Most reliable used cars for £5-7000

bengalknights

Honda Jazz gets my vote here or if you need something slightly bigger than go for a Civic.

BOWFER

Goudy said:

The Fiesta has had some slating in the past, some of it a bit unfair but they sell so many you should have your pick of cars and if one seems a bit leggy, scruffy or missing some service history, the next one is only around the corner.

We've had more cars in the past 10 years than most, I get bored easily!
We've had Renault, Ford, Mazda, Seat, Land Rover, VW, Audi, BMW, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, Honda.
The only one that's given us real grief has been Ford, namely 2 x Fiestas.
The first one broke down on the way home from the dealer, the alternator hadn't been connected up at the factory and the car was running off the battery until that died - not a good start.
The second one (my wife insisted she wanted to give them another go) also had alternator problems, door rubbers that kept coming off and I was sitting in the passenger seat when something hit my legs and it was a big chunk of heater ducting.
I wouldn't have another Ford in a competition, let alone pay for one.

Richard53

Skoda? Their reliability is now very good. I got a 4-year-old Octavia last year for a little over £5k and I'm delighted with it. Comfy, quality interior, very practical, nice drive, economical (60 mpg average), fast enough to be interesting, and zero VED. Literally nothing has gone wrong in 12 months. I love it, I like it more the more I use it, and it's going to be a keeper. If the Octavia is too big for your needs, a Fabia is like a scaled-down version. A bit dull-looking, but far from ugly.

Arklight

You won't go wrong with a Suzuki.

ZOZO93

Thanks for all the replies. As an update I had a look at few cars including the Suzuki celaro which seems cracking value it just wasn't quite the spec I wanted, the Peugeot 208 (too small), Skoda Fabia (I don't know what it was I just didn't love it) and a Yaris. I've chosen the Yaris because I don't know why but I love driving it and feel really comfortable in it. 

I've also had a wobble about if I should wait or go for it as used car prices do seem overinflated at the moment. But I've decided that I'd really appreciate the upgrade right now as opposed to waiting a year (not very mse friendly I know).

Grumpy_chap

ZOZO93 said:

I've chosen the Yaris because I don't know why but I love driving it and feel really comfortable in it. 

But I've decided that I'd really appreciate the upgrade right now as opposed to waiting a year (not very mse friendly I know).

It's great that you found something you just "like" and that is the best reason to choose any car.

Also, quite reasonable to just get the nice thing when you can - you have done the "head versus heart" battle.  No-one on the death bed ever says they wish they'd waited.

ZOZO93

Grumpy_chap said:

ZOZO93 said:

I've chosen the Yaris because I don't know why but I love driving it and feel really comfortable in it. 

But I've decided that I'd really appreciate the upgrade right now as opposed to waiting a year (not very mse friendly I know).

It's great that you found something you just "like" and that is the best reason to choose any car.

Also, quite reasonable to just get the nice thing when you can - you have done the "head versus heart" battle.  No-one on the death bed ever says they wish they'd waited.

Thanks this has actually made my day . I am never normally one to splurge so a purchase like this has made me feel a little anxious. For context my favourite game each month is seeing how much I can overpay on the mortgage 😂. I've come to peace with my splurge in that whatever I put into the car I'll match in mortgage overpayments this year .