Car Chosing Help?

Puzzledbubbles

Hi All,

After a bit of a bump in my current car (someone went into the back of me when i was waiting to turn at a junction) we are faced with the possibility that my old and well loved car will be an insurance write off.

Therefore we are trying to pull together a list of potential vehicles that meet the following criteria (previously have only ever bought small hatchbacks, fiesta, metro, punto etc)

We need/would like the following and have a budget of around £2,500 (hoping we will get around the £600 - £1,000 for my current car and looking to upgrade with savings)

5 doors
Family friendly
1.6 - 2.0
diesel
Tow capabilities (trailer rather than caravan as i dont have the licence)
Good fuel economy
Cheap parts
Reliable

Anyone got any suggestions?

Puzzled xx

Matt1977

2000 - 2006 model Nissan Almera (N16).

Engine sizes are a little outside the range - 1.5 petrol, 1.8 petrol or 2.2 diesel in either 110 bhp or 136bhp outputs.

My sister has a 1.5 model and I have a 2.2 diesel model. We are pleased with our respective cars. Fully loaded with kit.

Other suggestions would be Toyota Corolla, Mazda 323 or Honda Civic.

Puzzledbubbles

Matt1977 wrote: »

2000 - 2006 model Nissan Almera (N16).

Engine sizes are a little outside the range - 1.5 petrol, 1.8 petrol or 2.2 diesel in either 110 bhp or 136bhp outputs.

My sister has a 1.5 model and I have a 2.2 diesel model. We are pleased with our respective cars. Fully loaded with kit.

Other suggestions would be Toyota Corolla, Mazda 323 or Honda Civic.

Thanks, the nissan is not one we had thought of, also i thought that civics would have been out of the range but will have a look see

thanks again, at this stage it is more of a contingency plan to see what we would be able to afford before we fall in love with something inapropriate lol

attila_

5 Door Seat Ibiza tdi sport. They are a polo chassis but roomier.

You can get one of these 02-04 years for around 2.5k. They will have around100k miles on them but being volkswagen engine this is nothing.

Oh small other point its a 6 speed gearbox and 130bhp insurance group 7.

I would def buy this car again.

zagubov

Have you any relatives in other parts of the UK who could help you look? I don't think second hand cars are cheap in Northants - I might be out of date. Knew people around there who bought cars via parents homes up north (did the same myself). Made a substantial difference.

One chap did it every year, buying in Aberdeen selling near Bedford making a profit every time.

I know you've car to trade-in but trade-in values are often low anyway - have you thought of offering it to friends family at trade-in price first. They can often make good use of a second-hand cheap car

Puzzledbubbles

attila_ wrote: »

5 Door Seat Ibiza tdi sport. They are a polo chassis but roomier.

You can get one of these 02-04 years for around 2.5k. They will have around100k miles on them but being volkswagen engine this is nothing.

Oh small other point its a 6 speed gearbox and 130bhp insurance group 7.

I would def buy this car again.

Fab, added on to the list Thanks for that one

zagubov wrote: »

Have you any relatives in other parts of the UK who could help you look? I don't think second hand cars are cheap in Northants - I might be out of date. Knew people around there who bought cars via parents homes up north (did the same myself). Made a substantial difference.

One chap did it every year, buying in Aberdeen selling near Bedford making a profit every time.

I know you've car to trade-in but trade-in values are often low anyway - have you thought of offering it to friends family at trade-in price first. They can often make good use of a second-hand cheap car

I have relatives in gloucestershire so can always keep my eye out down here, without a car getting down for a test drive etc would be tricky, if the car is an insurance write off we wont have a car as we have been advised it wont be worth collecting

Thanks for the tip about Northants, didnt know locality mattered as well

zagubov

Puzzledbubbles wrote: »

Fab, added on to the list Thanks for that one



I have relatives in gloucestershire so can always keep my eye out down here, without a car getting down for a test drive etc would be tricky, if the car is an insurance write off we wont have a car as we have been advised it wont be worth collecting

Thanks for the tip about Northants, didnt know locality mattered as well

I could be out-of-date about Northants prices- can your relatives send you a local freesheet/ads paper so you can compare?

My dad test-drove a car for me then raved about it. I know it sounds like a big ask, but it's always nice to have a reason/opportunity to visit family, and I think he enjoyed the window-shopping aspect of it. We flew up one weekend and had a look at it and bought it on the spot, drove it back down south. Saved us thousands.

You might want to look at cheap buses to your relatives area so you can check out anything they find for you.
Good luck. :beer:

victor2

I find that Parkers can give some good ideas that meet specified requirements.

oldtoolie

It is easy enough to check regional prices by inputting different postcodes into Autotrader.

However, if you are buying from a dealer far from your home, give a think about how you would return it to the dealer if something goes wrong (and collect it again after they had time to put it right.) Buying privately, it wouldn't matter except how to collect.

getmore4less

I think you can use autotrader and get a feel for the value against all those available. If localy you are higher then you have examples to use for negotiation.