Car suggestions please.

EdGasketTheSecond

ohreally wrote: »

it's reaching a point where my other half is making noises

Sounds like she needs trading-in then , not your car.

Clive_Woody

Zero_Gravitas wrote: »

99.9% of the time, the answer to the question "what car should I buy?" is always a Skoda Octavia.

Another vote for this. We've had 3 Octavias over the years and they are great cars. I currently have a petrol Octavia 245 vRS, not great for MPG, but great for smiles-per-miles and has loads of toys.

Have a look at the diesel Octavia vRS if you do the miles to justify a diesel and enjoy a brisk drive. Alternatively there's a big range to choose from petrol and diesel.

As has been mentioned though, if all you need to spend is £400 and you get to keep your current car and enjoy that for many more years then personally I would do that and avoid the temptation to go shopping for a new car.

fred246

My 2004 VW needed it's first cambelt change in 2009. Tools are so cheap these days that it is cheaper to buy all the tools you need than pay a garage to do the job. I do my own but it is a bit scary and you can wreck your engine if you don't get it right. At the time I was tempted by Stafford Audi who advertised cambelt and water pump change for £275. They had really good reviews and people travelled from all over the country and had a day out there while it was done. I thought if they are doing so many cambelts maybe they are good at it. There are those who will tell you that your current Golf is worthless if you haven't got the stamps because you have serviced it yourself. If you like the car and everything works well it should last for years. Just need to budget for tyres, exhausts, batteries and brake pads. Much cheaper than changing it.

Craig1981

on things repairs/maintenance i dont do myself (or have the tools for to do so,) i buy parts myself, and pay labour to a local garage to fit it.
water pump, coolant, belt i did last year cost me £220 doing it this way
they have done in the past radiators, hard to reach sensors, etc

besides this, VW fixed price servicing - cambelt and water pump £549... on a 15 plate golf, hardly worth buying a new car!

fred246

Frequent oil changes are good to keep the car running for years. You aren't going to reap the benefits if you sell it because it needs a cambelt change.

forgotmyname

Just say the new Golf is unreliable the next car will have to be a SKODA because thats far more reliable.

MX5huggy

This maybe the one circumstance when buying a private ref plate could be justified. If a private plate means you keep the old good car then get one.

System

£350 for cambelt, water pump, cambelt tensioner and auxiliary belt changed on my Mondeo. To change an extremely well maintained car and spend several thousand quid to avoid a £400 bill is just insane. Given how well you've maintained your car to guarantee one maintained as well you'd have to buy new.

My plan if my missus was daft enough to make the same suggestion would be to find out how much you'd need to spend to replace the car (bearing in mind the value of yours will be lower due to needing that belt changing and not doing it) and ask her if you had that money spare to waste on avoiding a £400 bill without needing to borrow any telling her the answer to that question was the same as to whether to get a new car or not. Although thinking about it in my case I'd shoot myself in the foot :rotfl: