Need to buy a used car, any suggestions?

PlayingHardball

Not a car person, any advice would be appreciated...

My 10 year old Corsa has died (head gasket blown) and I'm told it wouldn't be worth fixing.

I need a car to get around, and would like to buy one from a dealer/garage for warranty purpose.

Is there anyone out there who can recommend a good car and how much do I need to spend to get something decent and realiable. I don't want to get a clunker, but I can't spend too much either.

I should say I'm not a car person, I just want realiable wheels.

Any help would be greatfully appreciated!

pinkneonmartini

if you've got a 10 year old car why not take advantage of the scrappage scheme? For £4995 you could be driving away in a Fiat Panda? Nice, cheap, reliable, will have atleast a 3 year warranty, and should provide a hassle free experience?

mrtobs

If you wanted a small car, reliable with low running costs, how about a Toyota Aygo? Road tax is only £35, and it can do over 60 mpg? I have one - positives for me are: low running costs, nippy/fun to drive and cute! negatives would be that it can be rather a firm ride and I wouldn't personally go for it if you do much motorway driving. Basically the same cars are also the Peugeot 107 and C1. If you went for something with the scrappage scheme though, be careful as I've seen quite a bit in the press about how the deals sometimes might not be very good - just a case of being canny and shopping around!

PlayingHardball

pinkneonmartini wrote: »

if you've got a 10 year old car why not take advantage of the scrappage scheme? For £4995 you could be driving away in a Fiat Panda? Nice, cheap, reliable, will have atleast a 3 year warranty, and should provide a hassle free experience?

Hi, thought of that, but too late as the car died just before the MOT was due to renew (days) and in order to benefit from scrappage deal you have to have current MOT and drive the car to the dealer. Thanks anyway for your suggestion.

cyclonebri1

PlayingHardball wrote: »

Not a car person, any advice would be appreciated...

My 10 year old Corsa has died (head gasket blown) and I'm told it wouldn't be worth fixing.

I need a car to get around, and would like to buy one from a dealer/garage for warranty purpose.

Is there anyone out there who can recommend a good car and how much do I need to spend to get something decent and realiable. I don't want to get a clunker, but I can't spend too much either.

I should say I'm not a car person, I just want realiable wheels.

Any help would be greatfully appreciated!

To be honest if thats all thats wrong with the car the advice that it's not worth repairing could well be wrong?
Has a figure been mentioned? On a simple car like the Corsa it's a straight forward job, new head gasket and bolts, maybe £30 plus a few hours labour. Do you a a mate or mate of a mate that could do it, again it's not a complicated job;)

AdrianHi

Car from a garage dealer is only a guarantee of a warranty if the car is still under the manufacturers warranty. In most cases warranties are 3 years but there are a of around with 5 and even 7 years.
It's hard to know what to advise not knowing what your budget is. I guess you want somthing Corsa sized again. You seem to be happy keeping a car until death so suggestions like a Hyundai i10 with a 5 year warranty seem good. The problem with that is these cars are in high demand, used values too high as a result and the waiting list to get one is long and you need a car now.
7 year warranty comes with the Kia Ceed which is a step up in size from the Corsa but it's been around a little longer so they may be more choice in the used market for them.

Something else reliable and comfortable is a Skoda Fabia, plenty around used and you can spend anywhere from £1500 for used to £10,000+ for new. No special long warranties but they top they come towards top of most reliability surveys.

superjaggybunnet

Honda Jazz!

very reliable and excellent mpg.

pinkneonmartini

shame you can't get in on the scrappage deals, but i'd still go for a Panda

andygb

pinkneonmartini wrote: »

if you've got a 10 year old car why not take advantage of the scrappage scheme? For £4995 you could be driving away in a Fiat Panda? Nice, cheap, reliable, will have atleast a 3 year warranty, and should provide a hassle free experience?

I love Italian cars, but would never buy a new one, because of the depreciation, and also the way that Italian car dealers treat you when anything goes wrong (and it will). I would find someone who knows about cars, and go along to a big auction.
Look at ex fleet cars, with full service history, you will save thousands of pounds. I would suggest looking at the following:
Ford Focus
Skoda Octavia/Fabia
Toyota Yaris/Avensis
Mazda 6
Mitsubishi Carisma/Colt

ailuro2

You need to tell us what kind of budget you're looking at, whether you could afford insurance on something with a bigger engine, whether you need room for adult passengers in the back, whether you're after something newer, what kind of mileage do you do?

cyclonebri1

pinkneonmartini wrote: »

shame you can't get in on the scrappage deals, but i'd still go for a Panda

:shocked::shocked::shocked: