3K for a cheap family car

MaxStein

Hi,

I hope you can help me out.

I'm looking to get a new used car next month.

I needs to be cheap, on insurance, tax and MPG (I have to drive a fair bit for work), but it also needs loads of space as I have a wife, two kids (4yrs & 4months) as well as a dog!

I'm avoiding French cars after being horribly stung on my least years MOT (Citroen Xsara 2000 reg).

Due to the miles I suspect it'd be a diesel, possibly a Mondeo or a [STRIKE]Vauxhall Meriva 1.7 CDTi Enjoy[/STRIKE] (now thinking about Ford C-Max), but I'm open to suggestions.

Someone told me to avoid Ford Focus (standard models) too a while back (he was a colleague who knew a fair bit about cars) and a friend of my wife's that had end of trips the the garage with one

Hope you chaps and chapesses can help as I don;t know much about cars and seem to be going round in circles looking at stats on Autotrader and nextgreencar.com!

Cheeps,

Max

Kilty_2

Unsure why he told you to avoid probably the most popular mid sized hatch - Focus is a decent enough car......

If you need loads of space something like a Mondeo has to be the way to go though really. Could possibly pick up a new-ish but high mileage one for that budget.

MaxStein

If I recall it had something to do with him getting a lemon, researching and finding loads of others having issues, but that could just have been the year I suppose, that said I've not ruled out the C-Max version.

property.advert

I looked a couple of grand above that and what was in the frame were Focus, Astra, Fiesta and then a load of less popular models.

I needed warranty more than space so went with a Vauxhall from Network Q

MaxStein

Thanks, I'll take a look but the budget is pretty fixed.

I took a drive over to availblecar today (just to get in a few as they are pretty expensive) but managed to rule out the Meriva 1.7 CDTi Enjoy as its not very comfy, but did take a liking to the Focus C-Max (I know I was advised against the normal Focus so will have a look about and see if they are the same or not) and the Vauxhall Zafera, both seemed to fit the bill, but I've not idea how they are economy wise so will need to check that as its a big factor.

jase1

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Focus... *much* better than the Vauxhall equivalent.

If you want something solid though, Japanese or German is the usual recommendation. Mitsubishi Lancer estate could be an ideal choice -- very reliable, spacious, cheap to buy and decent to drive. The only problem -- no diesel variant at this price, and that is one of the key reasons they are inexpensive. Good cars overall though. I wouldn't be too concerned about the lack of diesel anyway -- the 1.6 petrol is an old-school Japanese petrol engine, which means that if you service it properly, it'll comfortably out-live the car!

MaxStein

Sadly I'm driving around 400-500 miles a week at the moment so diesel is important, but thanks for the advice all the same, it does sound good if I didn't have that issue

oldtoolie

Look back in this forum as this question has come up several time in the past month.

jase1

Yeah the mileage is a killer -- it does somewhat limit your options as the German cars are expensive (so your car will be older = not good when you're doing 25k a year) and Japanese cars don't generally have particularly good diesels and/or are as expensive as the German ones.

The sweet-spot might, therefore be the Skoda Octavia. German engineering plus smaller price-tag.

Before you buy a Mondeo or Vectra diesels I'd do some reading up on DMF, DPF and turbo failures. I'll say no more except to say that bills can run to the high hundreds when things go wrong -- something that rarely happens on the mechanically more simple petrol cars.

High mileage+newer, or older TDDi style engine would be my recommendation. Common rail + low mileage = trouble. No doubt I'll get flamed (again) for saying it but that is my view, take it or leave it.

MaxStein

hehe, I think I may the be most awkward person ever - I climbed in the Skoda today and found it a little uncomfy (I must be getting old!), thanks for the heads up on DPF, no idea what DMF is however (google waffled on about drugs, so I guess that wasn't it )

Interesting about the high mileage/newer - I always figured high mileage was bad.

jase1

DMF = dual-mass flywheel. Most larger diesels of the last few years have them, and they do go wrong.

If the DMF goes on the Mondeo, they sometimes take the starter motor out with them. A clutch/flywheel kit, labour and starter motor costs several hundred pounds to put right, and some unscrupulous dealers will just replace the starter and sell the car on -- leaving you with a huge bill a short time later.

In addition the 2.0TDCi is prone to injector failure, an additional expense.

DPF is an issue which mainly affects lower mileage cars. Low mileage/older age is a real problem with Mondeo TDCis as the DMF and injector/turbo problems usually manifest if the owner has been trundling around town in 5th.

That is why, if I were buying one, I'd be going for the 3-year-old, 100k mile one -- and continue to pile on the miles that way. They love to be driven like that. Most modern diesels are the same.

On the Mondeo, a good sign is a recent flywheel replacement with a solid one. Will be less smooth but more reliable, although I have heard that the solid flywheels have a long term impact on the transmission.

Trundling around town? Petrol all the way. Simple, well-balanced, well understood design.

Alternatively, if you want a dirt-cheap, newish, old-school diesel (where this stuff doesn't apply), consider the Hyundai Elantra diesel. They made these old smokers right though to 2006, and rarely fetch more than £3000. Simple, reliable old engines, designed by VM Motori of Italy.