The cylinder head gasket on my 93 (L) Peugeot 106 XND has just gone. Its not worth repairing so I am going to scrap it. I need to buy another but will only use it as a second car so I don't want to spend much at all.
Can anybody recommend a cheap (less than £1K), reliable, economical runabout that has airbags?
Thanks
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All Fiesta MK4's have airbags this is the only small car for under £1k that will do as standard. You can also find a lot of Polo MK3;S with airbags but not all do. Does it have to be a supermini?
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Not necessarily but they tend to be the cheapest to run. I only need it to commute (20 miles a day) and get home at the weekend (about 120 miles). Not worried too much about luxuries or street cred. Just fancied getting something a bit safer than my old Peugeot because most of my driving is on the motorway.
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Why do you want airbags?
It seems they were introduced for Americans too lazy to wear seatbelts (although I accept they can be useful to prevent the driver head-butting the steering wheel).
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My cousin hit a tree in a MK4 Astra at 40mph he hit black ice and was not speeding. The police report said he was traveling 20mph the speed limit to match conditions, he was told the airbag himself from having severe head/brain injuries.
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Which you would (most likely) incur in "headbutting the steering wheel" so QED Airbags are pretty handy.
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>>he was told the airbag himself from having severe head/brain injuries.
A similar thing happened to my wife and the airbag saved her from any injury. Wonderful things I reckon.
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A MK4 Fiesta will be a good bet but make sure its rust free. They are reliable and if you get a Zetec very nippy, also surprisngly comfortable. A 1996 onwards Astra MK3 may also be a good bet, you may even get ABS but make sure it is an honest example. Polo MK3s were very expensive when I was looking.
Corsas are ok but under 1k most won't have airbags.
A Micra 1.3 might be ok but they are not as safe as the Polo or Fiesta.
It is a shame £1k is not enough for something like a Yaris or Fabia.
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I want airbags because most of my driving is at speed on the motorway. I saw the mess the steering wheel made of my bosses forehead when he had a crash. And he was told he was lucky to get away with that!!
I can go over £1K but I don't want to spend too much. I'm too tight and I don't see cars as status symbols. Never considered a Yaris or Fabia. Thanks.
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I wouldn't want to use my Fiesta for high speed journeys because I don't know its history, but I would be happy at high speeds in one I did know. However the Fabia would be perfect, they are also 4 star Euro Ncap, is is the 98 onwards Clio and Yaris etc.
The safer cars tend to fetch more money, you only have to see how much Rover 100's go for to see that (they usualy sell for pence :p:).
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98 on Clio II has excellent NCAP rating for its age / size, the best small car at the time in that regard, driver's airbag in all, passenger airbag in many.
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What about a Lupo - twin airbags as standard, good NCAP crash results. Arosa basically the same, but had single bag as standard (passenger 'bag optional extra, I think).
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The Fabias are double and Yaris's are treble what I was hoping to pay so they aren't an option?
Fiesta's are looking favourite. Easy to get spares for as well
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Fiesta and Clio mk2 I think. The Fiesta will be cheaper to run. The 1.3 engine is not as bad as you think and is cheaper than the 1.25, they also don't need the cambelt doing.
You could also get a MK2 Punto for £1k but at this price I don't think they will be tough enough, they suffer from head gasket and gearbox problems, both things Fiestas in general don't suffer from. One of my customers has got a Fiesta mk4, with 166,000 on the clock!!! I would be lying if I said it ran well though :p.
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"Fiesta.... this is the only small car for under £1k that will do as standard"
Bought a P reg Polo 1.4L for £500 two years ago and that has a drivers airbag!
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Lots of talk of early generation motors with airbags. Don't airbags have a warning that they should be replaced after 10-15 years?
There have been tests on older cars - Volvos? - which show they work after 20 years, but if an airbag is so important to the OP surely the first job would be to get it replaced?
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The only time I have had an airbag deploy on me was when I was hit on the nearside/front by a car which failed to stop at a junction. I would and could not have been thrown forward by that impact.
The airbag broke three of my ribs.
I am not a fan.
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Yep there is a lot of mixed feelings about airbags, the general feeling is that newer generation cars have much better airbag systems which deploy the right amount in terms of the impact. It sounds like in your case the airbag should never have been triggered in the first place.
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I do think they save lives but I have had people come to hospital where I work, having had an airbag go off and they have had burns from the explosive and friction burns from the interaction between the bag and their skin. On balance I'd prefer that than the steering wheel in my mouth or my head thru the windscreen but I do take HB's point too!
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As another suggestion how about a Primera - I had a diesel Primera a few years back and it had a driver's airbag. Reliability even at over 200k miles was superb and it gave 50mpg on a run. Only real downside was the price and availability of spares.
When the cambelt went I replaced it with a Renault 19 - no airbag. I had a head on with a van in a lane and wound up with two broken ribs.
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It was not standard though, many entry level Polos this age don't have them. The Fiestas have identical safety kit regardless of the trim level, this where Ford were very good in my opinion.
With regard to airbags my Fiesta manual says Ford guarentees is the effectivness of airbags for 15 years, after that it should be replaced.
To be honest I am not overly fussed about airbags as there are other thigns which are more important such as ABS which my car sadly lacks.
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why not buy a volvo s40,
its the saloon so cheaper than the estate,
made from 1996- and as standard are fitted with airbags and abs aircon. also apart from saab one of the few car manufacturers who carry out rear impact testing...
i know what i want on the motorway...
engine sizes from 1.6 to T4 (2 litre 200hp turbo)
tinyurl.com/6j93dh
tinyurl.com/5vsycm
Both links shortened to restore page width, and postcodes also changed
from autotrader car with 50k cost about 1000 pounds, worth a look, group 8 insurance and even spark plugs from the main dealer in oxford cost me £12 for my v40....
