My insurance settlement has come through for the Fiesta I wrote off 2 weeks ago.
I have made my mind up to have another car in the new year (against my son’s wishes)
I have £7,000 to spend on a replacement car - it doesn’t have to be a Fiesta but I want a similar size.
My Fiesta was 6 years old. I want the same age or younger.
I value the help & advice I get on this forum.
Are there any that you could recommend please? (£7,000)
I have been an avid fan of Suzuki’s since I bought the first around 20yrs ago.
Apart from consumables and servicing, none of them cost anything for repairs/replacement parts.
Hi Carol, in my opinion, a car is a depreciating asset so key considerations include resale value, maintenance and fuel consumption.
If it were me and it’s a small runaround that’s required then my choice would be between a Toyota Aygo or a Honda Jazz.
Both are excellent cars with a fair resale value, fair maintenance costs and good fuel consumption. I am not certain if you’re looking for an automatic or manual transmission though.
Good luck with your search!
I find Japanese cars are very reliable and well worth considering, don’t go for Kia the are made in South Korea and cheap because the are cheap for a reason , we had 2 and both brand new had build problems and once sold Kia don’t want to know.
Yes Toyota Honda Nissan would be my very strong suggestion never ever had any problems with any of those makes.
Couple of other points worth mentioning are the amount of dealers of a make there are especially near you.
Nissan Juke
Toyota AYGO
Honda Jazz
only thing is because they are so reliable may be a bit above your budget even used ones they hold their price
Suzuki range might be more in you price bracket and still a Japanese make
Definitely would recommend you look at Honda Jazz (very nice car my SIL has one no trouble at all) Toyota Ago (best friend has one and would not change, against no problem) I like the Nissan Juke but friend who has a new Aygo (2022) tried one and said she found it too big for her liking needs? Maybe a Nissan Micra (had one and a Nissan Sunny an loved them both)
You will of course I imagine be doing test drives in those you yourself like and the ones suggested.
@carol I would also say try the price above you limit ie maybe £8000 or £8,500 and barter down. You don’t ask you don’t get.
Have a look at this sort of site gives you an idea. You can add your budget etc.
https://usedcars.nissan.co.uk/
Official Toyota Website | New and Used Cars | Toyota UK
I’d be also inclined to go Japanese, ( not Nissan) Toyota Yaris, Honda jazz or, similar to your fiesta would be a Mazda 2, have you someone who knows about cars to take with you.?, most cars in your price range will be up on miles but if it’s been looked after then that shouldn’t be an issue, I’d also look at a Kia Rio or Hyundai i20, , slightly smaller but maybe better suited to you would be a Suzuki swift although the boot is tiny …
Carol, lots of choices but maybe the first thing is what you want to travel in your car. Long distances or short distances. I suspect the latter at a guess. So maybe fuel consumption might not be the ultimate priority. Do you need to have many passengers in your car? The Fiesta or smaller might be the choice
One other point. Could you get a less expensive for what you need it for?
Primas
Kia and Hyundai as sister companies in South Korea. I had a top of the range brand new Kia Sorento and the car kept showing a problem with 4 wheel drive. it went back to two different main dealers and turned out the wiring underneath had rusted away causing the fault. Would Kia replace the wiring under warranty??? did they hell saying wiring didn’t come under the warranty
Wife had a Kia Ceed also brand new, the faults were the alloy wheels were not pure alloy but a cheap metal mix and started rusting in the centre at the hub area, Would Kia replace? would they hell claiming it was done by road salt- in the summer???. Then the radio packed up and again Kia main dealers refused to replace again all under warranty but claimed electrics didn’t come under warranty
If there is any make to steer well clear of it is Kia and Hyundai >also if a replacement part is not in this country it has to be imported from South Korea BY SHIP so could take weeks before you get your car back if they even bother. Would not touch them with a barge pole, all they want to do is sell and stuff after sales service
My wife absolutely loved the Honda Civic 1600 cc estate and I prefer the Nissan Xtrail Tekna. Only things had done was a new tyre on the Honda when Sue went down a water filled hole in the road and a new battery on the 8 year old Nissan. Neither never ever let us down no matter what the weather.
I have had honda toyota Nissan of various models for more years than I care to remember and not one has ever let me down. so absolutely unbelievably reliable and they get seviced every year
For my choice id say buy another Ford fiesta
Honda is excellent but cost a lot more for a car you want for £7k
Ask yourself this,were you happy with last Fiesta and did it suit your needs if so stick with what you’re happy
good luck
slightly off topic but makes me smile even now
My parent had a house in cornwall and us as a family had our holidays there. Paul my eldest was only 3 or 4 yer old at the time.
One day we went into Falmouth to see the shops and harbour and that is whate I still smile to myself about. Paul was at that stage of saying "do they " to everything and drove us mad. In the harbour was a ship for carring cars and one ramp was down and a small side door opened. Now Paul spotted the small door after explaining what the ramp was for, so he asked “what is that small door for? Now me being me and my sense of humour kicked in
“well Paul” I said " if they have a car which doesn’t work or run chuck it overboard through that small door while at sea”
came back the reply "do they dad, do they ". people passing by heard the conversation and curled up with laughter
That’s exactly what I was going to suggest. Or trade down to a used Ford Ka. Better to go with what you are used to and they are really nice cars for the price. I am very disappointed they have decided to stop production. Apparently they don’t want to take that model into the electric market.
RS
It seems strange that you had issues with your cars from Hyundai and Kia, normally they are rated highly by their owners with few reporting any problems, perhaps you had dodgy dealers, did you escalate your concerns to Hyundai/Kia customer services?, .
I know nothing about cars, I don’t drive but my advice to you would be to go to a showroom and try them all out for accessibility
Some cars are just so much easier to get in and out of, more comfortable to sit in etc and you really can’t tell until you’ve had a go
Thanks for all your answers & I agree with you all.
The one I had in mind before posting on here was a Honda Jazz but I know the other Japanese cars are good as well.
In the past I’ve had Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Cheverolet, Hyundi, Astra, Volvo and a few I can’t remember. We had them from brand new and kept them for three years - had no problems with any of them.
We aren’t in a financial position to buy new anymore so we have this budget…
I think to get a Honda Jazz the same age as my Fiesta I will have to put a few thousand £’s to it.
In the new year I hope Ady will have forgiven me and will come to help me choose a good one. I don’t mind what make it is really…
What will it be used for Carol? Besoerker asked about possible mileage too. If it’s just for tootling round locally, then I’d advise an even smaller car than a fiesta. If you want to do a long journey or actually need a big car for something, then either ask your family to use one of theirs (which might appease your son a little), or hire one for a few days. This would potentially be more cost effective than paying for a bigger car than you actually need and the associated fuel and insurance costs that come with it.
Having owned 2 Kia I can only speak as I find and they are not worth the wheels they sit on. Just compare with a japanaese make and the difference is amazing. as i said all they are interested in is selling, buy one and it is bye bye mug for buying one. One easy test is lift the bonnet of a kia and then the same size japanese car, the weight difference alone will show build quality and material "ie metal "used
the difference is I actually owned 2 Kia cars not listened to hearsay
Yes mostly for tootling around in.
Which smaller car would you recommend please?
Suzuki swift, but check the boot is big enough
We’ve had a couple of Citroen C1’s and we’re just about to sign up for our third new Aygo
Edit- just looking at the documents were signing, and the trade in value for our current Aygo is 7k (3years old with 30k miles on the clock). So it might well not be too far off your budget to get one of these.
