I have a budget of £10-11k, what are the best option for a car that is a few years old? I have a wife and a child. I'm thinking about the Audi A3, what other options should I consider for a 4 door car in London? I don't need a massive amount of space and want it to be reasonably fuel-efficient.
a VW Golf - considering it's an A3 in a different wrapper? Or a Seat on the same chassis (not super sure which one that is - the Leon I think). Just thinking that you may get more bells/engine/features/warranty for a similar car?
308 is super efficient and has much better interior than Pug's of old - scored quite well on recent owner surveys too, better than the usual German suspects. Huge boot, too!
Friend of mine lives in Croydon and has a Mini .. Cooper S.. T..Something, and he quite likes it. I believe his wife and child also fit in it. Not sure if it's four door, I've drunk and slept since I last saw it. Although I'd feel weird if I didn't suggest a Fiesta of some description. They're acceptable space wise, although if you put a tall person up front don't expect much rear legroom. But they're reasonably priced, and so are the parts usually. Fuel economy isn't bad, but I imagine driving around mostly urban zones is going to take most cars that aren't an electric or hybrid out back and shoot the fuel economy right in the chops.
http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,25,/90426/Land_Rover_Defender_110_RHD.htm Its under budget? Defiantly look at Skoda for value in the VW group. What about the usual Kia and Hyundai suspects?
My vote is for a Seat Leon in that category. I've had 2 - first a 1.2 petrol hatchback (which would be nice and fuel efficient for you) and then now I'm on a 1.4 petrol estate. I've always been really pleased with mine. You should be able to pick up a 2-3 year old one for that sort of money (if you're looking at the 1.2 hatchback) and they come well equipped.
2016 Honda Civic Sport with <30k miles on can be had for that sort of money (I was looking at buying my company car). The 1.6 diesel gets >55mpg but diesels and London might be running the gauntlet of future changes in zones etc.
Can't go wrong with Seat, all part of the VW/Audi Group. So German engineering with a hint of Spanish styling. We've just put an order in for a Seat Tarraco SE Technology, though the production line is slow. Have to wait till end of April to get ours. (It's a nice step from our 2017 BMW X1). We also had a test drive in the Hyundai Ionic Hybrid. Nice to drive, better than the Prius on MPG, and a much bigger boot. But the interior was some what lacking with the cheap materials used.
Toyota Prius 2016 is £15-20k. I don't want to go too old, especially with an electric car. I never heard of Seat before, it has some interesting options. I will also look at Skoda and the Peugeot 308. Thanks for the recommendations.
Hyundai i30 (and the Estate if you need a tad more boot) or possibly the i40 Kia Carens (similar to above, longer warranty, lower grade plastics interior) Honda Civic Mazda 3 Anything Toyota tbf.. you choose Avoid the German mush. VW and Audi and their sister from Spain, Seat. It's all marketing nonsense Some of the Skoda Octavia range are worthy looking at, and although its VW owned, it's not utterly screwed up.
Seat are fine, a wee bit dearer than Skoda but also a wee bit nicer. Horses for courses, really, and I say that as a Skoda owner. All of the VAG brands are decent but it really is diminishing returns as you go Skoda - Seat - VW - Audi. I'm very happy with my Fabia and will probably get an Octy to replace it when the time comes, but if there's a good deal on a Leon then I could be persuaded. A Golf isn't really an option, just too much money for what you're getting imho. Then again, if I were driving squillions of miles a year, I might consider it differently.
You can pick up a Lexus IS300h for that price now. A premium luxury reliable car with extremely low running costs
I'm not sure what specifically to recommend, but I'm happy to recommend that you don't get a Vauxhall. We've had two, both have had gearbox problems. A3 seems a bit on the small side for a family car... see myself agreeing with Zak33 - Octavias are good cars (mate of mine has a VRS owned since new, 6 years and going strong), and you can't go wrong with a Toyota.
As mentioned above, be very careful with second hand diesel's if you are in London, the ULEZ is extending to the north & south circular roads in a year and if your car doesn't meet Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) standards, you will have to pay £12 each time you enter the zone. The price of second hand diesels in London is dropping like a stone because of this. The other concern is that whilst the Euro 4 & Euro 6 standards are there for the ULEZ expansion next year, who is to say that the standards aren't going to be tightened the following year? It's a risk. If you don't drive into the north & south circular area at all then you can get a bargain if you choose a diesel. One other car not mentioned to consider is the Mazda CX-5 although it may be out of your price range for a more recent model. If you can get a car that is 3 years old or under, you should be fine for efficiency, spec and reliability.
I'm guessing that might be the dreaded M32 box? It was a Getrag box rather than Vauxhall, and was used in Fiats and Alfas too. I believe it was sorted by around mid 2014, so if you're looking it would be better to check a later model than that. I read about them when looking last year for a car as I really fancied the Astra and the 2.0TD engine seemed to be quite the thing. The potential gearbox issues put me off and I ended up with a Mazda 6 - fantastic car, and I know a couple of ex-Mazda owners who regretted selling theirs. For suggestions I'd agree with anything Mazda or Toyota really, whichever one you prefer.
Where abouts are you in/near London? As Fingers said, ULEZ is certainly a consideration. If you have driveway and only occationally drive long distance. I can recommend an EV. Nissan Leaf 30kWh or Renault Zoe 40kWh will fall under your price range. For £8900, I bought not-yet 3 years old highest spec Nissan Leaf 24kWh over 2 years ago. It's the cheapest motoring ever: only 2p per miles for fuel, zero maintenance needed on the powertrain. At over 5 years old now, its battery still retains ~85% of its original capacity, good for 60 miles, which is loads of driving around stop/start streets of London. The newer 30kWh Leaf can go ~90 miles on a charge, IMHO good enough for very occational long trips. Zoe 40kWh has even longer range, but rapid charging when on a long trip is slower than Leaf 30kWh. But if you must burn fossil fuel. I can also highly recommend Skoda Octavia for family duty. I've had a '63 reg Mk 3 Octavia for a few years now, great family workhorse for our long trips. I'm always amazed at how much stuff I can put into the boot and there's still space to spare. Although as with all ICE cars, you have to treat it with many expensive maintenance (timing belt and waterpump, DSG oil change, annual servicing) Toyota/Lexus hybrid are also a good consideration. These hybrids don't have any clutch, so they are very suitable to slow and stop/start roads of London, nothing to wear out and break. EV parts of the drivetrain is proven to be very reliable and low maintenance, so an older car should still be fine. I had considered a Yaris hybrid instead of our Leaf EV. But due to both cars would cost the same (second hand Yaris hybrid in 2017 were still pretty new), yet Leaf is bigger, better car and much much cheaper to run.
