Car advice, whats it worth?

[Andeh13]

I am in the market for a new car, a Citroen C5 2.2 HDi Exclusive, 1-2 years old with around 15,000 on the clock. I have a budget of £13,000. The last week a few have come & gone but always at the £13,800+ mark and despite furious haggling i cant get it any cheaper then that.


One has come up that has done 30,000 miles and the guy wants £12,000 before i try and knock it down a bit (if I can).


My problem is I dont know whether an extra 15,000 miles is worth the £1000-£1800 ill save. The car has been serviced by a citroen dealer, but it is higher then average miles (rep mobile? motorway?). I have tried autotrader etc but havnt had much much finding a similar example to judge the price and whether its a good deal or whether i should pay more/less.


What do you guys thing? £15,000 exra miles for £1000-£1800 saving? (quick replies would be appreciated, i dont want to miss the car if its a good deal )

thanks guys

[Gr44]

Not sure what the car is worth it's self but in terms of the mileage I think it depends on how many miles you intend to do each year.

If you're only going to do 5-10K a year I'd save the £1800+. If you're looking more like 15-20K a year I'd probably pay the extra.

My 2p anyway!

[Andeh13]

I will be doing around 12k a year, all motorways. The car depreciates a bit quicker then a similar mondeo (top spec), new it goes for around £23,000, but the higher then average mileage throws me off trying to work out if £12,000 is a good deal.

[PetrolHead]

I am in the market for a new car, a Citroen C5 2.2 HDi Exclusive, 1-2 years old with around 15,000 on the clock. I have a budget of £13,000.

May I ask the reason for choosing a C5? It's just I can think of many other cars I would buy for £13k for doing motorway miles..

[Andeh13]

A very short commute to work (bike ride) but with very long journies at the weekend, ie south london to peterborough to see my daughter every weekend/every other weekend as well as driving to italy twice a year.

For the amount of stuff i get (top spec model, couple of years of warranty) i have struggled to find much else that can match it, i like the look of it, it is well reviewed and the only global down side it has is sloppy handling & body roll. This i can live with, I quit my boy racer days one friday night in an industrial estate with the help Mr Plod a fair few years ago!

Any other suggestions are welcome though

[mycarsavw]

5k on a decent motorway cruiser, another 1k on a full service and 3rd party warranty, 7k in the bank.

[PetrolHead]

5k on a decent motorway cruiser, another 1k on a full service and 3rd party warranty, 7k in the bank.

Maybe upto 8k though on the car, get a decent warranty, and still plenty of money left over...

[Andeh13]

I've had the crappiest of crappy last 18 months and the thought of this car/a bit of luxury has kept me going. I'll be damned if I keep going down the sensible/mature route any longer!

In reality I have a lot of driving to do (350miles+) each weekend, to see my daughter for a few hours before finding somewhere to stay before driving back. Anything to make the journey more bearable is worth its weight in gold. I start work in September on a nice amount and this vehicle will be the only thing that will keep me sane(ie in contact with daughter), as a result I am perfectly happy to spend the extra bit to try and make the next few years easier.

[eshrules]

A very short commute to work (bike ride) but with very long journies at the weekend, ie south london to peterborough to see my daughter every weekend/every other weekend as well as driving to italy twice a year.

For the amount of stuff i get (top spec model, couple of years of warranty) i have struggled to find much else that can match it, i like the look of it, it is well reviewed and the only global down side it has is sloppy handling & body roll. This i can live with, I quit my boy racer days one friday night in an industrial estate with the help Mr Plod a fair few years ago!

Any other suggestions are welcome though

I've had the crappiest of crappy last 18 months and the thought of this car/a bit of luxury has kept me going. I'll be damned if I keep going down the sensible/mature route any longer!

In reality I have a lot of driving to do (350miles+) each weekend, to see my daughter for a few hours before finding somewhere to stay before driving back. Anything to make the journey more bearable is worth its weight in gold. I start work in September on a nice amount and this vehicle will be the only thing that will keep me sane(ie in contact with daughter), as a result I am perfectly happy to spend the extra bit to try and make the next few years easier.

I'm confused

the C5 has terrible depreciation, spending £13k on one isn't sensible, I'll grant you that, but it's hardly luxury either imho.

You're in used A6 and 5 series territory there, hell I picked up an A4 avant with all the trimings (albeit with questionable origins) for £5k.

expense doesn't necessarily equate to luxury. If you're after a mile muncher, you'll be wanting an auto too, again 'imho'.

[Andeh13]

I went through a tepid rebellious stage soon after I got my license (5 years ago) but luckerly i snapped out of it before i did any damage. The grilling i got by the police when i got caught racing put me off any sort of sporty/'hot' car & I've never really looked back tbh. That was a very long time ago and a lot has changed!

Yep, depreciation sucks (though its not that much worse then the Mondeo/rivals) but having had a saxo for 5 years, if I can put up with that i am fairly sure i can make this car last until I've made my millions!

[mycarsavw]

I've had the crappiest of crappy last 18 months and the thought of this car/a bit of luxury has kept me going. I'll be damned if I keep going down the sensible/mature route any longer!

Don't think it gets any more sensible/mature than a C5 (unless you got a Passat and yes, I have a Passat )

A4
A6
5 Series Touring - push it to an M Sport if you really want
C or E class
Mundano
Lexus ES, GS, IS

All under £13k

[Andeh13]

hahaha! Thats what ending up dancing in foundations at 4am only to be up by 9am does to my thinking before typing! . Sensible car, not very sensible amount I am willing to put into said car!

Any BMW/Audi pushes the insurance up considerably. I also find their suspension isn't as forgiving as the Citroens, as well as the blandest interior since the inside of a baked bin tin. With the badge, I also pay more for less and loose the warranty if something goes wrong.

[PetrolHead]

Any BMW/Audi pushes the insurance up considerably.

VW/Skoda?

Octavia?

[dave87]

There is one answer to the question you are posing - Octavia vRS.


2.0TDi, good level of kit, and you might even squeeze into a facelifted one. Either that, or if the budget stretched to circa £15k, you could get a brand new one....

[PetrolHead]

There is one answer to the question you are posing - Octavia vRS.

Definetley worth a test drive, if the insurance is ok for you that is. I think they look awesome without being to in your face.

[kalniel]

He's specified forgiving suspension, and the Citroen probably can't be beaten for that. I was looking for the same thing and ended up with the softest Audi I could find, which was good enough for me but there is an insurance premium over a Citroen certainly (arguably worth it for the build quality). Definitely avoid BMW if you don't want a firm ride.

But how about a merc? Great suspension. Easy cruising. You'd need an older example to keep insurance and initial price down, but they're bulletproof.