Buying car with approx. a £3k budget?

ButterCheese

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. 

Regards the DPF - I see a lot of "take it for a blast up the motorway" 

But that's the reason I don't bother risking it and never have. I don't want to have to create special journeys just to accommodate a car. A car is to get me where I need to go, not to require being taken out like a dog. 

Haha, that's understandable.  Not a problem if you can make use of the trip, but yes a special trip is a bit of a waste of fuel.  On the other hand, my partner has had a renault captur for 6 years, nothing has ever gone wrong.  It is only a 1.5L diesel but we've never had a DPF issue and it only does short journeys (between 2-5 miles).  I can never understand it; it does have a DPF but it literally only does a long trip about once every 4 months

daveyjp

A DPF is no different to any components, at some point it will need replacing, but whether this occurs before the vehicle being scrapped is anyone's guess.  

forgotmyname

Similar situation, bought my car 7 years ago for £3k and would have replaced it after 5 years but the prices were and
still are silly. So for £3k I can get a car of similar age and mileage.  Taken it to 180,000 miles now and still running well
with cheap tax and low running costs, luckily my mileage will be under 6000 from now on even with a DPF I don't see
that as a problem.

With DPF's you just need to know how it regens and let it do it as required, some cars need to be driving above a set
speed but mine will regen even at idle which hurts the economy a little bit but all I need to to is make sure the engine
gets upto temperature and don't switch it off if the cooling fan is on which is the sign a regen is in progress.

EnPointe

B0bbyEwing said:

MM - get the impression you seem to think I'm a low mileage hunter. I'm not. The wife is. She still gets hung up on 100k being 'high miles' like my mother does. I try to explain a 20 year old car on 40k miles is not necessarily the thing to be searching for. But anyway yeah - I'm not on the lookout for something exceptionally low.

I rule out a DPF because if it doesn't have one then it can't go wrong Plus while I say I'm driving in a 60mph zone, I have a tendency to get behind the annoying "it's a limit not a target" people who insist on driving 40 in that 60 - hence the requirement for the car to be somewhat decent at overtaking. Doesn't have to be Ferrari but does have to be able to move a bit. My car isn't so bad, the wife's car was so so, so long as the other person didn't then put up a fight whereas her Golf it was just a case of tough luck, sit there until the person turns off.

Out of curiosity, when is "the bottom of the depreciation curve"?


Davey - have been searching A.T The annoying thing is I keep getting results from areas that I'd rather avoid (having tried them previously against other peoples warnings not to & then found out why I was warned against them). Just looking fairly locally for now.

DPFs are a problem if you  only  ever  drive your diesel  car short  distances , especially in stop start  urban traffic.  if you are getting  reasonable runs   where you are  mainitaing  40 - 70 mph  and  the car is gettign fully warm,  you are  far less likely to have problems with your DPF clogging up 


depreciation is best modelled as a curve,   there is a steep decline in the first 3 to 5 years,   then deprecation  reduces while the car is ' used car  that pass es  an MoT and  runs reasonably' , however most cars  reach a bpoint  hwere the  resale / replacement value  is  such that  major  works  being needed   mean it;s cheaper to weigh it in  and  get another vehicle,   However once  that point  is crossed  vehicles which either escape needing  major works or people  do the works any way  begin to appreciate in value as the car becomes rarer  ( look at the prices for a 1990s hot hatch  / Sierra Cosworth / Lotus Carlton / Mk2 Escort etc etc ) 

EnPointe

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks. 

Regards the DPF - I see a lot of "take it for a blast up the motorway" 

But that's the reason I don't bother risking it and never have. I don't want to have to create special journeys just to accommodate a car. A car is to get me where I need to go, not to require being taken out like a dog. 

this is about use cases , if you  don;t regularly  have a journey  which  enables to   warm the car  through fully and drive for a reasonable p distance / period of time at a steady speeed 40 -70 mph  then a diesel  isn't for you and ytou'd be  better with a petrol  /petrol hybrid / EV  ...

ButterCheese

daveyjp said:

A DPF is no different to any components, at some point it will need replacing,

Not really.  It can become blocked and knacker your engine at 3 months old if you don't look after it.  On the other hand mine was still the orginal and on 130,000 miles.  It is a no-problem part if looked after but can result in very high bills to clean and replace if you've ignored the warning signs