Friday, August 14, 2015
Buying first car. I'm going for a used one. Is this a good choice?
Requirements: driving to work and back 4 days a week = 8 mile round trip (or 32 miles a week). Mostly consisting of slow commuter traffic.
weekend driving further afield to nice places to walk the dog. This is a total estimate, but I'd say anything from 30-80 miles a weekend on average which will include faster driving (motorways/dual carriage ways etc.)
on top of that probably 2 or 3 longer drives a year to see family (who live 200 miles away) or go on holiday somewhere further afield.
All in all I make that somewhere in the region of 5-7k miles a year.
I'm looking at a Ford Fiesta diesel. Main reason for the diesel being that my partner has had a food operation in the past and finds the clutch on petrols tricky as there isn't much leeway for error and, due to her operation, holding the clutch on a hill in a petrol can be difficult for her and is likely to stall.
Anyway, I have 2 in mind at the moment. A 2010 model with 100k miles on it at ã4k, or a 2011 model with 100k miles at ã4.6k
I could go more expensive and buy something nearer the ã6k mark that has less mileage, but due to the amount I'm likely to use it, is it worth spending that extra ã1-2k for less mileage?
Any advice with explanations welcome!
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