Need to buy a used car, any suggestions?

LandyAndy

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!

PlayingHardball wrote: »

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.

Would a blown head gasket prevent you driving to a dealer (or being towed to within a few hundred yards and driving the rest)? If it could otherwise pass an MOT quite cheaply then scrappage might still be a possibility?

tomstickland

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!

Head gasket can be easy to fix, depending on engine. For example, on the 8v Novas it could be done in a few hours. Even if you want to sell the car, at least it would be worth something then.

Gavin83

Your probably looking at a few hundred quid for a blown head gasket. It's a fairly simple common car, I can't see it being too expensive.

If it's really not economical then I'd suggest giving it a go yourself. It'll be no more than £50 for the gasket set, £30 for some spanners if you need it and you should be able to download some instructions off the net. It is a reasonably involved job but not so complicated you couldn't attempt it at home and if the car is gonna be scrapped anyway you've got nothing to lose.

LandyAndy

Gavin83 wrote: »

Your probably looking at a few hundred quid for a blown head gasket. It's a fairly simple common car, I can't see it being too expensive.

If it's really not economical then I'd suggest giving it a go yourself. It'll be no more than £50 for the gasket set, £30 for some spanners if you need it and you should be able to download some instructions off the net. It is a reasonably involved job but not so complicated you couldn't attempt it at home and if the car is gonna be scrapped anyway you've got nothing to lose.

For a self confessed non-car person, as the OP is, it is way beyond what they should consider trying themselves.

PlayingHardball

No, I can't even contemplate head gasket repairs! lol, but thanks anyway. I like the suggestions of all the posters here and thank everyone for their car suggestions. I've looked at 'What Car' site and researched many of the suggested cars. Ford Fiesta second hands come up with good reviews. I wish my car was repairable, but I've been told by a realiable friend who knows, that I've done too much damage (probably needs new engine, radiator) and I believe it was because I didn't check the oil or water regularly. Live and learn, I won't be making that mistake twice. The car was overheating for weeks, and neither my partner nor I thought to do that until too late, so I think the head gasket is just a symptom of a bigger problem, from what I'm told. Thanks everyone! Your help is much appreciated!

cyclonebri1

PlayingHardball wrote: »

No, I can't even contemplate head gasket repairs! lol, but thanks anyway. I like the suggestions of all the posters here and thank everyone for their car suggestions. I've looked at 'What Car' site and researched many of the suggested cars. Ford Fiesta second hands come up with good reviews. I wish my car was repairable, but I've been told by a realiable friend who knows, that I've done too much damage (probably needs new engine, radiator) and I believe it was because I didn't check the oil or water regularly. Live and learn, I won't be making that mistake twice. The car was overheating for weeks, and neither my partner nor I thought to do that until too late, so I think the head gasket is just a symptom of a bigger problem, from what I'm told. Thanks everyone! Your help is much appreciated!

Now if you'd said that in the 1st place, you couls have saved us all the trouble of trying to help and we could have all slagged you off for neglecting your car, :rolleyes:

PlayingHardball

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Now if you'd said that in the 1st place, you couls have saved us all the trouble of trying to help and we could have all slagged you off for neglecting your car, :rolleyes:

If you'd read my post correctly in the first place, you would see quite clearly that I said my old car was NOT WORTH FIXING. I asked for advice on WHAT CAR WOULD BE RELIABLE. You could save us all the trouble of not posting useless comments such as this.

cyclonebri1

PlayingHardball wrote: »

If you'd read my post correctly in the first place, you would see quite clearly that I said my old car was NOT WORTH FIXING. I asked for advice on WHAT CAR WOULD BE RELIABLE. You could save us all the trouble of not posting useless comments such as this.

Yes thats exactly what you said, but you ommited the fact that you had wrecked it by negligence and had caused other problems.:p

And if you took the trouble to read emoticons you would see I was having a joke with you, and a pop at the regulars who do slag off anyone less than perfect

pookienoodle

I know you have said your car is not repairable but have you tried this?
http://www.k-seal.co.uk/
you just chuck it in where the water goes and run the engine for a bit.
I have a 98 daewoo lanos,gasket blew and had the gasket replaced and head skimmed,2 months later it blew again.
rac bloke and 2 garages said not worth replacing as head was warped and cracked.
I used a bottle of this(had to take it to an empty carpark to run it as the smoke was terrible and it was misfireing).
that was Dec 08 and its just passed its MOT.
it is worth a tenner to see if you can get the scrappage discount.
also when you get another car check the water,if it has little copper spakles in it someone has already put a bottle in .
there is a guy around here who is buying head gasket failures and reselling after usenig this.

delain

where do you live? My OH is selling a soft top suzuki vitara if you're interested