What car would you buy with £8k?

W.B.

Im in the same boat as you at the moment (except im looking for a auto) and driving the new shape honda civic but i have managed ruled out a few of the suggestions made above purely on running costs:

All the Mazda's & Hyundais - nice cars but the MPG just arent good enough compared to other makes and models.

Golfs/audis - insurance costs are sky high because of the insurance bands.

I personally would go for the KIA cee'd for the 7 year warranty and if you decide to up the budget and buy new you can get a diesel for the price of a petrol as its currently on offer. The used cars also pretty reasonable.

Whatever you decide make sure you barter on price - I managed to get £2000 off the price of my car without even stepping through the showroom door by just ringing up!

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

pgilc1 wrote: »

Why would you possibly be pushing someone to drive something than they feel comfortable with??

A Mazda 6 is a full three feet longer than a clio.

Wow, a massive 36 inches eh? In practical terms then, nothing.

I don't think I'll ever understand this fear of big cars.

alessev1

I bough Honda Jazz, 2005 and only 25 000 miles
It is automatic, 1.4 and very low Road Tax.
I am using it for a family of 4 ( 3 kids ) and we all fit well.
Insurance should be low as well.
I hope this will help you.

KonkyWonky

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Wow, a massive 36 inches eh? In practical terms then, nothing.

I don't think I'll ever understand this fear of big cars.

Go and ask your missus if she thinks she could handle an extra 36 inches :rotfl:

Its not really your decision to decide if the op should be happy with a larger car, the op clearly stated they don't want a larger car.......live with it.

rev_henry

Such dull cars you all seem to be suggesting! You should just be able to get a new shape BMW 520d in budget. An earlyish one with maybe 70k on it? Granted servicing will be a bit more but considering how big they are they run on air (50+mpg) and have a bit of performance when you put your foot down.

Inactive

Have you sold that Hyundai Accent then Rev?;)

goldspanners

Inactive wrote: »

Have you sold that Hyundai Accent then Rev?;)

i was wondering the same, did you trade the boring accent in for a firey 2.0 executive saloon diesel?

JoeyEmma

Rev henry- are you going to pay the insurance for me on the BMW 5 series? We need low insuance and seeing as though the best quote we can get for a 1.6 zetec focus is £1700, I dread to think what a BMW would cost!

Hintza

JoeyEmma wrote: »

That's not a very helpful comment.

Just buy a cheap banger with low insurance just now until you need one for the time you start breeding.

If money is so tight and insurance is so high it would suggest you are quite young. In the mean time you will be building up some no claims discount and in a few years time more options will open up for you.

Take life one step at time. (Hope that explains it more helpfully)

andygb

Hintza wrote: »

Just buy a cheap banger with low insurance just now until you need one for the time you start breeding.

If money is so tight and insurance is so high it would suggest you are quite young. In the mean time you will be building up some no claims discount and in a few years time more options will open up for you.

Take life one step at time. (Hope that explains it more helpfully)

The best suggestion so far by a long way. I am amazed at £1700 insurance for a Focus. A second hand Mondeo (ten years old) to build up the no claims discount, will have plenty of room, be reliable, and get you used to parking a larger car. After three years, you will have saved so much money in insurance and initial costs, that you can go out and but a far newer car, and actually afford to run it.
However, I rather fear that you want everything now, with icing and a cherry on top, nad unfortunately, unless you are minted, life is not quite like that.