Car Advice: £5,000, 350 miles / week - what car?

puddles

Hello all

My car got totalled on Sunday and as such I am looking to buy a new car.

I don't mind what make or model but have a few requirements:

Budget: £5,000
Mileage: Below 40,000 - I do around 20k a year so am I right in thinking anything over 40k mileage will be no good or would a car with say 60,000 miles on the clock still be good for another 40-60k without any problems?
Economic: Goes without saying I guess, but with that much mileage I'm guessing I need a Diesel.
Family Car: Needs to have a decent amount of boot space and room for my little boy in the back.
Comfortable: Though my commute is only 70 miles a day - that often takes 1 -2.5 hours each way and I don't want to be sitting on the M25 in a little box that feels every bump!

Other than that I am open to suggestions.

Ones I have seen so far on Autotrader are:

VAUXHALL Astra 2.0 DTi 16v LS
38,000 miles - £2,995 - 53 Reg (2003)

RENAULT MEGANE 1.5 DCi 86 Maxim 5dr Hatchback Special Eds
39,000 miles - £3,900 - 06 Reg (2006)

VAUXHALL Astra 1.9 16v CDTi Design
12,000 miles (would need to check that) - £3,490 - 05 Reg (2005)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on these and any other cars I should be looking out for.

vax2002

Avoid the Renault like the plague, you will regret buying one, the newer they are the worse they get.
4-5k at Manhiem auction buys a 07 Mondeo or 08 vectra diesel with average mileage, which is where the dealers get them, most are ex fleet hire cars so have been serviced on the dot.

scheming_gypsy

as long as you look after the car and have it serviced regularly, a decent engine will see you well over the figures you quoted. My dad had a horse transporter that had over half a million miles on the clock. If you're going to be crunching the miles i'd look for something which are known to have better engines than French and Vauxhall... Japanese, German and even Volvo's have decent engines

rodenal

How much does power matter to you? I would personally discount and DTi vauxhall as it's an old old engine to be driving now, the cdti is a much better unit though with the only caveat being avoid the 1.3 in anything bigger than a corsa. The 1.5dci is a decent enough engine but the meganes of that age are known for electrical problems especially with the keyless entry etc.

I would have a look at what the koreans have to offer as the likes of a diesel ceed might give you what you are looking for and be a bit newer than the cars you've found already.

I would personally look at the likes of the 2.2 diesel civic, 1.6tdci (115bhp) focus or mazda 3 - don't bother with the 2 litre in this size of ford I had one and preferred the smaller engine (much more economical, not really that much less power), Jetta diesel etc

If you want to go a bit bigger then the last of the vectra cdti's are a decent enough car and you'll pick up a last of the line older shape mondeo tdci well within budget too - though please read up on dual mass fly issues. Any early 2000's vag car with the 1.9 pd tdi is worth looking at, though they are generally expensive compared with rivals

bigjl

OP don't overlook above average mileage ex fleeters.

As mentioned get them from auction or a car supermarket. Auction is cheaper, but use the prices at large car supermarkets to guide what you bid, no point bidding almost the same as you can buy it from a dealer.

A well looked after 80k miler will give many years of good service, and as a lot of the miles will be on the motorway the car wi likely drive like new.

My Mondeo drove like new when.I bought it with just over 80k.

Now has over 160k, it is an 05plate tdci. Still on original suspension, clutch etc. Interior unworn. Still does 50mpg give or take.

The days of a car being worn out at 100k are long gone.

Your five grand will as already mentioned get you into a very nice Mondeo, a bit less will get you into one of the last Vectras but i would have concerns if the cdti engine has a dpf, though it can be removed.

But don't just consider diesel. My BiL just got a 2.2 Vectra with a manual box, 16k from.new and cost £6 grand at CarGiant. Same car would have been well inside your budget if bought from an auction. A higher mileage one would have been under four grand at auction. Or near your budget at a car supermarket.

Just stick to one owner, ex fleet with fsh. And you shouldn't go far wrong.

Must admit i would get a Mondeo. Though there are a lot of ex Motability Ford C Max around at the moment, any car supermarket will have several, including my favourite CarGiant. But why give anybody profit, go to BCA or Manhiem, take somebody with some knowledge of cars, research the price before. Say if Motorpoint or CarGiant has thwm.up for £6000 then getting one for under £5000 is achievable.

But the BiL.has been getting over 40mpg in his Vectra, he is going to go for LPG, he liked the look of the Insignia but they were too expensive.

I would steer away from a Laguna, thougb the latest model is apparently a vast improvement and has a 100k warranty.

I would buy one at the right price as i like a bargain and have never had any issues with my Renaults, but due to the chance of problems i wouldn't recommend one.

bigjl

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

as long as you look after the car and have it serviced regularly, a decent engine will see you well over the figures you quoted. My dad had a horse transporter that had over half a million miles on the clock. If you're going to be crunching the miles i'd look for something which are known to have better engines than French and Vauxhall... Japanese, German and even Volvo's have decent engines

For the purposes of this thread we will ignore that some Volvos have Fors lumps and some Fords have Volvo lumps then.

scheming_gypsy

i never mentioned Ford, so unless they're French or made by Vauxhall we'll ignore your post as it's irrelevant to what i said.

