Recommend me a car........!

Shane732

So I've become bored of my 335i and am looking to change. I'm wondering what you guys would recommend?!! Joke, joke!! Please don't ban me!

I have a friend who is looking at buying a used car at the moment. She’s in her mid-20’s and has just passed her driving test in the past couple of months.

She has between €2k and €3k to spend on the car.

She’s not looking for anything fast, or anything particularly sporty. She’s simply looking for a reliable car to get her from A to B. Naturally she'd like to pick something up that's in good nick and has a low enough mileage on it.

I was wondering what would you guys recommend in this situation? Naturally I’ve made my recommendations but she doesn’t seem to be too enamoured by them!

Personally I don’t think it’s important as to whether the car is petrol or diesel as she’ll be doing a low enough annual mileage. I think if she goes with a 1.2 or 1.4 petrol car it’ll be easier to pick up something reliable within her price range. She has stated no preference for petrol over diesel.

Wetbench4

I would look for a yaris.

Tallon

She won't get anything for €2, unless you're Marlow, but I'd say a 206 would be a good starter car for her.

afaik, they are pretty reliable, and they're not bad cars to drive at all

challengemaster

fiesta 1.25 zetec or yaris

colm_mcm

Another yaris vote here.

Big Nasty

Fiesta, Corsa, Polo

Shane732

I suggested the Fiesta but she wasn't interested.

ninty9er

Corsa or 206. My mam has a Yaris and loves it, but it's very much meh!

Shane732

What about this http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Fiesta/LX/201118202283950/advert?channel=CARS

Older model Yaris, brilliant car and ultra reliable!

Stay away form VW's they can be major trouble. The 3 cylinder polo engines are useless piles of junk and not very economical, no power what so ever, yes power makes a difference when used safely to drive safely!

The newer generation of VW's are much more reliable but the ones from 00-08 had major reliability issues!

I agree with the above Yaris all the way!

My Auntie has one a 00 and it's really reliable and the older 1 litre engines were better imo than the current 3 cylinder ones!

af_thefragile

Female driver, not fast or sporty, reliable, to get from A to B.

Yeah, that one's the Toyota Yaris!!

af_thefragile

af_thefragile wrote: »

Female driver, not fast or sporty, reliable, to get from A to B.

Yeah, that one's the Toyota Yaris!!

LOL are you saying the Yaris is a woman's car then?

Ah use the gears and she flies, even a 1litre!

robtri

fiesta would have been myfirst choice...

but what about a Civic, 1.4....... be around a 2001 model, but ultra reliable...

stauntj

Id go for a kia rio or hyundai accent which are 1.3 usually, these cars are ultra reliable and are cheap to fix should anything go wrong compared with many french cars..yaris may be good but they are quite expensive on resale so for 2 or 3k gonna pick up somethin crappy. Besides more space in the cars id recommend, good fuel economy in its range.

parkers.co.uk great car rating site, i made my decision from here as I didnt want a box car and couldnt afford to pay focus money.

Tea 1000

I was looking for something in this price range recently for someone, they had set a 1.4 limit for engine size on me, so it was really difficult to find something very clean. All the 1.2's and 1.4's etc were many owners, much miles and not that clean. I'm particularly fussy though.
But if she's not of the type to resist anything over a certain cc, then the best option is something like a Honda Accord. The 1.8 in those older shape ones might be a little thirsty, but they're a decent comfortable car, and really is probably the most reliable car ever built. Certainly many surveys came to that conclusion. And it's actually a lot easier to find a car with a bigger engine in good nick than a smaller engine'd car.
If she doesn't want something that big, then I'd be looking towards a 1.6 in a Corolla, Civic, Leon or Focus or something of that ilk. The tax phobia means that those cars are opened to more bargaining and people have probably held onto them for longer, meaning less owners and typically easier to find a clean one.

mailforkev

Another vote for the Yaris.

Try to find one of the facelifted Mk 1 versions though (the one with the "teardrop" bit at the bottom of the headlight).

Between ourselves, my mother and mother-in-law, someone has owned one of every model since they came out and the Mk 1.5 was by far and away the nicest.

MIL currently has a brand new one and it's a rotten yoke to drive and sit in, a BIC biro is made of better plastic than the dash.

challengemaster

robtri wrote: »

fiesta would have been myfirst choice...

but what about a Civic, 1.4....... be around a 2001 model, but ultra reliable...

Civics are way overpriced for what they are - you can get a much better car for cheaper. Also the insurance for them is loaded

Mully_2011

2000 ish Corolla

Tea 1000

Tea 1000 wrote: »

I was looking for something in this price range recently for someone, they had set a 1.4 limit for engine size on me, so it was really difficult to find something very clean. All the 1.2's and 1.4's etc were many owners, much miles and not that clean. I'm particularly fussy though.
But if she's not of the type to resist anything over a certain cc, then the best option is something like a Honda Accord. The 1.8 in those older shape ones might be a little thirsty, but they're a decent comfortable car, and really is probably the most reliable car ever built. Certainly many surveys came to that conclusion. And it's actually a lot easier to find a car with a bigger engine in good nick than a smaller engine'd car.
If she doesn't want something that big, then I'd be looking towards a 1.6 in a Corolla, Civic, Leon or Focus or something of that ilk. The tax phobia means that those cars are opened to more bargaining and people have probably held onto them for longer, meaning less owners and typically easier to find a clean one.

Yeah good choices, though her budget might not allow for a 1.8, I agree with you though on the bigger engine cars.

If all she wants is to keep it for a year or two then even a higher mileage 1.2-1.4 might do the trick.

Volkswagen, seat and skoda's 1.0l -1.4 engines have a very bad reputation and I would stay well away, don't be fooled by the Volkswagen Audi group engines! The newer 09 polos seem to be much better quality, the 1.0l is a gem, but the 1.2 and 1.4 engines are still the old unreliables. VW quality seems to have improved through the range from 08+ I wouldn't touch anything below thaat with a barge pole!

Fiat make excellent small engines and their 1.4tsi is really good, but belt cam.

If you can find a well looked after punto I think that's a good little car.

But I would put my money with the corolla or Civic if the money is right!

I still recommend the yaris, however the 00-05 model is very loud on the motorway, I mean 0 noise insulating and I find it very tiring, if she does lots of motorway miles I would look elsewhere. + it will only do 38-40 mpg at those speeds, no 5th gear! stingy gits! I have no experience with newer models. It's still a reliable motor for sure!