cartrackworld.com – what car £3-4k

Imminent change of job means I need to purchase my own car. Not a big budget £3-4k as money is tight. Thinking a petrol Astra, Focus, Vectra etc? Any car makes to avoid? Never been keen on Citroen, Renault, Peugeot etc but they may have improved since I last bought my own cars?

The Astras look nice, but both diesels and petrols have dual mass flywheels, which rather put me off.

I’d be inclined to look at Golfs and A3s, they tend to be pretty reliable, hold their money well and sell easily when you want rid.

The Focus and Astra will probably get you more car for your money now, and fall further over time…

You’ll get a face-lifted 57 plate petrol Vectra easily for that money. Solid, safe and loads of space.

Mondeo 2L petrol (well, someone had to say it).

Lovely to drive, not uneconomical and lots of space. Plus you get more for your money than with a mid-size car.

I’d get another one tomorrow if I had to go back to a car.

Go for Zetec, Ghia or other special editions rather than the basic LX.

Blatant plug but I’m selling a 1.6 (petrol) 2007 focus for £3400. 54k miles, years mot and fsh if you are interested? 😀

I’ll sell you a nice Passat…?

I’d be inclined to look at Golfs and A3s, they tend to be pretty reliableexpensive to repair and parts are asteonomical but because people pay so much to own a premium car they will spend silly money repairing them, hold their money well and sell easily when you want rid.

Ok I’ll take the comments on board. Seen a 1.6 Citroen C4 VTR+ today! any good.

Jolly green giant – where are you based?

Molgrips – more info?

Milage is key on shitroens

I have no issue with them in poverty spec and if you expect them to last about 100k …. Afterthat they fall apart quickly ime

Add complex electric gizmos your asking for trouble.

Dont touch molgrips passet – see the long thread of doom on here 🙂

Just kidding really. It has a tricky problem caused by inept mechanics, and it’s been a huge saga so everyone on here is telling me to sell it although I can’t see how selling a car with problems is going to work. It’s quite driveable mind.

If you can find a nice one in your budget- they’re not that common- a Focus with the 2 litre tdci in it is a wonderful thing. Not fast fast, but fast enough, so drivable. Unfortunately, almost everyone bought the 1.6 petrol focus, and it’s pretty grim.

Astra feels like it was made out of beer cans but they’re great value.

You didn’t really tell us much about what you want though… Do you actually like driving? Want to carry around bikes, tools, family, wardrobes, nothing at all? Economy or go? Big or small? Do you want to overtake people without having to wait in the queue 😉

hey jolly green giant I would be interested in the focus as well.

I live near Luton. Email me at mtbpeteATgooglemailDOTcom, and if either of you would like more details.
There’s an ad somewhere in the classifieds here too…..

If one is assuming you aren’t intending to rag it all the time.. then perhaps a Honda Jazz might be worth a look

Boot is pretty big. Lots of old people buy them as they are reliable – so yes may not be “cool” and not good for ragging it 😆 but should be reliable and return good mpg

How about a Kia C’eed or a Hyundai I30, they must be coming into your budget now and the Kias have a seven year warranty!

I’ve sent you an email jolly green giant.

Unless your doing 20k+ PA I’d buy a petrol Focus or Mondeo.
More car for your money & cheaper to fix if it does go wrong.

Petrol because no turbo, no fancy injectors & the DMF’s in the clutches last longer. Fall unlucky enough to have to replace all three of the above & your looking at your whole car budget.

Takisawa makes a good point. That’s exactly the reason I bought a petrol. Meanwhile both my brother and friend that bought diesels have had to pay for new turbos or a replacement DPF.

Northwind, the 1.6 petrol is fine. Not the fastest thing granted but more than adequate. In fact in some ways I prefer it to the 2.0 petrol mk 1 I had before.

The petrol version is normally cheaper to buy in the first place too, even when comparing older cars, so something else to factor in, to the buying process.

