Decisions, decisions, decisions, yet another 5K budget car advice thread.

2nd Row Donkey

Well, here it is... I'll keep this brief as possible.

Budget .. 5k cash
Trade in option, 2lt Petrol guzzling Santa Fe, 2002 with130k miles on clock that I've so far been offered a trade in value of between €500 and €900 quid.

Ideally 07/08 reg but will consider 06 too.

Absolutely MUST be low in tax. 1.4 or 1.6, nothing higher. I'm a hoooor for letting the tax lapse and then end up paying huge arrears and playing catch up.

Need the car for work purposes, so needs to be decent mpg.
Hard to quantify what kind of mileage I do.

Bit of everything really. A lot of city driving, quite a bit of Dublin and surrounding counties (motorway mostly) with irregular but frequent enough long trips to all corners of the country.

Only get paid 55c per mile which means I can end up loosing money if I'm stuck around town for 60-90 mins a day (in Santa fe).

Not too pushed on the whole style/interior/Gadgets.

Reliability and low running costs are key.

Won't consider anything with more than 85k miles on clock.

So far I've been concentrating on..

VW Passat 1.6L petrol
Toyota Avensis 1.6L
Ford Focus 1.4 and 1.6
Ford Mondeo 1.6L
Nissan Primera 1.4 - 1.6

(And to a lesser extent, Opel Vectra, Skoda Octavia and the Almera)

Do any of the above tick the box or conversely, is there any of these I should stay well clear of...

The missus drives a 07 Corolla (newer model) which is very low cost to run, very reliable etc but slightly out of budget and I wouldn't be keen on the two of us having the exact same car!

Lastly, I will only buy from a dealer as I need the reassurance of a warranty but won't touch anything to comes with one of those 1000miles/1 month warranties that some places offer

If I'm been too fussy or unrealistic please feel free to let me know.

Thanks in advance...

J

bazz26

First of all a 12 year old petrol Santa Fe is worth feck all to a dealer and a burden to you if trying to trade in as all it really means is that the dealer doesn't have to offer you a discount for not having a trade-in. You would be better off trying to sell it privately yourself. You could shift it for €500 and put that towards your new car budget.

Secondly, do you need a lot of space? If you are the only one in the car and doing mostly town driving with the occasional trip down the country then maybe something like a Yaris or Fiesta will do the trick. The cars you mention while better on fuel than your current Santa Fe will not be as frugal as a supermini. Either way on your budget I'd say you will be looking at 06 or 07 examples at best.

Something worth considering is the likes of a Honda Jazz:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Jazz/1.4-SE/43813966980323020/

colm_mcm

Prius.

2nd Row Donkey

thanks Bazz

In answer to your question, yes - I do need space. I should have mentioned that my job does involve carrying some equipment. - computers, printers that kind of thing. Usually an average size boot is enough but occasionally I would need to use the back seats too.

A van is not an option or even a 3 door hatchback as I have a 4 year old child, so a child seat is a permanent fixture in the back of the car.

Sometimes I might also have clients/potential customers in the car with me too so something like a fiesta/Kia wouldnt be appropriate.

2nd Row Donkey

colm_mcm wrote: »

Prius.

For 5K?

2nd Row Donkey

So I spent most of today touring the million and one different car sales garages/forecourts In ballymount, Naas road, longmile etc.

Narrowed my choice down to

A 2006 Jetta, 1.6l petrol, 73,000 miles on clock with NCT to Jan 2016. €5400 with trade in.

2006 Avensis, 1.6l petrol, 90,000 miles on clock. NCT due In June but garage will submit and honour asap. €4500 with trade in.

A 2006 Focus Saloon, 1.5L, 72,000 miles on clock. NCT April 2016. €3600 with trade in.

2006 Passat. 1.6L, 76000 miles on clock. NCT Jan 2006. €5600 with trade in.


The first 3 only come with 3 month gear box and engine warranty but with option to 12 month more comprehensive warranty for an additional €200-300 euro.
The Passat comes with 6 month gear box, engines and eelectrics cover.

Bobo78

I personally would definitely go for VW Passat out of those you listed.

bazz26

Passat of that vintage had known problems such as the electric parking brake and steering rack. Anything you are looking at make sure these have already been addressed before buying one.

Del2005

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

So I spent most of today touring the million and one different car sales garages/forecourts In ballymount, Naas road, longmile etc.

Narrowed my choice down to

A 2006 Jetta, 1.6l petrol, 73,000 miles on clock with NCT to Jan 2016. €5400 with trade in.

2006 Avensis, 1.6l petrol, 90,000 miles on clock. NCT due In June but garage will submit and honour asap. €4500 with trade in.

A 2006 Focus Saloon, 1.5L, 72,000 miles on clock. NCT April 2016. €3600 with trade in.

2006 Passat. 1.6L, 76000 miles on clock. NCT Jan 2006. €5600 with trade in.


The first 3 only come with 3 month gear box and engine warranty but with option to 12 month more comprehensive warranty for an additional €200-300 euro.
The Passat comes with 6 month gear box, engines and eelectrics cover.

There are a few dodgy dealers in the area you where looking. Google any dealership before you buy.

Don't be too worried about a warranty, the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act trumps it and covers the whole car for a lot longer than a warranty.

colm_mcm

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

For 5K?

You'd certainly get one for €5500 anyway, they're out 10 years (mk2)

2nd Row Donkey

bazz26 wrote: »

Passat of that vintage had known problems such as the electric parking brake and steering rack. Anything you are looking at make sure these have already been addressed before buying one.

Cheers bazz. Had a test drive in it and it is also from one of the more reputable dealers in the area. But I'll be sure too ask those questions.

2nd Row Donkey

Del2005 wrote: »

There are a few dodgy dealers in the area you where looking. Google any dealership before you buy.

Don't be too worried about a warranty, the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act trumps it and covers the whole car for a lot longer than a warranty.

Their certainly is. I work in the general area. I stayed well clear of a few of them altogether and there was another few that I didn't get a good vibe from.

The 4 cars above are from 3 dealers. 2 are well established main dealerships, the other one I'll need to do some homework on.

2nd Row Donkey

Would love to hear peoples opinions on the Ford Focus Salon V The toyota Avensis I'm looking at.

Both are 2006 reg
Both NCT'd to early 2016
Both 1.6L Petrol
Both in similar condition
Both come with same dealer warranty

Focus has 73,000 miles on the clock
The Avensis has 93,000 miles on her.

The Focus is about €500 quid cheaper

Should I be concerned about the miles on the Avensis, considering its a toyota is the 90,000 comparable with the 73,000 on the Ford...

Have either cars got known issues that I need to ask the dealer about ...