garage recommendation to buy a used car in the mainland

[silverpuma]

Hi all, I'm from N Ireland and I want to buy a used car from the mainland as the selection and cheaper costs are appealing even after the ferry and travelling expenses.

I'm looking for a nice 2009 family saloon with 30/40,000ish miles around £8000. I'd like one that had a pile of extras when bought so I can get them now at a discount after the 3 years depreciation has taken its toll.

I've looked at the local websites autotrader, usedcarsni etc but when I compare the prices to the mainland on a £8000 spend you can "seem" (I know there may be catches and there's no free lunches) up to £2000.

Question....1 I'm looking for a car supermarket or garage recommendation in Britain that I can checkout. I what to think through the pros and cons before I make a decision. I can always go back to were I bought my last car so everythings cool.

I've been on whatcar and the old faithful Mondeo comes out best in the range I'm looking at. I also like the Citeron C5/, Mazda 6 and the Vax Insigna. What I want in these type of cars is the high spec models. Looking for a 3 year old car that I will keep for another 3/4 years so I want a car with fast depreciation as when I go to sell it again when its 7-8 years there's not going to be much residual value in it anyway.

We only cover about 7-10,000 miles a year so I don't mind spending a bit on fuel for a wee bit of luxury;-)

Question...2 Out of these cars or other suggestions you may have which car model should I go for.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.........