Hi all We have had an Astra estate, 59 reg, for about 8 years now from nearly new. It had 30k on when we got it but now it's at 75k so we have only averaged about 4-5kpa so i guess it's good on that front but there is some noise on start up tick over so I'm thinking it may be time for a new (used) one. I like the look of the new Astra estate and the Citroen grand c4. Any suggestions guys? Budget between £9k and £12k, ideally under 2 years old and under 25k mileage. Cheers, Marc
Have a look at Seat Leon, had two over the last six years. Highly rated by Auto Express and a category winner for several years on the trot.
Cheers guys. Needs to be an estate or something like 6-7 seater that you can hide the seats for the extra space like the Citroen grand c4. Does the seat come with an estate version? Japanese, possibly a Toyota or mitsubishi?
I was put off Japanese cars in the 70s when I owned a Datsun that developed gearbox problems and parts were not available, apparently a large cargo plane carrying spares for the gearboxes blew up in the sky over a small village, the villagers to this day remember it raining Datsun cogs
Good grief keep the Astra. I will be good for 120k mileage. What’s the start up noise? What engine? They are pretty robust and cheap to run
I spoke to a mechanic and due to the rattling when i lightly press the clutch pedal, he thinks it is a component of the clutch which although cheap, the labour cost is high as it needs the clutch out. As we've already spent £500 this year at the garage on it, we're loath to spend more keeping it on the road.
Have a look at some of the scrappage schemes. There may still be some barmy offers out there like my son got nearly £6k off a new Mazda 3 last year by taking in his clapped out Focus.
I was going to suggest Ford myself. From what I hear from mechanics, the Fords have come a long way. I do trust Japanese mechanicals though.
I've never had a problem with *** cars and Toyota Corollas last forever but I've had Modeo's or Focus's for the last 15 years and they've rarely broken down.
I have had Ford and Toyota cars and must say Toyota has been excellent for reliability. So good that I wonder if a Lexus (luxury Toyota brand) would be a safe bet as a used car. The Fords have become very well built, as have a lot of French cars. It seems most cars are now built to a very similar high standard. I hear of German brands having engine and gearbox serious problems and also see a lot of German cars with rust on bodywork
I went with a Hyundai i30 estate 1l. Excellent value. Even though it's less than 1litre, it's got 120bhp. Really happy with it.
Don’t forget the dealer network as well as the independent specialists. The car is only as good as the support it gets from them. In my experience, Good ones (main dealers) Toyota, Skoda, Honda . Bad, Nissan, Vauxhall and the majority. Terrible, Ford, Renault, Peugeot/Citroen. I gave up on Ford years ago due to the attitude of the dealers and it has not changed. Nissan has gone rapidly downhill after the take over by Renault. Vauxhall are now part of PSA and thinly disguised Peugeot/Citroens. It might be that Toyota dealers appear good because the cars are so reliable.