Car recommendations for £2K~

wijcc

wijcc

wijcc

Soldato
Joined
10 Aug 2003
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Location
London
Hi all,
I am in need to a new car for myself. My budget is ideally £2000. My current car has failed its MOT, it is a 2001 1.6 ford focus.
I am looking for something of a similar size, I usually do about 10K miles a year max.. likely to go down though in near future.
What would you guys suggest for a reliable car, petrol and manual. I want something not very expensive to insure or tax either.
Thanks in advance
 
It would cost about £500-£600 to pass the MOT for this year. But it has other little problems as well. The garage owner who i have been using for about 10 years advice is to scrap it. It is getting on abit too on 135K miles.
This is what it failed on:
Brakes imbalanced across an axle rear (Axel 2)
Rear brake recording little or no effort offside
Coil spring broken offside rear
Registration plate lamp not working rear (bothsides)
 
Forgive my basic economics but would it not be better to just pay £500 to fix it than to pay £2000 on a new one?
 
wijcc said:
It would cost about £500-£600 to pass the MOT for this year. But it has other little problems as well. The garage owner who i have been using for about 10 years advice is to scrap it. It is getting on abit too on 135K miles.
This is what it failed on:
Brakes imbalanced across an axle rear (Axel 2)
Rear brake recording little or no effort offside
Coil spring broken offside rear
Registration plate lamp not working rear (bothsides)
Click to expand...

looks like very little to fix? 135k is not THAT much :) cars run to 300 k easy with proper maintenance, fix it and continue driving it, 2k car will have it's own problems which can/will cost more than 600 to fix :)
 
I was thinking of the likes of a honda civic or another focus.
How much do you think a 2006 Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia with 60K in good condition is worth, it is advertised at £2300, what would you pay for that?
Also what about a 2005 Honda Civic 1.6 i VTEC SE with 36K advertised at £2500?
Or a 2006 Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Climate with 63K miles, advertised at £2000?
 
What else is wrong with it?

If its just what you've mentioned it wouldn't take much to resolve those issues.

For 2k most people would probably suggest just buying a newer focus because its one of the better cars out there in your budget. But if you have one already that only needs a few hundred spending on it surely that's going to be the better option?
 
Given everything you mention is about keeping costs down I would also suggest just keeping the Focus and getting it fixed. You could spend £2k on a newer car and easily have a £500 bill the following day. In terms of car ownership spending £500 to get through an MOT isn't a lot. Also your Focus is likely to be worth at least £500 more with a full MOT compared to no MOT so it's not a bad investment.

p1RATE said:
For 2k most people would probably suggest just buying a newer focus because its one of the better cars out there in your budget. But if you have one already that only needs a few hundred spending on it surely that's going to be the better option?
Click to expand...

Completely agree
 
The current car has several problems other than the MOT failures including:
Consuming a lot of engine oil, need to top up approx a litre every month
interior central locking not working, also boot release button on dashboard not working.
Leaking coolant fluid and thermostat needing replacing too.
VSS sensor will need replacing again soon (replaced it about 5 or so years) as every so often the speedo will not working for a few secs or till restart the engine.
The car really needs a new front bumper too and has quite a few dents
 
teenwolf said:
E39 :)
Click to expand...

I couldn't decide if you were being serious or joking until I checked your previous car recommendations and it looks like you are being serious.

Currently drives a 1.6 Mk1 Focus
Has considered a Honda Civic or another Focus
Wants similar size to a Focus
Wants reliable
Not expensive to insure
Not expensive to tax

... the recommendation is a 12-20 year old 5 Series BMW?
 
wijcc said:
The current car has several problems other than the MOT failures including:
Consuming a lot of engine oil, need to top up approx a litre every month
interior central locking not working, also boot release button on dashboard not working.
Leaking coolant fluid and thermostat needing replacing too.
VSS sensor will need replacing again soon (replaced it about 5 or so years) as every so often the speedo will not working for a few secs or till restart the engine.
The car really needs a new front bumper too and has quite a few dents
Click to expand...

I think the point most people are trying to make though is that you could spend £2k on another car and end up with just as long a list or one big bill that costs more than them all put together. Better the devil you know.

If you were looking to spend £5k or more on a newer car then you'd likely get a far more reliable car, but with a £2k budget you are just playing the lottery as to whether it costs more or less than your current car yet are £2k out of pocket before you start.
 
I get that, thats why i have stuck with this car for a long time so far, repairing it when it was written off etc.
But I think it may be time to change now, as every year the list of things needing replacing or repairing is getting on.
I may go see some cars and see what they are like and then decide from there. Will try to take someone more handy with cars than me to take a good look at them (the cars).

I would not spend that much money on a car, this focus when i brought it in 2009 was the most expensive i brought at £1700.. only have had 3 cars so far. I could spend more but don't really want too. I kind of fancy getting a newer car with less problems and looking more tidy than my banged up old focus too.
 
£2k is not really enough to get you out of the risk of bills. Either fix the Focus or invest more in something newer for the long term.
 
What is the opinion on Honda Accords particularly on a 2005 Diesel 2.2L I-CTDI SPORT, one of my relatives has one and would let me have it off them for whatever i wish to give to them for it. It is a good runner and in great nick, 102K miles on the clock on it?
 
Got it, you have no interest in fixing your car because you want a new car. ;)

I'd be surprised if you can't get your car sorted out and MOT'd for about £200 if you use a good Indie mechanic and eBay parts. Which is all you want on a 2001 Focus!

If I were you I'd do that, and save up a bit more money before indulging in a new car.
 
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no weighing up all my options.. I will take the car to another garage and ask them for quotes with regards to cost of rectifying issues for MOT failure.
 
What's actually wrong with the rear brakes because the figures you're quoting and the fail sheet doesn't add up.

I had this failure on my Fiesta (so similar parts costs) and I spent only £150 getting it sorted.

Offside Front Front constant velocity joint gaiter split (2.5.C.1a)
Nearside front brake binding (3.7.B.1)
Nearside front brake application uneven (3.7.B.2)
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements (3.7.B.7)
Click to expand...
 
That's the pricing the garage that did the MOT gave me, £500-£600 to fix the MOT failure issues. Like i said i will take it to another garage to get them to check and give pricing.
I am just weighing up all my options
 
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