Thinking of changing car - need advice

oliverr

Not sure on what area you're in, but something like this... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212084552207/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/3000/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/model/jazz/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/200/page/1/postcode/bn17he?logcode=p

Giraffeseeker

Hmm, lots to think about I think. That Honda looks ok. I think I could cope with 3 doors, as I say mostly just me in the car, which is why in my zafira I feel like I am driving an empty mini-bus! Also I am thinking about 2 years time when my son will be 17 and might want to go on the insurance, better to learn in a smaller car? Someone mentioned extra insurance costs - would this be the case? I have 10+ years no claims - would changing to a smaller car/smaller engine mean higher insurance? I assumed it would be less.

Wh05apk

tintingirl wrote: »

Would a Golf be the only option for the same price? I was under the impression they were all quite big engine sizes so I had discounted a Golf - for a diesel the smallest I could find was a 1.9. I was thinking of a smaller engine, like a 1.2 or something. I only do about 40-60 miles per week around town but put in at least £40 in petrol.

??? you only do about 40-60 miles per week, but spend at least £40 on petrol? That equates to about 7-10 mpg? something seriously wrong there, unless I have mis-read your post?

worried_jim

I have a Rover 600 2.0 and do similar mileage, a tankful , approx £70 lasts about 5 weeks @ 28mpg.

getmore4less

If you swap at same value you will have a worthless different car after your period.

whats the current on the drive costs, tax,insurance,MOT, 1/2 service cost.

You are doing 3kmiles a year so are the main consumables due tyres,brakes in the next 10k

Your fuel costs seem out might need checking,

a years fuel doing 3k should be under 500litre £700 or £14pw.


Oh don't go to a 3door if you ever have more than 2 in the car or has a small boot. nightmare if you ever need to use the back seats. also the doors are bigger so not so handy in carparks.

forgotmyname

You need a same price swap so whilst your car will be worth nothing in 4 years so will the car you thinking of buying. So no difference there.

Doing a straight swap is a PITA for a dealer. You will be trading in a 2005 car and driving out in something older. No cash for him all his profit is in what he can sell your car for.

But your car wont be worth what you think it is and the car your buying will be overpriced.

Colleague's paid £20 a year tax, But probably citycars that cost more than your car. Tax for 6 months costs more. Tax for a full year and save money.

Short journeys make the official MPG figures look like a joke. Official figures for my car 42mpg. Yet i have had it below 30mpg during short winter journeys.
Thats an average over a full tank. But it can do 60mpg on the motorway.

That Kalos is only 1150cc and yet still £170 a year tax.

emmell

My friend recently swapped a Landrover Discovery for a Peugeot 307 1.4Hdi.......it's a 52 plate and costs £30 per year road tax.

Not a head turner by any means but it gets her from a to b a lot cheaper than the Disco.

ML.

avantra

emmell wrote: »

My friend recently swapped a Landrover Discovery for a Peugeot 307 1.4Hdi.......it's a 52 plate and costs £30 per year road tax.

Not a head turner by any means but it gets her from a to b a lot cheaper than the Disco.

ML.

Oh dear.

From the frying pan to the fire, should have stretch himself to a 308 which is a better sorted tin box than the ever problematic 307 (this is a general opinion, your friend's and other might say it is a good model).


Start by not thinking about the road tax, it is chicken feed in the grand scheme of things, don't touch modernish diesels unless you know what you are doing and put aside enough to when things will go wrong (Google MDF, DMF, Fuel injectors etc').

Maybe not like others here I would support you in getting shot of the Zaffira, there's come a time in the life of every Zaffira owner where you just see red and the list of things to fix simply get ever longer and you pocket ever lighter.

What you need is at this order:

1.Petrol car roomy enough for two teens with a good size boot for shopping or other detritus.

2. Reasonable fuel economy (say 40 mpg should make most people happy).

3. Good reputation for reliability

4. It needs to cost up to £3000~2800 so your outlay is not huge if you sell your's privately. You want to buy a car preferably younger than yours



There is few animals like this, my main choice will be a 2006~2007 Ford Fusion 1.4 petrol Zetec or Style (the Fiesta estate version).

These are not powerful cars but most are fairly well equipped.
Insurance is very cheap and if it goes wrong they remarkably cheap to fix by most garages.




