Used 7 seater required - new to buying cars!

survivor84

Hello,

I need some help please. I have recently left my abusive marriage with my children but my husband has kept the car as it is his and in his name. I really need a car, and it has to be a 7 seater due to the amount of children I have. I previously had a quashqai +2 and an x trail. Due to the abuse in the marriage I have been left with a lot of debt (but that's on another post!) So getting a car is going to be tricky. Any ideas on the best thing to do? I work full time, have no savings and my credit rating isn't good. I also have no idea what to look for when buying a car: low mileage etc. I do about 10,000 a year if that and have only driven petrol cars. I really need something reliable with the children. Really appreciate any advice! Thanks so much.

forgotmyname

No savings and debts = shark to the slaughter of we can give finance to anyone at 10,000,000% interest...

Interest maybe a more reasonable 50% on paper but the car will be seriously overpriced before you even start.

survivor84

I know, it's a minefield. Even if I could scrape together enough for a run around, I'm looking at cars with 100,000 + mileage and I am thus really nervous about them then.

forgotmyname

For many years i have only bought cars with over 100,000 miles on them.

Average 130,000 the price has plummeted by that point. Lots wont touch them with that mileage or need to discount them heavily.

As long as its got a perfect service history.

Bought one with 130k on the clock at 5 years old for just over £2000 and sold it 5 or 6 years later with 174k on the clock. The new buyer was doing 30k miles a year in it..

Must be pushing 300k by the next MOT.

Current car 174k on the clock, just under 5 years old and i paid less than half the insurance companies estimate.

[Deleted User]

7 seaters are expensive to run. Stick to the more compact 7 seaters. There are millions of Zafiras and these are amongst the cheapest 7 seaters used. Finding a good one is the thing, a full MOT and recent service a must. Good luck.
if you could manage with a 5 seater it would be so much cheaper to run as small hatchbacks are great value to buy and run.

onomatopoeia99

survivor84 wrote: »

I know, it's a minefield. Even if I could scrape together enough for a run around, I'm looking at cars with 100,000 + mileage and I am thus really nervous about them then.

The car I drive to work in every day has 133,000 miles on the clock and is 19 years old. It has five fewer seats than you require, but I use it as a real life example that six figure mileage is not a reason to be scared of a vehicle.

Be more worried about low mileage cars that have only ever been used for a one mile school run and never get properly warm.

buglawton

Deleted_User wrote: »

7 seaters are expensive to run. Stick to the more compact 7 seaters. There are millions of Zafiras and these are amongst the cheapest 7 seaters used. Finding a good one is the thing, a full MOT and recent service a must. Good luck.
if you could manage with a 5 seater it would be so much cheaper to run as small hatchbacks are great value to buy and run.

If you buy a Zafira makes sure the 2018 recall has been dealt with.

survivor84

Thanks so much, I've been looking at zafiras as these seem to be the cheapest available 7 seater. What is the 2018 recall thing? So pleased you mentioned thus as I had no idea. The cars I seem to be looking at are more like 8ys old with over 100,000 miles on the clock. What do you think? x

fred246

My 15 year old VW Galaxy 1.9 TDI has got the same engine as a Skoda Fabia. The extra 2 seats cost nothing extra to run. It has only needed oil changes and has done 160000. Only major expense has been new clutch and dual mass flywheel. More economical than our small petrol hatchback. I have serviced it myself though with the correct VW oil. Garage serviced examples won't have been looked after so well.

alan_d

As another poster says, high mileage is no problem on most cars, provided there is service history to demonstrate it's been looked after.
I've just sold a V70 on 273k to a mate, which i've had for 12 years - no reliability issues.
I also have a XC90 on 175k (7 seats) - however find the insurance is quite a bit more for a 7-seat car vs a 5-seat one.
Zafiras are cheap, but not great in the first place. Probably worth looking at other makes also - and get insurance quotes before you buy!

jimbo6977

Chevrolet Orlando - 7 seats, built on same platform as Zafira but could be cheaper due to being a discontinued brand in UK.

Fiat Multipla - 6 seats and ugly as a bug. Uses platform common to may other Fiat models.

Nissan NV200 - 7 seats. Same platform and engines as many Nissan and Renault models