Good reliable cars for under £2000

[pinky800]

You can't go wrong with an Audi a4 diesel, reliable and not bad on fuel either but repairs can be expensive.

The one I had was a 2.5 tdi Quattro sport model with all the toys.

I'm sure the mazda6 diesels suffered fuel pump issues.

 

Already had an A4 years ago and had no problems with it so very tempted, it was a petrol one tho, Also looked at a 2.5 quattro with really low mileage. Think I would have bought it but it was about 500 quid more than I wanted to pay. Sarting to think it might have been worth the little extra. Is it a lot more to run the 2.5, fuel, insurance and tax wise?

[Shogun]

Go on then, get some quotes from people in the trade who say they're awful. If they're so bad why are they so ubiquitous? Its not like the Rover 25 or Rover 200 which dealers don't like to touch. Dealers love the LX and SE 307s because there's a great markup on them and they come with tons of extras, you can get a lot of car for your money.

 

For every person you can find who says there's rubbish I can easily get you ten owners who are more than happy with their car, myself included.

 

You need to stop living in the past with your blinkered ignorant view, especially if you've never even owned one. How many years has it been since the Metro was made? Did you miss Top Gear last week which showed how many vehicles were made and are still made in the UK?

 

Maybe you should tell us what YOU drive and we can pick faults with that.

Im a mechanic and I hate French cars they are expensive complicated and unreliable, when they get a few miles on the clock electrical faults are a nightmare and expensive,I've worked on a lot of them in the past,the only thing I can say is the Pug diesel engines aren't bad but they complicate everything with stupid electrical rubbish and poor build quality, Japanese cars are the most reliable to run by far..

[Tomm06]

Off the top of my head I'd say an Astra would be good for you.

 

Good luck with the posts that'll say what do you expect for buying a car for less than 2k.

 

I have a 52 reg Astra coupe, done 81k, I paid £2000 for it, and it has been perfectly reliable for me. It doesn't have 5 doors, however it's relatively good on fuel providing you drive it properly, and has a huge boot for a coupe. Mines a 1.8 but I know you can get Astras in 1.4's too. I would recommend one to people, but this mark of Astra is pretty out dated now, but the OP could pick up a 5 door version with a diesel engine with barely any mileage and in amazing condition for 2k

 

Alternatively you could consider the Astra model above it, but it would be a gamble, however you could probably get an estate version for about £2000

 

Other cars I was looking for when I had a budget of £2000 and found was...

 

VW Golf/Bora

Ford Mondeo

BMW 3 Series

Vauxhall Vectra (also very cheap now days)

Ford Focus

[tinfoilhat]

Got my BMW for £2350 and its reliable, if something major goes though its mega money time. I think once you get to that sort of age it doesn't matter massively what you get, you just need a good one. An Astra or focus, golf a pugg if you want, just check it thoroughly. If you aren't mechanically minded, find someone who is. If there any parts that were recalled, were they sorted? Who owned it? Granny, boy racer, cabby or rep? Any service history? There are a lot of older cars that tootle about without breaking down quite happily.

[alchresearch]

Im a mechanic and I hate French cars they are expensive complicated and unreliable, when they get a few miles on the clock electrical faults are a nightmare and expensive,I've worked on a lot of them in the past,the only thing I can say is the Pug diesel engines aren't bad but they complicate everything with stupid electrical rubbish and poor build quality, Japanese cars are the most reliable to run by far..

 

As you know I work only on Pugs. They do get electrical problems, but do you know what, the problems are down to neglect and poor maintenance, or something as simple as a badly fitted windscreen.

 

OK, the design might be to blame for some issues - hiding a battery earth point under the battery tray, exposed cooling fan and glow plug relays, the fuse box right under the windscreen, or the ABS sensor gap. All can be fixed cheaply or even for free, but sadly some lousy garages take advantage and say something more serious is at fault, especially those "fix anything" garages with a cheap code reader, they're the worst.

 

Like I said before, the good thing is the excellent community, there are two excellent general Peugeot forums, two outstanding 306 dedicated forums, and the members have put a lot of time and effort into documenting the issues to help someone else with it. If they're so bad why do you see so many 306s and 307s with upto 200,000 miles on the clock , looking immaculate inside with little or no interior wear, and still fetching good money?

 

As for Japanese being most reliable, just type in NISSAN RECALL, TOYOTA RECALL or HONDA RECALL into Google and see how many millions of cars have been recalled because of serious issues.

[convert]

I can recommend the Audi A2.

 

For your budget you'd be looking at a 12 year old petrol (under 80K) or a higher mileage diesel.

