What car should I buy?

[AndrewE]

At the moment having browsed online, I'm quite taken with the idea of a Mini Clubman Estate; or a Vauxhall Astra hatch. If anyone has any horror stories that might put me off, please let me know! I've already been warned about the Renault Megane of the years cited above, so if you can save me from a lemon It'll be much appreciated!

We have had 2 Astra estates from new, registrations C nnn lll (1985) and Y nnn lll (2001.) Both were brilliant, the first failed its MOT allegedly on rust - and the friend who I gave it to said that by the dent in the sill where the screwdriver was pushed through it should never have been failed. He patched it and ran it for maybe another decade, both his kids learning on it as ours had. He also still has it parked up in his back garden for when he needs it again! The second one died only because I bumped its bonnet in 2017 and it was deemed not worth repairing. If the design hadn't been inflated so that it wouldn't fit in the garage we would have had another one. Have now got a Meriva instead. since 2017 it has only needed an exhause gas sensor, but we don't use it much nowadays..

 

[Gloster]

A few days ago, when having a last check of the garage before selling the old house, I came across three 8’ lengths of 2x1. As they were too good to abandon I brought them back in the Sandero, so you can get odd items in it even if the seats don’t fold down.

 

[birchesgreen]

Is your Sandero old or something, the back seats in mine fold flat.

 

[Gloster]

Is your Sandero old or something, the back seats in mine fold flat.

No: 66, but bottom of the market.

 

[Jamesrob637]

No: 66, but bottom of the market.

Cheap tax though if pre-04/17

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Given that my insurance is going to be equivalent to the GDP of a small country, I may have to lower my standards a little, and just do "bangernomics" (or as close to that as you can in this market) for a year. Even allowing for inflation it's pretty ridiculous that insurance in my 40s is more than it was in my 20s!

 

[MasterSpenny]

Given the ULEZ Expansion in London came into force today, you should buy a hydrogen car

Edit: disregard the statement above, in fact any modern car would do and not an old banger from the 90’s

 

[AndrewE]

Given the ULEZ Expansion in London came into force today, you should buy a hydrogen car

Edit: disregard the statement above, in fact any modern car would do and not an old banger from the 90’s

don't buy a hydrogen car... because I think I read that we are now down to 2 filling stations in the UK!

 

[Gloster]

If you take out the parcel shelf, make a note of how you did it in case you want to put it back in the future. I have just spent a merry few minutes putting mine back: it took a while before I found out that it only drops properly into place when you shut the hatch.

 

[pdq]

Given that my insurance is going to be equivalent to the GDP of a small country, I may have to lower my standards a little, and just do "bangernomics" (or as close to that as you can in this market) for a year. Even allowing for inflation it's pretty ridiculous that insurance in my 40s is more than it was in my 20s!

It's not always the case that old, low value cars are cheaper to insure. Sometimes, newer ones with more safety kit and driver aids are less expensive. There's no way to find out other than to play around on an insurance website or two.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's not always the case that old, low value cars are cheaper to insure. Sometimes, newer ones with more safety kit and driver aids are less expensive. There's no way to find out other than to play around on an insurance website or two.

From what I've gathered, my lack of no-claims (due to not having needed a policy for 15 years) means my first year's insurance is going to be steep regardless of the car. After that, it should come down as long as I don't make any claims. My thinking was that I could buy a bit of a banger and have that for a year, then get something a bit more desirable once that first year of pain is up.

 

[Gloster]

When I insured two years ago (nearly ten years without a vehicle) I found that Fully Comp. was cheaper the Third Party, Fire & Theft, although there wasn’t much in it. Don’t ask me why.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When I insured two years ago (nearly ten years without a vehicle) I found that Fully Comp. was cheaper the Third Party, Fire & Theft, although there wasn’t much in it. Don’t ask me why.

I've noticed some quotes being that way, and others where the difference between fully comp and 3rd party+f&f is ordered as you'd expect, but about the same price as a takeaway order. I can only assume that whatever algorithm the insurance companies use to calculate these things is some sort of Rube Goldberg device!

 

[david1212]

When I insured two years ago (nearly ten years without a vehicle) I found that Fully Comp. was cheaper the Third Party, Fire & Theft, although there wasn’t much in it. Don’t ask me why.

I've noticed some quotes being that way, and others where the difference between fully comp and 3rd party+f&f is ordered as you'd expect, but about the same price as a takeaway order. I can only assume that whatever algorithm the insurance companies use to calculate these things is some sort of Rube Goldberg device!

