Buying a second hand car

davholla

People have been very helpful with my questions but I realize that I have been asking the wrong questions.
I just passed my test am not a young driver and want to buy a car for low mileage although there will be few long journeys a year. If my other half passes then there will be two of us using it.

Despite looking on line I am not quite sure how much I need to spend to get a reliable car.
Any ideas on what is the lowest budget that will have a good chance of surviving a few years and what model would people suggest?
We can probably spend up to £4k but we do not HAVE to have a car so I could save up if neccessary.

bigjl

So you started a second thread?

Any car can break, new cars, cheap cars, expensive cars, German cars, Japanese cars, French cars.

A damage repaired Cat C could be faultless for years. A mint low miler from a Main Dealer Approved Used scheme could break down all the time.

A £500 Astra from Gumtree could last you five years with minimal maintenance.

davholla

I did say have a good chance. I know that I could spend £500 and with luck it would last for years but I was talking about probabilities.
If someone says look for x model and it breaks, I won't come back and complain.

bobbymotors

Id personally spend £2000 or so on something Japanese with sensible (<80000) miles and a decent service history.

bigjl

davholla wrote: »

I did say have a good chance. I know that I could spend £500 and with luck it would last for years but I was talking about probabilities.
If someone says look for x model and it breaks, I won't come back and complain.

Your question has too many variables for any advice to be given.

A Lexus LS400 would be very reliable. I would get one of those. You never here of one of them giving many problems.

forgotmyname

If your doing a low mileage why are you buying a low mileage car? Save a ton of money and buy a well serviced high mileage one. Works for me and when it comes to sell i lose very little.

My last car was just over £2000 in 2009 (it was almost 5 years old) and sold in 2015 for £800. All because it had over 130k miles.

I sold it with approx 175k miles on it and the new owner said they have gone over 200k miles and still running well.

jk0

Here's a make to avoid. This guy's voice is amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPJ64sTa7KI

misswansea

In a similar situ to you

I haven't owned a car for years, so have no insurance discount, and OH has only just got his provisional (in our 40s).
We wanted something simple with a small engine to keep the insurance costs down whilst we spend a couple of years building up a driving history and learning to park without kerbing the wheels etc.
We have ended up with a Kia Picanto, was hoping to spend 1800 ish on a 8-10 yr old one but ended up spending a little more on one only 6 yrs old with only 40k in the clock and seems to be well looked after. Its not flashy or luxurious but a nice little metal box on wheels that goes places, and new ones come with 7 yrs warranty so I have high hopes of this one going for quite some time.
Other cars we considered included Toyota Yaris and Suziki swift.
A friend has an Agila which is also quite nice and many people like the Honda Jazz.

hope you find your sweet deal

angrycrow

Given you are a new driver you are best basing your choice of car on insurance costs. Popular small cas are not always the cheapest, corsa for example should be cheap but young drivers buy them and crash them a lot so insurers see them as a high risk. Look on line for cars you like with an engine around 1.2l then run insurance quotes on comparison sites.

If you are not mechanically minded take someone who is and buy the newest you can afford. Japanese cars tend to have the best reliability but hold their value as a result. Generally French cars suffer electrical gremlins.

loskie

if you dont need a car and only do a few journeys then hire a car when you need one.

AdrianC

loskie wrote: »

if you dont need a car and only do a few journeys then hire a car when you need one.

This is very sound advice.

Seriously, you've obviously managed without a car this long, so your lives are clearly not car-dependent without major chances. If you find yourself needing a car a few times a year, it will be MUCH less cost and hassle to just hire as required, especially since I'm guessing you live in a city with decent public transport.