Discussion
Hi All,
A long story, but from the imminent sale of my Mk7 Golf R, I am looking at buying a car for around the £3k mark from a dealer rather than privately.
This would be a backup third car as my wife has her own 7.5 Golf R and I have a ‘17 E Class coupe as our primary daily drivers. We’ve found it really helpful having a third car for different reasons. A prime example being at the moment the Merc has a failed starter motor so until its fixed my Golf is being used…crucial to be mobile also with young kids.
Pretty open minded on what to get. Needs to have four doors, guessing a manual is more reliable at this price point? Something like a Polo size would be too small but anything from family hatch size or upwards would be absolutely fine. Used to diesels but could be a petrol. Like a lot of us, something fast is nice but gotta try and ignore that this time.
Had a quick look at things like Golfs and Leons for this budget. As to be expected, pretty much everything has done over 100k which is OK. Just need to bear in mind common things that could go wrong or to check work has been carried out that should have been done. Due to my car history always default to looking at things like VW’s but you might not recommend thats a good idea at this budget. Not so keen on things like Kia’s, Hyundai’s or Vauxhalls but open to most others.
Any thoughts would be greatly welcomed 😊 Only saying to go through a dealer so theres a bit of a “safety net” if things go wrong just after getting the car.
A long story, but from the imminent sale of my Mk7 Golf R, I am looking at buying a car for around the £3k mark from a dealer rather than privately.
This would be a backup third car as my wife has her own 7.5 Golf R and I have a ‘17 E Class coupe as our primary daily drivers. We’ve found it really helpful having a third car for different reasons. A prime example being at the moment the Merc has a failed starter motor so until its fixed my Golf is being used…crucial to be mobile also with young kids.
Pretty open minded on what to get. Needs to have four doors, guessing a manual is more reliable at this price point? Something like a Polo size would be too small but anything from family hatch size or upwards would be absolutely fine. Used to diesels but could be a petrol. Like a lot of us, something fast is nice but gotta try and ignore that this time.
Had a quick look at things like Golfs and Leons for this budget. As to be expected, pretty much everything has done over 100k which is OK. Just need to bear in mind common things that could go wrong or to check work has been carried out that should have been done. Due to my car history always default to looking at things like VW’s but you might not recommend thats a good idea at this budget. Not so keen on things like Kia’s, Hyundai’s or Vauxhalls but open to most others.
Any thoughts would be greatly welcomed 😊 Only saying to go through a dealer so theres a bit of a “safety net” if things go wrong just after getting the car.
Thoughts:
The sort of dealer selling a £3k car is liable to take a fairly minimal view of their post-sale obligations. I'd want to find somewhere fairly local with a good rep, otherwise your legal rights may turn out not to be worth the paper they're written on.
A traditional torque converter auto is probably no worse than a manual in terms of likely costs. The manual could need a clutch & dual mass flywheel changing, for instance. I would however avoid DSGs in general.
For occasional use, any fuel savings with diesel won't be significant, petrol probably less to go wrong overall.
As a reliable backup car on a budget, a cheap Japanese petrol is generally the least trouble. Toyota Auris, Honda Civic, that sort of thing. The issues with a £3k VW are that (a) because they're desirable, you'll get an older / higher mileage car for the money and (b) they're generally a bit less reliable like for like.
You can even get a Civic Type R for that sort of money, although no idea if you should
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512048...
The sort of dealer selling a £3k car is liable to take a fairly minimal view of their post-sale obligations. I'd want to find somewhere fairly local with a good rep, otherwise your legal rights may turn out not to be worth the paper they're written on.
A traditional torque converter auto is probably no worse than a manual in terms of likely costs. The manual could need a clutch & dual mass flywheel changing, for instance. I would however avoid DSGs in general.
For occasional use, any fuel savings with diesel won't be significant, petrol probably less to go wrong overall.
As a reliable backup car on a budget, a cheap Japanese petrol is generally the least trouble. Toyota Auris, Honda Civic, that sort of thing. The issues with a £3k VW are that (a) because they're desirable, you'll get an older / higher mileage car for the money and (b) they're generally a bit less reliable like for like.
You can even get a Civic Type R for that sort of money, although no idea if you should
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512048...
samoht said:
Thoughts:
The sort of dealer selling a £3k car is liable to take a fairly minimal view of their post-sale obligations. I'd want to find somewhere fairly local with a good rep, otherwise your legal rights may turn out not to be worth the paper they're written on.
A traditional torque converter auto is probably no worse than a manual in terms of likely costs. The manual could need a clutch & dual mass flywheel changing, for instance. I would however avoid DSGs in general.
For occasional use, any fuel savings with diesel won't be significant, petrol probably less to go wrong overall.
As a reliable backup car on a budget, a cheap Japanese petrol is generally the least trouble. Toyota Auris, Honda Civic, that sort of thing. The issues with a £3k VW are that (a) because they're desirable, you'll get an older / higher mileage car for the money and (b) they're generally a bit less reliable like for like.
You can even get a Civic Type R for that sort of money, although no idea if you should
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512048...
Hi there,The sort of dealer selling a £3k car is liable to take a fairly minimal view of their post-sale obligations. I'd want to find somewhere fairly local with a good rep, otherwise your legal rights may turn out not to be worth the paper they're written on.
A traditional torque converter auto is probably no worse than a manual in terms of likely costs. The manual could need a clutch & dual mass flywheel changing, for instance. I would however avoid DSGs in general.
For occasional use, any fuel savings with diesel won't be significant, petrol probably less to go wrong overall.
As a reliable backup car on a budget, a cheap Japanese petrol is generally the least trouble. Toyota Auris, Honda Civic, that sort of thing. The issues with a £3k VW are that (a) because they're desirable, you'll get an older / higher mileage car for the money and (b) they're generally a bit less reliable like for like.
You can even get a Civic Type R for that sort of money, although no idea if you should
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512048...
Thank you so much and it is greatly appreciated and this is some excellent advice!
I will start to take a look at traders in local area (am in Suffolk but can go to neighbouring counties if needed) and see what they have. That's a great shout on torque converter auto's and you mirrored my thoughts about DSG's.
Completely agree on VW's and definitely paying a premium for them and despite what my wife says, I know they aren't as reliable as people say. My Golf hasn't had much go wrong but one car does not reflect the whole brand that's for sure. I was thinking about something Japanese. Had no idea you could get the CTR for that money! I know the ride is supposed to be pretty firm in them but no idea on whether they make a good used buy or not.
Thank you again and really appreciate your thoughts!
I agree with samoht about avoiding a dealer when buying a car for £3K - at that price level I suspect any "safety net" would be full of holes!
Japanese cars are a good shout, but in years gone by I've had a few Kia Cee'd and Hyundai i30 cars as rentals and been pleasantly surprised by them.
Japanese cars are a good shout, but in years gone by I've had a few Kia Cee'd and Hyundai i30 cars as rentals and been pleasantly surprised by them.
At this price point I'd be buying from both private or dealer, buy on condition & receipts.
Alfa Giulietta Veloce, good reliable cars but a bit scarce:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505062...
1.4t Astra Ltd Edition:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512178...
SRI:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512038...
1.6i:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512228...
1.4T Newer shape Astra SRI:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511288...
Alfa Giulietta Veloce, good reliable cars but a bit scarce:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505062...
1.4t Astra Ltd Edition:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512178...
SRI:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512038...
1.6i:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512228...
1.4T Newer shape Astra SRI:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511288...
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