What's a reliable used family car for £5k?
I’ve got a maximum of £5k to spend on a used car. I like a fairly nice sized car/SUV, nothing too small and definitely 5 doors and decent boot space. Something around a Focus family sized car. Also needs to be petrol. What sort of models should I be looking at for reliability and what to avoid?
Asked on 17 March 2026 by gary goble
Answered by
Matt Robinson
Some options to include on your shortlist are the Honda Civic (best for reliability), Volkswagen Golf and Mazda3. At that budget, we'd avoid the Mercedes A-Class and Peugeot 308 – both Mercedes and Peugeot tend to struggle in the reliability category of our HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index ownership survey, usually placing near the bottom.
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