Why not get a car with a chain rather than belt?

It might not be that pc a thought on a motoring forum but At that price range is it with bothering? A new belt might be £300 Inc fitting which is half the price of the car. What's the scrap value of a car with a snapped belt £300? Have a look round and see how far beyond the belt life the cars on the market have gone, you might be surprised at how far beyond the limit the belts can go.

I agree with the suggestion of the Punto - some 8v versions of the 1.2 (not all - some vary) are non-inteference - ie usually if belt fails the valves don't hit the pistons. The Punto has a weekness with the cooling system that is prone to air locks, especially after the coolant is changed (which also needs doing to save head gasket) - The water filler is on the side of the radiatior feeding the bottom of the system , this means the only way for air to escape is through the badly postioned cooling system bleed screws. This causes hot spots that can warp parts of the engine/head that will cause future cooling system/head gasket failure problems. I have seen bad structural rust on these where things are attached to the body - eg jacking points - Saying that they are good value and usually suprisingly reliable

Few other suggestions:

1)The Panda has the same robust 8v engine but seems to have a better designed cooling system with a proper high level header tank that doesn't have the same issue. The bodies seem to be better built as well. I have a 2006 1.2 that shows no signs of any rust on the body

On either Fiat make sure the electric power steering works correctly

2)Look out for the early 1.6 & 2.0 8v petrol Skoda Octavia - these can be picked up cheaply sometimes without sky high mileages (although these are capable of 200,000 miles plus!). Even though VAG reschedule cam belt changes to 4 years/40,000 miles it was way over the top for this engine - it was the later 1.4 & 1.6 8v engines that had tensioners made of putty . The Octavia seems pretty good re rust - my 2001 has an almost rust free on body (suspension parts now look rusty bet they are very thick metal)

The vag 1.6 & 2.0 8v engine is very robust but not as popular due to higher co2 - at the price your after you need robust! Most versions of this 8v engine are also non-inteference

3)The Skoda Fabia is worth a look - the early 1.4mpi has the old Skoda (pre VAG) pushrod engine has a short cam chain. The 2.0 has the same 8v engine as the Octavia(see above) . The 1.4 16v is the later VAG engine that really needs cambelt changes every 4 years or 40,000 miles

4)Early Toyota Corolla's were bullet proof

I would avoid the KA - at this price rust is a big problem although the earlier models use a version of the original kent engine (aka MK II Escort, early Fiesta) that has a short cam chain

The problem of buying any car at this age will be the cost of car tax will seem expensive compared to the purchase price. Avoid diesel at this price - they were bought for a reason back then , to do high mileage - will mostly be worn out and awaiting some big spends

Edited by Big John on 08/11/2015 at 16:11

Hi,

Plenty of Vauxhall Corsa's out there - pretty bomb proof and not bad on fuel economy. Yet to see one with any rust and plenty of cheap sapares. Easy to maintain too.

These are the views of Robin the Technician - I fix, therefore I am

Hi, I'm hoping you folks can offer some advice here; I've got a small budget (£600) to buy a car that will last me 12 months. Of course all those I've seen advertised that have a long enough MOT are past their timing belt replacement period. So I'm thinking of looking for a cheap enough car and then getting the belts, tensioners etc. replaced. My question is, what makes are the cheapest to get the said work done?

Buy a car with a known history of reliability.

An early Toyota Yaris is ideal. Timing chain - if worn -is easy to detect.. Noisy..

Talking of spending money on new cambelt on a banger makes no economic sense.