£2500 to spend on a A3/C4/Polo/Ibiza/Focus/Swift?

Soulginge

foxy-stoat wrote: »

I would buy a petrol 8th Gen Civic.

I found myself in a similar place at the beginning of this year, needing a car and having a similar budget to you. I bought a 2007 Civic and I absolutely love it, what a great car!! I am a complete convert.

Stuart_P

Soulginge wrote: »

I found myself in a similar place at the beginning of this year, needing a car and having a similar budget to you. I bought a 2007 Civic and I absolutely love it, what a great car!! I am a complete convert.

that's good to hear! did you go for something with a full service history? not sure how important that is. hope to have someone with me who knows what to look out for. i'll be buying from a dealer

Soulginge

Stuart_P wrote: »

that's good to hear! did you go for something with a full service history? not sure how important that is. hope to have someone with me who knows what to look out for. i'll be buying from a dealer

Yeah I got it from a dealer, FSH and MOT records with it. To be honest, I have had so many people say that you can't go wrong with a Honda since buying it. They are renowned for reliability and the engines seem to be pretty bulletproof. There are some forums for that model of Civic you could have a look on for buying issues but as far as I managed to find out, they can have an issue with premature wearing of the rear brakes. Would be worth looking out for that.

Stuart_P

ok cool thanks. what mileage did you get? just interested to see what similar mileage and year are going for now

Stoke

I'd probably buy the Polo, but that's just me.

facade

The Honda Jazz is worth a look too, these have a good reputation, the only problem I've heard of is noisy gearbox bearings on some.

Soulginge

Stuart_P wrote: »

ok cool thanks. what mileage did you get? just interested to see what similar mileage and year are going for now

The mileage on mine was quite high actually, 120K-ish. The FSH and general good condition was what swayed me, I could have gotten one with less miles but they were oddly a bit more battered. If I'm honest, I do wonder if I might have gotten more car if I'd gone private but I don't regret the one I got at all.

Merrymay8

I recently bought a Seat Ibiza and have had an accident resulting in the car being written off. There wasn’t too much damage but because the Seat parts are so expensive it has resulted in the car being uneconomical to fix. Might be worth considering.