used automatic car budget 3-4k

fondsauce

Hi all I am a uni student requiring a car for daily placements that are about 10-20 miles away on the motorway. Tried getting the bus and relying on people to give me lifts but it is not sustainable in the long run especially towards exams as public transport is just not reliable and expensive (about 4-5 pounds one way) compared to my home country where I would not bother with the hassle of a car. I will need the car for 3-4 years and then sell it so it has to last that long hopefully.

With that said, I only have an automatic license, and have a budget of 3-4.5k without insurance (plugging in numbers i estimate about 1-1.6k). This will be my first car so bear with me if I am clueless about anything. I plan to do road trips once a month as well and would like a car that will not struggle on the motorway and is reliable.

So far on reading more about automatics, I am looking more for a traditional torque converter automatic and read that Japanese/Korean makes are the ones to look out for and automated manuals and DSGs are to be avoided as they are expensive to fix. I will probably also avoid french/italian makes. I am ok with hatchbacks and saloons but nothing bigger and I dont think a city car will fit my needs. I am hoping to get something with <200 road tax.

I'm not too sure how old a car I should get, am leaning to something in 2010 but am unlikely to get anything decent that isn't CAT C/D. I'm also not too sure how much mileage I should look at although I understand a full service history is more important as well as whether they are motorway or city miles.

I am leaning towards Japanese/Korean but most are quite out of budget unless I go for something older or with a lot of miles.

I am just wondering what are your opinions on the following automatics or their variants:
2008 1.4 CVT Honda Jazz (not i-shift as I heard those are terrible) - think it is too old
2009 1.6L Skoda Fabia tiptronic
2009 1.6L Kia Cee'd
2010 1.5L suzuki swift
2012 Hyundai i20
2011 or 2012 Kia Rio
2009 mazda3
2010 suzuki sx4
2010 1.8l honda civic (not i-shift)

Thank you, this info is quite hard to find given the advice out there is mainly for manuals.

LandyAndy

These aren't very common as automatics but they are good, reliable cars


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201707117258630?make=MAZDA&transmission=Automatic&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=4000&model=MAZDA2&postcode=w1a1aa&sort=sponsored&price-from=2500&radius=1500&page=1

LandyAndy

Mazda3 autos are pretty common and would be a good choice if you want something a little larger (I see you have considered Astras).

Nodding_Donkey

Beware of rust on Mazdas.

Most of the ones I see disintegrate as soon as the corrosion warranty finishes. Make sure that the annual corrosion inspection is tagged onto the service history as well, that's Mazda's usual get out from claims on it.

(for Landyandy: they rust like a Disco I without the benefit of a chassis to hold them together )

LandyAndy

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Beware of rust on Mazdas.

Most of the ones I see disintegrate as soon as the corrosion warranty finishes. Make sure that the annual corrosion inspection is tagged onto the service history as well, that's Mazda's usual get out from claims on it.

(for Landyandy: they rust like a Disco I without the benefit of a chassis to hold them together )

My two are 59 reg so just coming up to 8 years old and I have had them from new. There is no rust on either of them although they have done 73k and 133k miles respectively. They have been, bar one incident, mechanically faultless.

facade

The internet consensus is that Mazda fixed the serious rust issues in 2007, before that the rear wheelarches will have come out by now, and rotted the sill at the rear, so any rust issues should be obvious.

cajef

Don't rule out Honda Civic, good build quality, reliability and traditional auto gearbox.

fondsauce

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I've seen that mazda2 for almost a month and no one has bought it. I'm wondering if 85000 miles is too much for a 5 year old car? The next 2012 mazda2 is almost 2k more expensive so I have a feeling it is a bit fishy. It's quite far from me as well to go have a look but it is very tempting.

I have disregarded vauxhall astra and corsa due to numerous reports of automatic transmissions failing on Honest John as well as the Fiesta with failures from both torque converter 4-speed auto and the powershift so hope this helps anyone out there looking for a reliable auto!

So far I have probably narrowed it to the following:

2013 suzuki alto at 4.3k, much newer than anything but made in India and build quality is not the best and it is a city car.

2010 suzuki swift with 37k miles at 4k.

2010 kia ceed with ~50k miles at 3.5k

2009 suzuki sx4 with 50k miles at 3.3k. sat in one before and it's pretty nice.

2009 mazda3 at 3250 and 67k miles but unsure whether to buy something that old.

2010 1.8l torque converter civic with 80k miles at about 4.6k from a dealer with 80 5 star reviews.

Im wondering what anyone suggests about the above? I am leaning towards the civic for reliability and resale value although the mpg will suffer with 1.8l.

Also, what kind of pre-purchase inspection do you think I should use given I have no experience in this and although a friend's dad can help me, these cars are all at least 30 miles away and I'm not sure if he is willing to help me.