recommend a cheap auto car please?

lads old automatic focus has just about had it, clunking in 5th gear, the heat trays dropping off and the garage have given him a price of a few £100s so we think its time to say goodbye.

hes a painter and decorator so needs room for his tools, but a van wont cut it as theyre a family of 4.

hes only got an auto licence so his options are limited, so just thought id ask on here if anyone has any recommendations for a reliable ‘no smaller than a focus’ automatic car, maybe even an estate.  i dont know my cars too well but id guess he could do worse than look at japanese and petrol (less things to go wrong)?

and is autotrader still the place to look?  it cant be too far from home (lincoln) and must be low £1000’s sadly.

thanks for any suggestions

Car prices are mental currently. On that budget there’ll be an element of luck involved in finding something that’s not equally broken. I’d weigh up the costs of fixing. Lots of old big engined estates around with autoboxes. Saloons tend to be cheaper.

Some version of the 2012-ish VAG 2.0TDi engine in an estate? Skoda Octavia?

There’s a reason every other taxi you see is a diesel Skoda.

How important is fuel economy?

Volvo V70 up to 2006year (P2 platform), go for the 2.4na non turbo 140bhp with the auto box. Fuel economy isn’t great but theres nothing to break on that engine.

Forget the D5 in your price range.
Owned by old duffers so not ragged/well serviced.

We have one with 207k miles and it’s been a fantastic car.

Also looking for my lad who is starting to
Learn on auto after getting disheartened in a manual.
Even smaller budget!
Autotrader is great as you can filter everything to see what is available quickly, and then you can trade off mileage against age etc.

Gumtree is the place for cars at a grand.

Old 1.9 litre Octavia Estate or Hatch would be my choice. I had one for 10 years and it barely put a foot wrong.

Quick search shows you’ll struggle with the auto bit though.

How important is fuel economy?

id guess not ever so, as i reckon this focus is a bit crap on economy anyway.  i did tell him when he went for the auto test that his options would be limited and economy is crap with autos.  but you know…..kids and their dads…. 😀

Gumtree is the place for cars at a grand.

gumtree still going?? not heard that name for a while but ill pass that on to him.  he can afford more than a grand, maybe up to £4,000?

you mention diesel octavias.  i had a couple myself and they were pretty much faultless, but i guess theres more to go wrong with a diesel, and more expensive to fix would you say?

thanks

I thought it was the law that all P&Ds had to have a massive Volvo estate?

They are small but practical- Honda jazz. Lots bought by old people who love autos. Practical with seats down for any tools, maybe a bit small.

There is a Clio estate on autotrader for 4k. Horrid vvt auto but basic petrol engine and base expression trim means there is not a lot to go wrong. Again may be a bit small for family use.

Hyundai santa fa? Or big crappy soft roader

Loads of room often auto…

I’m the forum cheerleader for the Skoda roomster, like a small berlingo so maybe ideal for a tradesman. I love my 1.6 auto – looks ugly as **** though 🙂

Also looking for my lad who is starting to
Learn on auto after getting disheartened in a manual.

Honestly, it’s not that difficult to learn to drive a manual, or ‘stick’, as our American cousins so quaintly put it. It’s really worth persevering, it’ll suddenly just click and he’ll wonder why he had a problem. There are advantages to driving a manual, in slippery conditions, like snow, where gently changing gear can slow you down without touching the brakes. Especially with a diesel, you get lots of engine braking.
Once you’ve got a license for a manual, you can drive an automatic, which might make a difference if on holiday abroad, where there might only be cars with manual ‘boxes available.

I thought it was the law that all P&Ds had to have a massive Volvo estate?

Only if it’s a five pot turbo, none on that diesl rubbish. Has to be a manual gear box too…auto boxes are rubbish.

Look at a Honda civic 1.8 petrol Auto. Not the I-shift version but the auto with a traditional torque converter auto box have to look at the in car pictures to check the shifter is the traditional T bar with thumb lock  .

There are a few in budget , chain driven engine reliable and lots of space inside – also likely to have been maintained properly by the typical owner.

Old shape Vauxhall Meriva, massive load area for a small car and only old biddies bought a petrol auto so low miles. £2K tops.

Slow and horrible to drive but practical.

Or *shudder* Nissan Note

Gumtree is sill going and is really good for finding cheap motors.

Used car prices have come down a fair bit in the last year, but autos still command a hefty premium.

£4,000 should be adequate though. I’d filter by private sellers (as well as auto obvs) and look at something like a Toyota Avensis.

