What car to buy

wayneennis

I need help in deciding what type of car to get

I am not a petrol head. I don't care what my car looks like or which manufacturer makes it. I don't care about the size of the car. I have about £4000 to spend on a second hand car.

My criteria is

Low engine size so it is low in petrol costs.

Cheap cost on wear and tear parts such as clutch, brakes, exhaust, timing belts, etc.

Pollution tax free (car tax) or as low as possible.

Based on my criteria what models of cars do you recommend?

wayneennis

I am single and have no kids. I will be using the car for going to work and back and food shopping. I don’t do any long or medium distance driving. I don’t need a big boot.

I really don’t care about the shape, size and looks of the car.

Londoner_1

Try above between 2005-07, cheap parts, no timing belt, vry practical, cost up to 2k, save the rest.

Guest101

wayneennis wrote: »

I need help in deciding what type of car to get

I am not a petrol head. I don't care what my car looks like or which manufacturer makes it. I don't care about the size of the car. I have about £4000 to spend on a second hand car.

My criteria is

Low engine size so it is low in petrol costs. - Low engine size can mean much higher petrol costs actually. It depends entirely on how you use the car.

Cheap cost on wear and tear parts such as clutch, brakes, exhaust, timing belts, etc. - If you're spending £4k on a car, you wont be replacing those for a while you'd hope (ok well £4k on a normal car - perhaps a Ferrari at that price....)

Pollution tax free (car tax) or as low as possible. - It's not typically that much anyway, I think your priorities are totally off.

Based on my criteria what models of cars do you recommend?

You clearly know very little about cars, so I suggest you bring a friend that atleast knows the difference between a Hyundai and a Honda!


As for recommendations - Skoda, Hyundai, Toyota are all reliable


Ford and Vauxhall are cheap for parts.


at £4k you should be looking at a very decent car, but given your lack of knowledge, if you walked into a dealership you'd have your pants pulled down.


I bought a Hyundai i30 for not much more than your budget and it's great. Comfortable, reliable and decent mileage

worried_jim

wayneennis wrote: »

I am single and have no kids. I will be using the car for going to work and back and food shopping. I don’t do any long or medium distance driving. I don’t need a big boot.

I really don’t care about the shape, size and looks of the car.

Why not treat yourself and get something fun? Mx5 convertible.

wazza99

"Pollution tax free (car tax) or as low as possible. - It's not typically that much anyway, I think your priorities are totally off"

Not much ? i have two cars one is £180 other £245.....so it is something to consider....

Mx5 ? unless you can get yourself a MK3 onwards don't bother too much can go wrong (rust)

BeenThroughItAll

wazza99 wrote: »

"Pollution tax free (car tax) or as low as possible. - It's not typically that much anyway, I think your priorities are totally off"

Not much ? i have two cars one is £180 other £245.....so it is something to consider....

Mx5 ? unless you can get yourself a MK3 onwards don't bother too much can go wrong (rust)

£245 in the grand scheme of motoring costs is nothing. £20 a month is barely enough to cover the difference in depreciation between a £245 to tax car for 1.5-2K and a <£100 to tax car costing 4K.

wayneennis

Thanks for all you replies.

no1catman

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

£245 in the grand scheme of motoring costs is nothing. £20 a month is barely enough to cover the difference in depreciation between a £245 to tax car for 1.5-2K and a <£100 to tax car costing 4K.

Tax is not based on cost - but engine size, and the environmental cost. My old car was a 2.0 litre TD - tax = £180 (probably would be more now), my current car 1.4 HDI (is faster) only cost £30 to tax - now that is 'not a lot'!

BeenThroughItAll

no1catman wrote: »

Tax is not based on cost - but engine size, and the environmental cost. My old car was a 2.0 litre TD - tax = £180 (probably would be more now), my current car 1.4 HDI (is faster) only cost £30 to tax - now that is 'not a lot'!

I'm well aware of how VED works, thank you, and didn't say anything even close to approaching the fact that it's based on cost.

Try reading the post again, I was comparing the cost of tax with the depreciation of a higher cost vehicle to illustrate the fact that as motoring costs go, it's fairly irrelevant.