what would you choose?

timmothy

timmothy

timmothy

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I am interested in 3 cars at the moment, all well under £1000. I always seem to buy the wrong kind of car so thought i would get some advice on here before wasting my time and money again.

The 1st is a t reg 1.3 nissan micra with 12 months mot, no tax with 113 000 miles on the clock. Good overall condition apart from a large dent on the boot lid. Price is £550ono

Second is a x reg Renault clio 1.4. It has 7 months Mot and taxt till May. It has 152 000 on the clock. It is in great condition but the high mileage puts me off. The price is £600 after negotiations.

Thirdly is the budget choice. Its a 1998 Skoda Felicia 1.3, it has 5 months mot and no tax. Is in good condition and has 116 000 on the clock. Price is £250

So i know there is not much to go on but what would you choose and why?
Also do you have any advice for me regarding these choices. Thanks Tim
 
Got any adverts for them?

When you get to this end of the used car market, i think it's normally a lottery if you pick up a semi decent car or a lemon. If you do pick up a lemon, the only thing to be thankful for is that you've probably only lost a few quid, if that.
 
Am i allowed to say that i wouldn't buy either? Both are a huge liability. And i know you're buying a £500 so this will always be the case to a degree, but i think you can limit this. I'll have a quick look.
 
Budget is £625, needs to be in Cornwall, Devon or Somerset and a low insurance group.
Cars i ideally want but dont seem to be any around my bidget are-

VW Lupo
Skoda Fabia
Toyota Yaris

Also got a new job as a vocational worker so going to be a lot of driving so need good fuel economy, most of the roads will be small a and b roads in Cornwall
 
Wow, ok, that's quite a...precise budget.

Erm, i'm not really sure to suggest, but i will point out a few things.

Firstly I would not recommend doing a lot of miles in a £625 car. These kinds of cars are not reliable.

Secondly, could you not save up a bit more money? A £1500 car would be infinitely better than a £600 one. I'm not really sure of your situation so i don't know how attainable this is. If you really can't afford more than £625 i have to question whether you're in a good enough financial position to have a car. What are you going to do come MOT time when it needs some work doing (and with these aged cars, something WILL need doing)? Or if something breaks? Or if you need some new tyres? Sorry to sound like your dad, but these are valid questions.

For reference, i just found this for less than £1500 (and don't forget, you can haggle!):

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classi.../page/1/radius/100/postcode/tr130es?logcode=p

Safe, massively reliable and well kitted out - and from a trader so you have slightly more come back should it be a total wreck of a car. And yours for only £895 more than a rusty, dodgy, unreliable, unsafe, 15 year old Renault Clio with no service history.
 
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ISTR there is nothing massively reliable about the 2003 Primera, it was by all accounts quite dire and resulted in Nissans exit from this market altogether. The fact it's a CVT would make even more nervous.
 
Thanks for the advice Gaygle. I need a car as i have had to sell my old one and need a new one for my job starting on Monday next week. In cornwall with a job like the one i have got you need a car, public transport is not a viable option.

Secondly i cannot afford anymore than i am currently spending, £625 is right at the top of my budget.

Thirdly the cars you have linked to both have 2litre engines, i need something under 1.4 due to insurance and mileage as i said earlier. I would love a bigger engined car and to spend more however i am just not able to at this stage of my life.
 
It might be - might also just be dirty so worth checking it out regardless. You could be hit with bills regardless of the car you buy at this kind of money so don't rule anything out. What I will say is french cars in general are a bit of a mare to work on, not sure if you're doing any work yourself or if it would need to be a garage but either way the labour tends to be a bit more than the equivalent jap/german motor. Conversely japanese parts are far more expensive.

Have a look at all 3 and take somebody with reasonable mechanical knowledge with you - what you want is the car least likely to chuck any serious bills making your only viable option scrapping it.

We had a 99 1.4 megane coupe in our household for about 3 years, it had been with the family for a further 2 - the thing hardly moved, only really being used either by the Mrs at the weekend or me when one of my "decent" cars needed work. In the time we had it all I can remember doing to it was servicing, brakes all round, a handbrake cable, cleaning up flywheel sensor, replacing a section of flexi and replacing the CV joints. That's it - we drove that car to Cornwall and back, 48mpg and with no issues, passed it on to another family member for what was about £100 (probably actual worth of around your budget). It's still running fine despite having been worth well under a grand for the last few years of its life so there are decent cars out there from all the manufacturers, it's finding them that is the difficult part.
 
With the budget you have I would recommend asking around friends and family because as others have already said its a complete lottery when buying at this price.

At least with friends/family they will tell you about the niggles the car has (or at least they should).

The fact that you are in such a rush to buying a low budget car concerns me too.
 
Getting around is an issue now i dont have a car, also i dont have anyone with mechanical knowledge i can take. I need to be in a rush as i have a new job starting Monday, i need a car by then
 
Suppose all you can do is judge the car you buy by the information available and your gut feel on the owner then - not much more you can do, make sure you drive them all and that they feel right, if it turns out to be a lemon that gets you by for 3-6 months till you can get another then I guess that'll do - good luck!
 
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