Best runabout ideas for £2,000

Brummie85

Hi everyone.

My Mom was unfortunately involved in an accident last night. She rolled her car after hitting a high side kerb whilst turning. She had a 16 plate mid spec Corsa and yeah.... it will be a total loss/ write-off.

I think at best they'd offer her about £3500 for it. I think she'll want to keep some money back, because obviously her premiums will go up next year.

So my question is this....What are the best runabouts for between £2,000 to £2,500. Fiesta sized, 5 door, petrol with a manual gearbox.

Any decent places to look? Nothing is catching my eye on Autotrader.

loskie

Suzuki swift or fiat panda, buy privately, judge the seller as much as the car. Dont narrow down your model options too much at that budget. Don't rush into buying.
Facebook, ebay, gumtree and ads in the supermarket.

James2k

you're a Brummie and you spell 'mum' 'mom'? The humanity!

As above, forget models, stick in max price and see whats around, go by condition.

forgotmyname

Fiesta size, its gotta be a Fiesta.

No need to look elsewhere, until that bargain pops up unexpectedly then you buy that instead.

I went out for a Focus and cam back with a Mondeo and then another and then another...etc etc... Cheaper to buy and similar running costs.

Brummie85

loskie wrote: »

Suzuki swift or fiat panda, buy privately, judge the seller as much as the car. Dont narrow down your model options too much at that budget. Don't rush into buying.
Facebook, ebay, gumtree and ads in the supermarket.

Certain things are to be avoided. Namely Chevrolet's, Perodua, the Nissan Pixo etc. But pretty much anything else goes.

For £1200 there's a nice looking Citroen C4 that I'd love to suggest to her, but I think she'd knock it back for being the next size up. Shame.

Clive_Woody

Skoda Fabia - great little cars. Cheap to buy and run but well equipped.

GunJack

tip - look at stuff around £1000 and keep the rest for contingency, i.e. some repairs if required or increased insurance premiums. Plenty of decent sub-£1k out there, just be a bit picky....

EdGasketTheSecond

Brummie85 wrote: »

Certain things are to be avoided. Namely Chevrolet's, Perodua, the Nissan Pixo etc. But pretty much anything else goes.

For £1200 there's a nice looking Citroen C4 that I'd love to suggest to her, but I think she'd knock it back for being the next size up. Shame.

Avoid Chevrolet and buy a Citroen?! Really? What planet did you come from? You do know that Chevrolets are basically Vauxhall's right and the Lacetti is regularly used for taxis so they can't be all that bad. In fact some are downright bargains. Cheap parts and easy to maintain.

Nathaniel_Essex

Women drivers. How on earth do you flip a car whilst hitting a curb on the high street?

Hermione_Granger

Nathaniel_Essex wrote: »

Women drivers. How on earth do you flip a car whilst hitting a curb on the high street?

Male readers.
The OP said it was a high side kerb and not a high street curb

Brummie85

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Avoid Chevrolet and buy a Citroen?! Really? What planet did you come from? You do know that Chevrolets are basically Vauxhall's right and the Lacetti is regularly used for taxis so they can't be all that bad. In fact some are downright bargains. Cheap parts and easy to maintain.

My views are somewhat skewed by memories of the Matiz. I know that they are basically GM underneath, so lots of parts carried over from the Corsa, Astra etc. They did get better towards the end. I only say to avoid them, because for the same money I think there are nicer cars.