Recommend a cheap run-around for the wife

DCFC79

AdrianHi wrote: »

Japanese (and Skoda) seem to occupy the top of reliability charts, Gemrans the middle, the rest (especially French) the bottom.
The Fiat Panda has bucked the trend and fares very well on reliability. May be you just need a change from Fiat anyway? Sister in law has a Fiat Panda which they love and 2 kids plus stuff fits OK, they use a bigger car for weekends.

Skoda Fabia / Octavia probably as good as it gets for reliability and you can get something decent for £3K

where do you get your inofrmation from, ive had 2 french made cars and not had issues with them, theres also alot of neightbours who have french made cars with no issues

goldspanners

PeteW wrote: »

OK, well in the end I was waiting to hear about the government scrappage deal, but I don't that's going to help us much, so I've started looking again.

I've found this 05 Focus 1.6 Zetec for £2950 which looks good to me, anyone any comments - fair price?

Is there anything special I should be looking out for with one of these? Could I get much off the listed price..?

Cheers

that seems a good price, nothing wrong with the old model .

MrSmartprice

DCFC79 wrote: »

where do you get your inofrmation from, ive had 2 french made cars and not had issues with them, theres also alot of neightbours who have french made cars with no issues

Quite right. I have driven French cars for 20 years now without any problem. The only other car in all that time was a Ford which was the most unreliable pile of junk imaginable - and it was new!

I have had a BX, a Xantia, and just changed my 7-year-old Berlingo for a new one. MrsS has had a Saxo, a C2 and now has a C3. My daughter has a C2. Our friends have had 8 Citroens between them, currently owning a C4 Picasso and a C3. Not one of those cars has ever been any trouble at all. Whatever their so-called reputation, we are all delighted with our Citroens. (And, yes, I know that Berlingos are actually built in Spain.):)

PeteW

MX5huggy wrote: »

Seems a bit cheep maybe? as said 05 Mk1 Focus? Do a HPI check on it.

This is kind of what I was thinking - it seemed much better value than similar cars in that price range - what sort of things should I be looking out for?

Are any of those cheapo text HPI checks worth the bother?

Always_Harassed

PeteW wrote: »

Hiya, the wife's 1994 Punto is pretty much classifiable as a death trap nowadays, and I'm not entirely happy about her ferrying the little one about in it, so I think time has come for a replacement.

Don't want to spend too much given the ever-looming fear of redundancy! Probably £3k or so at most.

She wants something with 5 doors and a big enough boot to fit all the paraphernalia required for a couple of babies along with 43 handbags and a couple dozen pairs of shoes.

And after living with a Fiat, something reliable is a must!

My initial thought is a Ford Focus, but just wondering if anyone had any other suggestions?

This one seems quite reasonable to me.

Cheers

Am I the only one that finds your post patronising. At least you are concerned with the safety of your child!!!

PeteW

Always_Harassed wrote: »

Am I the only one that finds your post patronising. At least you are concerned with the safety of your child!!!

Looks like it was just you then!

AdrianHi

MrSmartprice wrote: »

Quite right. I have driven French cars for 20 years now without any problem. The only other car in all that time was a Ford which was the most unreliable pile of junk imaginable - and it was new!

I have had a BX, a Xantia, and just changed my 7-year-old Berlingo for a new one. MrsS has had a Saxo, a C2 and now has a C3. My daughter has a C2. Our friends have had 8 Citroens between them, currently owning a C4 Picasso and a C3. Not one of those cars has ever been any trouble at all. Whatever their so-called reputation, we are all delighted with our Citroens. (And, yes, I know that Berlingos are actually built in Spain.):)

Fleet operator statistics, reliability surveys, all involving samples of hundreds or thousands of cars and then published in magazines like What Car, Autoexpress etc.
Add to that the experiences of people I know who have had various brands of car over the years and I get the perception of French cars being less dependable than Japanese / German.
Citroen to seem to fair better than other French cars.

edde

AdrianHi wrote: »

Fleet operator statistics, reliability surveys, all involving samples of hundreds or thousands of cars and then published in magazines like What Car, Autoexpress etc.
Add to that the experiences of people I know who have had various brands of car over the years and I get the perception of French cars being less dependable than Japanese / German.
Citroen to seem to fair better than other French cars.

the thing is a problem car ie the old lagunas drag the scores down for some makes
personally i wouldn't bother paying for a make go for the best car kia /ford etc as kias etc are usually cheaper due to perceived poorer quality and vw etc more due to perceived quality but the kias etc for the price are more reliable

same goes for the higher costs of repairs lagunas have poor reliability with big bills gearbox turbo etc vs cheaper bills for mondeo etc but including for repair bills they work out the same price maybe a bit cheaper for the cheaper to buy costs as peopel don't want unreliabilty