Help buying a reliable car for under £6000

[TAFC]

Hi all, I’m looking for a new car that will mostly be used for work and collecting toddler from nursery. I sometimes take the odd bit of scrap wood and other materials from work, but as long as I’ve a roof rack, I’ll be fine with any car. All I care for is reliability, as I’ve had a poor record buying used cars, and now I’m overanalysing every dealer’s reviews and cars’ MOT histories. Any help would be great. Thank you.

[M.F.D]

£6000 gets you into a load of stuff, hard to advise with you not having many wants/requirements.

Avensis/Accord estate would likely be up there with the most reliable/kid friendly/big boot.

[TAFC]

M.F.D said:

£6000 gets you into a load of stuff, hard to advise with you not having many wants/requirements.

Avensis/Accord estate would likely be up there with the most reliable/kid friendly/big boot.

Any particular year and engine? And where do you look for cars? I’ve been looking at Autotrader, but when I look at some of the reviews of the dealers, I instantly give up on that car.

[Chris_i8]

Honda Civic 1.8,.2014/2015 within budget.

Mazda 3 2.0 petrol, again around 2014/2015 vintage.

Hyundai i20 1.4, 2015

[TAFC]

Chris_i8 said:

Honda Civic 1.8,.2014/2015 within budget.

Mazda 3 2.0 petrol, again around 2014/2015 vintage.

Hyundai i20 1.4, 2015

Would over 100k miles put you off? And when going to view these cars, what types of issues should I look for?

[Countdown]

TAFC said:

Any particular year and engine? And where do you look for cars? I ve been looking at Autotrader, but when I look at some of the reviews of the dealers, I instantly give up on that car.

I'd go for the 1.8. It's absolutely fine IME and provides reasonable economy.

Toyota Avensis 11-reg

[Chris_i8]

TAFC said:

Would over 100k miles put you off? And when going to view these cars, what types of issues should I look for?

Absolutely not, providing the service book has a decent number of stamps and/or invoices.
I'd much rather a 100k car with service history than the same car but with 50k, serviced 'periodically', driven on the cheapest tyres available and bumped up/down every kerb in the town it resides!

2015 car is now 10yrs old so I'd absolutely expect it to have 90k/100k+ miles based on 10k/yr average.

Basic checks -
2 keys?, remote locking/unocking working?,
check electrics work - windows, mirrors, wipers, radio etc,
spare wheel / toolkit or foam/pump present?
A/C nice and chilly?
Tyres? - decent tread? worn evenly across the tyre? hopefully matching across an axle at the very least? *bonus points for a set of 4 matching, premium brand!

Cheers,

Chris
Start engine from cold, no noises/squeals/rattles?
Test drive - drives and brakes in a straight line? clutch/gearbox operate normally?

[OutInTheShed]

Spending six grand, I'd be expecting to keep a car for several years before I'd be happy to think I'd had fair value from it.
So those 10/11 year old cars will become 14/15/16 year old cars and reliability may start to look different.

There's a big difference between buying a car for £6k and expecting it to be reliable for a year or two, against expecting it to run for six years with low costs.

Personally I find it quite hard to be sure an old car will behave itself a long time into the future.
I might spend less, then it will have 'paid for itself' in a shorter time.

Your annual mileage makes a difference, IMHO, if you're buying a car with 100k miles on it and racking up 12k a year, that ends up as a lot of miles for a small car. If you only do 5k a year, you're less likely to wear stuff out.

[WhiskyDisco]

3 years ago I bought a 2015 Mondeo 1.5 TDCI "Econetic". I paid £6,400 with 80,000 miles (2022)

It is now at 110,000 miles and has prven to be very reliable, and an excellent family car. I would recommend.

[ZX10R NIN]

1.4T i30 SE Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506093...

1.6T Ceed GT Tech:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502088...

4 Tech:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507294...

If you don't mind a CAT car, then this Infiniti could be a good buy:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507214...

1.4T Astra Elite Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503089...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507315...

Estate:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507164...

SRI Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506153...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410175...

1.6T V60:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507184...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507084...

1.6T Kuga Titanium:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507124...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507074...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506143...

DS5:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502129...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507234...

[nobrakes]

75k miles 2014 Mondeo

£5k

Plenty years left in it and space for sprogs and lumber.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507074...

[nobrakes]

£6k 2015 Mondeo, 100k, looks much newer than the previous one I posted.

Black on black and a 2.0tdci so has plenty go.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507094...

[macron]

Buy a honda jazz that has recently had new tyres and brakes, or a corolla with the same.

[ScoobyChris]

If you have ability to charge at home, something like a Nissan Leaf might be worth a look if it suits your journey pattern. Plenty in your budget so you can afford to be fussy (buy on battery condition) and they are very reliable (not much to go wrong!) and on a cheap rate electric tariff with minimal servicing requirements, cost buttons to run.

Chris

[Sargeant Orange]

If only there was some kind of used car buyer advisory service you could tap into.....

It would likely suggest a Honda or a Toyota at that price point