2nd hand cars - where should I go for help to choose a model/make?

[stytagm]

Hi Guys,

It's been about 10 years since I bought a car (guess I chose well!) but that one's just died, and it's time for a new one. Problem is, I'm out of touch, and don't really know what kind of make/model I want. So two questions for the Hexus collective conciousness:

1. Where can I go to read up on 2nd hand cars? Reliability, practicality, running costs etc? Are magazines only about new cars these days? Good websites etc?

2. Hexus - what should I buy?

Extra info: The budget is about 3-5k. Me and the wife are a bit torn between a small/compact car (easy to park - her preference) and an estate (lot's of storage for going sailing and towing a dinghy - my choice). It's got to have 4/5 doors, central locking, and baby seat mounting points (I'm probably doomed to sprogdom within the life of this car). Everything else is flexible.

Cheers all - Andrew.

[finlay666]

VW Golf (not my personal preference, I'd go for a fabia vrs for the performance but the trim is dire, but you can't really go wrong with a VAG)

[=assassin=]

Autotrader has some customer feedback on vehicles. I'd find that more useful than some car critics personal opinion.

[kalniel]

See domestic_ginger's remarkably similar thread!

Parkers/What car/which?/yahoo cars/honest john etc. all have archives of reviews so you can look at older models, some like parkers include valuation estimates for the age and common faults that have cropped up since the model has been on the market etc.

Everyone goes for a golf first off, which means you usually pay over the odds for them second hand.

Fabia diesel estate would meet both your needs. Though it's a little ugly IMHO
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/review...tate-2001.aspx

You'll probably want to go diesel or largish petrol for towing, but you won't find the latter in smaller cars so you might be forced to get diesel.. and small cars with diesel engines are immensely in demand at the moment for some reason...

Some slightly larger cars are still easy to park - it's more about visibility, turning circle etc.

[roachcoach]

You can pick up parking sensors for a couple of hundred quid if that's the main concern, might alleviate parking worries and allow the more practical car over all then you both get what you want

[daniel32885]

I regularly check-out AutoTraderUK mags and website. Some good tips and what to look out for and what to buy depending on your situation.

Daniel

[stytagm]

Thanks for all the tips everyone,

Hunting's going pretty well, but the estate idea's gone out of the window in favour of something relatively compact.

One thing we did that worked pretty well (considering we didn't really know what we want) was to go to this epic place called Car Giant in west London after work on Wednesday evening. They have about 3000 cars in stock, so we could wander about comparing sizes of things we liked, and seeing a few things we hadn't thought of. We cheerfully went with no intention of buying from them (the advice we got was that they're cheap, but have no time for personal service, so they're a little riskier if, like me, you're not really savvy enough to spot subtle problems within a 2 minute test drive).

So we've found a nice local Fiat dealer (Punto Grande), and are visiting Peugeot and Vauxhall dealers this weekend (for 207 and Corsa respectively). I'm surprised by how the low milages are in our price range (I've never owned a car with less than 130k on the clock before) and we should just be able to just snag something with a couple of month's worth of manufacturer's warranty left.

We looked at Volkswagons, Toyotas and Honda's, but all seemed more expensive for what you get. Bigger car's we also surprisingly cheap, except for estates (which seem to carry a hefty premium second hand), but they tended to be a bit older, and would be a lot more expensive to run.

Anyway, thanks for the tips guys, I'll let you know how we get on.

- Andrew.

[Apex]

Good place to start

http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/

and honestjohn

[roachcoach]

Check out the fiesta - it was the small car we looked at as it had the best space for a buggy - most of the other small cars blocked off the boot at the sides whereas the fiesta let the boot expand naturally around the wheel arches, gave more space. Costs etc were, by and large, comparable with corsas and the in test drive we did it was a nice little motor (even if the 1.25 was a bit underpowered, though perhaps not for your location).

Interior was better than I expected too.

[Biscuit]

I also use Parkers as my general first port of reference for anything car based, then cross reference it with autotrader and the various review sites. Mainly because Parkers is so easy to navigate and it has all the information right there in front of you.

Once you build a short list of cars you would like to see i would set aside a day for going around and doing some short test drives, this will help give you an idea of what you do and don't like to help you narrow your search.

With regards to the type of car, there are many smaller cars which have estate variants such as the Peugeot 307 and Skoda fabia. Still large enough for a lot of storage but relatively easy to park. What im basically saying is i don't think you have to sacrifice one to get the other

[finlay666]

Might sound silly.... but have a look at car prices up North, they are a LOT cheaper than down south, and with a decent budget you can easily make the cost of the journey back

quick example.... I picked up an X reg Audi A4 1.8T Sport for £2500 taxed, tested with low mileage in Newcastle (From a dealership)
In London, closest one is at least £500 more, next one from that (admittedly 2 years newer but 10k more miles on it) is nearly £2000 more

Cost of a train ticket is < £100 if you get it right, and there isn't a shortage of decent cars for whichever range

I know Guy bought his 200SX from near Newcastle, not sure if it was a price or rarity thing though

[jimborae]

I'd stay away from Fiats if I were you, used to own one many years ago and from what I understand speaking to friends who are owners the build quality hasn't improved much over the years. Fiesta I can definitely recommend, the ex bought one a few years ago, 55plate, and she's had not one problem with it. Drives great, if a little under powered, parts are dead cheap and the build quality is good. I've personally owned VW's and to be honest their reliabilty & build quality was nothing to right home about. My Honda Civic Type R was well built but dealer prices for spares was more than horrific, like £1400 for steering rack!!!

In your shoes I'd go for a Fiesta or Focus and stay well away from anything French or Italian.

[Zak33]

the choice you're gonna get is amazing.... there are lots of cars for sale. Lots.

If you DO intend to tow, even a light boat, then cost of the actual towbar is key.. don't presume it'll be cheap. Getting them done right is essential and many cars now have weird electrical sub systems, so you cant just wire into the indicators and brake light circuit.

With sprogdom happening one day, a need to tow possible, and easy parking but for a sensible sized car.....

Zafira.. one of my favourite car's of all time.

Spacious, easy to drive, easy to FIND (hundreds of them) and a dream to live with.