Need help choosing a £7000 small car

BeenThroughItAll

Strider590 wrote: »

SEAT, Skoda, Audi, all have a car based on the Golf platform (chassis, engine, gearbox, electrics), but none have this legendary/godlike reputation for reliability.

And indeed, somewhat ironically, Skoda's take on the Golf platform regularly scores higher in independent usage and ownership surveys than the Golf itself.

19lottie82

Strider590 wrote: »

I would advise you stop listening to people who just repeat whatever carp other people tell them.
.

I would advise you that I take my advice from my husband who is a mechanic with 28 years experience and has spent the last 6 years working working as head mechanic in a garage that specialises in German cars, and has won various awards for being the top independent garage in our city. i have also ran various golfs over the last 5 years.

BeenThroughItAll

19lottie82 wrote: »

I would advise you that I take my advice from my husband who is a mechanic with 28 years experience and has spent the last 6 years working working as head mechanic in a garage that specialises in German cars, and has won various awards for being the top independent garage in our city. i have also ran various golfs over the last 5 years.

Do you think your experience of reliable Golfs might in any way be related to the fact your husband is a mechanic who knows about Golfs?


In the same vein, the four laptops/PCs that my wife and I use have never once been infected with spyware, had a virus, been hacked, or needed to be rebuilt in the last three years. That doesn't necessarily make all laptops/PCs of the same make reliable, it might just be connected with the fact that I work for a technology company...

JustinR1979

Unsure on the Golf, but the Passat went backwards after B5.5 so Audi could justify the premium.
B5 and B5.5 they were very similar, so other than badge snobbery there was nothing else to justify the extra cost.
I'm sure Jap cars have less go wrong than German cars, have only owned German, but from friends and relatives with Jap cars that never need anything doing I have this opinion; rightly or wrongly

19lottie82

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Do you think your experience of reliable Golfs might in any way be related to the fact your husband is a mechanic who knows about Golfs?


In the same vein, the four laptops/PCs that my wife and I use have never once been infected with spyware, had a virus, been hacked, or needed to be rebuilt in the last three years. That doesn't necessarily make all laptops/PCs of the same make reliable, it might just be connected with the fact that I work for a technology company...

Partially, of course. But my husband has mainted ever since I met him, whenever asks him what car model of used car they should consider his answer is "golf" every single time (unless they are looking for something a bit more upmarket, of course).

I don't know much about some of the other brands of small cars mentioned on this thread, but I do know from my own experience and my husbands that if looked after, golfs will last almost forever, deliver a exceedingly high mileage and hold their value.

JustinR1979

19lottie82 wrote: »

Partially, of course. But my husband has mainted ever since I met him, whenever asks him what car model of used car they should consider his answer is "golf" every single time.

He services and repairs these, that's handy!

BeenThroughItAll

19lottie82 wrote: »

if looked after, golfs will last almost forever, deliver a exceedingly high mileage and hold their value.

I agree only with the value point there. They do hold their value, but that's only because of their perceived image. Where it comes to mileage, there *are* Golfs which will go to the moon and back, but far from every engine choice is capable of that. I wouldn't trust a TSI to make it even halfway there without needing substantial and expensive work on the timing chain, for instance.


I would argue that if looked after, most cars will last a very long time and deliver very high miles.

JustinR1979

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I would argue that if looked after, most cars will last a very long time and deliver very high miles.

Yep, with modern oils most engines should outlast the owners


Maybe where Golf owners pay a premium they service the car better than average to try and keep hold of that premium for resale.

kwmlondon

From my experience I'd say get a Vauxhall Astra. They are cheap second hand, reliable, good to drive, plenty about. I've had a few different rental "economy" cars, so have driven an Astra, C'eed, Nissan Juke, Focus and had BMW and Audis when using Zipcars and the Astra was fine, but seems like a total bargain used. A 1.7CRD will go okay, be cheap as chips to run and you'll get a good used one for £7k.

You could look at a Swift but I'd have thought that with kids and a dog one notch up in size would make life a lot easier without paying much more for the privilege.

That's my advice from the cars I've spent time in.

19lottie82

JustinR1979 wrote: »

He services and repairs these, that's handy!

Yes (for the garage owner), amongst a multitude of other cars too.