Cheaper second hand car advice

Cool, thanks for the advice and suggestions.

I've got a few things to think about, and some options for what to look for if I do go down this road.
 
I bought myself high millage Honda Ballade from an old lady in Plumbstead. It looked very well kept. Except the windshield was cracked. I though that since the crack was not directly infront of the driver side that it wont obstruct my view and they would let it slide at the roadworthy test. They didn't, apparently they look at how long the crack is and assess the chances of it spreading. They always talk about how tough honda engines are, and the engine is fine. But the don't tell you about its tendency to rust on the outside. Firewall was rusted and caused water to leak into the car. Inside peripherals like window handles and door handles also add up the cost by more than one would think. Finding out what is wrong at the roadworthy centrum definitely gave me valuable life lessons. So you live and learn.
 
As a General point regarding mileage.... the type of milage is important.

A 5 year old car with 200 000 kms on the clock means that it was mostly used for longer trips, a 10 year old car with 50 000 kms means that it mostly did short trips, short trips have a different kind of wear and tear on an engine.

Most damage occurs during a cold start and a the first few kms so even if the car has lower mileage the engine might not be in a better state.
 
Some options: these are really popular options, spares are readily available and really affordable

Ford Fiesta 1.4/1.6 (2003-2008)
Ford Ka (Rocam)
Ford Bantam (Rocam)
Opel Corsa 1.3/1.4
Hyundai Getz
Kia Picanto
MK1 Golf???????
Toyota Tazz/Conquest (these are heavily over priced if in a very nice condition in my opinion)
Honda Ballade (EG/EK 1.5/1.6 are decent vehicles and really reliable)
Chevrolet Spark/Aveo
Nissan Sentra GA14/16

there are gems all over, 50k is a decent amount of cash to get something decent around the 200K/km range (even lower if you lucky)
 
die_koos said:
As a General point regarding mileage.... the type of milage is important.

A 5 year old car with 200 000 kms on the clock means that it was mostly used for longer trips, a 10 year old car with 50 000 kms means that it mostly did short trips, short trips have a different kind of wear and tear on an engine.

Most damage occurs during a cold start and a the first few kms so even if the car has lower mileage the engine might not be in a better state.
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Agreed. Highway mileage with routine maintenance is better off than short trips and lower mileage.

Also try to stick with something Japanese, however they do tend to demand a premium. Old Honda or Toyota.
 
MikeaMatrix said:
Avoid the below.

Any french made.
All german brands except VW.
Jeep.
Volvo.
Subaru.
Mitsubishi.

Look into below.

Polo
Getz
Jetta
Kia Rio
Any Toyota.
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Polos are not cheap, I had a Polo in 2009 it was R1600 for the thermostat as it's built into a massive plastic housing, everything on that car was expensive, also everything started going funny the finish on the plastics that's supposed to make it all soft touch started becoming oily and icky. They are also major hijack material still
Honestly if you could find it a Jetta MK4 the highline or comfortline, that is actually a beautiful car, everything in there does feel like luxury.

Getz, Rio get my vote, wouldn't touch a Toyota too expensive for what you get and boring.
 
SlinkyMike said:
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.
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Depends how old it is. Get something from before everything went electronic and you can avoid most repair bills other than the general wear and tear (shocks, brakes, etc).

Other than fuel, my bills over the last two years have been brake pads, a bottle of oil, an oil filter and a windscreen (damn that truck carrying stones.....).
 
[XC] Oj101 said:
Depends how old it is. Get something from before everything went electronic and you can avoid most repair bills other than the general wear and tear (shocks, brakes, etc).

Other than fuel, my bills over the last two years have been brake pads, a bottle of oil, an oil filter and a windscreen (damn that truck carrying stones.....).
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Eh, yes and no. As early as the 90s cars had things like timing position sensors, 02 sensors, etc. Shocks and brakes are not the only things that can wear out, propshafts, ujoints, tie rod ends, whate have you, all need replacing eventually.

I still think it's worthwhile keeping an older car on the road just trying to be realistic.
 
Lupus said:
Polos are not cheap, I had a Polo in 2009 it was R1600 for the thermostat as it's built into a massive plastic housing, everything on that car was expensive, also everything started going funny the finish on the plastics that's supposed to make it all soft touch started becoming oily and icky. They are also major hijack material still
Honestly if you could find it a Jetta MK4 the highline or comfortline, that is actually a beautiful car, everything in there does feel like luxury.

Getz, Rio get my vote, wouldn't touch a Toyota too expensive for what you get and boring.
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Hello darkness my old friend

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