If your car is relatively low value the write off cost, repair unlikely to be cheaper to the insurance company, is statistically a small proportion of the total payout with the majority comprising firstly the repair or write off cost for the other vehicle(s) involved and secondly the payout for injuries and other compensation.

A while ago someone posted ( I can't recall if Railforums or elsewhere ) that a higher cost but less popular car, possibly a Volvo, was cheaper to insure than the obvious choices which could have included Fiesta, Corsa, Adam, Peugeot 10x and similar.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

If your car is relatively low value the write off cost, repair unlikely to be cheaper to the insurance company, is statistically a small proportion of the total payout with the majority comprising firstly the repair or write off cost for the other vehicle(s) involved and secondly the payout for injuries and other compensation.

A while ago someone posted ( I can't recall if Railforums or elsewhere ) that a higher cost but less popular car, possibly a Volvo, was cheaper to insure than the obvious choices which could have included Fiesta, Corsa, Adam, Peugeot 10x and similar.

Back when I first passed my test and was 19, getting cheaper insurance was all about engine size. Once you're past the "danger years" of being under 25 that seems to be less of a concern for insurers. Volvos do seem to be considered a low risk for insurance companies, apart from the C30s which don't quite have the "safety brick" styling or image.

 

[bspahh]

Back when I first passed my test and was 19, getting cheaper insurance was all about engine size. Once you're past the "danger years" of being under 25 that seems to be less of a concern for insurers. Volvos do seem to be considered a low risk for insurance companies, apart from the C30s which don't quite have the "safety brick" styling or image.

Sometimes it is cheaper to add an extra driver, than just getting the insurance in your name. Some job titles get stung for high premiums. You have to tell the truth, but I've heard that different descriptions of a job could change the premium.

Specialist insurers can be better for unusual cases - for example from the owners club for a classic car club, or ones that focus on modified cars.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance/how-to-get-cheap-car-insurance/ is also worth a look

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Sometimes it is cheaper to add an extra driver, than just getting the insurance in your name. Some job titles get stung for high premiums. You have to tell the truth, but I've heard that different descriptions of a job could change the premium.

Specialist insurers can be better for unusual cases - for example from the owners club for a classic car club, or ones that focus on modified cars.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance/how-to-get-cheap-car-insurance/ is also worth a look

Cheers for that- not sure how easy it would be to find another driver to add, as I live alone... but the specialist insurers thing may bear fruit. I'd forgotten that last time I had a car, Diabetes UK had a list of insurers that didn't punish those of us with the condition quite as harshly. It's also far less of a risk than it used to be thanks to real-time monitoring with a smartphone.

 

[Gloster]

The job description does affect insurance. With my previous vehicle I described myself as a Freelance Writer, which raised no concerns. If I said Journalist, up went the premiums. They seemed to think that I would have a crash when driving Tom Cruise and Madonna about (both of them in a two-seater van?), resulting in filming being stopped at a cost of millions. And anyway, everybody knows that journalist drink to excess. Trying ‘Technical Journalist’ did not alter things. (Freelance Writer was probably more accurate than Journalist anyway.)

 

[Stormaggeddon]

Cheers for that- not sure how easy it would be to find another driver to add, as I live alone... but the specialist insurers thing may bear fruit. I'd forgotten that last time I had a car, Diabetes UK had a list of insurers that didn't punish those of us with the condition quite as harshly. It's also far less of a risk than it used to be thanks to real-time monitoring with a smartphone.

I tend to add my parents (70 and 71). They live in Plymouth and I live in North Tyneside but it reduces the premium by a fair bit. I do put their home address down to make it clear they don't live here but it still seems to work. You could also add friends or housemates depending on your situation.

On type of car and costs, I had an 04 plate Vectra for years and it cost £600 to insure it in early 2019. Swapped it out for an 18 plate A6 later in the year and the insurance went down to £350.

Also, and somebody may have mentioned this above, get a dashcam and declare it at policy start. Knocked £70 off at my last renewal.

 

[DelW]

Cheers for that- not sure how easy it would be to find another driver to add, as I live alone... but the specialist insurers thing may bear fruit. I'd forgotten that last time I had a car, Diabetes UK had a list of insurers that didn't punish those of us with the condition quite as harshly. It's also far less of a risk than it used to be thanks to real-time monitoring with a smartphone.

IIRC there have been insurers who offered a significant discount in return for the insured vehicle having some sort of tracking system that monitored driving style. I think they were originally aimed at young drivers, but it might be worth enquiring if they're an option for "returning" drivers as well.

