I need to some good advice from you car buffs out there.?

Question

What car would you consider buying: Hubby soon to retire cannot see anyway of buying a new car but would consider a reliable second hand to see us far enough.

We have Mondeo LX DTCI which we know will not last but then we had a Saab 95 estate and that let us down no end of times. So my thinking is to keep buying old bangers and run then into the ground.

What would you do in our situation? By the way hubby know diddly squat about cars.

Answer 1

i'd buy a honda civic, they are reliable and a little sporty looking and fun, my mum and dad have just got one and they love it x

Answer 2

My boyfriend has a Honda Accord that has nearly 170,000 miles and it runs great! My boyfriend LOVES to drive and probably puts on close to 15,000 miles per year. I would highly recommend a car like his.

Answer 3

  Well Nettie, bangers can be hit,or miss. If you buy a banger,& treat it like one, it will last like one. If you take better care,(do oil changes etc..) it can last a long time. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

For used car, definitely  buy Honda or Toyota. Bit pricier than american cars but they last longer. Don't buy german, they very expensive if something brakes, even the xenon headlight is couple of hundred $$ if you need to replace it!  (and its like $15 in any other car) and yes, it happens very often. Same thing with american cars, they break, fixing it is less expensive than german. (Husband is Audi technician). We own Toyota trucks.

Answer 5

The 9-5  was probably just a very rare bit of bad luck.

We've had lots of SAABs, all have been bullet proof.

I'd try another 9-5 estate or perhaps a merc estate or 5 series touring  as you seem to like larger good quality estate cars.

Answer 6

Don't look any further than a Mercedes 190E!  A late model, such as a 1994 1.8 Automatic, (these were built far, far better than the C class which came later) with full-service history, under 100,000 miles on the clock and a years' MOT should be yours for 1,200-1,500.  It should have leather trim and alloys.

    You will find it to be a paragon of reliability, cheap to service at a Mercedes specialist, or do it yourself, these are simple cars with plenty of room under the bonnet.  Spares from the dealers are reasonably-priced, spares from GSF (they have a web-site) are cheap as chips.  It is a very safe car, excellent brakes, good neutral handling, and rear wheel drive which I believe your hubby should be well-used to, as most cars used to be so.  They are reasonable on fuel economy, if you don't do all your driving in town, and just eat miles on longer trips in quiet comfort.  They have fantastic build-quality, and there is always a sense of occasion to a drive.

      I am on my third, and love them!  Top Gear called it the best used car, ever.

Answer 7

get a old banger the vauxhall vectra td are good and go for ever and parts are cheap if they break to and easy to fix

Answer 8

Difficult question, because 'old bangers' means different things to different people.

It's very easy to buy a car for around £1,000 that will serve you well for three or four years with little or no further expense, and will still probably be worth close to it's purchase price at the end of that.

I always buy cheap vehicles (nothing over £1,000 in the last few years), and I've only made a loss on one of them, that I sold cheap to a needy friend.

I've bought the last three off Ebay, paid less than £500 for two & sold them both at a profit even after paying insurance, tax, etc. My current one cost £1,000 just over twelve months ago, I've just MOT'd it, I put tyres on it in January, it's probably now worth around £1,500, so I'll probably keep it another year or so.

People are under the impression that newer cars cost less to run, that's rubbish - In the last ten years, I've only paid for a service once, I've paid for a couple of oil changes (£30 or thereabouts at MOT time), I've never replaced a clutch, never had any gearbox problems, I've had one head gasket go (Ford - never again!), replaced one set of brake pads, and a couple of brake pipes & one handbrake cable. Only one of my cars had done less than 100,000 miles.

If a car looks good, it probably is, regardless of age or mileage.

My brother currently has a seven year old diesel auto BMW 5 series, he paid half price for it as it's done a quarter of a million miles, it does 43mpg & is faultless.

Answer 9

Many people consider Toyota and Honda the best choice for a used car. Dependable and good fuel economy. A good combination for a retiree who can't repair a car himself.

Answer 10

Buy a Japanese 4 year old car and that should give you at least 6 years reliable service.

Answer 11

if you are buying second hand i would recommend that you get a german or japanese one.

If you can stretch to gettin a car on finance you could get a hyundai (not the most beautiful fastest cars in the world) but they come with a 5 year unlimited milage warranty which is very useful