Cheaper second hand car advice

Cactus

Cactus

Expert Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2015
Messages
1,946
Reaction score
2,295
I'm starting to shop around to help a family member out as a once off. (Well considering it)

Budget: 50k

Couple of questions in general:

1. Most of these budget cars have high mileage. 150k+ Would this be a problem? I assume it would be better to rather buy an older car with lower mileage than a newer model with higher mileage?
2. What are the more reliable brand/models with easy to get parts? I assume something like a Toyota, probably?
3. What would I have to look for generally speaking to not buy a cat in a bag?

I don't know anything about buying second hand cars, so advice welcome.

The goal here is to get from point a to point b in the next 3-5 years and then the family member can do their own thing once they found their feet.
 
getz or honda jazz...my wife has a honda jazz and touch wood we have the car for about 9 years. we do less than 10k a year and there wasnt much to spend except for clutch once and normal brakes and service

also for a 1.4 on the longer road its very loght for a 2007 model (between 5.2-6l per 100k)

or you can look at a toyota but toyotas are pricey ..but very cheap to maintain
 
DiabloDane said:
is it a car for a single person? are there any special needs from the vehicle?
Click to expand...
Single person, yes, no disabilities.

Context: It was someone that was adopted out of an abusive home in their teens, but the adopting family also don't really have the means to provide.

It would be for an 18-year-old. Up to now, the person has been going to school and doing a part-time job at the same time.

They're going to study next year via student loans/bursary, so I thought that since I can afford it, it would be nice to give them a little bit of a head start, and they've shown that they're hard-working and willing to put in the effort, so this would be their first car.

Not 100% sold on the idea, but if you show me you work hard and try your best, I don't see why I can't help if I can afford it.

Once the person starts working, they can do their own thing.
 
I see the Getz gets a lot of votes, so I'll look into that a bit.
 
I'm not sold on the Getz. Parts - Does Midas and the next door spares shop have any ?
 
HunterNW said:
I'm not sold on the Getz. Parts - Does Midas and the next door spares shop have any ?
Click to expand...
I actually had a Getz years ago, I remember my dad used to buy parts at a place in Centurion called Goldwagen. Not sure if they still stock.
 
Haggis McMutton said:
This... or the Ford Ikon Rocam. Those motors are bulletproof and cheap to repair.
Click to expand...
Agree
Late father in law had one, drove it for many years and his was a 1.6 which now used by the Son and still going strong.

It just needs proper maintenance on time with quality part, workmanship like any car and it keeps on going.
 
Well the most reliable and cheapest to maintain would be a Polo or small Toyota, even if they have high mileage. But then you have to worry about theft the whole time. Same reason you should also stay away from small bakkies like Bantam or Corsa.
So I would suggest rather look at a Getz or Picanto or similar other brand that will be most reliable and cheap parts.
 
Cactus said:
Single person, yes, no disabilities.

Context: It was someone that was adopted out of an abusive home in their teens, but the adopting family also don't really have the means to provide.

It would be for an 18-year-old. Up to now, the person has been going to school and doing a part-time job at the same time.

They're going to study next year via student loans/bursary, so I thought that since I can afford it, it would be nice to give them a little bit of a head start, and they've shown that they're hard-working and willing to put in the effort, so this would be their first car.

Not 100% sold on the idea, but if you show me you work hard and try your best, I don't see why I can't help if I can afford it.

Once the person starts working, they can do their own thing.
Click to expand...
I mean well done on going down this route OP, I reckon it's great.
Just perhaps some non-motoring chat - a car can be expensive to maintain even forgetting about it breaking down. Fuel, insurance, general servicing, brakes etc. I know you mention them having a part time job but in general it's probably more expensive than public transport. If they do need a car and would otherwise be relying on people dropping them off or things like that then great, I think they would appreciate it. But you maybe don't want to be giving them a monthly cost at a time when finances will be tight? Anyway just some thoughts, really not trying to discourage you helping.
If I were doing this I'd look for a Yaris.
 
Sepeng said:
I mean well done on going down this route OP, I reckon it's great.
Just perhaps some non-motoring chat - a car can be expensive to maintain even forgetting about it breaking down. Fuel, insurance, general servicing, brakes etc. I know you mention them having a part time job but in general it's probably more expensive than public transport. If they do need a car and would otherwise be relying on people dropping them off or things like that then great, I think they would appreciate it. But you maybe don't want to be giving them a monthly cost at a time when finances will be tight? Anyway just some thoughts, really not trying to discourage you helping.
If I were doing this I'd look for a Yaris.
Click to expand...
I'll take this in consideration. Not worried about services as someone in their church already offered in that regard.
Will take a look at 3rd party insurance and the costs for that price class of car :)
 
Gonna go against the grain here maybe but IMO a high mileage car is a better option if it is a larger engine capacity. 200k km on a 3.0 is much less risk than the same on a 1300.

In general though an older car will require approx R20k in repairs per year which must be budgeted for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X