You can also look at Mitsubishi Lancer 1.6 estate from 2006~2007 but make sure you buy a good one as fixing them is quiet dear. SKoda Fabia 2006~2007 also come to mind, a bit under powered but should last a long while.

newfoundglory

OP if it makes you feel any better I drive a ford ka 1.3 from 2008. Tax is 160 per year and mileage around town not much over 20 mpg. And it doesn't even have much power

Expensive for what it is - but I've had no problem with it!

If buying a diesel be careful of ones with particulate filters if you don't make many long journeys. Usually the cheap diesels to tax have the DPF fitted as older diesels can be a lot more expensive to tax. Diesels can also cost more to insure.

If doing town driving how about a small petrol engine.

And as many are looking for cars with cheap tax - tax rules could change in the future as the government makes less money.

steve-L

Unless noone has done the maths the OP's assumptions seem to either be completely off or they are driving with the handbrake on?

£40/week is using a national average of 132.2 is about 30 litres or 6.6 gallons
So at 50 miles that is about 7.5 mpg!!!

So either something is fundamentally wrong with the car or the maths?
The rest of the speculation is all a bit pointless.

As previously said, PX at a dealer means they need to make at least £500 on the transaction. The Zafira is worth perhaps £2500 ... for someone who really wants one (and difficult to see why/who) perhaps £3000 tops!
So they will be looking at something as I said earlier and as forgotmyname has said older and something priced in the 1500-200 category.
Quite what you will get in this and what its reliability might be is somewhat open to speculation....

If the OP sells privately then either they need to magically buy a car and sell theirs the same day OR be able to go without a second car OR it will cost more money because they will need to insure the 3rd car.

My partner added a 2nd car for a while during repairs to a previous car, that cost about 25/week... (from memory) when you paid for a fortnight. (It was more for just one week) ... the point is it's not cheap and you soon loose any cash advantage.
If they wish to SELL the Zafira privately it will need to be for what someone considers reasonable or good value.... (I don't see anyone would actually WANT (as in specifically) a Zafira, especially a 1.6 ... someone may want a MPV and that might fit the bill but I doubt many people are specifically looking for a 2005 Zafira 1.6 with 100k miles!

So what might they get? Again perhaps 2000??? with luck 3000.... or start at 2900 and see if it sells and then drop the price if noone is interested after 2 weeks???? In other words how long to pay for the extra insurance??? and without it how many people are going to buy a 100,000 mile Zafira 1.6 without a proper test drive?


Non of his seems to make purely economic sense.... the OP's claimed MPG is off the scale .... It would be hard to get a V8 Range rover towing a small ship with the handbrake left on to do 7mpg....

The roadtax is peanuts.... over the course of a year.....
Insurance difference is minimal....

Also I am thinking about 2 years time when my son will be 17 and might want to go on the insurance

How much cheaper than a 1.6 Zafira can you go?

A 1.6 Petrol in a Zafira is hardly even a real engine.... (hence why no-one will want to but one with 100k miles) ... the engine is lucky to make it to 100k... anyone buying an older Zafira will 100k miles will doubtless be looking for one with a real engine not a 1.6 ....

Maybe not like others here I would support you in getting shot of the Zaffira, there's come a time in the life of every Zaffira owner where you just see red and the list of things to fix simply get ever longer and you pocket ever lighter.

I have driven the diesel Zafira for 6 weeks (In the south of Italy)
It is a horrid car..... (IMHO) ....
HOWEVER: On pure economic terms and with what the Zafira is worth then the OP is quickly straying into territory where "and the list of things to fix simply get ever longer and you pocket ever lighter" .... unless they get something of a similar size but bigger engine!

That's not to say its impossible to find a Honda Jazz that has 100k 'motorway miles' but its unlikely as people don't buy a Honda Jazz to do 20k+ a year! More likely its been used to do mixed driving with speed bumps and all the things that cause little cars to fail....
Most little cars are not designed to last over 100k .. some do through love & care but most don't....

So its hard to see the pure economics?
The OP's estimate on MPG is obviously way off ... either they do significantly more miles or they don't use that amount of petrol...

If they were truly getting 7MPG then the Zafira is a right off and needs a new engine that it is not worth fitting.