Cheap, Reliable Family Car Wanted.

[E55BOF]

No, not for me, silly...

My nephew is looking for a family car - Golf size, say - to tide him over for a few months until his next car comes in September. Reliability is the prime consideration, so he's ideally after something that has been well looked after; engine size, fuel, transmission, looks, are all lesser considerations. He needs it within a month.

His budget is up to £2K. At that sort of price point he realises that reliability cannot be guaranteed, but to give him the best chance, he'll need to look primarily at cars from the the Far East

He knows very little about cars, so before I start looking at rolling wrecks touted as pristine on his behalf, will anybody on here be selling something that might fit the bill, or know of such a car being sold, within a month?

 

[Smart320]

Could sell him my A210 ( LWB ) Evolution, just been serviced in February and had new discs and pads all round 2 weeks ago, if interested look at post by Ed1968 in cars for sale in Dec18, bought an SLK 55 AMG on the spur of the moment so not using the A class

 

[AltonAnt]

I bought my daughter a Honda Civic last year for around this price and it has been faultless. Flew through the MOT last month too. You can easily find these at under £2k with fairly low mileage.

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[E53AMG]

I have a 2009 Kia Picanto 1.1 chill in black, new MOT last week, a few bumps and scratches (was my daughters car) but very reliable, has bluetooth hands free streaming installed, black only 57000 miles, starts 1st time, had new brake light switch and battery installed for MOT, will need new (£35) tyre on the next few months. Had the car 2 years never let us down all weathers.

Wife using it as a run around but we were expecting to sell it by June so can bring the sale forward.

This is the exact model and colour, will take £2,000.

Check out this Kia Picanto that I have just found on #motorscouk

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[popuptoaster]

At £2k and only needing to last a few months it's not going to matter what make and model you buy as long as it looks OK when viewed it'll be pot luck, at that age even the best maintained car can have a component fail. My old 54 plate Audi A3 was worth about two grand and was trouble free for two years then over the next 4 months or so had three separate mechanical issues. Bonnet sensor went (wipers stop working so you have to fix it), then I had a rear calliper seize then the turbo seized which was the major problem, anything can happen on any make really.

 

[91dm]

We've a 2012 Peugeot 508 SW diesel, good spec but high miles, well maintained and drives without any issues. All ready to go but would need closer to £3k.

 

[jpwilliams]

No, not for me, silly...

My nephew is looking for a family car - Golf size, say - to tide him over for a few months until his next car comes in September. Reliability is the prime consideration, so he's ideally after something that has been well looked after; engine size, fuel, transmission, looks, are all lesser considerations. He needs it within a month.

His budget is up to £2K. At that sort of price point he realises that reliability cannot be guaranteed, but to give him the best chance, he'll need to look primarily at cars from the the Far East

He knows very little about cars, so before I start looking at rolling wrecks touted as pristine on his behalf, will anybody on here be selling something that might fit the bill, or know of such a car being sold, within a month?

A Corolla or a Civic.

 

[Wearsthefoxhat]

A Corolla gets my vote too. We have had one in the family for years, was my daughters first car, our nieces first car and soon to be our nephews, though he would prefer a Scuby.
Has been problem free, always starts and passes it MOT each year without problems.


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[merc85]

A friend of mine and forum member is selling his Ford Focus, 2.0 tdci Ghai, 2007 5 Door Hatch in Silver, Mileage just turned 100k, £1,795

He has recently bought a Mercedes c220 hence the sale.

Ford Focus 2.0 Tdci diesel ghia | eBay

 

[E55BOF]

Thank you, gentlemen, one and all. There are a couple of possibles in there, but tell you what he want, what he really really want, is a Golf, and he's found this:

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Three are a few warning signs, though.

The company doesn’t exist at Companies House, and the address (40 Penton Road) is a private house, so it will be a one-man-band; forget any thoughts of any money back if something goes wrong.

The MoT history rather suggests it’s been run on a shoestring – tyres, brake pads, wiper blades, all left unattended until they were flagged up at MoT, so I’d look carefully at the ‘full main dealer service history’ too. I don't think it's been maintained regardless of cost; if it was an E55K, I'd not even think about it...