 

The diesel is very economical, ours gets over 50mpg, has climate control, etc. Plus it's only £30 / year VED.

 

Plenty of space in them, and the best thing is they're made from an aluminium space frame with aluminium / composite panels. This means that they weigh very little (880Kgs) and that they don't rust.

 

Watch out they do tend to break coil springs (we've had 4 in just over 7 years).

[Shogun]

I work on all makes of cars old and new diesels petrols the lot.diagnostics I've got a laptop and OBD reader for just about every make,but when it come down to just mechanicing and things like changing a starter motor or an alternator just normal garage work French cars are a nightmare to work on,I get people asking me to look at their cars and they say the engine management light is on,being a French car like a Citroen or something you know its going to be either the ECU or crank sensor or some obscure fault,things that cost lots to fix even things like changing a cam belt or water pump you have take the engine apart,nasty little screws that won't budge, half a tone of plastic covers over everything,no they are not nice cars to work on at all,lift the bonnet up on a Japanese car and you see everything there for you to get at straightforward no nonsense engineering,the top most reliable cars in the world are Honda and Mitsubishi.Its true what you say though lack of maintenance is the main reason when it comes to most cars giving problems,but silly electrical faults and poor build quality is not down to lack maintenance..

[alchresearch]

Im a mechanic....

 

For a mechanic you didn't know much about brakes on this thread:

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1175577

 

Which reinforces what I said about "fix anything" mechanics.

[Shogun]

I can recommend the Audi A2.

 

For your budget you'd be looking at a 12 year old petrol (under 80K) or a higher mileage diesel.

 

The diesel is very economical, ours gets over 50mpg, has climate control, etc. Plus it's only £30 / year VED.

 

Plenty of space in them, and the best thing is they're made from an aluminium space frame with aluminium / composite panels. This means that they weigh very little (880Kgs) and that they don't rust.

 

Watch out they do tend to break coil springs (we've had 4 in just over 7 years).

Audi's are nice cars bit complicated when they go wrong but still very reliable and well made cars..

 

---------- Post added 14-08-2013 at 14:09 ----------

 

For a mechanic you didn't know much about brakes on this thread:

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1175577

 

Which reinforces what I said about "fix anything" mechanics.

 

Your picking spots now aren't you ,I usually stick to fixing Mitsubishi's as a rule only because I've had them for so long and people know for mitsubishi's, but I don't turn down a job if its not a Mitsubishi,I was once working in a Fiat dealership garage but they would fix any kind of car,I don't know everything about every cars but it doesn't take long to find out and read up about them,you should not put all your eggs in one basket it's how I make a living by selling fixing cars I'm not sat with a laptop on my knee making out like I'm some sort of genius just because I can read a fault code on a laptop, I take engines and gearboxes out and weld things and fix peoples cars of all sorts and age if I don't think I can do the job I won't take it on,I had a job doing a rover 45 last week the guy had been run into sideswiped both his offside doors I'm not a body repair man but it was a straightforward job to change two doors..

[Norseman]

Hi I'm looking for a reliable car for under £2000

 

Must have the following

 

5 doors

Semi to large boot space

Upto 1.4 engine or really cheap tax

Under 80000 miles

Good mpg

 

I'm fed up of buying cars that after 3 - 6 months need £400+ spending on them just to keep them running( that doesn't include repairs for mots)

 

Please help I need a good family car that I can afford to run on a low income.

 

Thanks

 

Robin

 

I bought a 10 year old Astra 1.6 from Perry's, it belonged to an old lady so had less than 40K on the clock, its immaculate and it was well under 2K and that's from a dealer. You can get a good deal from dealers these days. I bought my last car from a dealer in Rotherham, 7 years old, low mileage again £1,600 and I had it 12 years and still got a £250 trade in on the Astra

 

Autotrader i'd avoid unless you know about cars or take a mechanic with you as there's some really dodgy cars for sale in there, I viewed a Volvo which apparently had 42k on the clock yet sounded like it had done 400k!!!

 

Avoid Evans Halshaw as well....

 

---------- Post added 14-08-2013 at 22:24 ----------

 

Utter gonads. Anybody in the trade will tell you these later puggys are beyond awful. Even Nissan is tarnished with the french hook up now. Remember the Metro's?? Made in the Midlands - enough said.

 

The last bold - good advert. You must love mugs buying these joke cars and make a fortune with yer diagnostics kit. The cars should come with them free - because you always need one

 

I owned two Metro's - I didn't learn from my first mistake!!

Awful cars, never touched a Rover since