Which Car Next?

youtellme90

So, I have a 2010 SEAT Leon FR (2.0 CR TDI) with 35k on the clock.

I'm not looking forward to the upcoming £450 worth of cambelt + water pump fees, plus the £249 SEAT service. So - instead of spending £700, I was looking at what I might downgrade to before May (when I estimate I'll hit 40k).

I guess my problem is I'm too fussy, I like lots of features like:

• Reasonable Power Output
• Cruise Control
• Auto Lights/Wipers
• 'Good' Image

So I guess I got stuck with my choices. Ideally I don't want to spend more than £8k, leaving me with some change left over. But at the same time I don't want something that'll cost an arm and a leg to service and maintain, nor the need to change another cambelt in the next 3 years.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

reeac

'Good image' might be a problem as it's subjective. Could mean what's in fashion i.e. loads of them around or it might mean fancy/flashy.

Ultrasonic

Assuming you are otherwise happy with the car, pay for the cam belt change and service and keep it. You could see if an independent could do the work cheaper.

Changing an otherwise good car purely because of entirely normal and predictable service costs is mad. With any replacement second hand car you run the risk of bigger unexpected bills.

Edit: a quick look on autotrader suggest you're unlikely to get much if any more than £8k for your current car, and probably less.

If you were to be looking at buying a much cheaper car you could end up saving money of course. Say spending more like £4k.

DUTR

youtellme90 wrote: »

So, I have a 2010 SEAT Leon FR (2.0 CR TDI) with 35k on the clock.

I'm not looking forward to the upcoming £450 worth of cambelt + water pump fees, plus the £249 SEAT service. So - instead of spending £700, I was looking at what I might downgrade to before May (when I estimate I'll hit 40k).

I guess my problem is I'm too fussy, I like lots of features like:

• Reasonable Power Output
• Cruise Control
• Auto Lights/Wipers
• 'Good' Image

So I guess I got stuck with my choices. Ideally I don't want to spend more than £8k, leaving me with some change left over. But at the same time I don't want something that'll cost an arm and a leg to service and maintain, nor the need to change another cambelt in the next 3 years.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Isn't changing your car going to cost much more than £700?

I have use of this whis is diesel



and over the last fortnight, it has proven very little better on economy than this





however as mentioned the car you have already meets your needs? so the recommended service schedule should bring you many more miles happy motoring, however if you just fancy a new car for the sake of it, then just go for it, as one day you will be old and probably unhealthy to enjoy what you have worked for , die and leave it for eveyone else to enjoy.

Iceweasel

DUTR wrote: »

however if you just fancy a new car for the sake of it, then just go for it, as one day you will be old and probably unhealthy to enjoy what you have worked for , die and leave it for eveyone else to enjoy.

Very interesting take on the old adage -

"Life is too short to drink cheap wine"

I agree its also too short to have to tolerate cars you're not completely happy with.

I've recently retired and bought a newer BMW than the one I had - probably sooner than I really needed a new car - but what the hell.

youtellme90

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Assuming you are otherwise happy with the car, pay for the cam belt change and service and keep it. You could see if an independent could do the work cheaper.

I guess that's where the other reason comes in. I've had SEAT 'mislead' me a few times since the purchase, in the end it resulted in them saying "have a free service, please stay happy", but there's still that niggle I'm the back of my mind that their after sales is less than honest.

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Changing an otherwise good car purely because of entirely normal and predictable service costs is mad. With any replacement second hand car you run the risk of bigger unexpected bills.

I suppose there is always that risk if something were to go wrong on a different car, I just didn't like the fact that when looking at, say a Ford Focus, the belt needs replacing every 100k or 10 years. Unlike the SEATs 40k or 4 years. There's then the additional costs of insurance on my 'sporty' SEAT, almost £600 the recent renewal was, whereas if I went for a more 'sensible' engine in something, (even a 150bhp Focus) the cost reduced to £400. There's then the cheaper servicing costs with something older/none VW, but I guess going independent would solve that issue anyway.

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Edit: a quick look on autotrader suggest you're unlikely to get much if any more than £8k for your current car, and probably less.

If you were to be looking at buying a much cheaper car you could end up saving money of course. Say spending more like £4k.

I don't know how reliable 'WeBuyAnyCar' are, but they quoted £9200 last night. So I was assuming part exchange might be a bit more? Although if I was purchasing a car for £7-8k, they might not offer as much on my p/x as opposed to if I was buying something at £12-13k.

I was looking at replacing the car in the next 24 months anyway, I'll be buying a house and potentially starting a family, so I would want something reliable, but affordable and sensible. I know spending money to save money might not be a sensible approach, but if I spend this £700 on maintenance, then wait till the car has depreciated to, £6k in 2 years (estimated), I've then lost? Potentially? Although I know any new car will still need maintenance and will depreciate.

Perhaps what I really should be asking is, what 'sensible' 3-5 year old used cars would anyone recommend for £7-8k? Then I can ask around about maintenance on the SEAT and weigh up the options. I suppose I just like trying to reason things through before I do them, however unreasonable I end up convincing myself it is.

Sorry for the waffle!

knightstyle

Some cars do not have cam belts so you can avoid the cost of changing them. Our Auris has a chain and servicing seems cheaper than the price you quoted. Plus I have found Toyota after sales to be very good, even replacing a carpet clip free even though I bought the car secondhand from a Honda dealer!

travellerboy

Buy a diesel Audi - will last for ever. Service once every two years, best in the market.

youtellme90

knightstyle wrote: »

Some cars do not have cam belts so you can avoid the cost of changing them. Our Auris has a chain and servicing seems cheaper than the price you quoted. Plus I have found Toyota after sales to be very good, even replacing a carpet clip free even though I bought the car secondhand from a Honda dealer!

That's what I was surprised with for the VW group, belts not chains, but I suppose they have their advantages too? I'm not a mechanic so I wouldn't know. I guess after sales is a bit of luck too? I always thought having more to spend on a car would make it easier, but it was easier when I had £1000 to spend on my first car, not so much choice then!

Ultrasonic

travellerboy wrote: »

Buy a diesel Audi - will last for ever. Service once every two years, best in the market.

The OP is trying to save money so an Audi is isn't really the best plan. Also, you could get an identical diesel engine in a Skoda for rather less money if that's what was wanted (with the same service intervals). Although I've seen plenty of mechanics posting online that they don't think that 2 year service intervals are a particularly good idea.

You mentioned a Focus above youtellme90, does that meet your 'Good' image requirement?

youtellme90

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Also, you could get an identical diesel engine in a Skoda for rather less money if that's what was wanted.

You mentioned a Focus above youtellme90, does that meet your 'Good' image requirement?

As far as I know my SEAT has the Audi 2.0 CR TDI engine in it already?

A 'new' Focus meets the requirement fine, I guess as was mentioned before it's all subjective, a Focus is OK, but a Citreon DS3 isn't. I don't understand it either.
I looked at 3 series, they seem cheap enough (2007/8) on the used market, it's just maintenance I assume is an arm and a leg? And insurance doesn't tick the sensible box. So fundamentally ruling it out for now.