Buying a used automatic car: what should I choose?

[leviathanhwd]

Hello guys, first post on this forum for me. Basically, I am looking to find a new car to drive around in (mostly around my home city of Leicester and the occasional motorway) and our budget is £10000. I have my eyes on a few cars at this moment: a facelifted 2009 merc e250 with 62k miles to its name but fully kitted out, a mazda 6 from 2014 again fully kitted out and has 54k miles, a bmw 3 series which is kitted out well and is about £6500 from 2009 with 67k miles or a vw passat cc from 2012 for £8000 and has around 54k miles. Also will take any suggestions for other cars as long as they are automatic and are available within 15 miles of leicester- work constraints! Thanks for reading!

[ZX10R NIN]

Take a day off limiting yourself to such a small distance means you get a very limited choice, also .

Mondeo Titanium X Sport 23 miles away

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

95 Miles away

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

45 Miles away Accord ES GT

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Toed64]

If the car will be used principally for short trips and city driving, you should probably be looking for a petrol car. However, there are a few more questions that significantly influence your decision process.

How long do you intend to keep the car?

Will you take it to a main dealer or an independent garage for service and maintenance?

How important is fuel consumption?

How many doors does it need?

I think I'd be looking at one of these and I'd stay away from the BMW dealership network for service and maintenance to avoid my bank account being traumatised!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-60-BMW-325i-SE-3-0...

[alorotom]

If I were you and it was mostly inner city usage I would be looking at something small and petrol (and likely newer) ... no need for the hassle of loads of toys and comfort gadgets which are relatively useless around town

[GreatGranny]

3 series coupe?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

AS has been said, diesels don't like short journeys but I realise that petrol autos within 15 miles of Leicester are pretty rare.

[leviathanhwd]

Thanks for the reply guys! Fuel consumption is important to an extent due to mainly use commuting to work which is about 5 miles away and it doesn't hurt to save a bit of cash does it? And taking a day off work wouldn't be a hassle but I'd probably get a warranty for parts from the trade sellers and if something goes wrong... Well I'd have a hard time trying to move my car 5< miles without having to call in a proper towing company. Any thoughts? The Mazda 6 is also a petrol so would that be the best bet?

[leviathanhwd]

And also it preferably needs 5 doors since my children are quite old and it's hard to take them on school runs in a two door car. I would also prefer to keep the car over 4 ish years but if it lasts more than that then that would be great and most likely it would be serviced by an independent garage since my friend works for them.

[Silenoz]

Do you need something as big as a Mazda6 for a small mileage?

As said earlier, I'd be going smaller and newer unless space was a overriding requirement.

[leviathanhwd]

I do an average of around 10-12 k miles a year and bigger saloon style cars are definitely more appealing to carry shopping and stuff in. But I am open to any suggestions!

[MorganP104]

leviathanhwd said:

Thanks for the reply guys! Fuel consumption is important to an extent due to mainly use commuting to work which is about 5 miles away and it doesn't hurt to save a bit of cash does it? And taking a day off work wouldn't be a hassle but I'd probably get a warranty for parts from the trade sellers and if something goes wrong... Well I'd have a hard time trying to move my car 5< miles without having to call in a proper towing company. Any thoughts? The Mazda 6 is also a petrol so would that be the best bet?

For a five mile commute (10 miles per day, in other words), other local trips, and the odd longer motorway journey, I'd definitely be going petrol powered.

You don't need to go nuts with engine size - on the premium side of things, Audi do a half-decent 1.8 Turbo, and the 2.0 TFSi unit, BMW's variously come with 2.0-ish petrol engines, similar story with the Mercs.

Going semi-premium, Hondas and Mazdas are a good shout, but I'd be wanting something a bit prestigious for my £10k budget, to feel like I've had my money's worth.

[leviathanhwd]

I agree ^^ but that's the main reason I'm posting. I don't want to go perceived quality over reliability since a car that barely needs to get repaired, at the end of the day, is the better quality car. So what to do?

[steve-5snwi]

Buy a Focus 1.0 ecoboost, or for 5 miles per day buy a Nissan Leaf and hire something when you need to cover some distance.

[leviathanhwd]

I do around 15 ish miles a day-to-day works out of town so 40+ mph on twisty roads and then schools in town so it's a bit weird with my car choices lol. I heard focus' aren't all that reliable but then again mercs and co aren't either.

[Toed64]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-ACCORD-Executive-...

Ford dealerships often have a stack of crated new 1 litre ecoboost motors...the bigger engines, not so much...or so a friend who works at a Ford dealership told me!