Weighing up car choices

bigjl

Check the cargiant website, lots of ex lease cars there, not the main dealer buying expience though, or try other big car supermarkets, like fords of winsford, etc.

Loads of cars all in one place.

fiish

Kilty wrote: »

Best in that list - the 1.3 CDTI is a punchy little diesel lump and outshines most in the Corsa range.

Just took one on a brief test drive yesterday - agree with you that it is a nice engine although the turbo action took some getting used to. The Corsa is a fine small car at 70mph.

Kilty_2

If you like the Corsa then shop around and don't buy one you're not 100% happy with - there's loads of them out there. Finding one with the cruise control pack would be good for motorway driving (it was only a £250 extra when new and included more than just CC)

opinions4u

fiish wrote: »

The Ford Focus does pop up in my mind as a consideration, however I have read that they're not that reliable after 5-6 years, which is the age of Focus I can afford.

I have saved up about £6000 for this purpose

You can certainly get a 3 year old Focus for £6k. I'll be selling one in the next few weeks!

benham3160

fiish wrote: »

The Ford Focus does pop up in my mind as a consideration, however I have read that they're not that reliable after 5-6 years, which is the age of Focus I can afford. The 2 year warranty on approved used Fords is appealing though, but I think I would not be willing to pay as much for a Ford as a Honda, for instance.

I wouldn't worry about the Focus, generally those made around the start of the 2000s are absolutely bomb proof. My mother uses one for business (1.6 petrol) and sticks about 20k on it a year, she finally traded it in yesterday (owned it from a few months old) at 100,000+ having spent nothing more than servicing, tyres, brakes and a replacement horn.

Talking to a Ford mechanic I'm friendly with about them last night, oddly enough he says he "rarely sees them" also adding "I've never made a brake pipe up for an old Focus."

Really, really good cars. Plenty of honest ones about for not a lot of money, providing they're serviced they are extremely durable and reliable. Also, safe, very nice to drive, economical, cheap to service.... erm.... Even Clarkson agreed with the Focus, there isn't any reason to buy any other vehicle, it litterally ticks every box for most people.

Regards,
Andy

fiish

opinions4u wrote: »

You can certainly get a 3 year old Focus for £6k. I'll be selling one in the next few weeks!

Really? The closest I have seen to that is £6500 asked for a 06 TDCI LX with 50k miles on the clock. Although I suppose that isn't too bad since it's a diesel.

Kilty wrote: »

If you like the Corsa then shop around and don't buy one you're not 100% happy with - there's loads of them out there. Finding one with the cruise control pack would be good for motorway driving (it was only a £250 extra when new and included more than just CC)

Many thanks for that tip, I didn't know about the cruise control option.

Maybe it's because I'm in Cambridge, cars just seem more expensive in these parts. I've decided to hold out for a bit - I imagine in the next 4-6 weeks the new plate cars being delivered will increase the supply of part exchanges available, though I could be quite wrong about that

silvercar

I've been driving a Honda Jazz 1.4 SE auto for 6 years and love it. I'm trading mine in with 34k miles on the clock for £3,500 as a part-ex, if that gives you an idea on value.

benham3160

fiish wrote: »

Really? The closest I have seen to that is £6500 asked for a 06 TDCI LX with 50k miles on the clock. Although I suppose that isn't too bad since it's a diesel.



Many thanks for that tip, I didn't know about the cruise control option.

Maybe it's because I'm in Cambridge, cars just seem more expensive in these parts. I've decided to hold out for a bit - I imagine in the next 4-6 weeks the new plate cars being delivered will increase the supply of part exchanges available, though I could be quite wrong about that

There is more to Cambridge that just Marshalls!

That said, my mother bought a new car from Marshalls Used on Saturday, and the price was about national average.

Haverhill, Royston etc might be worth looking at too, few dealerships close to Cambridge, but not in it.

Regards,
Andy

fiish

benham3160 wrote: »

There is more to Cambridge that just Marshalls!

That said, my mother bought a new car from Marshalls Used on Saturday, and the price was about national average.

Haverhill, Royston etc might be worth looking at too, few dealerships close to Cambridge, but not in it.

Regards,
Andy

Marshalls are easy for me to get to so I have been doing most of my test drives there, to get a feel of different models within my price range.

The salesman assigned to me at Marshalls Used was a bit pushy though and seemed rather eager to do a deal on a car I tried, but I wasn't ready to buy so I made an impossible offer and walked. Think it'll be a while before I go back there.

Have started looking around the car supermarkets in the area as well (Kings Lynn, P'boro), since Corsas and Focuses seem to be very common there. I plan to test drive a Focus and a Fiesta at some point.

One thing I have seen is that used diesels seem to generally have more mileage than used petrols, should I consider the average mileage per year to be higher for a diesel?

Another question: if the ideal of a young car with low mileage is not achievable within budget, is it better to compromise on age (take a slightly older one with below average miles) or mileage (newer, with more miles on the clock)?

benham3160

fiish wrote: »

Marshalls are easy for me to get to so I have been doing most of my test drives there, to get a feel of different models within my price range.

The salesman assigned to me at Marshalls Used was a bit pushy though and seemed rather eager to do a deal on a car I tried, but I wasn't ready to buy so I made an impossible offer and walked. Think it'll be a while before I go back there.

Have started looking around the car supermarkets in the area as well (Kings Lynn, P'boro), since Corsas and Focuses seem to be very common there. I plan to test drive a Focus and a Fiesta at some point.

One thing I have seen is that used diesels seem to generally have more mileage than used petrols, should I consider the average mileage per year to be higher for a diesel?

Another question: if the ideal of a young car with low mileage is not achievable within budget, is it better to compromise on age (take a slightly older one with below average miles) or mileage (newer, with more miles on the clock)?

My mum dealt with a guy called Dave Cooper at Marshall Used, and he was a geniunely nice guy, not your typical car dealer, very quiet and polite, I understand what you mean abnut some of the guys there, I was shocked by the number of brash, overweight "Arthur Daleys" walking around when I went with her.

Always buy a high mile, newer car. Leave the low-mile versions to those who don't know what they're talking about, and walk out with a better deal....

Cars LIKE to be driven, pottering them around town does them untold damage.......

Wasn't a Yaris D4D you looked at was it?! :cool:

Regards,
Andy