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[Closed] I need a new (cheap) car. No idea of market values
I’m in the fortunate position to currently have 2 cars, a nice little 2 seater fun car, and an old banger of an estate bought for dog and bikes. After much loyal service however the estate needs replacing with something else.
Half of me thinks get something for around 10k that’s 5 years old, plenty of options with mileage around 40k or less. The issue is that I’ll only do 2k per year max in it, and as I’ll be covering it it dog hair and mud and oil it seems a bit pointless spending that much
Other option is a cheaper high mileage car. I do want it to be big however, ideally an estate however it needs to be petrol so probably looking at a saloon instead.
Something like this caught my eye, nice and roomy, fairly plush, not massively expensive to run and cheapish to buy. Plus comes with a 12 month warranty.
But a quick look on Parker’s tells me it’s way overpriced, and probably worth less than 4K. I really have no idea about car values, but on autotrader it seams reasonable compared to loads of other similar age cars.
Any thoughts? With a budget of 5-6 k what kind of thing can I get? Not that fussed on the make, but I do kind of like having a car that’s a reasonably nice place to sit.. ie I’d rather not get a bottom of the range poverty spec model to save myself a grand or so..
But a quick look on Parker’s tells me it’s way overpriced, and probably worth less than 4K. I really have no idea about car values, but on autotrader it seams reasonable compared to loads of other similar age cars.
parkers is all theoretical.
Supply and demand at the moment.
Supplys still down. So prices are up
It's worse than the scrappage scheme days for finding a cheap banger worth buying . And in the 4-6 k market you are in the most popular car buying zone so you have alot of competition
I say either buy cheaper , buy newer .....or just Chuck the dog in the boxter . It won't judge you.
Well that quote went to hell.....and I CBA sorting it.
I’ve just had a quick look on the trade price site, unsurprisingly it’s bang on the money for a transacted car, forecourt price.
Parker’s is, at best, a load of old tosh. The price you saw on Parker would be a rough trade price, what the trade will buy used cars for. Not the retail price.
Do you need a cheap car because thats all funds will allow? If so an 11yr old Merc will not be cheap to run and service!
Big Toyota or Mazda estate
Dont worry about mileage so much. Just get on Ebay n have a look.
whether the one in the OP is good or bad i don't know in terms of value, but it's NICE !
You can get Saab 9-5 estates with petrol engines.
Pretty cheap to buy and parts aren't too expensive.
Lots of space and very comfy inside and safe. Not super fun for driving, but excellent motorway car.
or a BMW 5 series or something?
I have that engine in an estate. It's a cam chain but the cogs in the head wear and cause the chain to stretch - mine cost north of a grand for a new kit to be fitted at 90k miles. New kits are made of better than standard materials so should last the rest of the cars life.
40mpg is only possible on motorways and a roads with a light right foot.
Normal servicing costs aren't too bad but auto box needs doing every 4 years and that's £400.
Cheers folks
I have a Saab 9-5 at moment. Amazing car but now falling apart.
Do you need a cheap car because thats all funds will allow? If so an 11yr old Merc will not be cheap to run and service!
given I do so few miles I’m not so bothered about running costs, it’s the same tax as my current Saab and doubt insurance will be much more.
This worries me however given it’s got 90k on the clock!
I have that engine in an estate. It’s a cam chain but the cogs in the head wear and cause the chain to stretch – mine cost north of a grand for a new kit to be fitted at 90k miles. New kits are made of better than standard materials so should last the rest of the cars life.
Go on Autotrader, choose estate, petrol, your budget and sort by age.
Buy the newest one you can of a popular brand and size you like. Miles don't really tell you anything much, it's how many times the car has been cold started, drived at full pelt over speed bumps / kerbs and how many times the doors have been opened/shut sat in / out destroyed by family use you need to think about and miles give no clue to that.
I'd suggest a Ford Focus or Mondeo estate you can get as those are apparently a fine handling car too.
I have a ten year old petrol C350 3.5 litre V6 306bhp C class estate, 106k miles, paid £6250 last year. It's an absolutely wonderful car, fully loaded and unbelievably does mid thirties MPG.
However - crucially I service and fix it myself (it hasn't broken yet).
a c class isn't particularly roomy inside - somewhere between a focus and a mondeo. That might be fine for you, but I wouldn't consider it massive. I don't think I know of any estates that aren't available with a petrol engine, so it shouldn't limit your search. If I was only doing 2k a year I'd be looking at significantly higher miles than that - 130-150k - and save another few grand on the purchase price. If you're likely to keep it for years it'll be worth naff all at 15 years old anyway.
if you want cheap you need to go for an unfashionable brand.. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104241765276?sort=relevance&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&year-from=2011&include-delivery-option=on&radius=1500&body-type=Estate&fuel-type=Petrol&model=INSIGNIA&postcode=bn68ff&make=VAUXHALL&price-to=5500&advertising-location=at_cars&page=1
Dogs + Bikes + big + cheap to run = Berlingo/Partner Tepee etc.
Yes I have one but really what else do you need? No point buying a flash Merc to get it shitted up with dog hair and mud and that. Yeah it's no exactly luxurious but you're doing 2k miles a year. It is comfy, did 700 miles last week and have previously done 2.5k miles in a 2 week period round Europe.
There aren’t actually that many petrol estates available local to me according to autotrader. All diesel.
The other motor I’m looking at is a Mazda 6. The ones I’ve seen are about 10k but I quite like the look of them. I’m assuming mazdas are going to be fairly reliable
One thing that puts me off is that most come with a 3 month warranty. That’s the thing that appealed to me about the merc...despite its age it had a 12 month warranty on it. Are dealers usually flexible on this?
Mazda 6 = Mondeo underneath with slightly smaller boot
how about this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105182789005 don't be put off by the engine, it has 123bhp plenty if you aren't always 4 up with luggage.
You can buy an aftermarket warranty from loads of places - whether they're worth the paper they are written on is another a debate for another thread! 🙂
This worries me however given it’s got 90k on the clock!
90k is nothing on a Merc - should be good for 200k+ easily if looked after.
Get over the mileage thing - condition/history is everything. I bought a Freelander a couple of years ago with 205k on it. Bought my current one with 105k on it.
.
Jap import, Toyota Alphard or Previa, Nissan Elgrand
That focus would have been ideal if it was closer to me. I’m based in fife..
another option if you want cheap to run - dacia dusters and logan estates are both available from £3k. eg https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105052214707?sort=price-desc&price-to=5500&radius=1500&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&body-type=Estate&body-type=SUV&fuel-type=Petrol&include-delivery-option=on&postcode=bn68ff&make=DACIA&advertising-location=at_cars&page=1
You can buy a brand new duster for £12k
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1900473&i=0
That focus would have been ideal if it was closer to me. I’m based in fife..
I once bought a car from fife. You only do the journey once, a day out!
I bought my car unseen and paid someone from shiply to drive it up to me.