Which used AUTOMATIC car to buy???

elymum81

Hi
I need some advice! and am hoping you good people may be able to offer me some suggestions! I need an automatic car and am at a loss as to which make to choose.

I don't have a very big budget £1500-2000 at most as I'm trying to get out of debt not get further into it!

I have had a ford fiesta... the gearbox went... i have had a ford galaxy... the gearbox went so I'm guessing ford aren't particularly reliable for autos - or maybe its my driving?! So I definitely don't want a ford.

Other essentials:
1) a reasonable size boot as I have to transport and pick up larger items such as prams/ buggies.
2) 5 seats at least
3) plenty of leg room in the back for my growing boys
4) Something that is reasonably economical - I know this is asking a lot for my budget!

I do about 10,000 - 12,000 miles a year.

Any help,advice or suggestions would be gratefully received!

Thanks x

vax2002

Nothing French with any auto box, or you will regret it !

Lindopski

How about a Rover 75 2 litre Diesel Auto - its around 40mpg combined.
Quite a big car, reasonable boot and most of the bits are from BMW.
The Connoisseur type are very pretty inside.

elymum81

Lindopski wrote: »

How about a Rover 75 2 litre Diesel Auto - its around 40mpg combined.
Quite a big car, reasonable boot and most of the bits are from BMW.
The Connoisseur type are very pretty inside.

I borrowed my dads one of these for a couple of months and it is a lush car but I found it quite expensive on fuel... although I think it might have been a bigger engine?!

rev_henry

elymum81 wrote: »

I borrowed my dads one of these for a couple of months and it is a lush car but I found it quite expensive on fuel... although I think it might have been a bigger engine?!

No, that's the only diesel there is. There were however two versions, the earlier CDT and the later CDTi, I presume the latter is more economical and more powerful. Good suggestion I think, though maybe out of budget? Worth a look though...

iolanthe07

Autos are also much worse on fuel in my opinion and more expensive to insure.

I've had autos since 1990 and never had any problems. Proper torque converter autosy are heavier on fuel, but not necessarily more expensive to insure - it depends on the company.

elymum81

passatrider wrote: »

If you don't have a huge budget and you need to save money. Why not go for a geared car if you can?

The reason I say this as automatics are great when they are running but expensive to maintain if they go wrong. You could say the same for a geared car but I'm talking from experience here.

Auto's are also much worse on fuel in my opinion and more expensive to insure.

Yes they are more expensive to repair and on fuel, not sure I agree on insurance but no I can't go for a manual anyway!... think my choice would have been easier and I wouldn't have needed this post if I could!

headpin

Had a number of autos. Agree French are a no no. Toyota has been good. Nissan ok. Ford so, so.

fivetide

Also had a few Ford Autos fail.

If you want good mpg then a big auto probably won't deliver too much. That said, for bangernomics, the old Mercs aren't bad. Usually over 30mpg mixed driving (and that's based on two different cars over a 2.5 year period). Big boot, five seats etc etc plus the autoboxes are very strong as the majority of the cars they sell are auto.

5t.

getmore4less

I would probably look at estates see what you can find.

try a search on autotrader

£1k-£2k auto diesel estate only 137 that will give an idea what you could get most over 100k.

many more petrols

prowla

We've just moved on from a Voyager we had for 12 years and did 140k in, still on its original clutch.
It was big, thirsty (ours was the 3.3 petrol!), and ate front tyres, but otherwise was a great car.
We finally parted company with it because it finally ran into a huge repair bill to get through its MOT, but we could have paid that and had a few more years out of it.