I am looking for a small car for SWMBO. What's the best value car for £3000.
I looked at the Honda Civic at the weekend but £6000+ for an R reg seems a bit over the top. Do Hondas and Toyota's carry a premium value? I have a seen older cars of these models that look like new.
Any comments appreciated.
|
|
Almost all small cars (esp. Hondas and Toyotas) carry a premium because most people attach undue importance to fuel consumption (I'm not saying it's unimportant, just not as significant a factor in total cost of ownership as it is perceived to be). Consequently, the best value cars are usually the larger ones, especially as they tend to be more durable. £3k will buy a decent Audi, for example, with lots of life left in it.
|
Bigger cars cost more to fix, in general, so there's another consideration. It's the day-to-day costs (such as fuel) that people worry about, because once you've bought the thing, the money's gone anyway, or else you're paying finance. Many people decide to take out loans based on whether they can make the payments each month, not on the total cost. I'll bet a set of disks and pads for the Audi cost more even than for the Honda. And being heavier, I'll bet it goes through them, and tyres, quicker.
Chris
|
|
Go for a 1991 Volvo 940 - I know it's not small but you can 'runaround' in it no problem and you can have mine for £3000 - I'll even deliver it :-)
|
One of the girls (can I still call them that?) at work asked me the same question. We ended up deciding on a Zetec engined 1.25 Fiesta - cheap to insure, cheap to run, fun to drive and lots about. But then she let a Vauxhall dealer get his claws into her and signed her life away for a brand new Corsa on cheap finance. She's happy with it, anyway.
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
|
Funny you should say that, but I've recently been in a very similar position. I was looking for a decent, reliable runabout and started off looking at 1-2 year old cars. However someone pointed out that Vauxhall where doing free insurance and 0% finance deals on Corsa's.
If the dealer hadn't been so bad I may well have signed up for it. The overall cost including the extras and depreciation would actually have been similar to buying nearly new. However in the end I decided that I couldn't risk spending £8500 on a car. If anything went wrong I would end up in trouble very quickly.
So in the end I decided on a .... 1.25 Fiesta! The car is 51 reg, appears to be in very good condition and was £2000 cheaper. Hardly bangernomics but I'm happy with the deal! Hopefully I'll be as happy with the car as your friend is with her's.
|
|
What about a Mazda 323? They look like good prices
|
Someone on another forum I visit had an S reg Corsa at around £3000 (I think), he's constantly telling us what an awful car it is, he's had no end of bother with it. He truly hates it, so if you see a mettalic green 1.0 S reg Corsa going at a dealers - steer clear!
On the other hand, I can vouch for the 1.25 Zetec Fiesta, loads of fun, lively and great in traffic. Avoid the 1.3 Fiesta though, it's no good...
|
|
|
|
If you live near Leeds I know someone who was talking about selling their Mazda 323, would probably be happy to do a deal and save the hassle. Silver and P reg I think.
|
|
|
|
