what car for me ,help wanted please

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 18 May 2004 23:49
what car for me ,help wanted please - pienmash
dont know if this is the right place for this topic,
i got a grand to spend on a car ,i got 3 kids and ol lady to ferry about,at present im driving a pug 405 td,but im looking for something a lot more cheaper to fix and easier to fix myself,also something i can tinker with as i do like to mod things up abit(tis the bethnal green in me),no little engines please or juicy cars .thanks people for this
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Wed 19 May 2004 00:10
what car for me ,help wanted please - Kingpin
You have a tight budget - about a grand to spend on a car that must hold four or five people, easy to fix, cheap to run, able to modify and economical but with a large engine - the holy grail of motoring! Seriously though you may be looking at Japanese for the reliability at that end of the market for a grand. Big enough engines with power and economy suggest turbo diesels but the bargain priced examples may have problems ready to cost big money - eg cambelt etc. Difficult one, how about an early Mondeo? I always rate Nissan Primeras, they drive well and best of all no cambelts to worry about but parts costs/availablity would not be as good as a Ford. Any other suggestions?
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Wed 19 May 2004 00:12
what car for me ,help wanted please - BobbyG
whats wrong with your Pug? How long you had it? Spending a grand on an unknown car could wipe out all your money in one go if it turns out to be a dog.
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Wed 19 May 2004 00:53
what car for me ,help wanted please - Edd
Citreon Zhara or whatever they called excellent cars.
I wouldn't go with jap stuff it can be expensive to repair somtimes where as other manurfactures parts are cheap.
You migh get a good jap car or a bad un (yep they do make them) but them again you may get a good French make its difficult to be sure.
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Wed 19 May 2004 00:56
what car for me ,help wanted please - Vansboy
Mondeo, Esort, Astra, Vectra.

In that order.

VB
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Wed 19 May 2004 01:28
what car for me ,help wanted please - Kevin
No problem, Ford Granada Ghia/Scorpio.

Cheap spares, huge rear seats, reliable V6 motor, lots of bells and whistles. Easily obtainable for less than £1K.

Just make sure that the ABS is working.

Kevin...
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Wed 19 May 2004 12:19
what car for me ,help wanted please - Singer-G
Granadas are great value as older cars. A lot of car for the money. BUT, they don't half guzzle the fuel so not a good buy if running costs are a major issue.
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Wed 19 May 2004 13:15
what car for me ,help wanted please - Mapmaker
Have a look at bangernomics.tripod.com/buyguide.htm for a few suggestions, though it was written a couple of years ago, and many of the under £1,000 suggestions now come in at under £100.

There are loads & loads of cars available at under 1,000 that fit your spec. Couple of off the wall suggestions for you as well (cue chorus of BRers saying 'don't touch that one!')

Honda Accord (estate) '93 on of which HJ says 'Tend to be entirely trouble-free as long as serviced on time.'

Audi 100 ('91 on A6 shape are only 200-300 for a saloon, bit more for the V6 which is a seriously serious engine).

If you can stand the shape of the earlier Audi 100 ('83 to '91), you should be able to get a nice one for under 100 on eBay with 12 months MOT. Your remaining £900 will pay for the summer holiday!

If it's no good, then buy another from ebay & get the good bits off it.

Be you haven't thought of a W123 Merc. A joy to work on, bombproof, over-engineered & will give you cruising with great style & 30mpg for the 230E (230TE if you want the estate). £1,000 will get you a 150k example with FMBSH & no rust if you keep your eyes open.

Nice XJ6 with full Jag SH (don't settle for less) for £500 or less. Loads to choose from on eBay. Mind out for rust, rust & rust, and very expensive tyres.

Or a Mondeo of which I have no experience but always seems to be the favourite car when this question comes up. Boring though...
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