checked out nearby were in truly terrible condition, and I would have been very annoyed if I had traveled far to see them. Photos can make even the worst cars look decent.
I also had several car models that I was in theory happy with each time and just waited to see what came up.
My first car was an Insignia Elite, which I didn't mind at all. It was very well-equipped, with great heated seats, economical at £30 a year to tax and very good on fuel. It had 120k miles on it. I would still have it if it hadn’t been hit. Annoyingly I did the cam belt and full service a few weeks before it got whacked! Owned it for 6 months.
My current car is a 2010 A6 Avant with 163k miles. It’s a decent car and looks much nicer, but it’s more expensive to run. The most frustrating thing is that it lacks a way to connect a phone for music without using an FM transmitter. The MMI port was an optional extra. Had this one since December.
My advice at this price range is to be patient and avoid traveling too far. Cars will come up locally! Some of the cars I checked out nearby were in truly terrible condition, and I would have been very annoyed if I had traveled far to see them. Photos can make even the worst cars look decent.
I also had several car models that I was in theory happy with each time and just waited to see what came up.
akucha91 said:
this is my headache, im not set on any make or model I'm just trying my best to gather evidence on what to look out for/avoid when taking a punt on a car that will likely be 10-15 years old and could have 80-120k miles on it. I do agree that it may be worth considering spending a bit more and getting a car with more life in it. As for Alfa romeo's, i like to think im to risk averse to even consider one of those !
A lot of the good/bad model/make stuff is priced in.So it's really a matter of avoiding lemons and picking somehing that looks OK to you, you trust the seller etc etc.
TBH if I really only had £3k in my car fund (and I have been there!), I'd probably look for something cheaper still that looked like it had a year or two in it.
Stick to something without a turbo or anything else that "could" go wrong
1.6/1.8 N/A petrol engines is where you want to be looking I think, bit bigger to be less stressed.
I highly rate the Toyota petrol engines and Vauxhall Ecotecs 1.6/1.8 - these can be long lived with basic maintenance.
1.6/1.8 N/A petrol engines is where you want to be looking I think, bit bigger to be less stressed.
I highly rate the Toyota petrol engines and Vauxhall Ecotecs 1.6/1.8 - these can be long lived with basic maintenance.
As mentioned earlier, Octavia 1.4 TSI. I bought one 3 months ago more than happy with it. It is big but I needed the flexibility of the large hatchback boot for fishing gear, bike etc. Spends most of its time around town but is very good on the motorway especially have the 6 gears on the manual. So far happy with Skoda.
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