Hammyman

puddles wrote: »

Mileage: Below 40,000 - I do around 20k a year so am I right in thinking anything over 40k mileage will be no good or would a car with say 60,000 miles on the clock still be good for another 40-60k without any problems?

I bought my 04 plate Mondeo at 3 years old with 90k on the clock. It is now 7 years old with 156k on the clock. So in 4 years I've clocked up 66,000 miles. Its worked absolutely fine and I've regularly jumped in it and done 800 miles in one day needing to do nothing more than put fuel in - even now it still doesn't use a drop of oil or water between services. In my ownership the list of none-consumables needing replacing have been:
turbo pipe (£80 inc fitting from main dealer)
alternator (£180 inc fitting from main dealer)
subframe bushes (£200 for polybushes that'll outlive the car inc fitting)
handbrake cable (£40 inc fitting)
so a total around £500 inc parts and labour for all of that lot in addition to the normal things like tyres and brake pads which I discount anyway as you need those doing no matter what you get. This year was the very first year it has failed an MOT - it failed on low handbrake effort on one side due to the cable, hence the handbrake cable listed above. Oh, and I drive it like I stole it due to having some very nice country roads where I live along with a weekly 220 mile round trip.

I would say to get a Mondeo. The TDCi is a nice engine with gobs of power with the 2L TDCi 130 (it'll just about out accelerate a BMW 328i from 30-70 much to the BMW drivers disgust ) and returns for me nearly 60MPG. There's also plenty of good spec ones around quite cheap with full service history. Go for the Zetec or the Ghia and make sure its got the heated windscreen - they're a joy in winter.

I paid £5k for mine and it is the Ghia with all the toys and was one owner fleet car with full main dealer service history. Boot is absolutely enormous.

My next car will be the new shape Mondeo, again ex-fleet.

bigjl

No you inferred that the Japs, Germans and Volvo have superior engines and i pointed out that you need to.consider that run of the mill manufacturers sell engines to other companies, for example the Fiat engines in Vauxhalls and Opels.

You have inferred that Japanese and German are technically better and German anything else is inferior.

Vauxhall engines have always been considered strong, especially the bottom ends of the petrol engine. Some of the Vauxhalls diesel, the 1.7 cdti, is an Isuzu unit.

The XUD diesel engine was also one of the strongest and reliable diesel engines ever and that is French.

Are you just trying to start a pointless argument.

I was purely adding extra relevant info to your post.

bigjl

@Hammeyman.

If the Op goes to an auction she can get a new shape for her £5k easy.
She wouldn't be far off at a large supermarket, we all know where i would go.

It is funny when.you mention the repairs you have done on your car.

Mine is a 130tdci, though a lowly Lx, and apart from servicing and brakes has only required two handshake cables and the turbo pipe leading to the Egr, the big one at the front near the radiator.

It is now a little baggy compared to when i bought it but still sailed through the Mot last week with no issues.

I could spend a grand on it doing all the bushes and shocks etc. Maybe put on a new clutch and dmf to.give it that new car feeling. Maybe a new Egr valve and the hot wire sensor on the inlet whatever it is called as i.have forgotten.

But i could get around £2k for it and then.head up the sales.

I need an auto now but my only.issue is driving position as small mpvs are much easier to get out of.

I think my Mk3 Mondeo has been the best value car i have ever had.
£2450 for three yrs use and over 80k.

That fact that the interior and carpets are unworn after all this use is impressive. The only thing i have done is put on a steering wheel cover.

The recent Passat for example is a shadow of the previous model, with surprising reliability issues.

Lewisday, a large courier and private hire company had 80 Passats, all 07 plate with leather and dsg gearbox.

They were so unreliable that they are suing VW. They have had almost no problems with the Prius, and actually they also had no issues with the Rover 75 diesels they had prior to the Passats.

Most PH cars in Thurrock are mk3 Mondeos.

A huge number of PH cars in Brentwood are Focus Estates.

When you consider so many Police Forces use more and more Fords why buy anything else. Not the nicest perhaps, but value, value, value.

bartman

bigjl wrote: »

No you inferred that the Japs, Germans and Volvo have superior engines and i pointed out that you need to.consider that run of the mill manufacturers sell engines to other companies, for example the Fiat engines in Vauxhalls and Opels.

You have inferred that Japanese and German are technically better and German anything else is inferior.

Vauxhall engines have always been considered strong, especially the bottom ends of the petrol engine. Some of the Vauxhalls diesel, the 1.7 cdti, is an Isuzu unit.

The Bud diesel engine was also one of the strongest and reliable diesel engines ever and that is French.

Are you just trying to start a pointless argument.

I was purely adding extra relevant info to your post.

I think you mean "implied".

English language police signing out now..........:D