Used Cars Brand recommendations

[islandgun]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

i remember when i was in the car with my dad....when we used to drive by an AA box with a motorbike and side car outside and the AA "officer" was there...he used to stand to attention and salute us as he saw the bright chrome and yellow badge on the front of dads rover..

google FJ40 ..some georgeous examples there....that will make you salivate

Here you are mate and not far from you 😉

[ditchman]

2 hours ago, London Best said:

And your ring piece twitch when you see the prices!

22k-39k.............and in america where whipe every nut and bolt with virgins pee.............up tp $250k.....eye watering

[JohnfromUK]

1 minute ago, ditchman said:

22k-39k.............and in america where whipe every nut and bolt with virgins pee.............up tp $250k.....eye watering

It's the same for Series 1 Land Rover.  I had a lovely 1952 2 litre 80".  Original engine, gearbox, axles etc, chassis sound and never welded, body all pretty good, MoT pass when I sold it, though bulkhead and steering would have needed attention soon.  Full history (ex Severn Water Board) and around 80,000 miles from new.  Drove very nicely (for a Series 1).  I sold it for around £500 - 600 (around 1990), which was near enough what I bought it for (1981) as far as I can remember.  Had my dog's personal plate on it (LAB xxx).

To be fair, it was not a particularly pleasant drive in modern traffic, but was fantastic off road, 100% reliable and not thirsty.

[Lloyd90]

I’m considering a Toyota Rav 4 petrol (maybe a Hybrid but not decided) when I change from the Land Rover. 

[smokingdragon]

On 20/03/2024 at 18:35, GingerCat said:

Honda. If they made toothbrushes id have one. 

Same as me - My wife had 2 Hondas and they have been great. I have a L200 and have had the gearbox rebuilt and the red paint has gone pink, I wish Honda had sprayed them 🤣

 

[Lloyd90]

On 21/03/2024 at 11:30, JohnfromUK said:

As others have said, go Japanese. 

I have just gone Japanese again (replacing BMW with Toyota).  Had 3 Honda in the past, Accord (USA built, excellent), Civic (USA built, excellent), and finally Civic (Swindon built, poor).  Toyota I have recently acquired (used) was built in Japan.

How do you find out where the model was built? 

[London Best]

We have just bought a skateboard sized Toyota, made in Chekoslovakia.

[Westward]

5 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

How do you find out where the model was built? 

From the VIN number. You lookup how to decode it on Gurgle.

[JohnfromUK]

14 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

How do you find out where the model was built? 

As said below, I think it is now built into the VIN.  In my case (some years ago) there was a plate (under the bonnet or possibly in the door frame) giving the plant where it was built - for example I had a Vauxhall which said something like;

Vauxhall Motors - built by Adam Opel A.G., Belgium.

[paul1966]

Having  had diesels in the past I am thinking of buying a petrol engine due to only have a 4 mile drive to work, would a high milage petrol car put people off buying? the ones i have looked at are all around 100K , I'm aiming to keep it for at least 6 years. All the diesels I've had were fine up to 160K before I changed cars but are petrol engines as hard wearing?

[London Best]

Of course not, that’s why all commercials are diesel. 
That and the fuel consumption.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

8 minutes ago, paul1966 said:

Having  had diesels in the past I am thinking of buying a petrol engine due to only have a 4 mile drive to work, would a high milage petrol car put people off buying? the ones i have looked at are all around 100K , I'm aiming to keep it for at least 6 years. All the diesels I've had were fine up to 160K before I changed cars but are petrol engines as hard wearing?

I have a high mileage Fiesta for getting to work and the occasional trip in to the field when going out alone. Nothing to be feared if you keep the oil clean.

[Westward]

15 minutes ago, paul1966 said:

 are petrol engines as hard wearing?

Obviously diesels get better mpg but the fuel costs more. I had a fairly modern 1.6 diesel car for 6 years. The MAF sensor caused problems, the DPF kept sending warnings no matter how much motorway time, 2 of the glow plugs failed and I had to keep an eye on the oil level. Also it was just really dull to drive. It would do 60 mpg if driven economically though. My current 2.0 petrol car at 77K will do 55 mpg if driven economically, is a pleasure to drive, has never given any problems and I've never had to top up the oil or indeed any other vital fluids. I estimate that the overall running costs, including fuel consumption, have been lower with the petrol car.

[Weihrauch17]

48 minutes ago, paul1966 said:

Having  had diesels in the past I am thinking of buying a petrol engine due to only have a 4 mile drive to work, would a high milage petrol car put people off buying? the ones i have looked at are all around 100K , I'm aiming to keep it for at least 6 years. All the diesels I've had were fine up to 160K before I changed cars but are petrol engines as hard wearing?

