I need a car, new or used and will spend whatever, can pay cash, so
long as it is value for money and suits my needs, wonder if anyone
could recommend a make/model?  Or any other tips?

Important:

Fuel efficient
Tax efficient with these new rules on emissions etc
About town use/short stretches on the local motorway/occasional longer
journies
Usually only me driving with occasional passengers/luggage

Desirable:

Nice features such as heated strips for front window (sorry I'm thick,
can't think what they are called) as well as back to make winter
mornings less annoying
Security and safety features

My present car is a small S reg citroen 1100, probably worth no more
than £500 as a trade in I guess.   Am happy to spend from a few £k to
£10k but don't want to spend too much or buy new if this is not
necessary to suit my needs.

Any thoughts would be appreciated before I start looking in earnest
for a car.

Many thanks
Colin

wrote in message 
news:7ed14c08-10ec-4126-86d3-aec2d5c8cfb6@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
I need a car, new or used and will spend whatever, can pay cash, so
long as it is value for money and suits my needs, wonder if anyone
could recommend a make/model?  Or any other tips?

Important:

Fuel efficient
Tax efficient with these new rules on emissions etc
About town use/short stretches on the local motorway/occasional longer
journies
Usually only me driving with occasional passengers/luggage

Desirable:

Nice features such as heated strips for front window (sorry I'm thick,
can't think what they are called) as well as back to make winter
mornings less annoying
Security and safety features

My present car is a small S reg citroen 1100, probably worth no more
than £500 as a trade in I guess.   Am happy to spend from a few £k to
£10k but don't want to spend too much or buy new if this is not
necessary to suit my needs.

Any thoughts would be appreciated before I start looking in earnest
for a car.

*****

It's hard to go wrong with small stuff really.  What about a warranty?

If you want a heated front windscreen I'd point you towards a Fiesta.  But 
really - the trick is probably to find a decent garage or dealership... ;-)

-- 
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

rogloc@googlemail.com wrote:

> I need a car, new or used and will spend whatever, can pay cash, so
> long as it is value for money and suits my needs, wonder if anyone
> could recommend a make/model?  Or any other tips?
> 
> Important:
> 
> Fuel efficient
> Tax efficient with these new rules on emissions etc
> About town use/short stretches on the local motorway/occasional longer
> journies
> Usually only me driving with occasional passengers/luggage
> 
> Desirable:
> 
> Nice features such as heated strips for front window (sorry I'm thick,
> can't think what they are called) as well as back to make winter
> mornings less annoying
> Security and safety features
> 
> My present car is a small S reg citroen 1100, probably worth no more
> than £500 as a trade in I guess.   Am happy to spend from a few £k to
> £10k but don't want to spend too much or buy new if this is not
> necessary to suit my needs.
> 
> Any thoughts would be appreciated before I start looking in earnest
> for a car.
> 
> Many thanks
> Colin

AIUI, Ford still hold the rights to heated front screens, so that limits
your choices somewhat! HFS's are well worth having though.

Even small-engined cars should do over 100,000 miles without major problems
if well-maintained; if your total annual milage is small, a higher milage
car won't be a problem.

One think you didn't mention; who will carry out the servicing? You, a pal,
or a garage?

If you buy a new or nearly new car, it is likely that you will want to have
it main-dealer serviced. If so, the location and reputation of a main
dealer for whatever make you choose may well be significant.

Chris

-- 
Remove prejudice to reply.

> It's hard to go wrong with small stuff really.  What about a warranty?
>
> If you want a heated front windscreen I'd point you towards a Fiesta.  But 
> really - the trick is probably to find a decent garage or dealership... 
> ;-)

Fiesta?  Surely you of all people would be recommending a Ka?  I'd much 
sooner have one of them than a Fiesta.  And last of the line models get 
loads of extras chucked at them for quite a decent price.

-- 
"For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."

"AstraVanMann"  wrote in message 
news:C8KdnQCAd4fsEiTVRVnyjAA@bt.com...
>> It's hard to go wrong with small stuff really.  What about a warranty?
>>
>> If you want a heated front windscreen I'd point you towards a Fiesta. 
>> But really - the trick is probably to find a decent garage or 
>> dealership... ;-)
>
> Fiesta?  Surely you of all people would be recommending a Ka?  I'd much 
> sooner have one of them than a Fiesta.  And last of the line models get 
> loads of extras chucked at them for quite a decent price.


