Best car for £1600ish

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Wed 19 Jan 2011 14:44
Best car for £1600ish - thecarofrassilon

Hi,

I'm currently looking for a new car with a budget of around £1600, but would push £2k if it makes a big difference. I'd be driving to and from work (about 15 miles A roads, 15 miles M6) and other general business, so ideally something that is fairly cheap to run. Cheap insurance would be useful too.

I know all the usual candidates, but just wondered what peoples thoughts were.

Thanks,

Rassilon.

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Wed 19 Jan 2011 14:55
Best car for £1600ish - Armstrong Sid

The same answer to this question every time it comes up. Brand and reputation and image don't count for anything when you're in that price range.

You've just got to look at any individual car on its merits. It's going to be old and used and high mileage whatever it is. It might've had replacement parts, or it might need them. It may have been well looked after by a careful owner for 15 years, or it may have been thrashed by all sorts.

If you can't look at a used car and spot potential problems, make sure you know someone who can

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Wed 19 Jan 2011 15:40
Best car for £1600ish - ForumNeedsModerating

I would second AS's comments. People always seem to seek the 'magic bullet' on this one, i.e. like there's an especially reliable/desirable/cheap/economical make - all they need is the name & model etc.

The 'best' car is (near the bangernomics level) usually a locally sourced, common, unfancy & unfancied boring car. One that's looks like it's been looked after - some evidence of servicing,receipts, reasonable body work & wheels, non-ditch finder tyres etc - just the common sense stuff really. Test drive: if it starts, steers & stops without drama or idiosynchrosy - all good.

You don't want though, any expensive car - even if it looks shiny & has leather seats or 'image' - they invariably costs shedloads to fix the most minor problem & quickly 'write' themselves off in value terms because of that.

For £1600-2000, if bought from a dealer, you're getting an £800-1000 car at trade in or private sale - I can't see much advantage in buying from a dealer - if it goes wrong, the standard 3month warranty will probably not pay for much & if bought privately @ £800-1000, you've got some 'in the bank' for repairs etc.

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Wed 19 Jan 2011 18:11
Best car for £1600ish - madf

Agree with above. If the car is advertised as "with lots of bills" that means it costs a lot to maintain.

ANy car that keeps going with few bills is the type you want... preferably with new brakes and exhaust and a radiator not crumbling to bits.

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Wed 19 Jan 2011 23:53
Best car for £1600ish - primeradriver
A lot of it is down to luck at this end of the scale -- the right car at the right time.

Last year I picked up a Mitsubishi Space Star, 03 plate, 100K miles with FSH and all receipts right down to wipers for £1050 from a work colleague. Reliable as the day is long so far. Would I find another like that if I looked for one? Unlikely.

Yeah it wouldn't have been my first choice, but the mere fact that it's (a) undesirable and (b) had a botched attempt at a repair of a small dent on one of the doors only served to batter the price down.

The sad part of it was that I ended up selling our perfectly acceptable old 1997 Daewoo second motor as it was surplus to requirement. £325 was a good amount to get for it, but it only had 64K on the clock, was mechanically fine (saggy bushes on the front being its only fault) and I'm sure it'll still be on the road for a while yet.

I know that condition is more important than marque, but I'd still be inclined to go Korean, or less desirable Japanese at this price. Jap because of the typical buyer of them in the first place, coupled with generally solid mechanicals. and Korean because of the warranty and price -- you can still sometimes get Hyundais just out of warranty for under £2K, and these are usually easy pickings IME because the previous owner has had to keep up the maintenance to retain the warranty. Counts for a lot, especially when it might only have 30K on the clock.

Yeah they're shonky to drive, but then so is a 15 year old Golf with 200K on the clock and bent suspension.

Edited by primeradriver on 20/01/2011 at 00:06

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