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Car advice please, best diesel hatchback or saloon for under £3500.00


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For that sort of price you should be able to find a good example for a Focus, or as others have said, a Vauxhall. Both are perfectly reliable and moreover are cheap to fix as and when they need a little attention.

 

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk is a superb site for what to look out for when buying - go into the car reviews, scroll down to find the secondhand lists and start reading.

 

Japanese are good, but you pay more for the perceived reliability and when they go wrong you will find that some parts are distressingly expensive - there was a thread on here in the last couple of days about a £300+ oxygen sensor for a Toyota - that's a £80 part for a Focus or Vauxhall for example...

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Do you need a diesel?

 

How many miles per year will you do?

 

IMO less than 12k miles per year I would go for a petrol. They are also better suited to town driving.

 

If you still want a diesel then good suggestions above. Fabia is a decent car and cheaper than the Golf. Prices are high for the Golf and most have been driven hard with high mileage.

 

A few petrol sugegstions FYI.

 

Fiat panda 100bhp, great little car

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201236484027968/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/manual/price-from/3000/quantity-of-doors/5/engine-size-cars/1-4l_to_1-6l/fuel-type/petrol/price-to/4000/body-type/hatchback/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_40000_miles/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/s24ap/radius/30/page/1?logcode=p

 

Nissan Note

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201117386017568/sort/default/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_7_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_40000_miles/price-to/4000/transmission/manual/quantity-of-doors/5/price-from/3000/body-type/hatchback/engine-size-cars/1-4l_to_1-6l/fuel-type/petrol/make/nissan/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/s24ap/page/1/radius/30?logcode=p

 

Mazda 3

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201238485465309/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/petrol/maximum-age/up_to_7_years_old/body-type/hatchback/price-from/3000/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/transmission/manual/quantity-of-doors/5/engine-size-cars/1-4l_to_1-6l/price-to/4000/model/mazda3/make/mazda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/postcode/s24ap/radius/30?logcode=p

 

Honda Jazz

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201237485213519/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/petrol/maximum-age/up_to_7_years_old/body-type/hatchback/price-from/3000/transmission/manual/quantity-of-doors/5/price-to/4000/model/jazz/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/30/postcode/s24ap?logcode=p

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For 3.5k you could easily pick up a decent example of a diesel VW or Audi, their engines are notoriously bullet proof. If you maintain them well. They're better to look at than Skodas and some Jap cars, and built better than Vauxhalls... I don't mind Fords but I hear their diesels suffer from a few problems now and then.

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Or maybe save some money & buy a Seat, which is basically a VW.

I have to agree that Skoda's are really ugly cars though.:gag:

 

Yeah, however Seat only seem to really offer hatchbacks now, and the new Ibiza and Leon are quite horrible I think, nowhere near as nice as a Golf or Polo... or even A3. In addition, VW/Audi's tend to hold their value and are commonly maintained properly by owners.

 

Perhaps consider getting a cheaper diesel and converting it to LPG? I've herd a lot of good things about it.

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