I tend to add my parents (70 and 71). They live in Plymouth and I live in North Tyneside but it reduces the premium by a fair bit. I do put their home address down to make it clear they don't live here but it still seems to work. You could also add friends or housemates depending on your situation.

A few years ago my friend (female, then late 50s) added me (male, then mid 60s) to her policy, and received a worthwhile refund on her premium! We'd only done it so that I could drive her car on a shared holiday (she won't touch mine), but we've kept the arrangement since. It is useful as well, since I do drive hers from time to time.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I tend to add my parents (70 and 71). They live in Plymouth and I live in North Tyneside but it reduces the premium by a fair bit. I do put their home address down to make it clear they don't live here but it still seems to work. You could also add friends or housemates depending on your situation.

On type of car and costs, I had an 04 plate Vectra for years and it cost £600 to insure it in early 2019. Swapped it out for an 18 plate A6 later in the year and the insurance went down to £350.

Also, and somebody may have mentioned this above, get a dashcam and declare it at policy start. Knocked £70 off at my last renewal.

Adding my mum or brother is probably worth it then. Don't know why I thought being at a different address would be a problem, as back in the day I had my then-girlfriend on mine without an issue and we didn't live together- and she only had a provisional, it was so I could give her a few extra informal "lessons" to build her experience and confidence. She did go on to pass first time, so maybe I helped!

IIRC there have been insurers who offered a significant discount in return for the insured vehicle having some sort of tracking system that monitored driving style. I think they were originally aimed at young drivers, but it might be worth enquiring if they're an option for "returning" drivers as well.


A few years ago my friend (female, then late 50s) added me (male, then mid 60s) to her policy, and received a worthwhile refund on her premium! We'd only done it so that I could drive her car on a shared holiday (she won't touch mine), but we've kept the arrangement since. It is useful as well, since I do drive hers from time to time.

I've heard a few horror stories about those trackers, a friend's daughter had one fitted on her first car after passing. It brought the premium down but it was constantly dropping out/losing signal, leading to my friend getting angry calls and letters from the insurance company and being threatened with a surcharge for not complying with terms. A dashcam is definitely something I'm considering though... and not just so I can get called out by Ashley Neal on YouTube!


Unrelated, I've looked at a few small vans (Berlingo/Kangoo/Doblo) as they seem to be a fair bit cheaper and it'd basically suit all my use cases.
However I've noticed many sellers emphasising "no VAT" as a selling point. Obviously this is a gap in my knowledge hence bringing it up, but I was under the impression that VAT was based on whether the buyer is using it for a business, rather than on the whims of the seller. If anyone on here can give me the basics on how this actually works, perhaps I can turn my ignorance into a teachable moment. Every day is a school day after all...

 

[Gloster]

I have just sold my Sandero and, even allowing for its plus points (low mileage, full service history, etc.), I got about one-and-a-third times the maximum I expected from a garage. (I’m not complaining.) So maybe there is still a shortage of cars about or maybe ULEZ has pushed up the price of compliant vehicles.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I have just sold my Sandero and, even allowing for its plus points (low mileage, full service history, etc.), I got about one-and-a-third times the maximum I expected from a garage. (I’m not complaining.) So maybe there is still a shortage of cars about or maybe ULEZ has pushed up the price of compliant vehicles.

Bit annoying that it hasn't pushed down the prices of non-compliant vehicles so much (other than in comparison to the rise in compliant ones). I'm not in a place that has or will have a ULEZ, so it isn't a concern for me in the short term. The nearest one to me is Bradford (Leeds's is delayed for the time being) and there's not much call for me to go there. Worst case scenario is that if I needed or wanted to visit a ULEZ city I'd park on the outskirts and use public transport for the last bit of the journey, thus reducing congestion and overall pollution in that city- which I thought was one of the points anyway. Leeds in particular I've only driven into the city centre a handful of times in my life, because the train is nearly always a better option.

 

[david1212]

......
Unrelated, I've looked at a few small vans (Berlingo/Kangoo/Doblo) as they seem to be a fair bit cheaper and it'd basically suit all my use cases.

You will need to check for each but up to 7.5T goods vehicles speed limits could apply since not car derived unlike e.g. a Ford Fiesta van. See https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-derived-vans-and-dual-purpose-vehicles.

This may not matter to you but the last thing you need is any reason not to get the best insurance price after 12 months.

However I've noticed many sellers emphasising "no VAT" as a selling point. Obviously this is a gap in my knowledge hence bringing it up, but I was under the impression that VAT was based on whether the buyer is using it for a business, rather than on the whims of the seller. If anyone on here can give me the basics on how this actually works, perhaps I can turn my ignorance into a teachable moment. Every day is a school day after all...

