What should I be looking for at the 4k mark, small family car wise
- Thread starter iMacMart
- Start date
Because there are loads of Jazz's around for sub £4k that aren't moon miles or older than the comparable Skoda, Seat, Ford or Vauxhall?
Japanese reliability is overrated - whilst apparently Honda's engines are allegedly bullet proof, 2 people I work with have had repeat issues with Brakes, Engine management issues and Body corrosion issues on their Civics.
Yeah Japanese cars are terrible, that's why 6 out of the top 10 most reliable cars are from Japan and the worst 9 are from Europe.
Never had any problems with my Nissan 100 (now sold), my 200sx is 18 years old now (240hp) and still does the same quater mile time at Shakey as it did 5 years ago (cam chains ftw). My wifes Yaris is from 2001 and we have not spent a penny on it (apart from pads tyres) and now I have a Jazz too.
But hey what do I know, I have only owned Japanese cars since 2001?
Actually the 8g civic does have corossion issues, though Honda will mostly sort these gratis.
The calipers are also terrible for sticking / failing so there is some truth in what was posted.
The diesels have clutch issues, so do the Accords.
Wouldn't stop me buying one, but they're hardly unbreakable
The calipers are also terrible for sticking / failing so there is some truth in what was posted.
The diesels have clutch issues, so do the Accords.
Wouldn't stop me buying one, but they're hardly unbreakable
I didn't say they were terrible did I? merely that the Japanese reliability argument is overrated - I would argue that all cars today are on the whole more reliable than they were years ago (where Japanese cars perhaps were perhaps leaders in reliability)
Not quite sure why Cam Chains comes into it, pretty sure Chain driven Cams can equally have problems (normally tensioner related), but I'm also pretty sure getting my Cam Belt changed doesn't cost me any horsepower or affect my quarter mile time.
I have had several cars that I haven't had to spend any money on during ownership (Audi, Ford, Nissan) and several that I have spent a fortune on - wouldn't put it down to just Japanese cars do that - it's more a lottery and depends on their history.
And I'm sure there are people out there who have owned cars from X/Y/Z country for even longer with no issues.
Back on topic though - As with the Skoda Yeti mentioned, I doubt you can find a Honda Jazz for £4K unless it is older or significantly worse than an equivalent non Japanese car.
The cam chain has nothing to do with horsepower but allows me to thrash it all day at Shakey along with all the other over engineered parts. The Japanese are still leaders in reliability (check out the reliability index). But hey buy a Polo, they're so much better.
Reliability index is a massively flawed way of measuring these things
What do you use then? I use that and my 14 years of hassle free Japanese motoring compared to my 3 years of horrible Vauxhall motoring. I'm just trying to save the op a lot of money and problems from my own personal experience.
I don't - I don't expect one site to distill everything about car running costs into a single chart position.
When I'm looking at particular cars I'll research them - look at proper reviews, look at the owners forums... understand the common issues, how to spot them and what they cost to fix. A badly looked after Civic will be less reliable than an immaculate Astra. You can't just look at a chart position and decide that it means your purchase will be guaranteed reliable.
People love to say that if you buy Japanese you're almost guaranteed trouble free motoring - in reality this is a complete misnomer. They make a lot of well engineered and reliable cars, but like every other manufacturer they have issues and different things to look out for.
But certainly avoid treating reliability index with anything but a massive pinch of salt
Caporegime
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You have to look at car prices as well. 4k buys a hell of a lot more Mondeo than the same Fiesta. The Mondeo is also a generation newer at that price point. You would be mad to spend 4k on a MK6 Fiesta. Insurance for a family man is going to be negligible between the two. I pay £240 a year for my Saab 9-5 Aero. All the money that you "save" on a smaller car is going to be offset by the price difference. You could quite easily save 1k buying like for like Mondeo/Fiesta which to gain that back on the Fiesta would take an age.
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14 Years across at least 4 different cars of at least 3 different makes vs 3 years with Vauxhall (presumably just 1 car)? because that's a fair comparison?
The flip side of this, is that generally the people posting on Forums etc are the people who have issues - I'm sure there are many more happy owners who don't post. As you say you have to take opinions from multiple sources (and that may or may not include reliability indexes, historical "japanese are reliable" style beliefs, and opinions experiences from friends/family)
I believe this is just historical - years ago maybe they were leagues ahead with regards to reliability, but I think the gap has closed as cars in general have got more reliable.
Of course but if you approach it understanding this then you can begin to build a better picture. Car agnostic forums like this are good because you can ask for opinions on different models too.
I always explained to people that people never posted on forums to say how reliable their cars were - until I started frequenting the skoda forum, where people do just post to say that things were going well!
I love to say that Japanese cars have provided me years of trouble free motoring and motorsport, because it has. I wouldn't buy a badly looked after car of any make, that all comes down to knowing how to find/buy a good car and is something I assumed people here would already know how to do so your argument is weak. The fact that my experience ties in with what the index says gives me more confidence even if it incorrect as you state.
Indeed, why would I make the same mistake twice /logic.
Well 3 Years with a single bad Vauxhall hardly makes every single Vauxhall or none-Japanese car bad? /Logic yourself
I feel sorry for the OP whose thread has been derailed by all this talk of Japanese cars, sparked about after a Jazz was suggested, but yet realistically there are none available in budget that are worth having.
2005 Jazz from 2005 with 30,000 miles for £3500. Plenty of them out there like this.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...search-target=usedcars&sort=default&logcode=p
Or you could have a 4 Year newer Skoda Fabia or Seat Ibiza
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201503282143908
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201507115113905
but clearly because they are not japanese, as soon as you get 5 minutes up the road they will breakdown.
That Jazz, I might actually be concerned at how few miles it has on it for a 10 Year old car.
My 18 year old Nissan is fine. My 14 year old Yaris is fine, my 8 year old jazz is fine, nothing wrong with a 10 year old car.
I'm not sure whether you're just being deliberately difficult or what.
I didn't say anything was wrong with any of your old cars, or any 10 year old car in general. I'm sure even a Ford Model T would be "fine" if looked after!
However, if it was my money and I was spending £4k, all other things being equal mileage, spec etc, then I would rather have a car 4 Years newer sitting on my driveway.
You also again selectively reply and missed the point about the Jazz being massively below average miles for a car of that age - things can and do go wrong from not being used.
I am not sure if you are trolling or not. My Jazz has 37k miles on it, my 18 year old Nissan 200sx has 56k on it and our 2001 yaris has 75k on it. Things are low mileage because sometimes people do low miles and my Nissan doesn't get used all though the winter. I have had nothing go wrong on any of these. So there is your point replied.