buying a used car (2001/2002) - recommendations?

2302

I've decided its finally time to move on from my 21 year old toyota corolla and I'm looking at buying a new(er) car. I love the VW Golf and had my heart set on it, but my mechanic has advised against it as he says parts can be expensive and says a Ford Focus/Fiesta or a Renault Clio would be a better bet as they'll be cheaper to maintain.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this (about the Golf) or on the cars he mentioned?

my budget would be 2500-3000 max, so I'm probably looking around the 2001/2002 mark, and I think the fiesta and the clio might be a little small for me, so I'm leaning toward the focus... I've read a few threads and overall sounds like a decent car?

Any advice would be appreciated. Happy to look at other models too, but just looking at these ones at the moment as that's what my mechanic recommended...

Cheers!

colm_mcm

Were you going petrol or diesel

-Corkie-

You should get a MK 2 Focus for that kind of money. Buy the 1.6 and not the 1.4 same goes for a Golf. I presume its a petrol you want..

Jimbob 83

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/AMBIENTE/201047200353936/advert?channel=CARS&featuredListingClickThru=true

Gammy colour and milage 20k too high but still

2302

petrol, sorry meant to mention!

sean1141

stay away from the golf so!!

colm_mcm

Absolutely keep away from the 1.4 golf if you want to keep a car and not have big bills

2302

hmmnn... I've just been speaking to a guy my mechanic recommended who "sources cars". He said I'm absolutely crazy if I think I'm going to get a Focus for 2.5-3k and that I'd be looking at 4k minimum for anything reliable....

I've seen a few on Carzone in the 2001/2002 bracket that have around 80,000 miles and fall into my budget (3k absolute tops).... does that sound too good to be true? (This guy was also warning me that there are all sorts of terrible cars being flogged on various websites and that I should be very careful...sort of worried now!)

sean1141

where do you think he sources his cars from?!
if you like the mk4 golf look up a diesel one. far better than a 1.4 petrol version. parts are no more expencive than any other car