4k to spend, which car?

The IPB

The IPB

The IPB

Soldato
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Howdy, looking for a new car I have got 4k to spend. I want something Focus sized 5 door, 1.4 - 1.6 engine size sort of range.

I'm getting married this year and kids will follow after that I'm thinking, so a family car is required. Is Focus the best option?
 
You are organizing a family car when you are yet to actually have a family. Yes it would be wonderful if everything goes to plan, but given how (relatively) little time it takes to actually buy a car, why not sort it when you have a full understanding of what you actually need, and have perhaps even raised a bit more capital?

If you are desperate to own a £4k focus sized car, then my money would probably go on a SEAT Leon.
 
Dkore-DeX said:
Howdy, looking for a new car I have got 4k to spend. I want something Focus sized 5 door, 1.4 - 1.6 engine size sort of range.

I'm getting married this year and kids will follow after that I'm thinking, so a family car is required. Is Focus the best option?
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Not quite sure what the dumb comments above are all about.

Maybe give a little more info on how enthusiastic about cars you are, what sort of driving you do, what you drive currently etc. It gives people more of an idea of what might suit you. If you don't care about cars al that much just get a Focus 1.6 5dr. Maybe look at the C-Max, they're apparantly decent value for money.
 
I would say it's worth looking Mondeo size as well if kids are on the agenda, is there a particular reason you want the Focus size? You will typically get more of a larger car for your money. Avoid thec-max etc, yes they are holding their value, no you don't need a tall focus for 3 of you. If you end up with triplets, a 7 seater is better anyway. It's nto plan if you're into that, I'm not personally but ignore the grief tbh. The 1.6 is a minimum for a focus-size car if you want anything reasonable to drive btw
 
Get a car that you enjoy for the next year or so, then chop it in when the baby is on the way if you need to.
Absolutely no point tying your self down to a family car when you dont need to. (unless you really want a focus :))

Personally I drive a prelude and have a 6month old, all the baby stuff fits in with luggage for 2 adults to last a week.
 
paradigm said:
You're getting married this year, and kids will inevitably follow
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Not if I can help it :p 2 years and not a sniff of interest for them, yet....

Do know far too many couples though who soon after they are wed the announcement they are pregnant comes along :p
 
The first thing a guy at work did when his misses got pregnant was buy a Zafira. A People carrier for ONE baby the size of his arm :p.

It REALLY isn't worth rushing into buying baby friendly stuff when the little thing hasn't even been created yet! A baby seat will fit into most cars away. My suggestion would be to use these last 9 months+ of freedom to go mad on the car front. You can swing an e36 M3 for £4,000 ;).
 
Kitchster_uk said:
Avoid thec-max etc, yes they are holding their value, no you don't need a tall focus for 3 of you.
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I thought they'd be quite good value because they didn't hold their value well if that makes sense?

I don't think getting a Mk2 focus is going to be doable for £4k personally. A C-Max would be possible though it seems.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201002349919350/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/ford/model/focus_c-max/price-to/4000/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/price-from/1000/radius/1500/postcode/le11aa/page/1?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fle11aa%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fmake%2Fford%2Fmodel%2Ffocus_c-max%2Fprice-to%2F4000%2Fmaximum-age%2Fup_to_5_years_old%2Fprice-from%2F1000%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc%2Fpage%2F1&logcode=p

Locky said:
I would have a mondeo over any focus to be honest.
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I think that trying to decide between a Mk3 Mondeo and a Mk2 Focus would be a tough call to be honest. I would only have a Mk3 Mondeo in either Ghia X, Titanium X or ST form. Ghia X is the only model available for the budget but not even a facelift one, so you gain a few years in age.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...price-to/4000/sort/pricedesc/page/1&logcode=p

SECOND EDIT-
Here's a decent example of a Seat Leon in your budget. The SX model came in at about 2004, and replaced the SE model. They're both the same, but search autotrader for an SX will return newer cars. The SE/SX gives you sport seats, climate control, traction control and fog lights. A guy at work has an S, and I have an SE and the difference is worth having by quite a way.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...price-to/4000/page/1/sort/pricedesc&logcode=p
 
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paradigm said:
You're getting married this year, and kids will inevitably follow... you do realise that this takes around 9 months, you don't just go and get a child?

Wait.
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Not necessarily, if he needs to buy a car now anyway. If you need a car now and you know that in ~1 year you'll have kids, it seems sensible to buy the car that will be fine for now but also suitable once kids come along, as opposed to having to swap cars having only owned said car for a year.

Dkore-DeX - if you don't have any good reason not to get a Focus...what L0rdMike said. You could probably get a new shape if you're prepared to go for one with a few more miles, e.g. http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1410914.htm.

14109141.jpg
 
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