Mum needs a new car

Feek said:
There's only one particular model, the 2001-2008 SE that has the cat that people want, none of the others are desirable.

My wife's had a Jazz for a couple of years now, she thinks it's the best car she's had, and it can manage four full sized adults. It's as though it's dimensionally transcendental.
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Fair enough:)
 
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Feek said:
There's only one particular model, the 2001-2008 SE that has the cat that people want, none of the others are desirable.

My wife's had a Jazz for a couple of years now, she thinks it's the best car she's had, and it can manage four full sized adults. It's as though it's dimensionally transcendental.
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The CR-V is basically a wheeled TARDIS. You fold up the rear seats down and you can cram the same amount of stuff in as you can an Escort van.
 
Does she have off road parking?

If so a used EV could be a good option depending how far she normally travels?

They're all 'automatic' but without the potential eye watering bills of a lot of the auto's in that segment such as the ford powershift. Plus they're generally a lot nicer to drive than a petrol car.

Plus you're not having to worry about not buying a car with a wet timing belt etc which is a real minefield nowadays.
 
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sovietspybob said:
Does she have off road parking?

If so a used EV could be a good option depending how far she normally travels?

They're all 'automatic' but without the potential eye watering bills of a lot of the auto's in that segment such as the ford powershift. Plus they're generally a lot nicer to drive than a petrol car.

Plus you're not having to worry about not buying a car with a wet timing belt etc which is a real minefield nowadays.
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Yeah she has a driveway, not sure she'll get something that fits the brief for £8k though + the cost of a charger? I suspect she'd struggle with the various payment screens you get on roadside/public chargers too so I think petrol is the way to go at this stage in her life!
 
Big Chris said:
Yeah she has a driveway, not sure she'll get something that fits the brief for £8k though + the cost of a charger? I suspect she'd struggle with the various payment screens you get on roadside/public chargers too so I think petrol is the way to go at this stage in her life!
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Yeah a proper charger is a grand fitted, it depends how far she drives really. If she does less than 35-40ish miles a day you can get away with the 3 pin plug charger the car will come with.

But again if she does need to do regular long trips then having it is a culture shock to have to plug in rather than just fill with fuel, you can just tap your debit card on pretty much all chargers and they'll work fine but you tend to get cheaper rates sometimes if you can put up with the faff of using 20 different apps. Octopus do a nice card which is RIFD and works on *most* chargers and just puts the cost onto your household electric bill.

But i can understand trying to convince an older person to make a big change can be hard and might not be worth it if money isn't an issue for her and she can afford to pay the extra for a petrol or diesel car.
 
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As an example you could get something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511117816241?sort=price-asc&twcs=true&searchId=bcb9cba6-f676-45d9-bfd3-2640383dfc1a&fuel-type=Electric&make=Hyundai&page=1&postcode=ll59+5pw&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra=&backLinkQueryParams=channel=cars&fuel-type=Electric&make=Hyundai&postcode=ll59%205pw&sort=price-asc&flrfc=1&calc-deposit=760&calc-term=48&calc-mileage=10000&calc-selected-product=HP

That'll do 160 miles in the winter and closer to 200 in the summer, it's like an order of magnitude newer than what you'll have to put up with if you want petrol car

this would do similar ish range too but a slightly bigger car:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511027595456?sort=price-asc&twcs=true&searchId=0be8c723-30f0-4416-a94c-1023bc427d30&fuel-type=Electric&make=MG&page=1&postcode=ll59+5pw&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra=&backLinkQueryParams=channel=cars&fuel-type=Electric&make=MG&postcode=ll59%205pw&sort=price-asc&page=2&flrfc=1&calc-deposit=750&calc-term=48&calc-mileage=10000&calc-selected-product=PCP
 
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sovietspybob said:
As an example you could get something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511117816241?sort=price-asc&twcs=true&searchId=bcb9cba6-f676-45d9-bfd3-2640383dfc1a&fuel-type=Electric&make=Hyundai&page=1&postcode=ll59+5pw&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra=&backLinkQueryParams=channel=cars&fuel-type=Electric&make=Hyundai&postcode=ll59%205pw&sort=price-asc&flrfc=1&calc-deposit=760&calc-term=48&calc-mileage=10000&calc-selected-product=HP

That'll do 160 miles in the winter and closer to 200 in the summer, it's like an order of magnitude newer than what you'll have to put up with if you want petrol car

this would do similar ish range too but a slightly bigger car:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511027595456?sort=price-asc&twcs=true&searchId=0be8c723-30f0-4416-a94c-1023bc427d30&fuel-type=Electric&make=MG&page=1&postcode=ll59+5pw&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra=&backLinkQueryParams=channel=cars&fuel-type=Electric&make=MG&postcode=ll59%205pw&sort=price-asc&page=2&flrfc=1&calc-deposit=750&calc-term=48&calc-mileage=10000&calc-selected-product=PCP
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Interesting thank you - I'll have a look into the Hyundai.

