I'm not having much joy this year with cars. For the third time in as many months, I'm turning to the BBS for inspiration. Recently I traded my trusty Suzuki Swift in for a 2019 Peugeot 308 in arguably the worst transfer deal since Sam Winnall left for half a million quid. Having developed an engine fault after 48 hours of ownership, it's gone back to the dealer for a full refund. I've since read up more on cars with pure tech engines and realised the error of my ways. Any recommendations of 2nd hand cars. Around the £10-11k mark, no older than 6 years and preferably under 40k miles. Big enough for a child and everything that goes with owning one of those, ideally a hatchback or estate (small crossovers are OK at a push, but I don't understand SUV's). I've got my eye on 3 different models of Skoda (Scala, Rapid Spaceback, Octavia) and a Kia Ceed Sportswagon. But all personal experience is welcome. Cheers
Theres a nice jeep renegade on AA website in metallic grey £10,758 registered in 2019 on a 68 plate with 30,323 miles.Small SUV,I've had one and it was fine.
I got a 2020 Citroen C3 in February and been great so far. I think its got a pure tech engine though if that rules it out
Glad you've started this thread @Archey, I'm also on the lookout for a second hand car so will read with interest, although I'm probably looking for an SUV. I currently have a 15 plate Renault Meganne (1.5 diesel engine) that has been nothing but trouble. I've had the car circa 4 years, the engine management warning light came on after approximately 6 months, I've been back and fourth to independent garages, a specialist Renault dealer, had lots of diagnostics / inspections carried out, paid out loads of money to find out that no ****** seems to know what the issue is. The car frequently goes into limp mode, from reading Renault forums, this type of engine seems to cause lots of issues but it could be linked to a faulty sensor / DPF issues. I try to give it a blast on the motorway now and again but the warning light still keeps appearing.
If it's DPF related get Carlton Tuning at Cundy Cross to have a look. They can remap the ECU and lots of other things which would probably solve your DPF issues.
Wife's got a small Hyundai i10 and it's been brill. local garage recommended the make. I believe there's a i20 and i30 which are bigger models but the brands fine. Same mechanic told me dont buy a French car. Believe Skoda is now part of VW so should be sound..
Can’t fault Kia ceed,s I’m on my rd last one got me to [emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]k before trading in for a Ford biggest mistake ever
Have a look on Scottish car Clan on YouTube.. He's decent tells you what never to buy.. and other stuff
Skoda Scala is a very under-rated car IMHO. Partly because they're not SUV/mini SUV style and partly because they look (subjectively) a bit "meh". On a budget though a very good car. I'm a bit biased as I've had Skodas/Seats/VW for most of my driving life (currently have a DSG Seat Ateca). I'd also consider a Kia Ceed - particularly if you can find one with balance of 7 year warranty (don't assume it has it - it needs to have a full Kia service history). Similar to the Scala though - a bit dull looking (imho!).
Get in touch with the lads at Car Seekers. All Barnsley fans and Flavells brother Ross works for them.
Another vote for the Kia ceed got a 12yrs old one had it 6 1/2yrs with no big worries. Clutch,breaks and tyres loves tyres does Kev the Kia (nick named by grandkids ) with it been the sportswagon loads of room for kids and all that comes with them. It has no transmission tunnel in the rear so can fit 3 in the back reasonable comfortable apparently. Not sure if the newer ones are still numbered re spec but mines the 4 all the bells and whistle you can hope for. Go have a look but if your lookng for a solid family car it gets my vote,
They have a wet belt timing belt. The car I bought was 6 years old and had done 29k miles. It'd been serviced by Peugeot every 5k or so miles, so had been looked after. The dash gave an engine fault error shortly after I picked it up, and when the garage looked at it, the timing belt was on the verge of snapping. There was metal filings and bits of belt in the oil. The garage I took it to warned me off getting another one, saying its been a common sight for them with those types of engine. Though you see plenty of them about, so others might have had more luck.
I've considered a Hyundai. Within my budget though, they're all either too big (Kona) or too small (i10 & i20) for what I'm after. An i30 would be ideal. I hired one about 10 years ago and it was a lovely car.
I've been advised against anything with a Ford Ecoboost engine for the same reason as the Puretech engines in Peugueots and Citroens.
Had three Seat Leon’s in recent years and all been fine. Reliable, fairly quick, plus reasonable to run and insure as well. Essentially a VW Golf (same engines )but cheaper.
Toyota have been offering rolling warranty up to 10 years on approved used cars, providing it is serviced by them. My Yaris was six years old when I bought it, so effectively had 4 years warranty.
Sticking with Kia, if your budget was slightly higher, you could have gone electric with a previous gen e-Niro. But £11k is slightly under where they are right now and limits the choice to the older stuff only with poor ranges. My stepson and my next door neighbour have both switched in the last 2 months and both got one of these - they are a hoot. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502048736964?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android-app A very rough calc suggests a 40mpg car costs £1400 in fuel for every 10k miles at £1.30 a litre, compared to £230 charging at home on a cheap nighttime tariff. So if you are doing 10k a year and could fit a charger at home, year 1 savings pay for the charger and the subsequent years pay for the higher cost of the car. That's based on today's fuel price - god knows where the price goes if the Iran thing goes t*ts up. I know - I'm obsessed. Apologies.