Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 17 Oct 2015 19:43
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - logger

I'm looking for the holy grail !

I want a sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback which is under £1500 and not a wallet burner when it comes to maintenance

I'm not worried about petrol as I will only do around 3k a year but I want one I can use 'ALL YEAR' round

So far I have reviewed

Subaru Impreza 2.0 ( Non turbo )

Mitsubishi FTO 2.0 V6

..as you can see I want something a bit different !

Thanks

p.s. I'm 50 so no insurance worries

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 19:57
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - logger

Sorry..also looked at

Toyota Celica GT and even the Lexus IS 200 sport ( not really a sports.. )

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 19:58
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - SteveLee

Mazda RX8 - as long as you don't frequently use it for short journeys the engine will be reliable - if you do the plugs will foul and the rotor tips will wear excessively. An absolutely fantastic car and a real bargain at the moment. Yes bad ones will be a money pit - that's the chance you take.

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 20:03
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - logger

To be honest 75% will be short journeys

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 20:30
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - RobJP

Absolutely any car of that priceband, and especially a sports-type car, can suffer a terminal failure which causes the entire car to have 'scrap value' at any point in time

Read that a few times. Then decide if you're willing to accept that.

If the answer is no, then walk away.

If the answer is yes, go buy what you fancy, and enjoy it (until it breaks).

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 20:56
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - logger

Thanks..just to maybe fill in a bit..I have had 'many!!' cars over the years ie 50+ and the last 10-15 have been sub £1000 without any problems. As long as you check the history, drive it and use your gut you will most of the time be ok..

In my case its not if I find a car under £1500 its just which one as I havent bought many sports coupes/hatchbacks..

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 21:08
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - SteveLee

Well if you want reliability - you will find a really nice Hyundai Coupe for that money - they are fun to drive are well equipped and are very reliable.

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 21:55
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - Mr Carrot Cake

Alfa GTV

Fiat Coupe

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Sat 17 Oct 2015 22:29
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - Avant

With your experience you obviously know that condition matters more than make or model, even if you're buying a fun car. But something Japanese (high-risk Mazda RX8 apart) has a better chance of still having some life in it.

A Toyota Celica could be your best bet.

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 23:04
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - daveyK_UK

2.5 v6 Hyundai Coupe

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Mon 19 Oct 2015 10:41
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - Engineer Andy

Sorry - no such thing exists. Any sports car worth less than £1500 will be old and in average condition at best, and likely will have some major problem or wear and tear repair required.

Wouldn't it be better to go for a newer warm/hot hatch, which would cost more to buy, but less than the sports car to insure - whilst insurance generally may be less for you than younger folk, insuring an older (but not 'classic') sports car (especially one that will likely NOT have a decent security system and will be extortionate to fix in the event of an accident) ain't cheap.

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Mon 19 Oct 2015 22:02
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - Trilogy

Puma 1.7. There are cars better than average at best, at less than £1500.

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Tue 20 Oct 2015 13:23
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - logger

I will review all the models..£1500 is max so newer models are out of my reach..but thanks to everyone for the suggestions

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Tue 20 Oct 2015 22:14
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - SteveLee

There are plenty of excellent cars with plenty of service life left in them for £1,500 - yes there will be many many heaps as well. The modern fashion for leasing cars you cannot afford to own has make older cars worthless.

Coupes are often bought as retirement treat and then then the driver gets a bit to old and switches to his Honda Jazz - there's bargains to be had. I would expect to find an almost faultless, reliable Hyundai Couple for that price.

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Tue 20 Oct 2015 22:17
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - Avant

I like the thought of Steve relaxing in luxury, his every need attended to by his faultless, reliable Korean couple.

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Wed 21 Oct 2015 00:45
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - SteveLee

:-) My great typing skills strike again.

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Tue 20 Oct 2015 22:24
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - dimdip

I guess the Honda VTec engined cars deserve a mention due to the engines' reputation for reliability.

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Wed 21 Oct 2015 09:49
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - Engineer Andy

Ditto - unfortunately the older cars like the mid 90s CR-X are probably too old and will need lots of TLC, and 'newer' ones like the Integra and S2000 are likely too expensive (the cheapest S2000 I saw during a brief look was £5k). The Civic Type Rs from the early 2000s might be in the right price range, but at that age they have probably been 'modded' by 'yoofs' as well as run into the ground without main dealer TLC. They might still find a good'un though if they're lucky.

I think a Hyundai Coupe (the nice mk3's only) or a Toyota Celica from the early 2000s might be in order if a tidy one can be found; maybe even an MR2 if you're really lucky. See the HJ car-by-car area for more, given some are now in the 'rusting' phase of their lives (or are too expensive for those that have been very well looked after).

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Wed 21 Oct 2015 12:12
Sub £1500 sports coupe/hatchback - 72 dudes

I agree with the Toyota Celica route, sensible choice and should be reliable if it's not been 'Kev'd'.

How about a nice Ford Cougar 2.5 V6 if you're feeling brave?

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