She probably does 8k miles a year I would have thought, she gets around the country walking with her friends, and my brother lives in London which is about 90 miles each way and she does probably once a month. I still think the ease and simplicity of filling up a petrol car once every couple of weeks will appeal to her ultimately though, but will have a look into elec.
 
I've narrowed it down to these two:

Astra
Focus

I'm leaning towards the Astra as she's coming from a Vauxhall and it will therefore be more familiar. Thinking of getting a background check done on them both - any recommendations?
 
You'd have to be very brave to take on a focus with the 1.0 engine IMO, the wet belt ecoboost engines are a complete liability.

If you do go with it make sure you're doing oil changes (with the correct spec of oil) every 5k miles and change the belt every 40k, i know it's about £1500 a go but it's still cheaper than a new engine which it *will* need if you scrimp on it. If you've not got proof of the belt being done very recently i'd want to get it done ASAP and make sure the sump is taken off and the oil pickup checked and cleaned out.

I'm not familiar with Astras of that age but i do know a lot of the Stellantis stuff uses wet belt engines which are equally as terrible but that one might be old enough to get away with it, but do make sure you check.
 
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sovietspybob said:
You'd have to be very brave to take on a focus with the 1.0 engine IMO, the wet belt ecoboost engines are a complete liability.

If you do go with it make sure you're doing oil changes (with the correct spec of oil) every 5k miles and change the belt every 40k, i know it's about £1500 a go but it's still cheaper than a new engine which it *will* need if you scrimp on it. If you've not got proof of the belt being done very recently i'd want to get it done ASAP and make sure the sump is taken off and the oil pickup checked and cleaned out.

I'm not familiar with Astras of that age but i do know a lot of the Stellantis stuff uses wet belt engines which are equally as terrible but that one might be old enough to get away with it, but do make sure you check.
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Well that's certainly put me off! Is the 1L Focus engine really that bad? Not sure she'll be up for oil changes every 5k miles. The advert does say FSH with timing belt change which is a positive.

Not even sure what a wet belt is either way!
 
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Had a read up and apparently the 1.4L turbo in the Astra isn't a wet belt, so that's another nod towards the Astra for me (and it's cheaper than the Focus).
 
Big Chris said:
Thinking of getting a background check done on them both - any recommendations?
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VCheck or Total Car Check. They are cheaper with multi buy options. I had 3 checks for £15, well worth it. Considering that slim chance where you may need to look at more cars then you have those additional coupons remaining. I have used both of the above. :)
 
I think I'd prefer the Astra, and I have a minor hatred of Vauxhalls for reasons I don't understand. As said above, a 1.0 Ecoboost Ford of any description is a ticking time bomb.
 
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Spotted this Astra which has very low mileage for its age - 33k on a 66 plate. Two owners though, something to be concerned about? Could perhaps have been a rental car in a previous life?
 
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Big Chris said:
Spotted this Astra which has very low mileage for its age - 33k on a 66 plate. Two owners though, something to be concerned about? Could perhaps have been a rental car in a previous life?
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It has been on sale since April 2025. Price then was £9895. Probably an ex-demo car when new, since it was registered in November 2016 and last V5C was issued in June 2017.

MOT history looks good. As long as condition is fine I don't see any issues other than it being sat for so many months and not getting sold.

Edit: Cannot comment on why it didn't get sold. Tyres probably would need replacing as the car is not being driven, but only a physical inspection would reveal that.
 
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My dad is 83 and drives an old 911. However my father is not your typical 83 year old, he must have given his soul to someone as he looks about 60 and as sharp as a tack that has been extra sharpened.

He does have a Polo too, new one that replaced his last 136,000 mile one that was also like new even with that mileage. Sold it for 3k i think and it was a hell if a car for someone.
 
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LowEndTorque said:
It has been on sale since April 2025. Price then was £9895. Probably an ex-demo car when new, since it was registered in November 2016 and last V5C was issued in June 2017.

MOT history looks good. As long as condition is fine I don't see any issues other than it being sat for so many months and not getting sold.

Edit: Cannot comment on why it didn't get sold. Tyres probably would need replacing as the car is not being driven, but only a physical inspection would reveal that.
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Thanks that's really helpful. What would I look out for with the tyres - signs of cracking?

Where did you see how long it's been for sale for and the V5C dates out of interest?
 
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