At £2k and only needing to last a few months it's not going to matter what make and model you buy as long as it looks OK when viewed it'll be pot luck, at that age even the best maintained car can have a component fail.

Spot on, but there's just one thing.

It looks and sounds pretty decent, and if it runs well I'd think it's a good bet, but there's that one thing - the cambelt. If it's still on the original, which from the history I'd say is a distinct possibility, I'd advise either to leave it, or have the cambelt changed asap.

Agree? Disagree?

 

[grober]

At the 2K level it pays to look at the owner's "history" as much as the car's. A Jap or Korean that's led a sheltered life is your best bet.- THE CAR NOT THE OWNER

 

[E53AMG]

Thank you, gentlemen, one and all. There are a couple of possibles in there, but tell you what he want, what he really really want, is a Golf, and he's found this:

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Three are a few warning signs, though.

The company doesn’t exist at Companies House, and the address (40 Penton Road) is a private house, so it will be a one-man-band; forget any thoughts of any money back if something goes wrong.

The MoT history rather suggests it’s been run on a shoestring – tyres, brake pads, wiper blades, all left unattended until they were flagged up at MoT, so I’d look carefully at the ‘full main dealer service history’ too. I don't think it's been maintained regardless of cost; if it was an E55K, I'd not even think about it...



Spot on, but there's just one thing.

It looks and sounds pretty decent, and if it runs well I'd think it's a good bet, but there's that one thing - the cambelt. If it's still on the original, which from the history I'd say is a distinct possibility, I'd advise either to leave it, or have the cambelt changed asap.

Agree? Disagree?

Not sure how reliable an 18 year old car will be, if it were me I would look for something newer.

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[Yugguy]

For 2k I'd be going simple, less to go wrong.

 

[Will]

The Golf looks okay, but as said regardless of the mileage it’s 18 years old. I don’t think early MK4 Golfs were the most reliable cars on the planet even back in the day, and I seem to remember hearing of a few gearbox problems with those autos too.

I’d probably look for something Japanese personally, plenty of nice well looked after Hondas and Toyotas often bought as retirement cars and often with good service history and low mileage etc

 

[bob6600]

The best way is to go on Autotrader, select distance as nearest and no minimum value. The cheapest cars will show and through the scrappers you may find a 'throwaway' car for less than £1k, which is what I would look to spend if it was only for a few months. When my brother's car blew up I found a £600 car locally for him as he needed one for work and 2 years on it's still going strong with routine servicing. You may be surprised by what you find out there.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

That's a poor example of a £2k Golf.

Your question about "Companies House" is a red herring. The seller's "trading as" Globe, not Globe Limited. He'll be routine sole trader, taking the usual £500 to £1000 from "flipping" trade-ins.

There are plenty of £2k Golfs out there with low mileages and proper service records. As Merc85's already said, a Focus is a far better car for the money, but if your son wants a Golf, pay that bit extra and get one. He'll get a fabulous Mk IV, with cash left over, and if he can be bothered to drive: a one owner mk 5 with 70k on the clock, like this one which has been for sale for a couple of weeks now:
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Remember that advertised price is never the same as deal price. At this level, most cars get sold at least 10% off asking price. (more if the seller's been advertising it for more than a month and is just about to drop his asking price)

£2k isn't a "rolling wreck" price for a 14 year old Golf. It's the price of an excellent 14 year old Mk5 with low to normal mileage. If maintained, a Golf will last until about 200,000, or until it gets bumped, whichever comes first.

And the good news: A Golf, Focus, or A class will sell, a year later, for roughly the same price as he buys it for.

.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

There's a bloke on here with an ideal car, only 18 months old, sadly he's crushing it to deprive VW the opportunity to sell parts to any new owners.

You couldn't make it up.

 

[neilrr]

Look for a loved W202 C Class. Loads of good ones around for under £2K.

 

[Will]

Most W202s are rust buckets nowadays though, with the odd few cherished/garage queens few and far between.

 

[neilrr]

mercedes-benz c-class 1998 w202 c 180 | eBay

1995 Mercedes C200 2.0 Elegance 4 door (W202) petrol automatic in white | eBay

Mercedes-Benz W202 C180 Classic - 44K Miles - FSH (12 Stamps) - Original Radio | eBay