Used car market UK - complete joke

gilbert_and_sullivan

So ten year old mass produced white goods/cars made by pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap French and German makers turn out to be on their last legs, hardly surprising is it.

As said above if you want to buy old cars to run reliably then get something that was designed properly and built well in the first place.
A ten year old ''Properly Maintained'' Toyota will have years of service left in it.

French, yes and German badged cars of this age and type are on the way to the scrap yard.

jase1

Had a succession of Japanese cars, some old (much more than 10 years old) and have not had a problem with reliability with any of them. Currently have a Mitsubishi as a second car, never get a peep of trouble out of it -- although things like exhausts are inevitably going to need attention as cars get older.

Would agree with what has been said on here. My general rules for buying cheap (only opinions!):

1) Below £1000, always buy private.
2) Avoid cars with good residuals at this end of the market -- all cars die and a lot of the VWs and Audis of this world are kept dragging along for several years after they've ceased to be viable because of resale value.
3) Condition is everything, but generally the cars at the bottom of the pile for reliability when new will only ever get worse as they get older.

So, IMO, a post-2000 Ford, SOME VWs (Passats and Boras; Golfs fall foul of (2)), most of the Japanese cars and Volvo are the ones to go for, or go for something with disastrous depreciation but decent reputation (this means some of the Koreans -- Hyundais and Daewoo/Chevrolet Lacetti mainly, but also some of the newer Kia models such as the Cerato).

chieffy72

I bought a house once,it needed all kinds doing to it. The UK housing market is an absolute joke!:D

Hoof_Hearted

I have bought most of my (cheap) cars privately. I have to say that I make a lot of judgements about the car by talking to the owner. Son bought a Focus privately from a (posh) private house a good number of years ago. The bonnet gets lifted once a year (lazy s0d) and it just goes on and on. Tyres, brakes and one seatbelt (had a nick in it) but nothing else. Still a very nice drive even though it is worth under £1000

TrickyWicky

Dukesy wrote: »

I have a 1992 Volvo and a 1989 Golf. They always get me from A-B, and really require very little care to keep them running well.

Aside from the Golf, I just wanted to point out the Volvo thing to the op. A volvo of that age will not be expensive but it will be reliable.

I used to know a guy a couple of years back with a Volvo 340. He bought it brand new and it was 26 years old the last time I saw him. It still looked like new. Original alloys, unblemished paint and one yearly service. He said it never failed to start, never gave him any trouble and despite buying a brand new BMW he couldn't part himself with the Volvo because it had been such a reliable motor so he continued using it to get to work and used the BMW for the weekends.

Dukesy

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Aside from the Golf, I just wanted to point out the Volvo thing to the op. A volvo of that age will not be expensive but it will be reliable.

I used to know a guy a couple of years back with a Volvo 340. He bought it brand new and it was 26 years old the last time I saw him. It still looked like new. Original alloys, unblemished paint and one yearly service. He said it never failed to start, never gave him any trouble and despite buying a brand new BMW he couldn't part himself with the Volvo because it had been such a reliable motor so he continued using it to get to work and used the BMW for the weekends.

Yep, mine's a 240 and they're prettymuch indestructible. I've heard of them running up 300-400,000 miles on the clock and still going strong. Not exactly a speed demon, though

TrickyWicky

Yep not the fastest in the world but by god probably the most reliable. Volvo build proper cars with proper lifespans (and then some).

The only slight problem with Volvo is they don't do small engine cars like micras, fiestas etc. I think the smallest engine they make is a 1.6 but then what you spend in fuel you probably save double on in maintenance.

photome

artbaron wrote: »

Buy privately. That way if it does go wrong you can used the money you saved on ridiculous dealer prices to fix it. Plus, privately sold cars tend to be better quality than dealer ones. People with knackered cars will often part exchange them at a dealers to save hassle.

Re 10 year old cars - yes, most non-performance and non-specialist cars of 10 yrs+ will not be in good condition. It's really depressing. I plan on selling my 8yr old car soon and buying another of similar age but it's a huge struggle to find something of comparable condition. I've kept my car showroom, it's mechanically and cosmetically 100% with literally not a single blemish or fault, and the best part of all it was easy to do. Wash it regularly, polish and wax a few times a year, service it promptly, it's not rocket surgery.

Why are you selling an imaculate 8 year old car to buy another of same age where you dont know the history:(

What are you selling

webby23

Bought a loaf of bread yesterday that only had 2 days shelf life left on it......

The UK bakery market is a complete joke.

PS Someone tell the OP to buy a Jaguar.

nerka

That is a collection of cars.... No surprise they stop running the next day