Please help me decide on a new used car.

P

petrucci

Registered User
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Hi All.

Our old car broke down this week and it cost us 1/3 of it's value to fix it! Time to get rid of it I think. We need something more reliable and cheaper to service/fix because we will be using it to get our kid to the creche and then drive to work every day.
I don't know much about cars myself so I was wondering if someone could help us decide which one to buy. We are looking for a 1.4L with 4 or 5 doors that would fit the following cryteria:

1) Reliability (doesn't brake often)
2) Cheap service/parts
3) A car that wouldn't drop in value too much if we were to sell it in i.e. 2
years

I went onto carzone.ie last night and put together the following list of cars:

[broken link removed]


We have two different budgets becasue we wouldn't like to spend all our savings on this car. It would be great if we could get one for 5000-6000 Eur that would fulfill all the above requirements but if adding 2000 Eur to the budget would make a significant difference, we'd go for it.

I would really appreciate it if someone could help us make the right choice.

Thanks in advance.

Sy
 
My old Citroen Xsara always very reliable and hold value well...traded up to C4 now.. make sure you get a good mechanic to give any car the once over before buying from private seller as there's no warranty..
 
Out of your lists, I would recommend the Toyota Corolla, Skoda Octavia, the Nissan Almera or Honda. All very reliable. Toyota will hold value better.
 
Last edited:
mathepac said:
I took out the Almera
Click to expand...

OK, not exactly glamorous, and dull to drive...

BUT

Good space, very good reliability, cheap to service, and due to a flooded market and the fact that they've stopped making them, a very good used bargain.

You should be able to get an 04 Almera for a lot less than your listed €7-8K. Downside of bargains obviously is heavy depreciation though.

Out of those listed by the way, I'd go for a Mazda3. Holds it's value better than a Focus and it's more reliable too - one of the most reliable cars on the road. Some don't like the looks - I'm not bothered.
 
Caveat said:
OK, not exactly glamorous, and dull to drive...

BUT

Good space, very good reliability, cheap to service, and due to a flooded market and the fact that they've stopped making them, a very good used bargain.

You should be able to get an 04 Almera for a lot less than your listed €7-8K. Downside of bargains obviously is heavy depreciation though.

Out of those listed by the way, I'd go for a Mazda3. Holds it's value better than a Focus and it's more reliable too - one of the most reliable cars on the road. Some don't like the looks - I'm not bothered.
Click to expand...

Crap gearbox and clutch that go frequently and cost thousands to fix. Very unusual for them but as made in Sunderland is lacking in the usual superiority of the badge.

Know of 4 that have had the problem ranging from 2 to 6 years old. One dealer also did not sell to a freind when we went to look at it because of the problem on the test drive.
Focus is a good choice but check the rear tracking and adjustment. Skoda Fabia or octavia an excellent choice as very reliable and cheap.
 
Almera is quite small in the back. The focus isn't exactly a big car either. The octavia is the one for space.
 
CharlieR said:
Crap gearbox and clutch that go frequently and cost thousands to fix. Very unusual for them but as made in Sunderland is lacking in the usual superiority of the badge.

Know of 4 that have had the problem ranging from 2 to 6 years old. One dealer also did not sell to a freind when we went to look at it because of the problem on the test drive.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but have a [broken link removed]
 
Skoda Octavia if you need more interior room and it provides good reliability. Otherwise, stick with Toyota or Honda.
 
bren1916 said:
My old Citroen Xsara always very reliable and hold value well...traded up to C4 now.. make sure you get a good mechanic to give any car the once over before buying from private seller as there's no warranty..
Click to expand...
Citroen are the worst car on the market for depreciation..... soft car too, break down easily if abused in any way
 
Skoda, terrible image, bullet proof in the last few years. Very reliable.
I actually like the superb great diesels all of them
But image wise ???
 
We've had Golfs for the past five years and couldn't be happier as far as reliability, and they hold their value pretty well. Servicing is okay outside of the Volkswagen network.

You could also aim a little higher in price/year and try to bargain down. Dealers are open to offers at the moment, especially if you're a cash buyer. Many of them have huge amouts of used stock that they have to shift. You might even be able to squeeze in a 2004 (new model) for the 8,000 budget if you bargain hard.

Edit:
also, what I've noticed is that dealers (in my area at least) are quoting two prices - a full price and a price less teade in/scrappage. If you go in with cash they will give you the lower price, but if you trade in all calculations are done from the higher price. If you flog your car privately for whatever you can get for it, you have a bit more cash to play with.
 
Focus - 1.4L is a bit underpowered for out of town driving, ditto 1.4L Octavia, but they're both great cars. I'd go for 1.6L petrol Focus or 1.9Tdi diesel Octavia.
 
I've said it here before but IMO the Octavia is an amazing car! We have one, owned from new in 2002, with now nearly 400k kms on the clock. It's been crashed twice and has had a tough, tough life on romanian roads. It's had probably 10 -15 different drivers over the years but it still goes like a hot snot and it has never, ever had anything go wrong with it except a blown relay on the hazard lights.

As to the consumables it's had a few distribution belt changes but the original clutch was only replaced at 290k kms.

Interesting aside was that when getting the clutch changed my mechanic had a Ford Focus in for the same job and said he regularly got them needing a clutch change at 120 - 140k kms.

It's the Mk I facelift version with a 1.9tdi engine.
 
Caveat said:
Out of those listed by the way, I'd go for a Mazda3. Holds it's value better than a Focus and it's more reliable too - one of the most reliable cars on the road. Some don't like the looks - I'm not bothered.
Click to expand...

Do you have a 3 and if so do you find the parts expensive like so many of the Mazdas.
 
Sue Ellen said:
Do you have a 3 and if so do you find the parts expensive like so many of the Mazdas.
Click to expand...

No, don't have a Mazda.

Expensive parts? I wasn't aware that they were particularly expensive. Probably all relative anyway - maybe they are expensive compared to Nissan or Ford parts but maybe not compared with say, Honda or VW parts? I'm not sure TBH.
 
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