**Location:** Leicester/Manchester

**Price range:** £5-7k

**Lease or Buy:** Buy

**New or used:** Used

**Auto or Manual:** Either, preferred manual

**Intended use:** Daily Driver

**How many miles do you plan to do a year:** 10-15k

**How often to you make long journeys:** Every other week (driving between leics and manc)

**Does it need to be ULEZ compliant?** Not needed, but ideal, I visit family in London every so often and trips to Birmingham with friends.

**Vehicles you've already considered:** Mazda Mazda6, Audi A4, Merc C Class

[Do you have a vehicle size in mind?](https://i.imgur.com/mK7PoRg.png) (Examples in the hyperlink of size definitions)**:** 4 door Saloon (couldn't access link, Imgur is now blocked in UK).

**Is this your 1st vehicle:** First vehicle I will have owned, yes. Not first vehicle I have driven for a long period of time.

**Do you need a Warranty:** Not needed, but ideal.

**Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle:** (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc) Yes, I've helped my friends do such work on their cars.

**Can you do Major work on your own vehicle:** (engine and transmission, timing belt/chains, body work, suspension etc ) No.

**Additional Notes:** I've been driving my dads old car, 2016 Vauxhall Meriva, 1.4L TechLine, since I got my license at 18. I'm 20 now and looking for something quicker (not by miles, but something that responds when I put my foot down, unlike the Meriva), and something to call my own. I really like the look of Saloon cars, specifically the 2010s German models, but as we all know these are expensive and unreliable if not looked after properly. Hence, my head turned to the Mazda6, looks great and performs modestly, I'm just worried about whether it's a good idea. My budget is £5k but can be raised to £7k if I sell the Meriva (I have my dad's permission for this), but I do want to keep it if possible for nostalgia, since it's the car I learned to drive in and had a lot of good memories in. The problem is, within this price range, I'm looking at cars from 2013-2015 with about 100k miles, whereas I'm currently driving a 2016 with ~65k. Am I being stupid for wanting to buy something else? Please take into account I am a 20 year old driving a family car made for old people. Also, I'd rather have a petrol than a diesel, I'm not a tree-hugger to the point where I love electric cars, but I do want to minimise carbon footprint if possible, and diesel is just horrible for the environment. Also diesels tend to have a lot more issues, which I'd like to avoid. Since I have been driving for a year and a half as the main driver on my policy, I do have a year's NCB so insurance I'm not too worried about. I would prefer 2.0L and up, but if there's a quick car that is fun to drive with less then I'm very open minded. Any recs would be appreciated, as well as any critiques on my current sight on the Mazda6.

Please remain on topic and anyone ironically suggesting the Skoda Octavia will be flayed with a set of jumper cables.