My thoughts ....
A small trader with turnover below VAT threshold, a genuine private seller or someone on the surface appearing to be a trader but not actually declaring it .... the last needs careful checking as should you have a problem you have more rights buying from a business than a private seller. An example of the first could be say a builder or decorator selling their old van rather than a vehicle dealer.

 

[A0wen]

I know there's been a few threads of this nature in the past, so I've decided to consult the wisdom of this forum to help me select my next car. First, a bit of background to my situation:
It'll be my first car I've owned for about 15 years, so I'm very much "out of the loop" with things. It'll also be the first time I've driven for about ten years, but don't worry- I have booked a couple of refresher lessons with a local instructor.

My budget is around £4,500, though if I can find something cheaper that ticks all (or most of) the boxes I'll go for it- I am a Yorkshireman after all!

Ideally It'll be something with a decent amount of cargo space, for this reason I've largely ruled out the smallest of superminis (Citroën C1 etc.) and am looking at things in the Astra/Focus/Golf range. Saloons are probably a no-no due to lack of height in the cargo space. I'm not averse to something a little bigger such as a Volvo V50, but absolutely don't want a ridiculous Crossover.

As I have no accumulated no-claims, I'd prefer something that won't attract a big insurance bill. Similarly with road tax I don't want to be hit too hard, although I've a bit more flexibility there as long as it isn't ridiculous. Fuel economy would be a bonus, but with the amount of miles I'm likely to cover it doesn't need to be at the very top end of the scale- especially as that will come at a premium in terms of purchase price.

Age wise I'm looking at things from around 2008-2012, though I will go older or younger depending on the specifics.

Going electric is not an option for me given my current abode... and no, I'm not going to start parking my car in the supermarket half a mile away overnight to charge, just to claim some green cred.

My only deal-breakers other than the above are: no automatics, no diesels.

At the moment having browsed online, I'm quite taken with the idea of a Mini Clubman Estate; or a Vauxhall Astra hatch. If anyone has any horror stories that might put me off, please let me know! I've already been warned about the Renault Megane of the years cited above, so if you can save me from a lemon It'll be much appreciated!

For £ 4.5k you're effectively buying at the bottom end of the market - to be honest condition will be all and it's better to find a car which has been well cared for with a decent service history. Oddly enough this may conspire against a "1 owner" car as they may have just driven it into the ground, where multiple owners may have looked after it.

A small / medium estate would seem to fit the bill the obvious candidates being a Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra, Kia Ceed, Hyundia i30 or maybe a Skoda Octavia, though I'm not generally sold on VAG "reliability" - the Skoda badged cars do seem to have fewer problems, but too many people have bought VW Golf's on the myth of VW reliability and found out the hard way that it's a myth.

If you could live with a hatch, then I'd say a Honda Civic - generally have a large boot, very reliable with good petrol engines. A friend of mine went through a run of bangers, my advice was stop wasting money and buy a Civic - which he did, a couple of year old diesel one, which he absolutely neglected and got well over 100,000 miles from before off loading it. He's since bought another, newer one. They do seem to just keep on going. I don't know where you are based, but here's an example from Autotrader https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-de...antity-of-doors=5&transmission=Manual&fromsra

 

[trebor79]

On any used car, it is worth looking at the tyres. If the tyres are well known makes, then probably no expense has been spared on maintaining the car. If the tyres are a cheap brand from Asia which you've never heard of, then the maintenance may have been skimped.

Yes I have heard that too, and if it has 4 mismatched budget brands then the owner probably did bare minimum (maybe not even doing recommended minimum) in maintenance. Just changing things when they broke and couldn't be used any longer.

I'd say this is probably a fair assumption to make, I'm not so sure that assuming "no expense has been spared " on maintenance can be assumed just because it's got decent tyres. I *never* buy budget tyres, but our last two ICE vehicles I did the bare minimum maintenance on otherwise (and even less than that thanks to a friendly mechanic who somehow fudged the emissions test). They were absolutely worn out heaps by the time I got rid of them. I sold one to a scrappie and subsequently saw it tarted up parked outside a local pub. The other I traded in expecting to get scrap value so was astonished the offered me nearly £2k for it - I'd been completely honest that as well as the cosmetic issues the engine drank oil and the catalytic converter needed replacing, but was pointless doing so as the oil burning would just poison the new one. Presumably someone is now driving it.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

For £ 4.5k you're effectively buying at the bottom end of the market - to be honest condition will be all and it's better to find a car which has been well cared for with a decent service history. Oddly enough this may conspire against a "1 owner" car as they may have just driven it into the ground, where multiple owners may have looked after it.