Well... think of it this way.  The overwhelming majority of Ka owners and 
drivers *picked* their Ka for reasons as well as low running costs, the way 
it drives, low cost to buy, so on and so forth.

People pick Fiestas and lease companies pick Passats because they produce 
lists with tick boxes.  That isn't wrong - it's how I picked the Mazda 6.

Oh, yeah, that's right; I bought a Saab 9-3. ;-)

-- 
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

wrote:

> I need a car, new or used and will spend whatever, can pay cash, so
> long as it is value for money and suits my needs, wonder if anyone
> could recommend a make/model?  Or any other tips?
> 
> Important:
> 
> Fuel efficient
> Tax efficient with these new rules on emissions etc
> About town use/short stretches on the local motorway/occasional longer
> journies
> Usually only me driving with occasional passengers/luggage
> 
> Desirable:
> 
> Nice features such as heated strips for front window (sorry I'm thick,
> can't think what they are called) as well as back to make winter
> mornings less annoying
> Security and safety features
> 
> My present car is a small S reg citroen 1100, probably worth no more
> than £500 as a trade in I guess.   Am happy to spend from a few £k to
> £10k but don't want to spend too much or buy new if this is not
> necessary to suit my needs.
> 
> Any thoughts would be appreciated before I start looking in earnest
> for a car.

Fabia vRS.

-- 
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

wrote in message 
news:7ed14c08-10ec-4126-86d3-aec2d5c8cfb6@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
I need a car, new or used and will spend whatever, can pay cash, so
long as it is value for money and suits my needs, wonder if anyone
could recommend a make/model?  Or any other tips?

Important:

Fuel efficient
Tax efficient with these new rules on emissions etc
About town use/short stretches on the local motorway/occasional longer
journies
Usually only me driving with occasional passengers/luggage

Desirable:

Nice features such as heated strips for front window (sorry I'm thick,
can't think what they are called) as well as back to make winter
mornings less annoying
Security and safety features

My present car is a small S reg citroen 1100, probably worth no more
than £500 as a trade in I guess.   Am happy to spend from a few £k to
£10k but don't want to spend too much or buy new if this is not
necessary to suit my needs.

Any thoughts would be appreciated before I start looking in earnest
for a car.
********************************************************

A Fiesta TDCi - in the highest spec level, probably a Ghia.  It'll be very 
cheap to run and have many toys.

S'probably what I'd get if I just wanted a nice cheap runaround.  Or a later 
206, in GTi HDi - same 1.6 diesel engine as the Fiesta but most people would 
agree it was prettier, and it's got plenty of toys as standard.  They're 
even pretty reliable after 2003 - although I have no idea what parts and 
consumables are like compared to Ford.

Someone else suggested a Fabia vRS - that's probably more engine/power/space 
than you need by the sounds of it - but would be the quickest thing 
mentioned here, and possibly the ugliest - although I guess that's in the 
eye of the beholder.  There are also Seat Ibiza equivalents of this though, 
which are a nicer to look at IMHO, but they also hold their value pretty 
well.  You'll find any small, diesel engined car these days is holding its 
value better though, cos of people wanting true budget motoring.

You can probably get a new, or nearly new Citroen C2 VTS HDi - but they're 
pretty tiny, although they're are good to drive.  My friend had a C2 though, 
and it was so incredibly unreliable it beggered belief.  I suspect it was 
mainly the fault of the dealer though.

-- 
Dan B
Clio R27

The Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107 must be one of the cheapest cars to 
run these days if you can get over their looks.
Don't know if they have a heated windscreen though.

Z


 wrote in message 
news:7ed14c08-10ec-4126-86d3-aec2d5c8cfb6@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
I need a car, new or used and will spend whatever, can pay cash, so
long as it is value for money and suits my needs, wonder if anyone
could recommend a make/model?  Or any other tips?

Important:

Fuel efficient
Tax efficient with these new rules on emissions etc
About town use/short stretches on the local motorway/occasional longer
journies
Usually only me driving with occasional passengers/luggage

Desirable:

Nice features such as heated strips for front window (sorry I'm thick,
can't think what they are called) as well as back to make winter
mornings less annoying
Security and safety features

My present car is a small S reg citroen 1100, probably worth no more
than £500 as a trade in I guess.   Am happy to spend from a few £k to
£10k but don't want to spend too much or buy new if this is not
necessary to suit my needs.

Any thoughts would be appreciated before I start looking in earnest
for a car.

Many thanks
Colin