Tony, I’ve replied to your email. 🙂

Go for Zetec, Ghia or other special editions rather than the basic LX.

Not sure about that – when we bought our Mondeo we couldn’t really justify paying extra for the same car but with fake wood on the dash, shinier door pillars and colour coded door handles. Quite happy with the LX.

Some kind of supercharged V8 Jag.

Quite happy with the LX.

You are right! I just did a Google and it seems the LX had air con and heated screens as standard. For some reason I thought otherwise.

I retract my poor advice.

🙂

Still get a Mondeo though, they’re ace.

Still get a Mondeo though, they’re ace.

Agreed!!

Basic models these days are pretty well specified. I have a multitude of superfluous buttons on my top spec Insignia company car.

Only thing I really appreciate is the DAB radio. That should be standard on everything.

am i the only one who read the title as “cattrackworld what cat for £3-4k”? 🙄

I’ve found an 06 Vectra 2.2 direct which fits the price/condition. When searching google there appears to be problems with timing chains (as opposed to belts). Has the 2006 Vectra got a chain and is this a big problem?

What milage is on it , 2.2 dti engines service schedule on the chains is 100k

Heard of many going to 150/160k and outlasting hte car mind you

Many folk assume wrongly that a chain is replacement free. –

Impreza
I’d have another in a heart beat. Super reliable, reasonable money to maintain and miles of smiles!

If that 06 2.2 Vectra is a black SRi, with dints on the front wings, bonnet and LH side of the roof – walk away. It could be my old company car 🙂

Ford Focus is the pick of the bunch. VW/Audi diesels also have dual mass flywheels. They’re also overrated. The A3 is a golf with lipstick on and inflated service charges and neither are reliable (owned a mk4 gti and a mark5 gti from new, mk4 was much better built. Also owned an A3 tdi from new and it was as unreliable as the mk5 golf…ie very)…

Vauxhall’s reliability is still suspect but I have no experience of em.

Kia’s are nice tho, and you’d still get one in warranty, but my pick would be the focus. It’s an excellent and reliable car.

@p8ddy – each to their own but as someone who’s had many vw’s over the last 30 years I cannot rate them highly enough, have an a6 Quattro now, had it 7 years 110k miles trouble free. Excellent inexpensive non dealer servicing. Looks and feels nearly new, rock solid. Probably going to buy my mates a3 in December when he switches to a new company car and sell the a6 as don’t need such a big car.

OP I’d look around for a good Seat or Skoda, great value

It’s the petrol version. 06 plate with 60k miles.

@lovetoride – I’m not a vectra expert but around 60k is often when timing belts/chains need changing, worth checking that out and cost.

What do you actually plan to do with the car? Do you have kids, need a big boot, are you doing big mileage, do you want something fast, economical seems hard to recommend a car on the basis of 3-4k to spend. At one end of the scale you could have a pretty recent Ford Fiesta or at the other a BMW 750i with 100+K on the clock.

My default position is to recommend whatever Honda you can afford. I like Hondas proper QC at the factory, cheap to buy and to run with your own money. Accord petrol with a 2.0 or 2.4 i-vtec lump,(all chain cam engines) keep it oiled and get one with FSH and your good for 250k + without a murmur.

The vw blinkers

My impression of vw is not great. squeeky , handle nasty , and not comfy place to be. Wont buy another in a rush

**** shite to work on as well.

My money would be on a base model french diesel starship. 406 or a c5

My vw is comfy. Never been in a comfy citroen.

Is comfy how you spell broken in welsh molgrips 😉

A friend has a Citroen C5 Estate.

It is very very comfy.

It has hydroplasticstatistic suspension.

“Never been in a comfy citroen”??

C5, c6, Xantia, Xm, Cx, Sm, Ds….. 50 years of comfy cars!!

You could do a lot worse than an E46 shape BMW 3 series, I paid bottom dollar for mine and have had 18 glorious months in it, they come with a decent selection of engines from frugal to mental.