5 door auto - £5K. What are the options?
Discussion
I’m looking for a 5 door family car. It must be an auto, not too big and only cost about £5K. I’m looking at 2011 on Astra J or Focus. I’m more drawn to the Astra as I believe this has a conventional torque converter gearbox, hopefully someone can confirm.
Running costs and reliability are the priorities for this car so if anyone has any experience of them it would be good to hear from you. Other than these two options is there anything else out there to consider?
Running costs and reliability are the priorities for this car so if anyone has any experience of them it would be good to hear from you. Other than these two options is there anything else out there to consider?
Can't be of much use when recommending medium to large sized hatchbacks as i've only really looked into small to medium automatic hatchbacks for my girlfriend BUT ..
Having had ongoing (and very expensive) trouble with two automatic Minis in the very short space of 16 months we have recently spent far too many hours researching reliable auto gearboxes and cars as prospective replacements. The general consensus tends towards traditional torque converters as you mentioned, preferably Japanese or Korean. It seems as though less gears means less trouble, so avoid the 8 - 9 speed TCs and stick to the 4, 5 or 6. First gen Hyundai i30 or Kia Ceed are TC, most of the Mazda 2 and 3 are too and same for the Nissan Note and Suzuki Swift. I'm sure there are plenty of others too but these are some that I can remember.
DSG gearboxes are seemingly yet to be decided upon but it can be agreed that they are notoriously expensive to fix should anything go wrong. Avoid any 'dry' DSG gearboxes, especially the earlier 7 speed, as these are prone to problems and be careful when looking at 'wet' DSGs as these will need transmission fluid changes at set intervals to continue running without issue. With your budget and requirements you would probably be looking at a 50k+ mile car and so a transmission fluid change is almost definitely going to be required. Be careful to check that it has been done if past the recommended service interval. Personally, I couldn't buy a DSG with confidence given the large number of PHers who have had trouble as well as many others on different forums, but then some will be running DSG gearboxes well into the 6 figure miles without problem.
We had serious issues with the CVT gearbox in my girlfriends first Mini so be wary of those, I wouldn't have another if someone paid me. My mum has a CVT Qashqai though and no problems at all. Smooth gear changes but very complicated to repair and, hence, very expensive.
We ended up with a 65 plate Suzuki Swift sz4 auto, 4 speed torque converter gearbox. So far so good.
Having had ongoing (and very expensive) trouble with two automatic Minis in the very short space of 16 months we have recently spent far too many hours researching reliable auto gearboxes and cars as prospective replacements. The general consensus tends towards traditional torque converters as you mentioned, preferably Japanese or Korean. It seems as though less gears means less trouble, so avoid the 8 - 9 speed TCs and stick to the 4, 5 or 6. First gen Hyundai i30 or Kia Ceed are TC, most of the Mazda 2 and 3 are too and same for the Nissan Note and Suzuki Swift. I'm sure there are plenty of others too but these are some that I can remember.
DSG gearboxes are seemingly yet to be decided upon but it can be agreed that they are notoriously expensive to fix should anything go wrong. Avoid any 'dry' DSG gearboxes, especially the earlier 7 speed, as these are prone to problems and be careful when looking at 'wet' DSGs as these will need transmission fluid changes at set intervals to continue running without issue. With your budget and requirements you would probably be looking at a 50k+ mile car and so a transmission fluid change is almost definitely going to be required. Be careful to check that it has been done if past the recommended service interval. Personally, I couldn't buy a DSG with confidence given the large number of PHers who have had trouble as well as many others on different forums, but then some will be running DSG gearboxes well into the 6 figure miles without problem.
We had serious issues with the CVT gearbox in my girlfriends first Mini so be wary of those, I wouldn't have another if someone paid me. My mum has a CVT Qashqai though and no problems at all. Smooth gear changes but very complicated to repair and, hence, very expensive.
We ended up with a 65 plate Suzuki Swift sz4 auto, 4 speed torque converter gearbox. So far so good.
Edited by Cap2018 on Saturday 13th October 11:18
I have a 2012 5 door Astra Elite 2.0 diesel automatic.
I was coming out of a 2010 Merc C350 I’d ran for 3 years and loved, so my requirement was:
Diesel
Auto
Cruise Control
Leather
Heated seats
Auto lights
Auto wipers
Dimming mirrors
Astra ticked all those boxes and I’ve had it 14 months now, have to say I am quite happy with it. I paid £5,800 2 owners 66kish
EDIT: forgot to add, it has been cheap to run too! I average 40-45mpg but managed 50 on a run to Scotland. 4 new tyres when purchased and they have barely worn to be honest, pads and dicks at front were cheap to replace and service at a independent cheap enough. Road tax is reasonable and insurance not too bad, although I’m 24 now so getting old!
I was coming out of a 2010 Merc C350 I’d ran for 3 years and loved, so my requirement was:
Diesel
Auto
Cruise Control
Leather
Heated seats
Auto lights
Auto wipers
Dimming mirrors
Astra ticked all those boxes and I’ve had it 14 months now, have to say I am quite happy with it. I paid £5,800 2 owners 66kish
EDIT: forgot to add, it has been cheap to run too! I average 40-45mpg but managed 50 on a run to Scotland. 4 new tyres when purchased and they have barely worn to be honest, pads and dicks at front were cheap to replace and service at a independent cheap enough. Road tax is reasonable and insurance not too bad, although I’m 24 now so getting old!
Edited by Riggadig on Saturday 13th October 12:27
Astra Elite is the answer you can land a 2012 model with a bit of haggling.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Or these:
Megane Privilege
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Lexus IS250 SE-L
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
SE
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Megane Privilege
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Lexus IS250 SE-L
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
SE
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
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