Car buying advice

chabsey

Am looking to buy a car in the next few months, potentially can wait until the start of next year if that impacts prices in a big way.

Anyway, I don't know much about cars but I know what's annoying about my current car. It's old (2002), small and without many extras on it so hopefully an upgrade impress me even if it's only a slightly higher spec.

So the criteria are:

1) Must be automatic
2) Must be fuel efficient
3) Must be well built (as in road noise, rattles etc. kept to a minimum)
4) Relatively Cheap to insure, currently paying ~300 euro so anything +-50 on that is fine.
5) Must be relatively roomy and safe (plenty of airbaggery etc.)


So I've been looking at the 2009-11 Prius which seem nice and fulfil the above criteria but are expensive.

I'd like to keep the budget closer to 10k if possible and the majority of Prius's in the year range I'm looking for are closer to 15k.

I also looked into the Honda Insight, quite a bit cheaper but tends to get pretty poor reviews.

A hybrid isn't essential but they appear to be cheaper to run and many times have an auto gearbox as standard.

The car will be mainly used for city driving but there are regular (1-2 times a month) 300-400km motorway trips.

Any suggestions for cars I should consider?

dh0011

civic hybrid

chabsey

dh0011 wrote: »

civic hybrid

What's the general opinion of them? By this I mean the Prius seems to be considered (from what I've read) unexciting but highly reliable.

The Insight, cheaper feeling and less reliable than the Prius.

I'll do some reading on the Civic now but is it considered an ok car? The hybrid variant specifically.

THanks.

TBi

The civic is a saloon with a fixed back seat. Not sure if this is an issue for you but you lose versatility. General consensus is that it isn't as efficient as a prius but it's not a well known so you might get it cheaper.

Personally i'd go with a Prius, i'm actually thinking of buying one myself. Test drive both (especially the newer 1.8 prius) and see which one suits you more.

Why not a diesel auto? Should be one or two around and they'd be fuel efficient.

Lastly try to sell your own car instead of doing a trade in, you'll get a much better price on the car you want to buy. Usually at least 1k less than the price if you have a trade in.

chabsey

Good to know about the seats in the Civic, hadn't really considered this but it would be a requirement to have folding seats.

Regarding selling my own car, for some reason it always seems easier to just go to the dealership and I assumed the trade in value would be close enough to the selling price. However, just did a check there and I'd get roughly 2-3K if I sold the car, I've been quoted 1250 for a tradein.

TBi

Well at least now you know your rock bottom price you'll get for your car. If you advertise at 1250 you could sell quickly, although you'd be better off selling close to but under market value.

Then you can get cash deal on new car, so another 1000 or so off.

What car do you have?

chabsey

TBi wrote: »

...

What car do you have?

2002 Micra automatic. Great car, no problems with it but a little small and getting on a bit.

TBi

chabsey wrote: »

2002 Micra automatic. Great car, no problems with it but a little small and getting on a bit.

Should be a very easy to sell car. Throw it up on donedeal.