Please Help - Grateful for any Recco's on Second Hand Car - Budget 3k

Yuria

Dear People of this forum,

I unfortunately have found myself in an unfortunate circumstance and kindly would like to ask for your help. I have come to humbly ask for some insight and help regarding a situation I am currently in. Basically, I’m in desperate need of a car, but I have a budget restraint on what I can afford. The budget I can stretch to is to £3000. I need to get out of the situation I am in (I haven't broken the law ) and having a vehicle will allow me to get away to greener pastures anew. I won’t bore you with any more details.
I wanted to ask you what a good car would be to get that is reliable and low maintenance and won’t cost me an arm and a leg if something was to break down. Also, what places online would you suggest I look on to try and get a car. It’s really hard for me right now to travel long distances. I know Autotrader is one place. Any hints and tips one what to look for when purchasing a car would help me greatly. Your input would really help me. 

Thank you so much.

Yuria

Bigphil1474

I would recommend getting a bog standard common car, nothing fancy - a Ford Fiesta or similar type of hatchback. Fairly cheap to insure unless you go for the high power versions.

If you have any local dealers around, they may be a good start - check them out online for reviews and if they've been in business a long time. Go have a look and see what they have in stock. The advantage of buying from a trader is that you have some legal rights if there are problems with the car, but they tend to cost more. Might be a moot point if you are driving off into the sunset. A private purchase would be relatively cheaper, but less legal rights. 

Unfortunately, most modern cars aren't that cheap to fix if something goes wrong, bar the usual wear and tear items. 

Do you need the car to move on, or to also move around when you get there? Have you considered a hire car?

baser999

Japanese would likely prove reliable

knightstyle

First check what the insurance will cost you then choose a car based on what you need it for, motorway driving or in town stop-start all the time?   DD just bought a 1.0 Corsa for this reason, it is fine in town but I would not like to go on a long journey in it.
She found it on FB Marketplace but if a seller tells you to ask questions on a Gmail account or similar it will be a scam and there are lots of them on there.

Herzlos

In that price bracket you're buying on condition and insurance.

You just want something basic, smallish and the sort of thing a gran would drive. Don't worry too much about the engine or the age or the model, etc and just look for something that's been well looked after and has paperwork to prove it's been looked after.

Facebook Marketplace will give you a good start for stuff that's very local to you, though it's also worth visiting any local mechanics and car dealers because they may be able to keep an eye out for something for you.

If you don't need a vehicle long term, then you can probably hire one for a few days/weeks for a much lower cost.

ladydriver

If you're on a tight budget (and £3000 is pretty tight in today's market) you need a car that is economical to buy, cheap to insure, cheap to tax, cheap to repair and cheap to run.  You are probably looking at an older car and ideally something small and fuel efficient.

For reliability in an older car, you can't go wrong with Toyota or Honda - these marques are legendary for reliability.  I've never owned a Honda but there are 4 ageing Toyotas in my immediate family and we have minimal issues even though 3 of them are daily drivers - one is 14, one is 21 and the oldest one is nearly 32 years old (the 4th one is also nearly 32 but it's a summer car only).

I bought our 2009 Aygo in 2020 to teach my teenager to drive - there were no driving instructors working that summer - and we've still got it even though he passed his test a year ago.  It's a nippy and cute car with plenty of room in the front (including generous headroom) though only a small boot.  But it's only £20/year road tax, insurance is extremely reasonable and it practically runs on fresh air.  I would definitely recommend the Aygo or something like a Yaris if you're on a budget and prioritise reliability - but look for one with a good service history to make sure it hasn't been neglected.

When you've decided on a make and model, look for a buyer's guide online which will tell you common problems with a particular vehicle so you know what to look for when you're car shopping.  For example, I googled "Toyota Aygo buyer's guide" and found that pre-2009 cars have a weak clutch.  I have noticed quite a few Aygo ads that mention the clutch has already been replaced, but I wouldn't be put off by a car with its original clutch, I'd just budget for a replacement.

If the car you're interested in has an Owner's Club, you can also find useful information from the club website, especially if there is a chat forum.  Often you can find cars for sale too, and there's a good chance that a car sold by an enthusiast has been well maintained.

When you've seen a specific car that you might want to buy, ALWAYS check the MoT history online here: 
www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
If it mentions rust or any other expensive-sounding problem, walk away.

You can find out a lot of details about a specific car here:
www.checkcardetails.co.uk
including the cost of annual road tax.  Road tax varies wildly by age and size of vehicle so you should always know what you're letting yourself in for when picking a car.  You can get ideas for cars with cheap road tax here:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/cheap-road-tax/

Insurance costs also vary enormously, but not always in ways you might expect.  It depends on the perceived risk profile of you, your vehicle and the area in which you live.  I heard very recently about a young driver who got insurance quotes for two different cars - a smallish Ford commonly driven/crashed by teenagers, and a Lexus with a much bigger engine.  Weirdly, the Lexus was considerably cheaper to insure than the Ford, just because the combination of young driver with big Lexus isn't a known risk.  So before committing yourself to a particular car, get some insurance quotes using comparison websites - and try different ones because some work out cheaper than others.  Remember that the "sweet spot" for insurance quotes is around 21 days before you want the policy to start.  If you leave it to the last minute it will cost a lot more.  I also had a strange experience earlier this year when exactly the same policy with exactly the same company was £700 cheaper on Saturday morning than it had been the previous evening - timing is everything!
Follow the MSE guide here:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance/

For general servicing, maintenance and repairs, try to find a small family-run garage business.  They will look after you because they want you to come back, their reputation and good name will be important to them.  Avoid chains where they will upsell unnecessary goods and services to meet their sales targets.

As for where to look for a car online, I don't have any good suggestions beyond Autotrader.  I drive Toyotas, I don't need to replace them very often! (but I do keep adding to the fleet...).  Apparently there are lots of ways to scam car-buyers so perhaps you could research these and make sure you don't fall for any of them.  I've bought quite a few cars over the years from small car sales businesses which advertised through Autotrader as I feel a bit safer dealing with an actual company.  However, I would consider a private seller if I was absolutely sure it was a genuine transaction and not a scam.

If I was in the market for a nice old Toyota today, there's a lovely 1997 Carina 1-owner/42,000 miles from new on Autotrader at a business not too far from where I live.  I'm very tempted!

Good luck with your car search and with your future.