Fabia to larger family car budget £3k - £4k

[mcc28x]

Hi,

Needing advice on buying used car.

I currently have a Skoda Fabia Elegance 1.9TDi 2007 with 66k on the clock. Love the car in many ways and had it 10 years almost. The problem is with 2 small kids, 2 car seats and all the paraphanalia that goes with it, I could do with something bigger.

Budget is limited basically £3k + whatever the Fabia would be worth. More than likely I would want to p/x the fabia, the synchromesh between 1st and 2nd gear is knackered and has been for about 5 years. For me it's an inconvenience and I've learned to change up at lowish revs with avoids the crunching, but I don't think a private buyer would be too impressed. Never got it done as I've been told minmum £400 and could rise substantially depending on condition and replacing clutch at same time.

I've looked on Internet and lots of cars in the £3k to £4k price range and there is alot of choice. I have a number of concerns though, for the size of car I would prefer say Mondeo size I'm looking at 100k mileage so reliability is a concern, though I only do 8k miles per year, but I'm also worried about running costs of a bigger car. The fabia only costs on average £400 to £600 per year maintenance (inc tyres) and I would need to be within touching difference of this on a larger car.

I like Insignia / Mondeo / Octavia especially estates but also Quashqai / Corolla Verso / Kia Carens so any suuggestions woul be appreciated.

I feel like it makes sense to get diesel because of the MPG?

The Fabia is quite nippy so I would like something with a bit of nip but not at the expense of economy.

What sort of running cost am I looking out on a larger family car? Service costs etc?

Any thought s on p/x value of the fabia with the fault? (Otherwise has FSH)

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

Mark

[ZX10R NIN]

Hi Mark if you're only doing 8k a year you need a petrol because you'll block the EGR valves & eventually the DPF which will end up costing you more than the fuel you've saved.

With that in mind here are my suggestions:

Mondeo ST220

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

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

2.0 Titanium

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

2.5T Ghia

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

Subaru Legacy

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

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

[Tyre Smoke]

As a Skoda convert already, go Octavia or perhaps Superb.

But really don't discount a Citroen C5 estate. We have a 1.6hdi just approaching 300k as a taxi. Great car for the money. But...condition and service history are king.

[mcc28x]

Many thanks for the recommendations lovely cars, just a bit concerned about the cost of any potential repairs on those. Hard to get your head round when you're only paying about £600 per year or less. Also difficult to fully understand the economy position my diesel fabia (none dpf as far as I understand) does 50-55mpg (this is basically a 20 min motorway drive morning and evening 10 miles each way or so) v petrol alternative of 35-40mpg or so?

Any thoughts of how to deal with the px issue of my fabia with the dodgy synchromesh between 1st and 2nd - will Iose alot of value here?

thanks all

Mark

[ZX10R NIN]

The cars above will not cost you more than 6-800 a year, the 2.5T Mondeo is the one to grab they really are robust, you'll see between 30-45mpg on a run but they come well equipped & servicing costs will be sensible too.

[ScoobyChris]

I'm not sure you'll lose value on the syncromesh - most of the cars I've traded in have just been valued on appearance and it's down to you whether you want to mention it.

FWIW, I went from a 2001 Fabia 1.9 TDI Elegance to a Mk3 Mondeo TDCi once the first baby was born and never looked back. Running costs were on a par (Ford parts seem plentiful and reasonably priced) with similar service intervals and reliability again favoured the Mondeo, although I did have a lot of issues with my Skoda.

Chris