Need new car

Android07

It seems that used car prices are through the roof!

I desperately want to get rid of my 2007 Focus and upgrade to soemthing better.

I am looking for an automatic, petrol car about the same size as my Focus with less than 80k miles.

The Honda Civic looks sexy ( 2014 onwars and EX /SR models ) but there are so few. Looks like I have to budget £8k for my next car.

Any suggestions?

CliveOfIndia

First question, why do you want to get rid of the Focus?  If it really is on its last legs and becoming uneconomical to maintain, then fair enough.  But very often, from a purely financial point of view, it can make a lot of sense to keep an old car going for quite a bit longer than many people imagine.

If, for instance, it needs £1000 of repairs to get it through the MOT, but once that's done there's not much else wrong with it, then it's a lot cheaper than buying another car.  Or, to look at it another way, what would £1000 buy you?

That aside, the usual starting place is Autotrader.  Filter by budget and distance from you, see what's available.  Try and whittle it down to cars that suit your needs - do you do mainly town driving or long motorway jaunts, do you need space for 4 adults and lots of luggage, or is it just you mostly, that sort of thing.

Also have a mooch round local dealer forecourts, get some idea of what sort of things are available within your price range.

And don't dismiss private sales out of hand.  Yes, there's an added element of uncertainty and you have no comeback, but if you know what you're looking for you can save yourself a fair bit compared to dealer prices.

Android07 said:

The Honda Civic looks sexy ( 2014 onwars and EX /SR models ) but there are so few. L

Have you tried earlier models?  It's such a popular car, I can't believe there aren't plenty for sale.  Mind you, perhaps because they last so well, people don't sell them very often?  I've got a 2009 Civic, it's been brilliant, can't fault it.

But really you need to narrow it down a bit to see what suits your driving patterns and requirements.

Maybe one thing to bear in mind is whether you drive anywhere with Low Emission rules (not necessarily just London).  We recently bought a new (oldish second-hand) car for the good lady.  Saw loads of old diesels which we liked the look of, but it turns out they're not LEZ compliant, so we wouldn't be able to drive them into lots of our local towns (we're in Scotland where if you're not compliant you just get fined.  You can't just pay for an "entry ticket", you can't drive there at all).

Android07

I bought it for my brother in 2016. It was his first car. He's moved to Japan and left me to deal with mine and his car. I sold my Focus and decided to stick with his.

We bought the car for £1400. Taking into account depreciation, the car is worth £500 now. Recently, when refilling the aircon gas, I was told that the compressor needs to be replaced and it will cost me £300.

As such, I do not want to spend any moeny on this car.

chrisw

You don't 'need' aircon. Leave it as it is. Cost = £0.

jimjames

Android07 said:

We bought the car for £1400. Taking into account depreciation, the car is worth £500 now. 

You might want to review that price. Unless there is something seriously wrong with it then it should be worth much more than that if it has an MOT. As you found car prices are very high which also includes older cars. My 20 year old Audi with high miles and not in the best condition sold for £1200

Barkin

Android07 said:

Recently, when refilling the aircon gas, I was told that the compressor needs to be replaced and it will cost me £300.

As such, I do not want to spend any moeny on this car.

Pretend it doesn't have a/c. 

Cost = £0

Herzlos

Android07 said:

I bought it for my brother in 2016. It was his first car. He's moved to Japan and left me to deal with mine and his car. I sold my Focus and decided to stick with his.

We bought the car for £1400. Taking into account depreciation, the car is worth £500 now. Recently, when refilling the aircon gas, I was told that the compressor needs to be replaced and it will cost me £300.

As such, I do not want to spend any moeny on this car.

If it runs and will pass an MOT it's probably worth at least £1000 these days.

And if you must have AC, a £300 one off is going to be cheaper than £300/month for a few years.

If you *want* an upgrade, then go for it though, but it's usually cheaper to stick with the car you have whilst it'll pass an MOT.