What car for sub £3k?!

[Delvey]

should 200k miles in a volvo v70 put me off?

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Gearbox will likely be the issue.
I'd go French. Citroën/Peugeot make excellent diesel engines.

 

[Hampy1972]

Gearbox will likely be the issue.
I'd go French. Citroën/Peugeot make excellent diesel engines.

Love the pug diesel. My old 306 hdi pulled like 747...
BMW 325 tdi was another monster.

 

[sheriffwoody]

I miss my 306 xsi (poor man’s gti6)

 

[Hampy1972]

I miss my 306 xsi (poor man’s gti6)

Good work horses, I travelled up and down the country in old Pug 106 diesel sometimes. Loved it. I believe Pug made the diesel engine famous and put it on the map. Not seen as a smelly, oily and noisy burner anymore but something that gave you good pulling power, good mpg and reliable.

 

[sheriffwoody]

bit of a curve ball - thoughts?

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[AMc]

bit of a curve ball - thoughts?

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Looks thirsty, depends what your mileage is likely to be if that's a factor?
Urban 18.6 mpg
Extra Urban 36.7 mpg
Combined 27.2 mpg

The tax is up there - it would be more if it were a couple of years younger though.
Annual Tax £340
CO2 Emissions 249 g/km


Not sure an 18yr old Jag is renowned for reliability - is this one of the ones that have a fair bit of Mondeo under the skin? I'd also get some quotes on servicing from an indie garage and check out tyres etc.

It's got a lot of toys and I'm sure it would be nice to drive - make sure everything is working and it could be good

 

[un1eash]

With a £3k budget and cheap motoring I'd be looking at a VAG 1.9tdi 130 PD. Passat, Octavia, Golf etc.

 

[sheriffwoody]

another one i had not thought of previously....

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I had always liked the Mazda 3 mps - but they are too much/too thirsty, so thought i would look at its bigger, slower bother!

 

[sheriffwoody]

With a £3k budget and cheap motoring I'd be looking at a VAG 1.9tdi 130 PD. Passat, Octavia, Golf etc.

i am trying to stay away from diesel, only because the one diesel i have had before (peugeot 206 hdi) was a bag of nails and cost me thousands!

anything to look out for in particular on the 1.9tdi 130's? (or any of the other VAG engines)

 

[un1eash]

Not really, there pretty bullet proof and cheap to repair. Regular oil changes and you can't go wrong. A youtuber I watch recently did a good video...

 

[ostewart]

another one i had not thought of previously....

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I had always liked the Mazda 3 mps - but they are too much/too thirsty, so thought i would look at its bigger, slower bother!

That's nice

Mazda L engines are very decent, the 1.8 and 2.0 are in the MK2 Ford Focus (I own the 1.8) - free revving N/A engines, last a long time with regular servicing and very little to go wrong, not the most fuel efficient and all the power is 4k rpm and up but enjoyable to drive.

If I had the cash, I'd buy that Mazda and sell my Focus

 

[Delvey]

i am trying to stay away from diesel, only because the one diesel i have had before (peugeot 206 hdi) was a bag of nails and cost me thousands!

anything to look out for in particular on the 1.9tdi 130's? (or any of the other VAG engines)

Not really, there pretty bullet proof and cheap to repair. Regular oil changes and you can't go wrong. A youtuber I watch recently did a good video...

Only problem is the 1.9TDIs were replaced circa 2005 onwards with a 2.0 TDI. The 1.9s are great engines, I have one in my Mk4 golf on 171,000 miles and it doesn't miss a beat

 

[sheriffwoody]

Thought I had found a bit of a bargain last night - a 2006 Mazda 6 1.8 with fairly low miles on it (for the year). All for just over £1000

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:


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I rang them today and it was a part ex they took in. It has no service history at all, but does have a years MOT on it.

Then I checked the MOT history online and there have been loads of advisory’s around the suspension looking a little worse for wear.

So think I will leave this one! A grand on the car and then potentially hundreds on repair bills I imagine!

 

[ostewart]

Thought I had found a bit of a bargain last night - a 2006 Mazda 6 1.8 with fairly low miles on it (for the year). All for just over £1000

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:


Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

I rang them today and it was a part ex they took in. It has no service history at all, but does have a years MOT on it.

Then I checked the MOT history online and there have been loads of advisory’s around the suspension looking a little worse for wear.

So think I will leave this one! A grand on the car and then potentially hundreds on repair bills I imagine!

The fact they don't show the number plate would put me off tbf - now you know and have seen the advisories walk away.

The 1.8 engine is solid if looked after to be fair - but without history it would be hard to tell.

 

[Leo31291]

Get a Miata. Mazda is always the answer.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Vauxhall Insignia - 1.8 petrol.....talk to me?!

seems like you get a lot of car for £3-3.5k? reliable, comfy, spacious enough?

 

[ashenfie]

Wouldn't touch that volvo

Its the same engine that was in my focus st, you will be getting around 25mg on vpower. Which js what it should be run on, milage wise its in prime cambelt replacement. Brakes are expensive to replace as there larger

Also the auto box in volvos is a known pig and tends to need rebuilding too.

My dad had a xc90 which had the auto box repaired twice

He has a v70 d5 now with 180k on and that drives like a dream, but still needed £1000 of injectors.

Sadly the used car market is crazy atm. So you will pay over the odds unless you find a doris selling off a low milage honda jazz

Had an xc90 and running costs are huge. Also has an s70 which was better and never failed if a tad boring. Solid for sure

 

[Jimmy Connors]

If you can find a decently low mileage (less than 100k or so) Lexus for less than £3k then grab it. OH bought an 05 plate Lexus IS200 for slightly more than £1400 last year (probably a lot more now) 80k on the clock and it was like a new car. It's over 100k now and it's still feels tight. The silky smooth V6 is very fast. Everything on it still works perfectly. Extremely comfortable with a LOT of extras.

Only downside is the £340 road tax. It's surprisingly good on fuel though. Also watch the sills for rot. A design fault that traps the water in. I drilled a hole in each one to drain the water. No rot returned after that.

Another car to look for is a Subaru. They are pretty good too.