Car buying advice

vharbourne

I currently have a Ford fiesta fusion 06 plate that is starting to have lots of issues and not worth spending alot to keep repairing it. I am currently looking at car options and stuck! Car sales people just want to upsell. I have no idea what car to look at so after some advice.

I only drive locally to work and take kids to school etc with the occasion bypass journey that my car struggles with as it is slow.

I am after something not much bigger than mine but may be slightly bigger boot and a bit higher up possibly. I would like something slightly faster than mine but maybe that's just the age of it with it struggling? 5 doors, economical on petrol and Bluetooth would be nice but other than that I am not overly picky.

Can anybody advise on what cars to look at I am looking to spend a max of £7000 at a push and would like as new a reg as possible and fairly low mileage.

Thanks

Tokk

So short-ish journies, generally at fairly low speeds?

Point one, therefore, any modern (DPF equipped) diesel is definitely out... Ignore headline fuel economy stats, a diesel for short journeys will never get near those stats, and it'll need much more regular maintenance with that kind of use.

We'd all love something that pulls like a train and yet gives great fuel economy, but the two generally trade off against each other (and higher powered motors generally demand higher road tax, too)... Without knowing the power output of your current car, consider how much more you really need.

Personally I'd avoid small petrol engines with huge turbos on (1.0 litre engines putting out 100bhp+ are going to be working hard for it) but do your homework - some such engines seem to cause owners more problems than others.

How much bigger do you want/need? Is taller a big issue?
Again there's tradeoffs - more size generally means more weight and as a result worse acceleration (assuming same power) and worse fuel economy.

vharbourne

mine is a 1.4, definately not looking for a fast car but mine struggles at 60/70mph but 95% of my journeys are small town driving. mine is petrol and want to stick with that and a manual car too. i don't need much bigger but have looked at the aygo for example and it is too small. I do like the Kia venga as it is a bit higher but not too big.

Just really struggling with what's best to go for. I will probably end up keeping it
several years as I have been driving 9 years and only had 2 cars in that time so want something to last lol

Tokk

Okay looking up the 1.4 petrol Fusion shows 79bhp but 14secs 0-60, can certainly see why that'd feel slow!

Good news is that you can get more power AND better fuel consumption from petrol engines quite easily within budget.

Looking up the Kia you mentioned (must admit it's not one that I was aware of) looks small to me but that's for you to decide - guessing you're looking at small cars with decent size boots then?

With Kia I'd be most interested in taking advantage of their long warranty - anything that's not been serviced on the dot may nullify that (so would be immediately ruled out for me).

Keeping to smaller cars will definitely stretch the budget more than a Golf/Focus sort of size.

At that price/size I'd look at Honda jazz myself, very practical (though a slightly smaller boot) and incredibly reliable... Maybe worth looking at if you can find one locally, particularly as you're keen to run something that'll last a long time (though obviously pretty much anything will run longer with reasonable servicing, skipping it can decrease the life of a car fast!)

System

When was the last time it had a major service?

vharbourne

Thanks very much for your advice, that is not one I have looked at so will see if there is one locally I can look at.

Tarambor it is services every year but I have taken it to my usual mechanic and there are a few things on there way out. It costs me a couple of hundred pounds each device and I have had to take it in twice already after that. I am only being offered £600 as a part ex so just feel spending any more on it now. I should rather look at something else. I have had the car 6 years and was already thinking I need to look at changing it for something that suits me better

onomatopoeia99

vharbourne wrote: »

mine is a 1.4, definately not looking for a fast car but mine struggles at 60/70mph but 95% of my journeys are small town driving.

Any 1400cc car should manage 70mph comfortably. If it's "struggling" at 60mph then something is wrong with it.

andrewf75

Honda Jazz is a good shout. Or a Skoda Fabia. Both brilliant cars IMO. I'm sure there are many more that fit the bill. Just look for one with a good history and you won't go far wrong.

Bigphil1474

OP, my last couple of cars have been Ford's and I've had no issues with them. I have a Fiesta at the moment which is still going strong on an 09 plate. My sister in law has a Bmax (or could be a Cmax!) that has a higher seated position. My fiesta is a petrol and reasonable mpg - about 45 in town, up to 60mpg on motorway - I would suspect the more modern ones are much better.
If you have a local mechanic who you trust, maybe have a word with them as they might know someone who has a good motor for sale. I generally get mine based on what's available in my price range, but my brother is a mechanic and has sourced all my cars for the last 25 years.

Tokk

Ford's can be good cars, but like most manufacturers there are things to be wary of - in particular, premature engine failure on certain "ecoboost" petrol engines (and a 1.6d engine that tended to die early if not serviced as regularly as it should be - but not relevant here).

Whatever you go for, it's worth doing your homework on what can/does go wrong on some models, why (if known) and how expensive it might be if you were to buy one and have it happen to you.

flashg67

I've had 2 Kia Rios with no issues - similar class to Fiesta but a bit larger in the flesh. Also look at Hyundai i20 - my family have had good reliability from theirs