Cheap, Reliable Cars

(No, I'm not a used car saleswoman.)

What cheap, reliable car would you buy now? (UK)

I'm in the US, but my answer would be the first one given back in 2003, a Toyota Corolla. Of course, they're not all that "cheap" any more, except relative to other Toyotas and comparable brands, and the Korean manufactured cars are cheaper, but for a combination of price and reliability it's hard to beat the Corolla.

I drive a Mazda CX-5, which while not exorbitant does not, I think, qualify as cheap. It's the best car I've ever owned.

i have a 2018 kia rio, it gets great gas mileage and is certainly a 'point a to point b' kind of vehicle which is all i need. it doesn't even have power locks. a caveat though, it's now a tiktok meme to steal kias because of a fatal security flaw by the manufacturers. something like 300 were stolen in milwaukee last summer and it's happening in other cities now too

What cheap, reliable car would you buy now? (UK)

― djh, Wednesday,

(UK)

hopefully i just have as i have just got a 2012 peugeot 107 allure with 60k on the clock.
first car i have bought for me.
i no longer have to worry re kid kaos,
my old functional/boring car that had served its time and been a briliant workhorse,
but needs to go to sleep in a few months.
i.e. £££ to keep on the road.

whereas the 107 felt like a lot of fun to drive, and i have heard good reports re the reliabilty re the engine ..

fatal security flaw

Hadn't heard of this. That is wild and I hope they don't get away with not doing a recall over it.

This video (warning: annoying) shows the basics of the hack and the cheap engineering that enabled it. This article explains what the new software fix does (totally rely on you locking the car with a fob when you get out).

Each year when we take our ancient (Y-reg) Ford Focus in for its MOT the mechanic raves about how the FF is his favourite, most reliable car. When the time comes we might try to see whether we can make do with car shares but if that doesn't work I'd deffo buy another.

I've been a bit thrown by a) having to buy a car sooner than planned and b) cars seeming to have jumped up in price so much.

I've been driving a Suzuki Swift which I've liked (but had in mind that I'd buy something different this time) but everything seems so expensive and it feels like I can afford a *less good* car this time, which feels an odd position to be in.

Dacia. Absolutely don't underrate them. They're just Renaults without the bells and whistles, and half the price as a result.

Dacia Sanderos any good?

It's a lower spec version of a Renault Clio for 2/3 of the price. Seriously, all you're missing is some trim and interior features.

Thanks aldo - appreciated.

Pondering a Picanto but not very excited by that.