Car Advice needed

anewman

Mel2 wrote: »

Seat are made by Volkswagon and would be slightly cheaper. An Ibiza would probably be big enough for the pushchair etc.

Don't mean to nit pick but Seat is owned by VW, the cars are based on VW platforms, most of the parts are VW ones, but they are built by Seat in Spain.

Same with Skoda but they're made in Czechoslovakia.

Skoda consistently perform well in surveys on reliability and customer satisfaction etc (often at the top of tables), and are cheaper than Seat, therefore that's probably the better choice.

If the OP is looking for something a few years old, a Skoda has done the biggest bulk of it's depreciation by then anyway. There's still a bit more depreciation possible with a VW.

gizz_mo

Congrats OP - I am almost in exactly the same boat as you. Baby on the way. I currently have a 3 dr peugeot 206 that has served me well since 1999.

Had it from new in 1999 and it only has 35k miles on the clock. Now I am considering replacing it as I think it will be a struggle accessing the baby seat in the back seat as well as fit the push chair etc in the boot.
I have been doing a fair bit of research in the last couple of weeks, and here is my shortlist - which you may find useful...

Toyota Yaris (but a little concerned about the recent recall)
Mazda 2 (5 dr)
Mazda 3 (5 dr)
Ford Fiesta - though I am more attracted by the newest shape - which looks more like a Focus, and would be obviously too new to be within the OPs budget.

At the moment I am leaning most towards the Mazda 3. What do folks think of this car?
Thanks

Anihilator

gizz_mo wrote: »

Congrats OP - I am almost in exactly the same boat as you. Baby on the way. I currently have a 3 dr peugeot 206 that has served me well since 1999.

Had it from new in 1999 and it only has 35k miles on the clock. Now I am considering replacing it as I think it will be a struggle accessing the baby seat in the back seat as well as fit the push chair etc in the boot.
I have been doing a fair bit of research in the last couple of weeks, and here is my shortlist - which you may find useful...

Toyota Yaris (but a little concerned about the recent recall)
Mazda 2 (5 dr)
Mazda 3 (5 dr)
Ford Fiesta - though I am more attracted by the newest shape - which looks more like a Focus, and would be obviously too new to be within the OPs budget.

At the moment I am leaning most towards the Mazda 3. What do folks think of this car?
Thanks

If a 206 pleased you then you may as well save cash and steal a trolley from the local supermarket.

A truly hideous hideous car

gizz_mo

Anihilator wrote: »

If a 206 pleased you then you may as well save cash and steal a trolley from the local supermarket.

A truly hideous hideous car

Well....thankfully I'm not after your opinion on that. It is a 1.6 206 XS -sport version and really nippy without being a guzzler. For the meagre mileage that I needed it for and the fact that 90% of the time it was just me in the car and the fact that mostly it was driven in central London and very easy to fit into the tiniest spaces, it served me very well indeed.

babyontheway

hartcjhart wrote: »

go for a skoda it will fill all your needs,I would'nt be taking out a loan at this time TBH,so what would your budget be without one

Thanks for all the advice. There are a few cars here I wouldn't have thought of so it's already broadened my horizons!

In answer to the questions / queries

We're fortunate that we can probably borrow money from my parents so it's not so much a problem of interest/affordability but really about trying to borrow the minimum.

I should have been more clear about the mileage. This year it will be lower but working out my commute it's about 8000 and then of course there's the normal trips. My parents live about 100 miles away so that adds up too when we visit.

My parents had the KA from new so it's always been in the family and has been well looked after. It is a basic model with no extras (air con etc), has a FSH and has never failed an MOT. MOT was last month and full service was done at the same time.

It's just under 10 years old I think so would only get on a scrappage scheme if it was a manufacturers one.

I don't know with my mileage whether it's worth shelling out the extra for a diesel.

I guess what I really want to know (and maybe there's no real answer) how little can you spend before the car's so old and crap you shell out so much that it's not worth it!

Inactive

babyontheway wrote: »

I guess what I really want to know (and maybe there's no real answer) how little can you spend before the car's so old and crap you shell out so much that it's not worth it!

That is all dependent on the car, I suspect that you will struggle to find another car that has been as well cared for as the one you have in all honesty.

babyontheway

Inactive wrote: »

That is all dependent on the car, I suspect that you will struggle to find another car that has been as well cared for as the one you have in all honesty.

Tell me about it.

catflea

Where in the country are you? I might be interested in buying it!

babyontheway

South East.

If I'm honest I'm trying to procrastinate as much as possible on the actual change of car! I'm hoping we'll manage until I finish my maternity in July as we shouldn't really be going very far!

Inactive

I would keep it for as long as possible if it was my car.;)