What reliable, modern feeling, medium-sized hatchback - £3k?
Discussion
What would be a good choice for a medium sized, modern feeling, reliable and cheap to run spacious family hatchback for around £3k? Can anyone suggest anything we should look at near Brighton?
I'm trying to help my wife's cousin buy a car. She's got two kids, limited funds and has managed to scrape together £3.5k, although would help her to spend a bit less if possible. She's got no insurance history and it needs to be cheap to run, and unlikely to break. She'll mostly be doing short town drives with the occasional 100 miles journey to visit her Mum.
I spent a day driving around looking at what's available near Brighton for £3k ish. My god, there's a dearth of decent cars, it feels like two months ago you'd be able to find hundreds of near mint low mileage quality cars with this sort of budget but now it seems like everything for sale is either scruffy, has no service history or is a pile of creaking French rubbish (I'm not prejudiced against the French brands but the Peugeots and Renaults we've seen seemed to be in the worst condition for the miles and years they were wearing).
Anyway, she would like to buy something that feels fairly modern, as £3k is a lot of money to her and she likes nice things. It also needs to be reasonably spacious in the back as one of her kids is a teen and the other is growing fast.
Of everything we looked at in budget, the 2010+ Vauxhall Astras seemed to fit the bill nicely - seems quite modern inside / smart outside, with decent space and we even managed to find one with full main dealer history:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202022...
It had a few scratches along the nearside which I could mostly polish out (I've got a DA polisher and know how to use it). Problem is, on the test drive is was deathly slow - really not good to drive at all, took an almost dangerous amount of time to build up speed joining an A-road. I've done a bit of googling and read the 1.6 Astras are almost as bad, and the turbos are unreliable. So I think Astras should be ruled out.
So, the question is, what should we be looking at? The obvious cars to me (Golfs, Focus, Mazda 3) don't seem to be any around in budget, unless they're very old and tatty....
I'm trying to help my wife's cousin buy a car. She's got two kids, limited funds and has managed to scrape together £3.5k, although would help her to spend a bit less if possible. She's got no insurance history and it needs to be cheap to run, and unlikely to break. She'll mostly be doing short town drives with the occasional 100 miles journey to visit her Mum.
I spent a day driving around looking at what's available near Brighton for £3k ish. My god, there's a dearth of decent cars, it feels like two months ago you'd be able to find hundreds of near mint low mileage quality cars with this sort of budget but now it seems like everything for sale is either scruffy, has no service history or is a pile of creaking French rubbish (I'm not prejudiced against the French brands but the Peugeots and Renaults we've seen seemed to be in the worst condition for the miles and years they were wearing).
Anyway, she would like to buy something that feels fairly modern, as £3k is a lot of money to her and she likes nice things. It also needs to be reasonably spacious in the back as one of her kids is a teen and the other is growing fast.
Of everything we looked at in budget, the 2010+ Vauxhall Astras seemed to fit the bill nicely - seems quite modern inside / smart outside, with decent space and we even managed to find one with full main dealer history:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202022...
It had a few scratches along the nearside which I could mostly polish out (I've got a DA polisher and know how to use it). Problem is, on the test drive is was deathly slow - really not good to drive at all, took an almost dangerous amount of time to build up speed joining an A-road. I've done a bit of googling and read the 1.6 Astras are almost as bad, and the turbos are unreliable. So I think Astras should be ruled out.
So, the question is, what should we be looking at? The obvious cars to me (Golfs, Focus, Mazda 3) don't seem to be any around in budget, unless they're very old and tatty....
Sounds like the top priority is trouble free motoring, so I would look at something Japanese or Korean with a petrol engine. Most new cars in this class drive in a similar way for the average motorist. So a Hyundai i30 or a Toyota Corolla for example. Boring to a petrolhead, but ideal reliable motoring for the average owner. A Fiesta might be a good option if they are large enough, mainly because of the choice available.
Btw, don't buy on age, buy on history and condition. A 2008 car may be much better option than a rough 2010.
Btw, don't buy on age, buy on history and condition. A 2008 car may be much better option than a rough 2010.
The trouble with Honda Civics is they are still fairly expensive to insure, so I'd get a few quotes first.
Avoid anything from Volkswagen/Audi at this price point, there is a good chance it'll be a heap of unreliable trouble (including Seats and Skodas), same goes for anything remotely premium such as BMW or Mercedes.
Here's what I'd be looking at
Mazda 3 1.6 TS
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202172...
Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201131...
Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec S
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202012...
Great News! A Dacia Sandero 1.2
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202062...
Avoid anything from Volkswagen/Audi at this price point, there is a good chance it'll be a heap of unreliable trouble (including Seats and Skodas), same goes for anything remotely premium such as BMW or Mercedes.
Here's what I'd be looking at
Mazda 3 1.6 TS
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202172...
Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201131...
Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec S
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202012...
Great News! A Dacia Sandero 1.2
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202062...
Ive found the W204 to be relatively frugal on fuel and reliable
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111109...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111139...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111109...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111139...
Thanks for your input everyone. Some good suggestions on make and model, but nobody has yet suggested a car that's near Brighton.
She's not buying the black Astra, it was just too slow (like, almost dangerously so - you'd need such a large gap pulling onto a fast A-road). She's not after something fast, or even "nippy", just something adequate.
A decent Civic would be great, I reckon - I'll suggest she gets an insurance quote on one. Also on an i30 and a Corolla. I reckon a Fiesta would do the job, as long as it isn't horribly slow like the Astra. But there's no way she'd buy a Dacia Sandero!
