New car suggestions - Altea Ego
A friend of mine is probably retiring early in January

He has had a company car for over 30 years, and now has to buy a new (S/H car)

Suggestions of cars please - Criteria

£5-6K
3 or 5 door with room for doggy in back
Lowish ins group (he has no NCB)
Reliable
Not Diesel (he doesent want pump/injector/DMF issues)
Not Turbo (he doesent want turbo issues)
4-5 years old with average mileage


Replies on a post card please
New car suggestions - NARU
Not related to the car, but when I switched from a company car to a personal one, I managed to get a decent discount from Aviva direct - undercutting the prices I was offered on web comparison sites by some margin. It was cheaper than the comparison sites at the first renewal too.

I suspect any decent broker could also find your friend some decent rates - he may or may not need a letter from his employer with details of his claim history on the company car.
New car suggestions - BorisTheSpider
I may be wrong and often am, but a letter from his employer may be enough for the insurance stating that he has been insured on a company car and hasn't had any accidents for the last x years, may get round the NCB bit.

Boris
New car suggestions - perro
Mazda 3.
New car suggestions - daveyjp
Ford Focus - plenty to choose from to match the criteria, generally regarded as reliable and easy to fix if they do fail.
New car suggestions - OldSock
Volvo V50 ?

If he doesn't want diesel, a decent example can be had in that price range.
New car suggestions - J1mbo
Mazda 6 or Mondeo, worth looking at Autotrader to see what's around.
New car suggestions - jacks
Having had a Mazda 6 (2.0TS) for nearly 3 years and done 50K miles I can definately recommend this car for a private buyer.
Not a single thing has gone wrong - not even a rattle from the trim - it feels like it will run for another 50K with only the normal servicing.
Comfortable, handles well, mid 30's mpg, Group 7 ins, huge hatchback with low sill (for doggy). I really cannot fault this car - and my previous car was a BMW 325 E46.

Plenty for sale in the Mazda dealers for £5-6K.

Jacks
New car suggestions - Happy Blue!
Last of the old model Honda Civic.