Thanks all for the input.

Went to see a very tatty 307 with lots of fresh oil on the outside of the engine so I walked away sharpish, uncovered a very nice Focus 2.0 TDCi Ghia in vgc, spent an hour or so there, ran a check on it and discovered it was a cat D insurance write off! Walked away again.

Saw a couple of Golfs, 2 tatty ones and an as new 1.4 S petrol. Took it for a ride and it was just too sluggish, so left it. Shame though as it really was immaculate and low mileage.

Thank god for autocheck vehicle checks by the way – we’d have bought that focus if we hadn’t run a check on it. I’ve not run checks on past cars but I get a few free checks now and suddenly I realise their value 😯

Mazda 3 – yeah, I drive a 2l sport which is superb but a bit thirsty (29mpg). This new car is for my bro who wants more economical than that.

Thansk for your help, the search continues… (and the budget did end up at 5k!)

Why not go leftfield and look at Saab 95 2.2 tid estate? Buy a decent gold aftermarket warranty.

I wouldn’t touch a peugeot unless you like dashnboard light bingo or like paying through the nose for a older Golf.

Why is mpg important, how many miles do you do a year? Do the maths on the realword difference + the loss in value of your own car..

Don’t know a great deal about running a focus, however if doing a lot of miles you can get a mondeo 130 tdci for that money and it will be more comfy on long trips. Mine gets thrashed around the lanes and sticks pretty close to 50mpg still. Massive supply of cheap ones and parts.

Otherwise I’d probably go for a 1.7/1.9 diesel Astra. Not a Vectra though.

Check what the insurance write off was, can’t remember the Cats. but may not have been crashed, could be keyed, stolen recovered, replacement engine etc. Vendor should be able to get this information. Should be priced well below market. When I’ve looked in the past, it’s not made a difference to insurance quotes. It will be roadworthy too, if it has been written off it has to go through a VIC? test to go back on the road.

I wouldnt be to bothered about a cat D write off. knock the price right down and you laughing.

Can also be flood. They do not tell you the exact reason but the amount of times I’ve heard ‘cosmetic damage’ or light corner.

Look at some of the pre-repaired newish cars offered for sale. It will put you off IMO.

Speshpauls right about the 1.6 focus and although not a mine myself the mondeo tdci is a great car. Buy VW get less for your money. They are NOT reliable -golf is only average.