£2000 car

Homersimpson

Don't touch anything with a jag badge in that price range, especially not an S-Type, the pre 2002 ones are shockingly bad cars!

mcjordi

could get a decent mondeo for that.. cheap to fix when they go wrong and cheap parts. plenty in the breakers for parts too..

Jakg

somech wrote: »

err no
£30k cars new don't always incur huge repair bills their £30k new
and built to a higher standard than most run of the mill cars

for instance my 10 year old bmw 525i sport has done 160k drives like its done 60k and has no squeaks or rattles.
all i've done in the 4 years i've had it is replace 8 tyres front discs and pads and one wheel bearing

...but the second something does go wrong, it'll be a lot more expensive to repair than if it were a Focus.

somech

my point is they dont go wrong very often and with aftermarket parts avaliable i've never found them to be dearer to repair than run of the mill cars.

LandyAndy

Lum wrote: »

A £2000 BMW or Audi just says "chav".

Sad but true.

henrik1971

I was in the same boat as you - always had old/cheap 500-1000 cars. To be honest they've always been good/reliable. If you buy well and do the servicing yourself, it can be a very economical business.
Had some spare cash recently for the first time in about 15 years, so splashed out on a Saab 9-3 1.9TiD (150BHP) Sport Saloon. I love it. It's a five year old car, but I feel like a king driving it.
It's not common like BMWs (every man and his dog seems to have one these days), reasonably 'premium' but cheap to buy second hand because of high depreciation. 40-50mpg, cheap roadtax. Servicing reasonably cheap £170 for a major service at our local specialist.

I was also looking at a 2003 Mondeo Ghia x (as suggested by a previous poster) as a diesel has great fuel economy, cheap roadtax, and some cars will have lovely cream leather and more extras/toys than you can shake a stick at! Also Volvo S60, or a late V40. There are some mint Audi A4s out there that still look in new condition, even at 10 years old. Gotta like that.
Hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs, but with cars of the age you're looking at, you have to buy primarily on condition. If its not immaculate or excellent inside and out, walk away. Then consider evidence of regular servicing, eg. FSH. Take stamped service books with a pinch of salt. Actual bills/invoices are better. If you just have stamps in a book, phone up the dealer and ask if they'll send you copy historic invoices, some will oblige, or at least confirm over the phone they did see the car and did work on certain dates at certain mileages.
Loads more to say, but won't drone on any more. As a final thought I would say if you have confidence in the seller, that goes a long way. Bad sellers and good cars rarely go together. Avoid sellers living in dodgy or poor areas, even if the car looks amazing.

LandyAndy

henrik1971 wrote: »

As a final thought I would say if you have confidence in the seller, that goes a long way. Bad sellers and good cars rarely go together. Avoid sellers living in dodgy or poor areas, even if the car looks amazing.

That was always Quentin Wilson's mantra in his Top Gear days, 'Rough people and rough cars go together'.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Jakg wrote: »

...but the second something does go wrong, it'll be a lot more expensive to repair than if it were a Focus.

You'd be surprised. My £2k Saab 900 I bought 5 years ago has 140k on the clock (60k when I bought it) and the most expensive thing I've bought for it is a suspension arm (inc balljoint) which set me back £40 delivered. Brake bads - £20. Had to replace rear disks for MOT this year- £20 a side. Tyres cost the same as for any other car running the same size, as do so many other consumables. Oil filter is less than £5 etc etc etc. A nice, classy, safe, VERY comfy, VERY reliable car with enough get up and go to keep me happy but not too much to cost me a license. And, because it's a Saab, nobody hates me.