Tips for a new €4-5k car for the missus?

FrankGrimes

My fiancee's 98D 1.3 Fiesta has come to the end of the road - numerous problems caused it to the fail the NCT and it's not worth replacing. She doesn't drive all that much but does need a car for driving up and down to Sligo every few weeks. She doesn't want to spend much on a new car but I'd prefer to spend €4-5k on it if that meant she could get something safe and that wouldn't give as much hassle as a really old car might.

Off top of head, she was thinking of something like a Yaris, Fiesta etc. but I'm sure there might be plenty of others that would be good value in that price range, so would appreciate any tips (I know very little about cars myself).

Also, from a quick glance on Carzone.ie, the listed prices didn't seem as low as I'd have thought from all the talk over the last 18months of a disaster in the car market (e.g. 2003 Passats similar to my 1.8T highline listed in or around €7k, when I'd been told I'd be lucky to get €5k for mine if I was selling). Has the market rebounded or is it just that these are just dealers putting optimistic prices up that are really open to a lot of negotiation?

She basically wants as little hassle as possible so buying from a reputable dealer might be the best bet - what sort of warranty should we expect? Is there any chance of getting trade-in/scrappage value on the 98D Fiesta?

Thanks!

Anan1

I'd be buying privately on the basis that a.) you get to meet the owner, b.) reputable dealers don't tend to sell €4-5k cars, and c.) you'll get a lot more car for your money privately. Throw the Fiesta in donedeal, you might get a couple of quid for it there - all the garages will do is call your cash discount a trade-in value.

FrankGrimes

Anan1 wrote: »

I'd be buying privately on the basis that a.) you get to meet the owner, b.) reputable dealers don't tend to sell €4-5k cars, and c.) you'll get a lot more car for your money privately. Throw the Fiesta in donedeal, you might get a couple of quid for it there - all the garages will do is call your cash discount a trade-in value.

Thanks for that, good advice. Are there any models of small car in this price range that you'd recommend...or, more importantly, any ones to steer clear of?

Anan1

I'm not too familiar with modern superminis myself, but i'm sure you'll get good advice from others here. What I would advise the two of you to do is to go out and look at/drive a couple of options. There are very few really bad cars these days, a lot of it is down to personal preference and the actual example. As always, look for something that's been well-minded and serviced by the book. And remember, even if you don't know much about cars you can generally tell a lot from the owner.:)

changes

For 4 to 5K you would get an 03 VW Golf, 04 Astra (new model if private) 03/04 corolla, 04 ford focus, 05/06 corsa, 05/06 fiesta etc.

5K is a nice amount to spend i'm looking to spend 3K and its hard to find anything i'd like, i'd love to have 5K to spend.

I find with carzone that people ask for alot of money, look at the lower end of the list and you can find people asking for more realistic prices coz they're prob sick of getting no bites.

Anan1

I wouldn't put too much store by asking prices - better to find the right car and then offer what it's worth to you. You'll find prices are a lot more flexible on overpriced cars than they are on keenly-priced ones.

pajero2.8

hi if i was you id go down the private route and id try and keep away from french cars like citron and peought and renault they can be brought cheap have a higer spec but build quality isnt up to german standerds and jap standerds, aalso the parts arer much more expensive. haveing said that id also avoid opel as there both expensive and unreliable in my experience.

ford well you could go for a focus not too dear and parts are easy to get.
generally speaking bigish engines are cheaper to buy but cost more in the long run, so small cars tend to be more expensive, a yaris yep small easy on juice but id go for a corolla or something.
you could get a good golf for that money they are solid and comfortable but make sure the timeing belt and water pump have been done together, the water pump can be a weakness if its not done with the timeing belt.
hope i havent offended anyone but ive owned and run most of these cars at one time or another and yes i know the 2.5 pajero can overheat and the 2.8 isnt much better but there a good allrounder if they are heavy on the juice.

Mr Benevolent

try and keep away from french cars like citron and peought and renault they can be brought cheap have a higer spec but build quality isnt up to german standerds

German standards? You mean like the utterly unreliable 1.4 Golf and Polo, the terrible A4, the BMW's chocolate cooling system, the truly terrible reputation of the 96-03 Mercedes? Every manufacturer has brought out shoddy cars without exception, it's unfair to single out the French cars.

pajero2.8

my apologies confab and yes you are right on the other models that you have said about and there are more but we would be here all evening going through the list. as for french cars well my first car and the first one i wrote off was a peought 405 1.9 gr and i loved it fast comfortable but could get dodgy on the corners( hence the write off).
its just that i found them to be great when they were going but expensive when they gave trouble.
the most reliable thing i ever had was a ford orion 1.4 with over 130 k miles on it i drove the life out of it and couldnt kill it! an audi a4 did a much better job of it but the engine still kept going in another vehical.
so once again my apoligies im just going from my experience and yes the mercs were bad werent they.

reunion

Personally i think something like a Corrolla would be ideal for the uses and price you are looking at. Not too small to be impractical, a nice size. Great reliability aswell.

Alternatively a Yaris if you want something smaller with excellent reliabilty.

From my experience I would avoid peugot 206's, fiat puntos and golf 1.4 petrol (golf 1.9 diesel is a great car though)