When buying a car, regardless if new or used, the vast majority of us are concerned about how reliable will it be. This is normal since the car is ultimately a mean of transport and the reason for its existence is to get us from point A to point B. But what about older vehicles for not a lot of money? Well, some cars stand the test of time better than others and not a small amount of studies have been conducted to measure this. The current article was created with the help of the TÜV (“Technischer Überwachungsverein”, or “Technical Inspection Association” in English) reports from recent years. TÜV is a very reputable German organization performing an independent inspection in the automotive industry, among others. We have selected them because of their thorough tests being one of the best worldwide today. With no further ado, let’s explore the list.
So what are the most reliable European cars for less than 5000 euro? According to our findings, these are Mercedes-Benz A-class, B-class and SLK-class, BMW Z4, Volkswagen Golf and Golf Plus, Ford Fiesta and Fusion (the European version) and Opel/Vauxhall Agila.
Having outlined the above cars, we also have to mention that no vehicle is guaranteed to be reliable or unreliable in the long run, as this depends on multiple factors, but statistically, those are the cars deserving our attention for this article.
Let’s start with the Mercs. The A and B class are pretty much 2 versions of the same type of car, the B-class being a little bigger of the two. We will not recommend getting the first generation A-class (the W168) as these are not regarded as very reliable, although they are not too bad either. The manufacturing of the B class (W245 was the first generation’s internal name) started in 2005, same as the second generation of the A-class (W169), and this year is the beginning of the best for the small Mercedeses. Both of them are front-wheel drive, you can get them with the same four engines – three petrol and one diesel and with a five- or six-speed manual or a CVT transmission.
The SLK is another excellent example of German engineering in terms of reliability. The first generation (R170) was built from 1996 to 2004 and is not widely regarded as a real sports car due to the way it drives. It is well within our budget of 5k euros, however. On the contrary, the second generation – the R171 may not be attainable for some of us depending on where we live and how well we haggle. From the first generation, get a model produced until 2002 as it seems that after that, by the end of the production of the R170, SLK suffered from more failures. If you can get a second-generation – you should be fine with the earlier models as well.
On to another sports car – the BMW Z4 (this one is a real sports car though). The first generation was internally called E85 or E86 for the coupe and was made from 2002 to 2008. It may be hard to find for this budget depending on where you live but it is still attainable if you want it so don’t despair. It is a good car but be careful and don’t want it too much. Try to assess the vehicle thoroughly before purchasing it as, like with all BMWs, the Z4s may have been driven hard and suffer from neglect. If the latter is valid for the car you are checking – chances are that you will not have one of the most reliable cars for less than 5000 euro. You can get the German sportster with four engines and you have to go for the manual gearbox. If you have inspected the car and you are happy with its condition – you may become one happy BMW owner.
Next in our list are the VW Golf and its derivative – the Golf Plus. The small German car has achieved some sort of legendary status and is one of the most popular automobiles in production in Europe. For 5000 euro you can get a 5th generation Golf which was produced from 2003 to 2008 and some earlier cars from the 6th generation. The Golf Plus is basically a taller Golf, and the first version of it was made from 2004 to 2008. Oddly, it scores better results in TÜV’s tests than the regular Golf. With both cars, I would go for an example built after 2005.
The next car is the Ford Fiesta and its alternative variant – the European Ford Fusion. Much like the previous car on our list – the VW Golf, it is a popular small car among the Europeans. And again, like the Golf, for 5000 euro you can get its 5th generation which was made from 2002 until 2008 and also the 6th generation produced from 2009 to 2019 (in the budget will be earlier but good pre-facelifted models of the 6th generation). The Fusion is the variant of the Fiesta, build on the same platform but made taller, wider and longer than the standard model. It was built from 2002 until 2012. Like the Golf Plus, the Fusion gets better grades from TÜV. We would again recommend getting a car after 2005 regardless if you go for the ordinary Fiesta or the Fusion.
We finish the list with yet another German car – the Opel/Vauxhall Agila. It cheats a bit getting in our list as it is basically a rebadged Japanese car – the Suzuki Wagon R+. The Agila is a very versatile city car with a roomy interior for its size and boxy exterior. The first generation was made from 2000 to 2007 and the second – from 2007 to 2014. Good news is that you can get the 2nd generation for under 5k euro too. The second generation though has not aged sufficiently to be tested for the longest periods of time by TÜV and we still cannot say if it will be fine in the long run with more certainty. The years which we recommend going for are the earliest models from 2000 and 2001 and then 2005 as cars manufactured during these years appear to suffer from fewer malfunctions statistically in the long run.
What about European cars within the same budget of 5000 euro which you shouldn’t buy?
On the opposite side of the coin, we have cars like the Mercedes ML, BMW 3-series, Fiat Stilo, Punto and Panda, Alfa Romeo 147, VW Sharan, Ford Ka and Galaxy, Opel Corsa, Peugeot 307 and various Renaults like the Laguna, Megane, Scenic, Clio and Twingo. Best avoid these if you are looking for reliability.
As always, I hope you have found the above information useful and stay tuned for more content like this in which we explore the best and worst used cars you can own. I wish you a great day!