A small / medium estate would seem to fit the bill the obvious candidates being a Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra, Kia Ceed, Hyundia i30 or maybe a Skoda Octavia, though I'm not generally sold on VAG "reliability" - the Skoda badged cars do seem to have fewer problems, but too many people have bought VW Golf's on the myth of VW reliability and found out the hard way that it's a myth.

If you could live with a hatch, then I'd say a Honda Civic - generally have a large boot, very reliable with good petrol engines. A friend of mine went through a run of bangers, my advice was stop wasting money and buy a Civic - which he did, a couple of year old diesel one, which he absolutely neglected and got well over 100,000 miles from before off loading it. He's since bought another, newer one. They do seem to just keep on going. I don't know where you are based, but here's an example from Autotrader https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308231132472?sort=price-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&fuel-type=Petrol&include-delivery-option=on&make=Honda&maximum-mileage=100000&minimum-badge-engine-size=1.8&model=Civic&postcode=mk9 2nw&price-from=3500&price-to=5000&quantity-of-doors=5&transmission=Manual&fromsra

Funnily enough, since I started this thread I've realised that my time off the road has meant my insurance is going to be pretty steep for the first year, so I've reduced my budget down to £3,500. Having had a couple of practice drives in my mum's Seat Leon I've also decided that I might be better with something older. Newer cars might be much safer if you're in a crash, but the fat pillars of newer, sturdier cars create lots of extra blindspots that will take some getting used to. It seems that these days people rely on their mirrors much more, because when I went to reverse by looking over my shoulder my mum was a bit surprised!

One thing my practice did tell me, is that I definitely want to book some proper refresher lessons with an instructor. I had been leaning towards not doing, mainly because quite a few weren't interested in dealing with someone who was only going to be buying a few hours of their time. I'm sure it'll come back fairly quickly but I need a professional rather than a relative who will panic for no good reason!

 

[pdq]

One thing my practice did tell me, is that I definitely want to book some proper refresher lessons with an instructor.

Have you thought about the Institute of advanced motorists? They do 'confidence courses' - aimed at older drivers but possibly suitable for drivers like you who are coming back to it. The session is in your own vehicle (so not ideal yet) with an 'observer' who will just chat to you as you drive.

Advanced driving and riding courses | IAM RoadSmart

Find the right advanced driving course, advanced riding course or driving for work course at IAM RoadSmart, from speed awareness seminars to refresher sessions available for both drivers and riders.

www.iamroadsmart.com

 

[DelW]

Newer cars might be much safer if you're in a crash, but the fat pillars of newer, sturdier cars create lots of extra blindspots that will take some getting used to. It seems that these days people rely on their mirrors much more, because when I went to reverse by looking over my shoulder my mum was a bit surprised!

It's not just the thick pillars, but also high waistlines and numerous head restraints poking up above seatback level, meaning that you can see very little from the driving seat by turning your head when reversing. I now have a rear view camera, but long before I had a car with that, I'd switched to reversing just using the mirrors, which I still use now, though in combination with the camera.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Have you thought about the Institute of advanced motorists? They do 'confidence courses' - aimed at older drivers but possibly suitable for drivers like you who are coming back to it. The session is in your own vehicle (so not ideal yet) with an 'observer' who will just chat to you as you drive.

Advanced driving and riding courses | IAM RoadSmart

Find the right advanced driving course, advanced riding course or driving for work course at IAM RoadSmart, from speed awareness seminars to refresher sessions available for both drivers and riders.

www.iamroadsmart.com

That's not a bad idea- my brother went on one of their courses a few years ago through his work, and they pointed out a few bad habits he'd picked up like only signalling for a second before changing lanes! Think I should probably get the hang of walking before I try to run though!

It's not just the thick pillars, but also high waistlines and numerous head restraints poking up above seatback level, meaning that you can see very little from the driving seat by turning your head when reversing. I now have a rear view camera, but long before I had a car with that, I'd switched to reversing just using the mirrors, which I still use now, though in combination with the camera.

I'm told that instructors no longer tell learners to turn around in order to reverse other them when checking blind-spots. When I was a learner i was told categorically not to rely on mirrors when reversing, so that's quite a culture shock!

As I will rarely if ever have three backseat passengers, if the car I end up with has a centre headrest for the backseat it'll be removed and stashed in a relative's garage... unless I end up with a Volvo C30 which is only a four seater, so that won't be a problem. I'm now leaning towards something as small as I can get away with, as I'm more familiar with superminis than larger hatchbacks.