Secod hand car purchase

[Tarad]

Hi could anyone recommend a decent value for money second hand car - budget approx €7500, year 2003/04 maybe?? Had my eye on a Peugeot but reviews seem to be awful. Most people recommended a Japanese purchase. Any thoughts/comments gratefully received.

 

[doolittle]

what kind of car and what engine size

 

[starlite68]

stick with the japanese or german cars....peogot citron renualt.....french cars in general are trublesome,hard to work on, and very bad resale value.

 

[Clohass]

If you can find one within or close to budget take a look at a Seat Altea also, great drive, spacious and VW Mechanicals, also INMO more stylish than some of the other hatchbacks available

 

[Tarad]

Re: Second hand car purchase

Thanks for the advice. Any type car considered and a 1.6 preferred.

 

[ang1170]

stick with the japanese or german cars....peogot citron renualt.....french cars in general are trublesome,hard to work on, and very bad resale value.

That's a very outdated generalisation. Do a quick survey of VW owners for example, and see how reliable they are. They seem to keep their reputation, though, so 2nd hand prices are high.

At least wth the French cars their cost reflects their reputation. Whether the reputation is desrved or not is another matter.

Best option is probably Honda or Toyota for reliability.

Regardless of what you buy, haggle like crazy: now is a brilliant time to buy if you've nothing to sell.

 

[Caveat]

You might just get an 03 (or more likely 02) Honda Civic for your budget Tarad - but you'd probably have to stick with 1.4 version.

 

[mathepac]

That's a very outdated generalisation. Do a quick survey of VW owners for example, and see how reliable they are. They seem to keep their reputation, though, so 2nd hand prices are high.

At least wth the French cars their cost reflects their reputation. Whether the reputation is desrved or not is another matter...

I dunno. I just had a re-read of the What Car? / JD Power 2008 Satisfaction Survey (What Car? July 2008) and an extract from the 2008 Manufacturers' League Table placings looks like this :

1) Lexus
2) Skoda
3) Honda
4) Toyota
5) Jaguar
6) Mercedes-Benz
7) Audi
.
.
.
13) Equal marks Nissan and Volkswagen (just above the industry average)

.
.
22) Equal marks Peugeot and Renault
24) Citroen
.
.
28) Fiat (last place)

16,000 respondants in the UK, 100 different models from 28 manufacturers.

So the data from the survey seem to back up the anecdotal evidence about satisfaction, although I am surprised at Volkswagen's mid-table placing and that both VW and Audi got spanked by their Czech cousins, Skoda.

 

[soy]

Best second hand buy would be a Focus 1.6
Best driving car in its class and is one of the most reliable. If it does break, it is cheap to fix. You should be able to get a 2003 one for 8k, if you are a cash buyer

 

[Tarad]

Thanks again for all the posts, has anyone had experience with a Hyundai Santa Fe or Elantra??

 

[Caveat]

although I am surprised at Volkswagen's mid-table placing and that both VW and Audi got spanked by their Czech cousins, Skoda.

With Skoda it could just be a value perception. After all, the survey is "satisfaction" - subjective, not necessarily quality based and open to ill informed opinions.

Not saying the respondants don't have a clue, but people could easily make invidious comparisons having been "spolit" by the overwhelmingly positive experience of their previous car for example.

If people have a reliable well built car at a very good price (like a Skoda), they are probably going to feel "very satisfied".

I'd rather go with mechanical/industry/reliability statistics and test reviews TBH.

 

[Caveat]

Thanks again for all the posts, has anyone had experience with a Hyundai Santa Fe or Elantra??

Think you should narrow your options a little Tarad and decide on some criteria.

Hatch? SUV? saloon?

What is important - style/reliability/performance/economy/comfort?

All things being equal, a Focus as soy suggested, is probably your best bet.

 

[paddyd]

Best second hand buy would be a Focus 1.6

we have 2* 1.6 Focus in my family, and have no trouble recommending them. Was a choice between the golf and focus for me, and the focus was a bigger, more practical, better spec and cheaper car for our requiements. I bought new.

Whatever you get, definitely try to get a good spec model. The type of year you are talking about, the spec is depreciated to zero anyway, so buy one cheap, and then it'll be easier to sell in a few years than a poverty-spec model.

 

[ang1170]

I dunno. I just had a re-read of the What Car? / JD Power 2008 Satisfaction Survey (What Car? July 2008) and an extract from the 2008 Manufacturers' League Table placings...

It's a somewhat subjective survey, as it basically asks people to judge their own opinion of satisfaction. If you look at ones based on actuial warrenty claims [broken link removed] for example, VW typically appear around the middle (similar to Fiat for that matter). A long way in other words from where the perception and 2nd hand values would indicate.

Hats off to VW for maintaining their brand's reputation for so long: it's a long time since the cars matched the reputation though.

The OP stressed value for money: becuase of the gap between perception (which sets 2nd hand price) and reality, I'd stay clear of VW.