I need a car. Any ideas!!

HannaB

Hello all,

After a road accident, my car has been declared a write-off, so now I need a new one. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of which to get, and more importantly, which not to get. My written-off car was a 2004 Renault Clio which I loved. Cheap to run, cheap tax and roomy for a small car. It was shame that one bump meant it was "not economical to repair".

After the finance companies have been paid (and everyone has their share before me), I should be left with about £3,000. If possible, I would not like to walk into any further loans or finance agreements at this point. But I am open to this option.

Basically, I need something that will tick all of these boxes:

- 1.2 or a 1.4
- Under insurance group 5
- A good mpg (at least 40 on average)
- 5 doors if possible (the in-laws don't drive, although seeing them clambering over the folded- down front seat is funny:D )
- Reliable!
- Under 5 years old

(I'm not fussy or anything:o )

I have been tempted to maybe try a car supermarket or an auction. Does anyone know of any good, honest places in the Berkshire or Nottinghamshire areas?

Thanks

Hanna

joshm_2

Maybe a Mitsubishi Colt or you might find a Toyota Yaris at your level if you look hard enough?

thunderchump

Fiat Pandacheap to run, cheap to buy, economical. you could get a 04 reg for cheap! i think the 1.2cc are insurance group 1! the 1300 diesel will do 60mpg! gets good reviews everywhere too. nice little car. 5 door too.

jimbo_the_jetset

I'd start in the local paper. Auctions can be good but in some instances you have to accept a bit of risk because you can't take them for a thorough test drive. You can if you buy private and if you quiz the previous owner about the car and you can find out what work, if any, has been done. Auto Trader and Fish4 sites aren't too bad too. You can filter out traders just to search private.

If you're looking at small cars - corsa's, 206's, polo (expensive) or a vw derivative e.g. Skoda or Seat (think about how much prices for parts may be) my girlfriend had a suzuki and the prices for parts were really high, european cars tend to have more reasonable part prices and are usually more widely available.

Anything below a 1.4 should give reasonable mpg. A decent diesel will give ~45mpg around town and +50mpg on longer runs

Check out Parkers.co.uk for a guide and Honest John for car reviews.

avantra

You might want to look at this article from Mr Money on last week Telegraph, might give you the direction you need:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/motoring/2007/08/11/nosplit/mrmoney111.xml

ArsenalFC

A toyota yaris is an excellent small reliable car. For your budget of £3000, i dont think you can get a 2002 5doors. Get the best you can for your budget, try www.autotrader.co.uk and your local papers.

vansboy

Fiat Panda, as mentioned above.

There are plenty of these, well built, modern cars coming through now.

If you DO want to try auction, Fiat have their own special sale, sections at British Car Auctions Derby.

These will mostly be ex daily rental cars, for a shade more than £3000. They will be OK maintained, still be in warranty & not worked really hard, but will have had several drivers - depending on your point of view, this will have actually run the car in BETTER than 'one careful owner' might!

PM me if you want more info!!

VB

MoneyMiser

You can buy my Fiat Punto if you want for £2700.

1.2 Engine
5 Years Old
5 Door
47k Miles
Very Reliable

Plus you will have £300 left for yourself. PM me if your interested?

nullogik

Second the Fiat Panda. An excellent little car thats cheap to run and is reliable.

If you do fairly high mileage consider getting a diesel one.

aj3001

Fiat Panda is fantastic to drive (hey I'm an 18 year old "boy racer" and I liked driving it)

But also the Toyota Yaris cannot be faulted and I would not turn my nose up at one at all

I was looking for a Panda for my nan, and whilst speaking to a garage, they said they had two in stock, one is still for sale but one they thought was so good they took it on as a curtosey car! I think that speaks volumes about the car

ixwood

Go diesel would be my advice. More mpg and therefore lower emissions/tax normally. plus, you can use biodisiel, either now, or in the future.

Also check out parkers techincal information on each model to compare. I look at Insurance group, tax band, mpg for all the cars that fit my needs. And bhp and 0-60 of course!!

I recently got a 2001 Seat Leon 1.9 TDi SE. Insurance group 7, road tax band c and 50+ miles per gallon. All much better than my previous A3, which if anything was slower.

Subsequently, I got fully comp insurance for £130 (inclusding £100 from quidco ) and have just had to tax it for £115. Before the insurance would have been over £300 and tax over £200. And I now get 550ish miles per tank, rather than the 300 odd I was getting before.