Economical cars - is a 12year old car worth 3 k ?

paris321

no, i think you mis understood. I'm not fussed what badge a car has or if its shiney but i can't be meeting clients in something beat up/dinged/rusty that's all.

I want a car thats cheaper to run overall so obviously i need to think about repair/maintenance costs compared to saving on fuel by getting a diesel but it's hard to know if a cars got something wrong or not when browsing online!

paris321

I've found a 1.6 Hdi verve 06 plate 206 sw its got a long 13 month mot, just waiting to hear back as to whether it has a FSH and had cambelt change etc but its got 134k miles and they want £2995 for it which seems high ? Any opinions on this from someone who knows something about cars?

andygb

paris321 wrote: »

I've found a 1.6 Hdi verve 06 plate 206 sw its got a long 13 month mot, just waiting to hear back as to whether it has a FSH and had cambelt change etc but its got 134k miles and they want £2995 for it which seems high ? Any opinions on this from someone who knows something about cars?

Well you won't be offering the full price for it, I would imagine £400 - £600 less than that would be a decent offer (assuming that it is OK and you want it), and then you would have some money left over for anything which needs doing - something always needs doing;)

mcjordi

im sure the belt change intervals on the 2006 engines changed to around 150k same engine in the fiesta 1.6tdci.
agree with the pay less comments and nah i wouldnt be worried about the mileage unless your gonna be doing moon mileage every year.

edit -yeah belt change due around 144k according to autodata or 10 years.. so if it hasnt been done its Due for change

paris321

Just been to see it, its pretty beat up up in terms of paintwork scuffs, two dents about 2p sized on bonnet where paint has come off and is rusty..... It's also been stood for a while, i've had a look and they have had it for a year unsold so you would think they would be more willing to move on price.

They offered me exact book price for my car (fiat stilo 1.6 03 plate) which is £700....in my experience if a cars in good nick(which mine is, with under average miles) they usually offer a bit more than book price? for example i px a corsa once, book price 300...they gave me 600 off of a car and it was in rubbish condition.

It would come with a 13 month mot and they will change the timing belt for me too. My partners not keen, thinks we could find something better for the money, buying used cars is so hard!!!

Exemplar

Bought a 2000 X Passat 1.9TDI auto two years ago with 190K on the clock (with full VAG history). Best, smoothest, quietest car I have ever owned!!

forgotmyname

Focus, Or a Focus or a Focus. If thats too big then a Fiesta. But Get a focus.

paris321

I can't find a focus in my price range that does more than 50 mpg though.

Starting to think it might be worth going down the finance route but not on a brand new one, can't bear to loose all that money the second you drive away.

bigjl

Don't focus on just the mpg and annual road tax.

The Focus is a very underrated vehicle.

The older 1.8 tddi engine is reliable and good on fuel but a little agricultural.
The 1.6hdi engine is also fitted in Fords, Citreons and Volvos and is not known for reliabliity, and is expensive to fix, usually turbo or injection issues.

Consider something like the Skoda Fabia estate, not fashionable but a well built little car.

I would go for a Ford Focus estate, plenty around for under £3000 and you could consider the 1.6 petrol engine as on a run it will give 40mpg.

The Volvo V50 is a nice well built fairly attractive estate with decent residuals.

I bought my current V50 just under 2 years ago, it had 101k and full Volvo history, it is a 2008/08.

It cost £4700 at auction and has been reliable until recently when the heater fan went, a commonish fault and pricey to fix.

It has the 2.0d engine as fitted to PSA Group vehicles and Fords such as the Galaxy, Mondeo and Focus.

You could easily get a nice V50 for £3000.

Mine now has 152k on it and i have done nothing but service it till the heater fan went.

My old Mondeo mk3, 2005/05 was sold with well over 200k on it and the mate i sold it to drove it to 260k and traded it in.

The mk3 Mondeo is a very good car aswell.

I wouldn't buy a 206 SW if I am being honest, they seem to be very expensive for what you get.

If used cars are really expensive in your locality consider going for a bit of a roadtrip as you only need to buy it once.

If you have a friend in the trade consider an auction purchase.

Skoda Octavia estate is a decent car for the cost, especially if you go for the 1.9tdi engine instead of the 2.0tdi.

Though i find myself coming back to the Focus estate.

bigjl

paris321 wrote: »

I've never brought a car with mileage over 60k so such a high number makes me nervous....Nothing wrong with the cars with the higher milage that i can tell for example i have seen same car with an 06 plate for around 2.5k but with 130k miles i just don't know what's better?

What makes you suspicious of a car with such low milage? Isn't it pretty hard to mess with the electric readings? or am i being naive?

It is much easier to turn back mileages with digital clocks, £50 or so and a man with a van will "correct" ir for you.

Don't be afraid of high miles, be afraid of lack of maintenance and long periods of sitting idle or lots of time driving round London or other large cities with the clutch and gearbox getting a hard time.