Advice on buying a car

carlos700

Is anyone one else struggling to pay for petrol?

I am looking to buy a car not too expensive as i am not interested in taking out a loan i am looking to pay around £2000 - £3000 max i can only drive automatic i have no idea about cars my husband usually deals with this kind of thing but i have alittle spare money and i would like to buy a car which is great on fuel .Would a diesel car be cheaper to run than petrol if so would it make a big difference ?

I know automatic cars do cost more to run ,i wondered if anyone can advise me on types and engine sizes of cars that would be ideal for me .I do not drive very far (no motorways ) just locally .

saintscouple

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Hintza

Over a lifetime it would probably be cheaper getting your licence upgraded to Full and not just automatics. The trouble is the smaller the engine the worse it becomes with an auto box.

You don't say how old or knackered you current car is but assuming it is running fine it would probably be cheaper to keep running it.

Not very good on small automatics but someone will be along soon to help you out.

balsingh

Samller autos are getting better and more popular. In your price range, I suggest a Focus 1.6 Auto. OK, its not going to be as economical as a Diesel Focus but its a decent reliable car which drives well, has a decnt auto box and fits your budget.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

If you're struggling to pay for fuel then don't spend £2000-£3000, spend £500-£1000.

misfire

I would say take someone with you who knows about cars - dont get sold a lemon. This is my experience

I got completely ripped off with my last car (private sale)- i paid £800 for a N reg fiesta zetec shape with 33,000 miles on the clock - beautiful condition body work seats etc.. i was so happy..... well it broke down 2 days after i got it - my garage werent sure but think a 'holding fix' had been done on it so it would work on the test drive etc..... it ended up a complete money pit after spendin £1,000 on it well i stopped counting at 900 and something! (all on over draft i did have the cash) it still didnt work properly and kept stalling for no reason at high speeds, low speeds - highly scarey when you have a child in the car..... i feel lucky that i didnt have a serious accident

I was lucky a family member lent me the money for a new car - and i took my friends husband with me who knows about cars and managed to do a deal for me. I now drive an agila (box style one!) i bought it purely becuase it is economical, reliable and was in my price range.

There are money pit cars/lemons out there - i was fooled by a smooth talking seller, fooled by the condition of the body work and paid for it ..... over and over again.

You dont want to end up paying a loan for a car that you no longer have (my friend did this with a rover 206 she bought from a garage... she took a 4 year loand and it died a death 1 year before her loan was up she ended up taking out another loan to cover the existing loan and her current car)

I would suggest loads of reserach, take someone with you who knows about cars and dont be afraid to haggle (my friends hubby was brill i wouldht have had the cheek!) ... my friend who drives an auto has a Ford Escort R reg she got when she passed her test a few years back and loves it.


Sorry its long HTH