L322. Utterly brilliant when they’re working – we put 70k on ours with very few faults. A bad one will be a nightmare, of course.

economy is crap with autos. 

Not really true anymore – many manufacturers auto’s give better economy than their manuals.

Just to add, I’d be very wary of a Renault with an auto gearbox.

We had a 2010 Scenic which was immaculately maintained and low mileage, the box failed for no apparent reason and it was effectively scrap due to cost of repair/unavailable parts/ confusing and complicated design.

Definitely do some research on the reputation of the gearbox in whichever car he’s considering.

Toyota avensis, something like this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311033623451?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&body-type=Estate&make=Toyota&model=Avensis&postcode=m333pl&price-to=4000&transmission=Automatic&fromsra

My old (gen 1) petrol auto was shipped out to afghanistan where they apparently run them for hundreds of thousands of miles after the west is done with them

well the boy seems to be taking our advice and looking at old octavias and the like.

his favourite at the minute is a laurin & Klement 2.0 diesel, 07 plate. had one myself (manual tho) and loved it.  would you be scared of 103,000 miles at £2400?

hes also asked about other octavias, 08 elegance 2.0TDi, 133,000 miles at £2595, and a 1.9TDi elegance, 102,000 at £1995.

oh and a diesel estate, 06 plate, 125,000 miles at £1995.

i dont know my cars/engines, so do any of those jump out as being better or worse than the others?

also looked at a couple of lexus IS 2.5 SE’s, an 07 and 08 both for over £3000.

any recommendations?  L&K octavia best of the bunch do you think?

thanks

“i dont know my cars/engines, so do any of those jump out as being better or worse than the others?”

Me neither. In my ignorance, I’d be looking at whichever seemed to have the best service history and the most sane owners.

I am a sucker for Toyota/Lexus reliability image, but aren’t those Lexuses not very big and not very efficient? I bet a well-kept one is still very nice inside tho.

1.9 tdi is VERY reliable but it all depends on how cars of that age have been looked after.Get him to look at the service records/paper work. Not just stamps in a service book. Check the basics like the tyres matching and a resonable brand – tends to show someone has cared about the car.

Basically buy on condition 🙂

 would you be scared of 103,000 miles at £2400?

The age would concern me a lot more. Miles become a bit irrelevant on a car that’s nearly 20 years old and it comes down to how well it’s been looked after and driven during those years. Some engines will practically go forever. Lots of parts perish over time however.

It will have multiple issues. It’s inevitable. As far as miles go though, that’s very low for the age. In fact I’m not sure if you’re asking whether it’s too low, or too high? Massive difference between a car living a life of short journeys never being properly warmed up, and a life of sedate driving down the motorway each weekend. With cars of that age I think you need to look at the car (and the owner if it’s a private sale) and weigh up the condition and likely life it’s lived. Miles on the clock tell you very little.

1.9 tdi is VERY reliable but it all depends on how cars of that age have been looked after

is it more reliable than 2.0TDi?

Some of the 2.0 units in the early days and the early common rail ones had a few issues if I remember rightly. Probably blown up or repaired by now though as I think they showed up in the early years.

The late 1.9TDI in 105hp form was phased out around 2006/7 (?) in cars when the 1.6 arrived.  In that lower output version the 1.9 was probably about as robust as it got.  I had a 2005 manual golf with it as a company car.  It was always adequate but not exciting even well loaded.

Avoid any VW/Skoda/Seat/Audi with a DSG auto box. If it’s cheap it’s probably because the DSG box needs a £3k repair.

I am also repeatedly amazed at what Skoda taxi drivers regard as “reliable”. 3 clutches in 250k is not good!!

Kia c’eed autos tend to be cheap and cheerful.

hes looking at volvo’s now.  thoughts on a 2008 S80 with 110,000 miles on the clock?  2.4 diesel.  £2,250.

anything to watch out for?

thanks

There’s a V70 estate, P2, 2007 plate, 142k miles in Southwell – just a spit away from Lincoln – for £3250 (could be £3450).

You could ask RNP of this parish to look at the ad and give you his view – based on his in-depth knowledge and experience of (older Volvos).

It’s on auto trader.

Don’t want to derail the thread but why on earth do people go for an auto only licence? Understandable if there is a genuine reason such as being disabled/mobility issues but seeing as your lad is a painter/decorator I’m going to assume not (apologies in advance if I’ve misjudged).

