Need new (used) car asap but don't know where to start

keava

hi
I need a car quickly. I have about 4000 to spend and a y reg renault clio (75000 miles) to part ex.
Am looking for a C4
or Hyundai santa Fe/ tucson - just coz i like them
Or something with 4 doors - easy on juice?
What do you reccommend?
How much should i pay? I am wary of private sellers as we have been burnt before.
Any help would be great. i really don't know very much about buying cars and my dad + Brothers are in ireland
Please help
Thanks in advance
K

sheslookinhot

Keava,

The C4 is a nice car but well done the reliability league. I thought about one but was put off by it poor reputation. It also depreciates a lot, due to the poor reliability no doubt.

The Mazda comes out well in the reliability stakes and the 3 is a nice motor.

Jam_Buttie

How about a mondeo or Honda Accord. Rather than something as silly as a HighanDry

JonathanA

It may be worth you looking at the autotrader website at the cars you have mentioned to see what the prices are, and then looking at something like What Car? magazine to see what they think about those cars. Obviously they are very different cars. The Hyundai will be more expensive to run I would think as they won't be as economical as the C4 (not sure about budget and whether they would be over it or not). Do you need four wheel drive? It may be best to start by thinking about all the things you need a car to do, how many miles you will travel each year and what types of journey you make. that way it would be easier for people to give you some ideas of the types of car to look for.

Happy hunting.

keava

Thanks for replies so far.
The car would do about 40 miles per day - mostly motorway (8000 a year)
Nees to be big enough for visitors etc
Something economical would make more sense than a nice 4x4.
Thanks again for your help
K

markelock

I second an accord. or a civic/mazda 3, depends how big the "visitors" are really?

bet you could get a decent focus/mondeo for that money too.

goldspanners

if your visitors come with lots of luggage then i would look at something mondeo sized.
infact even a mondeo,apparently they are cheap as chip and falling nicely into your price bracket as the new model is out.

p1tse

some great motors out there for good money.
do you want small hatch like clio
or
slightly bigger like vauxhall astra, vw golf
or estate
or 4x4 etc.

what engine do you want, or just to chug along?
i would choose astra over c4.

chelleybelley

hi why not look for another renault clio, i have one as you do now, you can probably get a 2004/05 plate dci, which will be extremely economical being a diesel,they are good cheap cars to run have good reliability and low insurance group plus tax will be 35 per year depending on year and model.
happy car hunting....