Car advice, please...

[cybermule]

The time has come that 0ct0pus and myself feel we should combine and buy a "proper" car i.e. one that costs more than 200 quid. This sort of thing gives me an achey head as soon as I start thinking about it, even putting aside the psychic pain of driving something that looks like I might take owning a car remotely seriously. So we were looking for suggestions based on following loose criteria:

- costs about £1000 and has a reasonable length of MOT (tax is a bonus). We could go more than this, but I'm really tight we don't want to.
- family friendly i.e. no vans :(
- we also have non-family alter egos that carry regular large heavy things, so ideally a small estate or a very roomy hatchback. I can't be lifting amplifiers and garden kit in and out of boots.
- not a FIAT or a FORD, unless you have a really compelling reason to own one.

Any suggestions gratefully received - this is not our speciality area as D has owned green car since I've known him and I just repeatedly buy large scruffy Peugeots with long MOTs and £200 price tags.

Comments

Cars

[t-wiki.livejournal.com]

Check out the JD Power survey online. That's basically a survey of used cars by used car owners and will give you an idea of which cars are reliable and so on.

Then go to Autotrader. They do independent reviews of cars and you can also search for £1,000 cars for sale in your area, either through private sales or from garages.

I think a private sale would get a better car for your price range but you are guaranteed certain things if you buy from a garage.

Right, that's all my car knowledge exhausted...