When I finished work during Covid I sold my Diesel and bought a Petrol to avoid all the issues of Diesels and short journeys.  Been great and no issues with mainly short trips. 

[JohnfromUK]

I think these days with DPF, Adblue and various 'pollution' catchers/treaters/preventers, diesel are less suited to short runs and more 'picky' about usage.

In terms of wear/life - both, if looked after with regular maintenance and by that I really mean oil changes with high grade fluids, will last a long time.  However, in the event (and it does happen with some engines more than others, both diesel and petrol) of a catastrophic failure like bearing shells rotating, timing chains failing, crankshafts breaking etc. - they are all horribly expensive.  Thats where a proper manufacturers warranty can help (if you are getting a new of 'young' car.

I would not be so worried about petrol versus diesel as I would about choosing a make/model with a decent reputation for reliability and a good manufacturer warranty if buying a new/relatively new car.  All makes can have unexpected major problems - but some seem to have a LOT more than others and can be really expensive to get repaired.  Look at the various reliability surveys and both how many faults and the cost and time to fix them.  Some manufacturers have long waits for some spares.  A neighbour has just had his (2 year old) car off the road for almost 6 months awaiting spare parts.

[paul1966]

a bit of an update, we went to view a few cars and at the minute the suzuki vitara is looking favourite with the dacia duster second, not sure about the long term reliability of the dacia, need to get a test drive in a vitara before making final decision.

[London Best]

7 hours ago, paul1966 said:

a bit of an update, we went to view a few cars and at the minute the suzuki vitara is looking favourite with the dacia duster second, not sure about the long term reliability of the dacia, need to get a test drive in a vitara before making final decision.

Both are good off road with the right tyres. 
Vitara has the reputation. Duster is slowly earning it.

[Gordon R]

My wife ran a Suzuki SX4 - same engine as the current Vitara - had it 6.5 years, which is a record for us. We are on our 114th car and the Suzuki was the most reliable / cheapest to run by a mile. I actually regret getting rid of it. Her SX4 was an automatic and did mid 40s on petrol. The newer cars S-Cross and Vitara have the same engine - does mid 50s.

[Old Boggy]

48 minutes ago, Gordon R said:

My wife ran a Suzuki SX4 - same engine as the current Vitara - had it 6.5 years, which is a record for us. We are on our 114th car and the Suzuki was the most reliable / cheapest to run by a mile. I actually regret getting rid of it. Her SX4 was an automatic and did mid 40s on petrol. The newer cars S-Cross and Vitara have the same engine - does mid 50s.

I had Suzuki SX4 S-Cross for a number of years and never had any problems whatsoever with it. Also have had older Vitaras and again no problems. Very reliable cars. Regretted trading in my 3 door Vitara. Good on and off road.

OB

[paul1966]

I think the thing I like about the Suzuki is that there's nothing too complicated to go wrong, the 1.6 engine which is what i'm looking at is normally aspirated, it has a cam chain so no changing belts, in the engine bay there is nothing fancy and plenty of space should anything need working on. It needs to last me about 10 years with no unexpected big bills which I think the Vitara will do.

[Gordon R]

I rate the new Vitara. Nearly bought my wife one, but seats weren't as comfortable as our previous SX4.

[paul1966]

Just as an up date we decided on a Vitara 1.6 Auto, it's 2016 with 49K on the clock, very pleased with it, still getting used to the autobox, Had to compromise on the colour as auto's are like hens teeth but it's not too bad in the flesh, I've left the side steps on for now as they will come in use getting to the roof box when we go away.

 

[shaun4860]

5 hours ago, paul1966 said:

Just as an up date we decided on a Vitara 1.6 Auto, it's 2016 with 49K on the clock, very pleased with it, still getting used to the autobox, Had to compromise on the colour as auto's are like hens teeth but it's not too bad in the flesh, I've left the side steps on for now as they will come in use getting to the roof box when we go away.

 

Can I ask how much and is it 4WD?

[Mungler]

On 20/03/2024 at 18:48, Stephen-H said:

Honda or Toyota - petrol engines only 

This is the answer of all answers. 

The end.

[Wymondley]

23 hours ago, paul1966 said:

Just as an up date we decided on a Vitara 1.6 Auto, it's 2016 with 49K on the clock, very pleased with it, still getting used to the autobox, Had to compromise on the colour as auto's are like hens teeth but it's not too bad in the flesh, I've left the side steps on for now as they will come in use getting to the roof box when we go away.

Having worked for a few Suzuki dealers I can say you'll have few problems.

Watch out for uneven rear tyre wear, they all suffer from it to a greater or lesser extent, many of them had the rear axle beam replaced under warranty, but some did slip through the net.

A much underrated brand, generally very reliable, horrendous range of colours though.