Used car purchasing advise.

shell820810

I need a new (as in new to me, but used) car. Thinking Megane size, so perhaps Golf, Megane, Fabia, Focus etc.

Dont want to spend any more than about £5K, and hoping it will last a while, so probably not older than 2005-2006. must be diesel.

I am in N Ireland, so it will be more expensive than mainland prices, but I would consider Mainland if the saving was significant.

Can anyone suggest a model first, and then what is the best value for money?

bigjl

I must admit that you can really get a good deal on a Megane, there is a little Tyre shop on Brentwood Rd in Romford that also sells cars, drove past on Friday and they had a decent looking Megane 5 dr, looked like it had alloys and it was up for £3500, on an 08 plate!

No matter what issues they may have, though I haven't heard that much in the way of bad feedback from people I know that have them, £3500 for a three year old 5 sr family car isn't bad, they can't have given much more than £2800 for it.

If you used the same budget to buy a Golf what would you get? An 02/52 plate with a load of miles?

I would assume that car is a petrol though.

But if you can find a selection of diesels at either Manheim or BCA, I know that Manheim Colchester used to dispose of a lot of Renault management cars last time I was there, Meganes where cheap, but I was looking for a Clio, which weren't.

Here is an example of what you can get in London

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Renault/Megane/details-504577-Renault-Megane.asp?viewtype=0

This one is an estate, 1.5 DCi with 60/70k on it.

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Renault/Megane/details-502774-Renault-Megane.asp?viewtype=0

This is the 2.0 GT, a bit above your budget, but if you can find one at auction you may get it within your budget.


Cargiant do have an export department, maybe they would do you a deal where you don't pay VAT as it is for export to Eire, I assume you live in Eire.

A lot of people in my home town in Scotland drive Renaults, which makes me think that Renaults just don't repspond to the abuse and lack of maintenance that they tend to suffer from in London and the South East, I certainly don't remember anybody having much in the way of issues before I left for Uni.

Though my mums Renault 5 did snap a cluctch cable, and when I was using my dads Ren 5 for 6 months in London I also broke a clutch cable, however I think this is more to do with a 17yr old driving my mums, and a 21yr driving my dads, perhaps a bit too much youthful exuberance.

However with your budget I would rather go newish Renault than old dog Golf, even a £5k you are looking at a starship Golf Tdi, maybe an 05 plate?

You would get an early new shape Mondeo though!! The mk4 Mondeo is a really nice drive.

Perhaps another choice would be an Octavia, reckon you would get a nice Octavia for £5k.

Also to consider is the Golf PLus with a spanish accent, Seat Altea.

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Seat/Altea/details-506112-Seat-Altea.asp?viewtype=0

I suspect you could land one at auction for your budget as CG have one up for £5799.

Note all CG links are only for info' reasons, they also incur an extra £91 sales fee or whatever they call it.

But they are a good guide on what to pay at Auction, if you get to within £1000 of the CG price at Auction then you are probably going past where you should do, time to let it go, if I am not goinf to save at least £1000 and don't need finance then I have no problems in saying I will just go to CG, you still have all the full backing as if buying it from a main dealer, without the extra £2k for coffee and biscuits.

Dippypud

bigjl wrote: »

Though my mums Renault 5 did snap a cluctch cable, and when I was using my dads Ren 5 for 6 months in London I also broke a clutch cable, however I think this is more to do with a 17yr old driving my mums, and a 21yr driving my dads, perhaps a bit too much youthful exuberance.

The Renaults had a recall for the clutch quadrant, (the white plastic arched thing), the cable runs in above the pedal. Changed for a modded one.

Once thats done no problem...:D

emmell

I'd rather have an older Ford or VW than a newer Renault, there's a reason why Renaults are cheaper to buy used it's because the depreciation is higher.
ML.

jase1

emmell wrote: »

there's a reason why Renaults are cheaper to buy used it's because the depreciation is higher.

Well, yeah, obviously. Think about what you have said.

Depreciation is something I see a lot of rubbish spoken about. *All* cars depreciate, and once they're 12-13 years old, they're *all* just about worthless. The difference is the point at which they lose the bulk of their value.

A car with rapid initial depreciation is a better purchase than one with slower initial depreciation, if you are buying at three years old and all other things being equal. Reason being that the faster depreciator has done most of the depreciating it's ever going to do.

Meganes have savage depreciation because they acquired a terrible reputation for unreliability in the mid-2000s -- Meganes and Lagunas are probably the least reliable cars in their respective classes.

However there is some evidence to suggest that the current Megane is a much better car than the previous one -- but it's still depreciating just as quickly. Therefore I would say that it may be worth a punt.

Not all cars depreciate due to an inherent problem with the car. Korean cars of the early 2000s had absolutely crippling depreciation, but there wasn't really anything wrong with them. This isn't the case any more as public opinion is catching up with reality.

Would I spend £3000 on a nine year old Golf? Never in a million years -- it's £2000 more than it should be for no other reason than public perception. It's not especially well-built or reliable and dull to drive.

Would I spend £3000 on a three year old Megane? Not sure, but I think it'd be a better bet than the VW.

funkycoldribena

Try changing a headlight bulb on a Megane....

forgotmyname

1st choice a focus, 2nd choice a focus, 3rd choise a focus, If your feeling flush buy a golf.

2005 models from £2000 upwards, Decent reliable cars £3000 at that year. 2006 another £500 extra.

2007 models for £4000. UK prices though. Worth popping over? UK MOT valid?

Kilty_2

bigjl wrote: »

I must admit that you can really get a good deal on a Megane, there is a little Tyre shop on Brentwood Rd in Romford that also sells cars, drove past on Friday and they had a decent looking Megane 5 dr, looked like it had alloys and it was up for £3500, on an 08 plate!

Categorised or lunar-miles, surely?

Late Laguna IIs fetch more than that and people FEAR THEM :rotfl:

bigjl

Never looked at it mate but it looked clean and tidy.


Actually made me think. Meganes are stupidly cheap for the amount of car on offer.

The British Transport Police had a couple of white Scenic as dog vans, one of which is on ebay at the moment for a stupidly expensive price!

Also GWAS had several Megane estates as Rapid Response Cars in Wiltshire. Maybe i have been overly harsh with regard to the Megane, i always like a bargain. A cheap car is a cheap car at the end of the day. And my experience with the wifes Clio has taught me that the Renault 1.5 dci is a nice little engine.


I have seen average mile diesels up for not much more than that petrol one. I have a feeling the miles on that one aren't as high as we think. After all a petrol car is worth a fair bit less than a diesel one. For example the wife could of had a Clio 1.2 petrol in a nicer spec with alloys for almost a grand less. The diesel engine makes a big difference in these days of high fuel prices. Must admit that Clio was a bit of a result, is worth probably 75% of the original purchase price, if not more.

As i already said, i grew up with Renaults, and always found them comfy, but a couple of years working in a garage seeing them cost owners big bucks has put me off.

Though i still hanker after a Renault 5 GT Turbo Raider, add in the 1.7 conversion, FMIC and a larger turbo, wibble.........

UncleZen

funkycoldribena wrote: »

Try changing a headlight bulb on a Megane....

Yes, and the battery...

datostar

funkycoldribena wrote: »

Try changing a headlight bulb on a Megane....

Takes seconds on a Mk1 and slightly longer on a Mk3 because the whole unit slides forward. Fiddly on a Mk2 through the access panel in the wheel arch but still a diy job.