She's not buying the black Astra, it was just too slow (like, almost dangerously so - you'd need such a large gap pulling onto a fast A-road). She's not after something fast, or even "nippy", just something adequate.
A decent Civic would be great, I reckon - I'll suggest she gets an insurance quote on one. Also on an i30 and a Corolla. I reckon a Fiesta would do the job, as long as it isn't horribly slow like the Astra. But there's no way she'd buy a Dacia Sandero!
Shabaza said:
Ive found the W204 to be relatively frugal on fuel and reliable
Those would be much too expensive for her to insure, and cost too much to fix / service. Maccles said:
Thanks for your input everyone. Some good suggestions on make and model, but nobody has yet suggested a car that's near Brighton.
OP I'm sure the PH Massive will correct me if I'm wrong but I think the idea of these 'what car?' type threads is to suggest some possible options and perhaps provide a link to indicative examples .Once you settled on your preferred make & model, you may then need to do some work yourself to find one in your part of the world.
Canon_Fodder said:
OP I'm sure the PH Massive will correct me if I'm wrong but I think the idea of these 'what car?' type threads is to suggest some possible options and perhaps provide a link to indicative examples .
Once you settled on your preferred make & model, you may then need to do some work yourself to find one in your part of the world.
Thanks Captain Obvious!Once you settled on your preferred make & model, you may then need to do some work yourself to find one in your part of the world.
I recommend a Civic. On my second 1.8 petrol 2008 model now as a family sold it to me cheap at 66k miles.
Our first was also a 2008 1.8 petrol bought at 72k miles, sold a few years later at 110k miles. In fact, I sold in 2019 and saw it at the weekend, according to Mot checker, it's now on 133k miles.
Our first was also a 2008 1.8 petrol bought at 72k miles, sold a few years later at 110k miles. In fact, I sold in 2019 and saw it at the weekend, according to Mot checker, it's now on 133k miles.
Canon_Fodder said:
Maccles said:
... £3k is a lot of money to her and she likes nice things. ....
That's a rather unfortunate combo...That Astra looks good - I'd snap that up
If she can stand having a Kia or Hyundai from when before they employed all of their German designers then the Kia Ceed or Hyundai i30 would probably be my pick.
The Astra is probably the most modern looking car you are going to get in that price range.
I think she is going to be sorely disappointed if she thinks £3K is going to get anything other than a car pre 2010.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 15th March 18:29
georgeyboy12345 said:
The cars I suggested weren’t too far away from Brighton? London, Ashford, Bournemouth.
How far can you/she travel?
Up to 30 minutes drive from Brighton. How far can you/she travel?
My time is very precious (I have three young kids) and she doesn't have her own transport; it doesn't seem worth travelling more than 30 minutes from Brighton to see a car given the number of sellers advertising s
theaps as being in "lovely condition". I looked at all the ones you suggested (thanks for taking the time, by the way - I do appreciate it) however Bournemouth is more like two hours from here, as is Ashford or London if you try to drive there in daylight hours. I'd do that sort of journey if I was buying something more exotic and for myself, but it isn't worth it for an everyday runabout.
If you don't mind something leftfield that fits all of the criteria then take a look at the MG6:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203073...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201291...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203073...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201291...
Joey Deacon said:
Exactly, £3K gets you something that would have only cost £1.5K to £2K pre Covid. £3K is barely above shed level and isn't going to get you something that modern, it is going to be at least two generations old.
If she can stand having a Kia or Hyundai from when before they employed all of their German designers then the Kia Ceed or Hyundai i30 would probably be my pick.
The Astra is probably the most modern looking car you are going to get in that price range.
I think she is going to be sorely disappointed if she thinks £3K is going to get anything other than a car pre 2010.
I completely agree with you. I also empathise with her and want to try to help get something she's really happy with. We've seen some 2010 cars that were close to fitting the bill, I'm just a bit out of touch with this end of the market these days.If she can stand having a Kia or Hyundai from when before they employed all of their German designers then the Kia Ceed or Hyundai i30 would probably be my pick.
The Astra is probably the most modern looking car you are going to get in that price range.
I think she is going to be sorely disappointed if she thinks £3K is going to get anything other than a car pre 2010.
Edited by Joey Deacon on Tuesday 15th March 18:29
I'll try to push her towards a Kia Ceed or an i30 (thanks to the others who also suggested these), among the other suggestions (but not a Dacia Sandero....)
It really is tough at the moment so good luck... we recently started off with a £3k budget, then it crept up to £6k and finally £9k before we could find something decent 
we bought a KIA C'eed as it goes!
Looking at my shortlist I've still got saved on my AutoTrader account, does she mind high mileage? There's a C4 Cactus, 2015 for under £3,800 but it's moon mileage. I also have a couple of A3 S Line's saved, 1.6 so nippy enough, 2008-2009 there's one for £3,250 with just over 100k miles. One I nearly looked at but didn't was a Nissan Note, 1.4 2012 under £4k (and 64k miles!) that one's in Dartford.
we bought a KIA C'eed as it goes!Looking at my shortlist I've still got saved on my AutoTrader account, does she mind high mileage? There's a C4 Cactus, 2015 for under £3,800 but it's moon mileage. I also have a couple of A3 S Line's saved, 1.6 so nippy enough, 2008-2009 there's one for £3,250 with just over 100k miles. One I nearly looked at but didn't was a Nissan Note, 1.4 2012 under £4k (and 64k miles!) that one's in Dartford.
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