Which car to buy?

cyclonebri1

And don't listen to Clarkson :D

10JH

Don't want to confuse you further, but there are some other good little cars that haven't been mentioned yet!

Nissan Note, Toyota Auris, Kia Cee'd (7 year warranty).

It's not easy choosing a new car!

Inactive

10JH wrote: »

Don't want to confuse you further, but there are some other good little cars that haven't been mentioned yet!

Nissan Note, Toyota Auris, Kia Cee'd (7 year warranty).

It's not easy choosing a new car!

Kia Ceed is effectively the same car as a Hyundai i30, good choice, longer warranty.

lilysgarden

Thanks for all the idea's guys...It's a tough choice mainly cos I have to consider it so much in terms of my job. I want a medium sized car, but not one that feels tiny the minute you get in. I'm thinking hatchback because I'm so used to them, but also because I have to move kids between homes/foster carers etc and often need to cram stuff into my car....I usually find a hatchback easier to throw the seats down and load stuff in than a car like an Octavia.
Any idea's on where to find decent independant reviews? I tried looking and found very little of any use...especially given the recent changes to road tax...nnightmare trying to work out which cars fall into which tax bracket!

bigjl

My wife had a Hyundai Accent for 3 years, she tried time after time to kill it, it wouldn't die, infact never even failed to start, and it cost £450.

Hyundais might not be exciting but they are dependable, had a sit in one once at the main dealer before the wife bought her Clio.

Must admit i would be tempted. Fabias are good, though i just don't like Polos or Golfs, not the modern ones anyway.

But the one good thing about Polos and Golfs is they don't depreciate as much as other cars.

Though I would go for the Hyundai. And as has been said don;'t forget the Kai Cee'd.

Or as a completely left field choice, what about a used Prius, very economical around town, not so good on a run, but just think of the browny points you will get with the boss, with your new found environmental cred.

And if you live in London they are congestion charge exempt, don't forget that some other large cities are thinking of bringing in congestion charging so they may be exempt then aswell.

cyclonebri1

lilysgarden wrote: »

Thanks for all the idea's guys...It's a tough choice mainly cos I have to consider it so much in terms of my job. I want a medium sized car, but not one that feels tiny the minute you get in. I'm thinking hatchback because I'm so used to them, but also because I have to move kids between homes/foster carers etc and often need to cram stuff into my car....I usually find a hatchback easier to throw the seats down and load stuff in than a car like an Octavia.
Any idea's on where to find decent independant reviews? I tried looking and found very little of any use...especially given the recent changes to road tax...nnightmare trying to work out which cars fall into which tax bracket!

Just google the car of your choice and road test or review;)

Regarding the Prius, it has to be an unknown as yet as to how reliable and how expensive they will be when the batteries give out,

hethmar

If you are really happy with yoru Skoda, why not get a newer one in petrol? They do a fabia estate aswell.

bigjl

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Just google the car of your choice and road test or review;)

Regarding the Prius, it has to be an unknown as yet as to how reliable and how expensive they will be when the batteries give out,

I know of several people that have bought grey import Prius, that were on the original battery pack at 11 years old, the mk1 Prius came out in '98 in Japan.

I also know of several Private Hire/Minicab firms in the city that have used Prius for the last 5 years with mileages well into the hundreds with no reported battery failures.

I also know of a bloke that put 240k on a Y reg Prius, and he sold it to a mate that took it Minicabbing again.

I would think that 12 years without any horror stories tellsyou all you need to know about the battery pack longevfty.

I still reckon Toyotas are one of the best cars in the market, at least as far as reliability goes, they have had a few hiccups, but at least they have sent out recalls, VW group never admitted to the gearbox problems in some of their diesel models, and some Seats and Skoda with the same gearbox. And look at Vauxhall, sticking their head in the sand and ignoring all the problems with the CDTi engines going pop and the DPF blocking and causing the engine management lights to come on and the cars going into limp mode.

macman

Your choice of diesel or petrol (from an economy, rather than a driving point of view) should be based purely on your annual mileage, which you don't state. If you do enough mileage over the x years you intend to keep the car, then that will offset the extra cost of a diesel (both on purchase and the slightly higher servicing costs). Also remember that (if you are buying new) most diesel models depreciate less than petrol. A one or two year old i30 would be a very good buy indeed, as it will still have a full 3 years warranty left, but will have depreciated relatively sharply (say compared to a Golf), as the brand is still not strong enough to sustain secondhand prices. I suspect that will change in the next few years as Korean cars become even more popular in Europe.

RJ79

VW Golf 1.4 -1.6 :cool:
Just got a used 1.6 my last 1.4L I had for 7 years I done 100k in it and it never broke down once.
Even after 100k it still done 35-40 mpg and had no rust on it whatsoever
The only trouble in the 7 years was on 3-4 occaisons when it wouldnt start first thing in the morning this was however in freezing conditions in the depths of winter.
Also cheap on Tax and insurance pretty easy to work on yourself if your into that sort of thing.
Good solid reliable economical car, cant go wrong :j