General - Car purchase advice

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Tue 2 May 2017 14:57
General - Car purchase advice - David batte
Hi folks, I'm looking to buy a a year old car which I'll be using for business and pleasure. I'll be driving around 20000 miles a year on motorway and around cities. I'd considered leasing but although I have the funds in the bank I can't get credit easily due to being self employed
I'd be looking to trade in again in around 2 years. My budget is around £10000. I'm 6ft 6ins so legroom is vital and relatively economical driving. I've been looking st the Dacia Duster to the Ford Focus but no set ideas. Any ideas on something that would retain a reasonable trade in value ? I like automatics but not essential and a DAB radio would be nice.
Thanks for reading and advice.

Edited by David batte on 02/05/2017 at 15:00

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Tue 2 May 2017 15:49
General - Car purchase advice - oldroverboy.

email Avant (our lovely) moderator and ask him to give your details to The Broker ( a contributor to this forum) and I am sure if you have those funds available he will find you something siutable.

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Tue 2 May 2017 15:57
General - Car purchase advice - concrete

You have a decent budget and should get a lot of car for your money. I am well over 6' and my previous car, a Skoda Superb accommodated me and my rugby colleagues(6'5" and 6'4") no problem. My present car is an automatic Volvo XC60 which again accommodates me and my mates with no problems. However I am sure most large saloons or SUVs will do the job for you. When you narrow it down, come back to the forum and receive the benefit of experience and advice on specific makes and models. Good luck. Concrete

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Tue 2 May 2017 16:37
General - Car purchase advice - badbusdriver

Really need some more info. How many seats/doors, how big a boot do you need?. For example, you would easy fit in a smart fortwo, but if you need more than 2 seats (as most people do), obviously its no use!.

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Thu 4 May 2017 00:00
General - Car purchase advice - TheBroker
More than happy to help if you contact Avant for my info.
New or used we have funders who can work with you, self employment isn't usually an issue in itself as we have plenty of self employed/sole traders on the books. The point made about trading history is true but even new starts can be accommodated in most cases
Thank you oldroverboy
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Tue 2 May 2017 18:21
General - Car purchase advice - SLO76
Being self employed is no barrier to getting finance as long as you've a couple of years books to prove your income. However the cheapest way to finance a car is almost always savings if you have them.

You say you intend on covering 20k p/a, need plenty of leg room and desire low running costs including depreciation. As much as I quite like the Dacia Duster I'd leave it in this case. It's not the most refined motor for distance use and high mileage like this will kill its residuals.

Instead I'd be looking at a used Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC which costs nothing to tax, will do 70mpg on a run, has loads of room and plenty of poke. It's a good all rounder and will always sell again for decent money even with heavy mileage. The petrol 1.8 is even more reliable but nowhere near as economical and it's not as Swift for overtaking.

The Toyota Avensis is another good bet and excellent value nearly new or used. The diesels are all BMW units though and I'm not too confident in their longterm reliability but service it correctly at the main dealer and it should be ok. The petrol is bombproof. These have loads of room but they do tend to drop quite hard in value especially compared to the Civic.

I'd forget the Ford Focus. You'll notice us on here going on about engine problems on Fords 1.0 Ecoboost and 1.6 TDCi engines. They're both becoming a bit notorious. The later 1.5 diesel is a redesign of the PSA 1.6 and I've heard of at least one failure already. It's just not a robust car anymore.

Seat Leon, Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSi are both good news too but the jury's still out regarding longterm reliability. VAG can be brilliant or truely awful in this regard and only time will tell. They certainly drive very well and are very efficient engines. I've yet to hear anything negative from anyone who owns one.

Edited by SLO76 on 02/05/2017 at 18:40

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Tue 2 May 2017 18:49
General - Car purchase advice - scot22

Just wanting to help someone avoided the expense I've had and re inforce the message about avoiding the Ford 1.6 diesel. I'm a simple buyer but much better informed thanks to 4 years on HJ forum - just can't find the car I want to buy !!! best wishes.

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?