Edited by Webmaster on 05/11/2008 at 13:22
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Mondeo. Might find a 2002 example for that budget, certainly find a 2000 example.
And it'll do 40mpg instead of 60, so for your 10,560 miles per annum it will take you an extra 88 gallons of fuel, so an extra £400.
Or follow Rattle's example and buy a shed of a 12 year old car with no airbags and loads of rust and then spend loads of time on here whinging about how you don't trust it. Grrrreat. ;)
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Or follow Rattle's example and buy a shed of a 12 year old car with no airbags and loads of rust and then spend loads of time on here whinging about how you don't trust it. Grrrreat. ;)
... having dismissed out of hand my suggestion of a 2000- Hyundai Accent which has 3 stars for safety according to a parallel (and equally-stringent) NCAP body, and has airbags, and ABS, and at 7 years old probably very little rust to speak of, for not much more money.
Oh, and pictures on request of my own NCAP test I carried out on the car (ahem), where I hit a steel lamppost at 30mph head-on, and walked away save for the grazed nose the airbag gave me.
Hey ho.
Edited by jase1 on 05/11/2008 at 14:02
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Actually I'd suggest a Korean car in general. Be careful to make sure that it has at least three stars for safety with either Euro or Aussie NCAP (with the US one as a backup if the Euro isn't available). Past that point, pretty much any Korean car made after 2000 is absolutely loaded with kit, and ABS/airbags are generally part of the deal.
Hyundai's Accent or Elantra, or Daewoo's Nubira are worth considering at the prices you can get them for -- I've seen 2003 Nubiras with highish mileage sell for £1100 -- should be able to knock that down below a grand easily. The mechanicals are reliable -- Hyundai is Mitsubishi-based and Daewoo essentially build previous model Astras and Vectras, so there are few problems in that regard. They're a bit numb to drive but that's about as much as can be said about them.
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No airbags? I wonder what that big sign that says "SRS Airbag" on my steering wheel is then?
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Buy another 106 or Saxo post 1996.
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Hey mate
I'm running a T reg Mondeo and had an N reg Cavalier before that - both cost £300, both with working ABS and airbag, both (so far) pretty reliable and easy to fix if something does go wrong! They'll use more fuel of course, although both came in diesel variants too, but spending any significant time at all on motorways you'll appreciate the increased refinement - well, I do anyway!
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Diesel v Petrol debate.
I have to make a 400 mile round trip tomorrow. Was just debating whether to take my diesel or my petrol car. They are otherwise pretty similar vehicles. I calculated that the fuel for the petrol one will cost £46 and the diesel one would be £43.40 based upon previous brim calcs etc. Fuel cost differentials becoming very marginal now. You really have to be into mega miles to see any appreciable cost benefit. It is now much more about what you prefer to drive.
If I were looking to buy a bargain basement car to do relatively low or even medium mileage, I wouldn't even consider a diesel now given that its value would now be falsely inflated versus a petrol example.
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As you have a PSA car have you had a look at a post 1999 Citroen Xsara?
Mine is a 2000w reg and has front and side airbags with abs, the previous owner also fitted 4 Michelin energy tyres all still have plenty of thread on them too. In the owners manual it also states cars with two or more airbags (ie post 1999) the seat belt grabbers are replaced by load limiters, which it says better protects occupants by limiting the load imposed on the body by the action of the seatbelt. btw The ncap test is bizarre, as it has no passenger airbag on that model yet has side bags, it scored 3 stars which is adequate for its age.
A good one at this age should be no more than £1000 and should have air con/climate.
The mpg on my 1.4 litre using the tank brimming method is: solely around town 35mpg and although i have not done much motorway driving but i think low to mid 40s (on along run) is average.
The car is excellent with the only exception that the rear axle bearing has gone (although it still passed the mot) which causes a slightly bouncy round around town. I have been it will cost around £150 to supply and fit a second hand beam, although at full garage prices i think a figure of £300 is the going rate. Other than that mine is very good and feels safe.
However there are some right dogs out there too, i went to see one which had a few months mot, some of the faults were abs light does not come on, fan motor does not work, probably assume air con was knackered too, no history, 4 cheap tyres, high idle, exhaust blowing and lots of other small items. Also many others i saw were garbage too until i purchased mine.
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Nothing wrong with wanting airbags.
As somebody else mentioned though, after 10 years they should be replaced if you intend them to be of any help !
They dont always help (as per HB) !
But if you travel a lot and are concerned about safety, then the best idea is to knock a few mph off your normal speed, it wont alter your time taken by much, but you will relax more, see more, be safer, and have more time to anticipate others problems and faults.
I dont disagree with all the safety kit on cars, but it does have a negative effect in that it lulls drivers into a false sense of security and that reckless driving will not kill you!
Abs/airbags/Ncap etc are all aids, nothing more !
Edited by yorkiebar on 05/11/2008 at 19:29
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Suggest an Astra mk4 (the model which came out in 1998). 4* NCAP rating, passenger and driver's airbags and excellent on the motorway.
You should be able to get an early / high mileage one for £1000. (Although I wouldn't buy a pre-2000 1.7 diesel).
My wife demolished a metal gate and fence with our Astra. The car needed a new bumper, radiator and headlight. The gate still hasn't been repaired!
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