Need to Buy New Car

anotheruser

My 56 focus has done 150,000 and has served me really well.
Of late, it's been really reliable. Currently there's something wrong with it and I have just spent about £400 getting it through an MOT. This latest problem is possibly known about already but will be another £100 to fix.

Thinking ahead about another car.

Currently I drive about 20 mins to work, 20 mins back from work. It's country lanes. Occasionally I may drive 50 miles somewhere, 50 miles back.

Rarely it'll be a 600 mile round trip to the south west.

I honestly don't mind what car I look at next but some things I've thought about are:

Low tax (currently pay £200 a year).
Reliability.
Up to about £3500.

Honestly, those are the only priorities I have.
I thought about a bank loan of a few thousand and looking more in the £4000 / £5000 range but I'm not sure.

Any ideas of what cars I should possibly look at?

Liked the idea of a Fiesta eco boost but the only ones I see are S or N write offs.

DUTR

In that budget you should have a large market, you'd need to narrow down your requirements as a family size car will be as effective as a medium hatchback.

Cap2019

Personally I wouldn't take a loan just for the sake of it - you should have some good options in the £3000-3500 range. What sized car are you looking for? Same again? What about a Hyundai i30 or Kia Ceed? I have an i30 and love it. If smaller then I can recommend the Suzuki swift.

bigisi

The thread title is misleading. It should read "Want to buy a new car". You don't need to you're just telling yourself you do to justify spending £3500+ instead of £100.

mollycat

anotheruser wrote: »

My 56 focus has done 150,000 and has served me really well.
Of late, it's been really reliable. Currently there's something wrong with it and I have just spent about £400 getting it through an MOT. This latest problem is possibly known about already but will be another £100 to fix.

Given the above why are you looking to spend £3K when you could spend £100?

A £3K car will need money maintaining as well, £100 to keep your "reliable", newly MOT'd car on the road is peanuts in motoring terms.

If you fancy a new car, brilliant go for it; if you think you need a new car on the basis your current one is facing a small repair i would (very respectfully ) suggest your reasoning is flawed.

[Deleted User]

Avoid the eco boost engines.
Hyundai i10 will be ideal for your needs and budget.

foxy-stoat

If you want a smaller car then get a diesel 1.3 corsa D or E - buy a straight one rather than a written off one.

If you want a larger car then look at a Giulietta 1.6 jtdm or 2.0 (140hp) for the cheaper tax band.

What ever your get, choose a low owner with full service history, even if it means you pay a bit more for it......

Or spend the £100 on your car and repair it, saving the monthly loan repayments you would of paid and look to replace it when you have built up enough.