hello
What's the best car to buy for 1.5k to 2k for a car used for mostly motorway for about 60 miles a day?
must be reliable, good mpg and low depreciation. (and quiet for the motorway driving )
i am thinking honda accord or audi a4.
what do you think?
many thanks
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 02/01/2008 at 13:14
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Honda Accord is an excellent suggestion. Also consider Nissan Primera and Ford Mondeo. Don't bother with the Audi A4 - it's going to be very old for this budget and won't be reliable.
Also don't worry about depreciation. Infact, actively seek out a car with very high depreciation becuase that way you will ensure you stay away from very old cars and can still buy something reasonably recent. You are only spending £1500 so depreciation is a complete non issue - if you run it for 3 years and then throw it in the bin its only cost 500 quid a year in depreciation, it doesn't matter.
A low depreciating car like an A4 or a Golf will end up being at least 10 years old for your budget yet you could reasonably expect a 2000 or even 2001 Mondeo for the money.
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MichealR is talking complete sense. Forget anything German - they're simply holding too much (kudos) value for your budget & reperesnt badge cost at only £2K. It must be early Octavia, Almera, Accord or Mondeo - but buy on condition.
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What about an Alfa 156 ? there are plenty of these in this price range in Autotrader. I know older Alfas used to be troublesome, but would one of these make any sense ? they are still a beautiful looking car. And even a Rover 75, again they look good value for a stylish and well built car.
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MichealR is talking complete sense. Forget anything German - they're simply holding too much (kudos)
And how many German cars of this age/price range have you actually owned, Woodbines?
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And how many German cars of this age/price range have you actually owned, Woodbines?
Sorry, I don't see the point of your question? I've owned (or been the keeper) 5 Audis
both petrol & diesel, all much younger My advice to OP was base on residual values for the above - the point being that the retained value of A4s at his price point meant something very old & tired for £2K & much of that is based on the 'German car' premium - so less real value than a 'boring' low status Nissan, Mondeo etc. for similar price but newer/fresher for his money.
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And how many German cars of this age/price range have you actually owned Woodbines? Sorry I don't see the point of your question? I've owned (or been the keeper) 5 Audis
OK, just checking. I get annoyed reading some of the drivel on this site that is spoken by those with no practical or ownership experience whatsoever of certain cars, but who are convinced they are always right!
To be fair to the OP, I would recommend an A4 at around the 2 grand mark, but more so a 1.8 petrol than a diesel for reasons similar to those you have stated. OP could find a nice example with sensible (well under 100K) miles and good sh for this amount that would last and not be too expensive to run over his ownership. There are a great many A4's around (remember they were a fleet car too, like the Mondeo/Vectra) now for this money. Also worth a look at are C Class Mercs, I have just sold a very nice 98 R C180 Esprit estate (127k/2 owners/FSH) myself for £2500. There are a lot of nice German brand cars around at this price that are worth buying and will give good service for many years to come. What is also helpfull are the number of dedicated marque specialists around who concentrate on maintaining such models.
Personally I would forget E36 3 series BMW's as they are just too old now (and most are showing it). Of the 'mainstream' brands I would recommend earlier (non VVTI) Toyota Avensis and Nissan Primera's and the later Honda Accord (99 onwards) is an excellent buy.
Hope this helps.
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Even an older Mercedes is a better bet than a newer Daewoo.
Mercedes are very easy to work on, they were designed to last 20 Years minimum, they have excellent parts availability, parts are relatively cheap to buy, as the previous poster says, there are lots of marque specialists so you are not obliged to use the main dealer network.
You could easily get a C 180 for under 2 Grand, and despite it being older, its still a proper Mercedes.
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sorry should have mentioned will be keeping car for only 12 to 18 months so depreciation is an issue as i would have to sell it on.
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>>sorry should have mentioned will be keeping car for only 12 to 18 months so depreciation is an issue as i would have to sell it on.
At this level, depreciation is not an issue. Trust us. A #1500 car will still be worth nearly #1500 next year provided you haven't done anything nasty to it.
It is fair to say that if you buy a #1500 20 year old Mercedes depreciation will be either nil, or 100% (because something horribly expensive happened and you had to scrap it).
With a #1500 5 year old Mondeo, it'll probably be worth #1200.
Which would you rather?
Anyway, I am very much of the view that you are spending too much. Limit yourself to #750 and you'll get nearly as good a car (10 year old cars are not scrap these days). There is an equal chance of a big bill on a #750 car as a #1750 car.
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good points, thank you.
what would you buy for 750?
Mega snipquote
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/01/2008 at 21:31
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Mate bought a Rover diesel for about £500..the one before the 75 and its been fine. I reckon you need to keep to Ford.. Vauxhall...Astra maybe or try looking for a bargain Rover under your budget so you have a bit to cover any maintainance thats needed. German cars could get you a hefty maintainance bill - there are loads of French cars that could be just the job too that may be worth a look.
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My friend bought a Golf III VR6 about 2 years ago for £1700. It's still worth that now & only needed 1 thing sorting out on it. Not too bad on fuel either for a 2.8 V6, he gets about 25-30 mpg. Quite fun to drive too.
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For £750 it doesn't matter what make it is (apart from making sure it's something suitable for a motorway slog). Go for whatever you can find in acceptable condition, ideally with a long MoT.
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ok but i would be prepared to spend up t0 1.5k to 2k for a car i would enjoy more and that would keep its value.
after all i enjoy driving cars and having a nice car like most people but have done the new car thing and it was costing too much in depreciation.
so more ideas please for 1k to 2k. cheers folks. thanks for the input.
by the way which is most relaxing to drive for the money i want to spend out of:
audi a4
nissan primera
honda accord
ford mondeo
mercedes c class
or something else?
snipquote
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/01/2008 at 21:31
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I have two friends who run cars (like me) privately on a shoestring. One is a P reg A4 Avant 110TDi, the other an R reg Golf estate tdi, both with miles well in excess of 100k.They have both proved very reliable and cheap to run for several years, with no major problems.
My point is that neither of my friends went out looking for these specific cars. They were bought solely 'on condition' from private vendors, much like my S reg Mazda 626 SE with 96k on the clock but sub £1k to purchase. Look for well presented private ads...good grammar, several clear photos, from a private seller on Autotrader with a FSH and receipts, then fingers crossed you should get a good un.Keep an open mind on what you are looking for, provided it fits your requirements size wise. Do not make the mistake of putting too much emphasis on mpg unless you are doing in excess of 15k miles pa.
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