I need a mid-sized family car for about 10,000km a year
Hi there,
I need to buy a mid-sized family car that has to do me for about five years. Both my wife and I cycle to work so it would be in the driveway most of the time though I'd say we still clock up about 10,000 km a year.
My budget is between €9,000 and €10,000 and I was hoping to buy a 2007 car. I had been looking at the Ford Focus diesel estate as it is economical, roomy and decent to drive, but any out there in my price range tend to have a lot of miles on the clock.
I'm now looking at petrol Jettas, which are nice cars but the fuel economy concerns me as I know petrol cars are falling out of favour. Any advice?
Mark
Mark Jordan (Dublin)Aug 2010 Filed under: choosing used car
Expert answer
Hi Mark,
Thank you for contacting us. I can understand your dilemma in that you are going to be using your car quite sparingly, but you need it to be something that can last a long time. We know from speaking to you since that you have a Ford Focus that you might sell privately or hope to get around €2,000 for as a trade-in, so given that your budget is around €10,000, which is decent enough.
I take your point on the Ford Focus diesel estates. They tend to have quite hard lives as many are bought by business users more so than private individuals and they often have mega miles on them and hence can be tatty. They also often have the older 1.8-litre diesel, which is a bit of a tractor to be honest.
You mention that you are going to be keeping this car for about five years, so as such I wouldn't worry too much about whether petrol cars are falling out of favour because your used car is unlikely to be worth a whole lot in five years with another 50,000km on the clock.
You don't really do a lot of miles per year anyway, so running a petrol car might not end up being too expensive. Also you could perhaps look at buying something with slightly higher mileage (as long as it is diesel) because these cars would be well able to put up with your low mileage. For example, you mentioned the Volkswagen Jetta, which is a fine car. You could have a diesel version, with slightly more mileage, for well within your price range. Here is one from a SIMI dealer for €8,900.
I would be inclined to go for a VW Golf with your budget. You could have a 2005 model with low mileage for €9,000. This one here caught our eye. It comes from a main dealer and will have a good warranty. These cars will put up with lots of mileage and are also likely to hold their value well. This example would still have lots of life left in it after 50,000km and might actually be worth a few quid too.
I hope this helps. Come back to us by adding comments below if you want to discuss this further.
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