At that price point you’d have a much, much better chance of finding a decent manual car than you would an auto, plus older autos can be hit or miss when it comes to reliability.

I’d recommend an old honda civic or toyota corolla but not sure if you’ll get one at that price with an auto. Might be worth looking at upgrading to a manual licence then you’d have a lot more options going forwards.

Don’t want to derail the thread but why on earth do people go for an auto only licence?

Leaving aside the fact that some people struggle with the coordination/ action alongside all the other elements of being a learner.

The way the market is going this way as a whole – EVs don’t have a manual option and more and more cars have auto boxes that are not the porridge stirring, fuel robbing garbage that they used to be.

Vans are increasingly available in auto form too.

So unless you plan to drive a lorry / large pcv the motivation is evaporating.

I quite enjoy driving a snappy manual but I’m in the middle of trying to change my daily driver for an auto.  For 90% of my driving it’ll be a lot more pleasant.

Don’t want to derail the thread but why on earth do people go for an auto only licence?

Don’t want to derail the thread but why on earth do people give a toss about what other people do that has absolutely zero impact on their own life?

My nephew passed in an electric so only has an auto licence the first person I’d heard of passing in an EV but a wave of the future.

Despite some of the myths being repeated here they not only easier to drive they are better in just about all road conditions and have similar fuel economy.

Kids today are right, if you have a choice it’s madness to pick a manual except maybe to save a few quid. A manual means hours of extra time to learn how to drive worse cars!

That being said I made my two learn manual as it does bring more flexibility, I had to buy one for them to practice as we didn’t own one.

There’s a V70 estate, P2, 2007 plate, 142k miles in Southwell – just a spit away from Lincoln – for £3250 (could be £3450).

thanks, ive passed this onto him but he says he still prefers the one hes found on gumtree, the ‘2008 S80 with 110,000 miles on the clock, 2.4 diesel for £2,250.  as thats cheaper, less miles and newer, is there any reason not to go for it do you think?

You could ask @RustyNissanPrairie of this parish to look at the ad and give you his view – based on his in-depth knowledge and experience of (older Volvos).

thanks, ive messaged him.

Don’t want to derail the thread but why on earth do people go for an auto only licence? Understandable if there is a genuine reason such as being disabled/mobility issues but seeing as your lad is a painter/decorator I’m going to assume not (apologies in advance if I’ve misjudged).

oh mate its the classic tale of not listening to your parents 😀  told him all this, less choice of vehicle when it comes to buy, less economical, more expensive if it goes tits up (maybe?), but he was just too impatient to pass his test in the easiest manner possible.  but as others have said, its probably less of an issue these days and will keep going that way i guess.

thanks

Don’t want to derail the thread but why on earth do people give a toss about what other people do that has absolutely zero impact on their own life?

Says the person that is A) giving a toss about what other people do by providing opinions on car choices and B) is doing it with absolutely zero impact on their own life?

You’re on a forum, forums are for debate and opinions.

I asked a genuine question in a manner that was based on curiosity and understanding while still pertinent to the OP’s question.

If that’s something you are unable to grasp, then a forum probably isn’t the right place for you.

Well that’s me told.

Or it would be if I gave a toss about another person’s opinion that has absolutely zero impact on my life.

looks like hes probably going to go to leicester for the car today.  can you just confirm a couple of things please that i think are true…..

by buying it and taxing it today, he’ll lose a months tax wont he?  he’ll be charged for all of march whereas if he left it til monday hed have another month?

and is bank transfer still the done method for buying private?  no safer way?  if the car conks out on the way home theres no comeback, sold as seen and moneys gone?

cheers

less economical

I think that’s an old hangover from slush boxes and it has been the reverse for years. Dsg etc are clutched it, as I understand it, essentially a manual box with a computer controlled gear shift. It shifts when it should to maximise efficiency.

I’m really not convinced that the argument to not get a full manual licence is valid anymore, for a few years yet there will be loads of manuals but it’s less significant than it once was.

Also my little dsg 1.4 polo is hilariously slow but my god it’s relaxing to drive.

“by buying it and taxing it today, he’ll lose a months tax wont he? he’ll be charged for all of march whereas if he left it til monday hed have another month?”

Yep, he’ll lose a month’s tax…..or wait till next month to tax.

Private seller should legally make buyer aware of any outstanding issues but I’ve always been that if it doesn’t blow up on the way home then any further issues are mine to deal with. If I had more expectations than that then I’d be buying from a dealer with warranty.