New long term car £6-8k

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Discussion

Gastons_Revenge

101 posts

6 months

Monday 25th March

Taeb said:

What's everyones opinion on the Lexus IS300H 2014 onwards model?

Seems stylish, reliable (I think), pretty spacious, fast enough and amazing MPG, I am guessing the battery could be really expensive if it has issues or needs a replacement?

Uses the same hybrid system as Toyota which is well known to be bulletproof. Battery issues are not as expensive as many fearmongers say, most cases of failure I've heard of (rare to begin with) involved one or two cells in the battery going bad & there's a whole cottage industry for replacing individual cells. Cabbies in cities are getting hundreds of thousands of miles out of Toyota hybrids.

Snow and Rocks

1,964 posts

29 months

Monday 25th March

As above, I'd take a hybrid Toyota/Lexus over just about anything else if I cared about durability and long term reliability. Very cleverly engineered to eliminate many of the common ICE maintenance costs or failure points - no turbo, no clutch, no alternator, no starter motor, no complicated autobox, no accessory belt, no timing belt.

Combine this inherent simplicity with Toyota/Lexus build quality and you have a recipe for a car that will just go on and on. Economical and pleasant to drive too once you get used to it.

Fusion777

2,272 posts

50 months

Tuesday 26th March

Taeb said:

Coming back to this thread and REALLY considering a 2.0cdti Insignia but worried about my use, I currently do 30 miles round trip daily which is mostly urban/a-roads, and once or twice a month I do a couple of 150 mile round trips, then there's the oil pickup seal, does anyone know where I can get that done and how long that would last? or should I just deal with bad mpg/slightly slower car and get the 1.8 petrol to avoid these issues plus DMF/DPF issues.

Shouldn’t have DPF issues with that usage.

Taeb

Original Poster

60 posts

97 months

Tuesday 21st May

So I have upped my budget by quite a lot due to wanting to keep the car for a very long time and to treat myself, the new budget is around £12k.

I was looking at a Corolla Estate 1.8 Hybrid or a Kia Proceed Shooting Brake 1.4T.

Both look to be loaded with enough equipment, the Toyota being more economical I am guessing but reliabilty on both seem to not be an issue right?

Any other suggestions at this budget?

I need something with room for a child, safe, reliable and not crazy on fuel.

MYOB

4,854 posts

140 months

Tuesday 21st May

Do you enjoy driving or is the car simply a tool?

Mazda 6 if the former, or any Toyotas if the latter.

irc

7,571 posts

138 months

Tuesday 21st May

Any Superb estates in budget? I have a 6 year old 2018 1.4tsi estate. Huge rear passenger room. Big boot. Other than servicing tyres brakes disc/pads etc the only fault has been rattling front brake pads. Fixed with shims under warranty.

47mph on motorways at 73mph. 52mpg cruising on A roads.

Carries 3.2m long timber inside the car.
Not a car for throwing round bends but very comfortable. Having driver it back to back compared with my previous Octavia and Skoda Scouts just a smoother ride

PS Skoda have just changed the time interval for cambelts. Now 100k not 50k. The 1.4 engines changed from chain to belts around 2013.

chip*

1,035 posts

230 months

Tuesday 21st May

12k gets you an Octavia (1.4 or 1.5 petrol) hatchback which I run as a daily.
Mine is a manual 1.4L SeL 67 plate. Rear seats bags of room for 2 car seats where I can step in and clip the seat belts up / check my girl has done seat belt properly. The boot is massive, and my golf cart and clubs are permanently stored there, plus it will hold my weekly shopping and more. Pretty economical and very dull to drive. The dampers is the only major gripe as it doesn't cope with bumpy roads. Been totally reliable under 2.5 years of ownership, but I will change next year to something newer (most likely Lexus or Toyota hybrid).

ZX10R NIN

27,795 posts

127 months

Tuesday 21st May

Tinkermantony

45 posts

29 months

Tuesday 21st May

For those requirements id go with the Lexus IS300h. Uber reliable and in my opinion one of the best looking saloons of that era. The whole drivetrain encourages you to drive economically and smoothly. CVT gearbox is also great in town and when parking.

The f sport looks good (below was mine in fsport blue) but the ride quality is terrible. Handled well but you never pushed it for the reasons above.

Premier is a lot more comfy and has all the spec - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024030973...

Taeb

Original Poster

60 posts

97 months

Wednesday 22nd May

Really tempted by the IS 300h, have seen them before and really like them and their kit but the Proceed is nice too....

Will have to maybe go see some in person,

Taeb

Original Poster

60 posts

97 months

Thursday

Does anyone have an info on the 2012 onwards Mazda 6, are they prone to rust as some older Mazdas was?

They seem like a great buy for this price range, the petrol engine is economical and has a bit of power too.

ZX10R NIN

27,795 posts

127 months

Yesterday (13:14)

Taeb said:

The paint is a little bit thin but buy on condition.

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