Spec me a car

anksta

anksta

anksta

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2005
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Morning, I'd like to buy my mum a car as the ancient Fiesta she's driving around is falling apart, she's literally never had a single car that didn't go from her ownership to the scrapyard she keeps them for so long.

I've been in London for years now so have no interest in cars anymore and I'm out the loop, is a Yaris still a good option for reliability?

I need something small, good value, cheap to run and widely available for repairs.

She always used to have Renaults but that was the worst brand for needing repairs every other week.

I've had a quick look on autotrader this morning and it looks like I can get a decent Yaris for about 2.5k, is this a good range? Can't really afford too much more than that right now.

What else should I be looking at? Are there any that are real value for money?

Cheers
 
Yaris, Honda Jazz or even another Fiesta are probably the best options in this segment/price range.

anksta said:
Morning, I'd like to buy my mum a car as the ancient Fiesta she's driving around is falling apart, she's literally never had a single car that didn't go from her ownership to the scrapyard she keeps them for so long.
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At £2.5k you can't really expect any other outcome other than a good few years use.
 
Armageus said:
Yaris, Honda Jazz or even another Fiesta are probably the best options in this segment/price range.

At £2.5k you can't really expect any other outcome other than a good few years use.
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This is about the best advice you're going to get, unless you dramatically increase the budget it's going to be at least a 5 or 6 year old car.
 
Armageus said:
Yaris, Honda Jazz or even another Fiesta are probably the best options in this segment/price range.



At £2.5k you can't really expect any other outcome other than a good few years use.
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Yeah that's fine, same for Maundie's reply.

Something that will run pretty reliably, is sturdy enough for the motorway (she drives Manchester to Oxford every other month or so) and won't fall apart within 6 months.

What reg/mileage do you think I'd be looking at? I saw anywhere ranging from 38k to 90k earlier and prices from 1k to 4k. There was one Yaris that was like 1200 quid, 38k miles but was a Cat D write off, the only thing I could see on the pictures was a dent in the boot, that'd be enough for a Cat D right?
 
Yeah, that'd be enough. I once got a cat c for a dent in the door. It really depends on when the cat d happened though. If it happened when the car was 1 year old, the da,age will be more significant than if it happened at 10 years old.

If she really does run her cars to the scrapyard, then a well repaired cat d might not be a terrible way to go. As there is no worries about reduced values, or difficulty re selling it.
 
You could be looking at VW UP,

there's a cat d on autotrader 3 years old, 59k and 1 litre engine. For a car nut it wouldn't work but for a mum, it's the ideal run around.

only thing to be concerned about with Cat C/D's is that some insurers won't touch them
 
Armageus said:
An UP is fine for popping to the shops in, but I wouldn't even entertain taking it on a motorway.
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depends how his mum drives, for sticking in the left lane it's fine, anything else probably not, but 1 motorway journey a month, its still worth a consideration.
 
AHarvey said:
depends how his mum drives, for sticking in the left lane it's fine, anything else probably not, but 1 motorway journey a month, its still worth a consideration.
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Manchester to Oxford is ~160 miles / 3 hours of Motorway - I personally wouldn't feel safe in something so underpowered and cheaply built. Then there is the lack of comfort and refinement for that length of time.

The next class up of Yaris/Jazz/Fiesta is a much better option.

Edit:
If you can up your budget a little, then the EX model of Jazz with Cruise Control etc would be a nice option:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20170929980985
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201709119190647
 
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BMW 5 Series? :D

I can vouch for both the Jazz and Yaris personally, the latter tended to roll less through corners, however your mum might not be too concerned about that :p. I think both have timing chains from 2006 on-wards (might be wrong through), so that's something to consider vs the Fiesta.
 
Morning guys, do you think this is a good deal?

2008 Jazz, 50k miles £2150 and conveniently pretty close to where she lives.

It says it's priced low compared to other cars which does look to be the case but it looks to be one of the last before the 2nd generation Jazz came out and some of the stuff I've read says that they get a bit dodgy after 7 or so years - albeit those were from articles that were publishing in 2010/11.

Last thing I want is to buy something that is gonna need 500 quid plus worth of work within a year.
 
I just sold a 2011 Micra for 2.5k. It had no problems during my ownership and actually pulled well for its class. It was better specced than anything in its class and price range for a similar year etc. I'd recommend it to anyone.
 
hmm a Micra is a good shout, looks like you can get a newer one for cheaper. What are they like for longer motorway journeys and being able to get them repaired?
 
Up to 70mph it was fine really. Over 80 feels a bit unstable. I just used to use the cruise control at 70. Took it on a lot of motorway journeys and normally felt fine afterwards.

To be honest I've no idea on repairs because mine didn't need anything in the 30k I owned it. Servicing and tyres was very reasonable.
 
anksta said:
Morning guys, do you think this is a good deal?

2008 Jazz, 50k miles £2150 and conveniently pretty close to where she lives.

It says it's priced low compared to other cars which does look to be the case but it looks to be one of the last before the 2nd generation Jazz came out and some of the stuff I've read says that they get a bit dodgy after 7 or so years - albeit those were from articles that were publishing in 2010/11.

Last thing I want is to buy something that is gonna need 500 quid plus worth of work within a year.
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This Jazz has been reduced to £2k, can anyone see a reason why this would be a bad idea?

Thanks
 
I'd go for a Yaris. I've had 2 and both were approaching 100k when I moved them on. They only ever required servicing at the recommended intervals. I'd actually buy another if I required something more economical and reliable.
 
Evo8 said:
I'd go for a Yaris. I've had 2 and both were approaching 100k when I moved them on. They only ever required servicing at the recommended intervals. I'd actually buy another if I required something more economical and reliable.
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Isn't a Yaris basically the same as a Jazz? And that deal I've posted seems too good to be true.
 
anksta said:
This Jazz has been reduced to £2k, can anyone see a reason why this would be a bad idea?

Thanks
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I can't comment on that car directly, I'm not sure what the market is truly like, however:

My mum had a 1.4l 2005 Jazz from new till earlier this year and it didn't have any major issues really that weren't her fault. I think it had 60-70k on it.

It had a hard life, she had a horse and drove it on very bumpy and rough roads. The most I ever replaced on it myself was the front droplinks. Everything else was consumables such as brakes and tyres. She had a hard time with the exhaust rusting through, but that was more down to the cheap part she insisted on having put on and it breaking due to rust and the rough roads.

It's still going now, we let it go for £500 to a family friend. This was due to it being cosmetically ruined (she drove it into quite a few things over the years).

They're a brilliant car though, especially if you need space for lugging things. Seats fold up or flat in the back and you can fit surprisingly large things in there.



EDIT:

On closer inspection, that Jaxx has been bumped. The front bumper is not properly flush at the wheel arch and the rear bumper has been pushed into the chassis and there's a slight bulge/crack on the right hand side (my mums had this as she drove into lots of things). That'll be why the price is lower than usual. Hard to spot in the pics.
 
anksta said:
Isn't a Yaris basically the same as a Jazz?
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They're similar in the sense that they're both small and reliable.

I've never driven a Jazz but I loved my Yaris and, as I said, I'd have another if I was in the market for one.
 
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