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Evening to all. I have been offered both a Belmont SRI 1.8 (1989) and a Orion 1.6i (1988). Both are in VGC, similar mileage, lots of history - the belmont is £ 700, and the Orion is £575. Which should I go for, and why?
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Swings and roundabouts on balance I would go for the Orion 'cos its cheaper. Test yourself on the Bangernpmics website. At that price MoT and VEL expiry would be critical deciders as well. Remember to factor in Cambelt chnges for both as your first cost.
Vauxhall engines of those eras are arguably more reliable.
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Personally I would go for the Belmont. Why?
Fords of that vintage were pone to rust. Very few c 88 orions/escorts around. I understad it was something to do with the steel used at the time, there was a defect IIRC.
CVH engine urgg! I always preferred the escort with the 1.3 fiesta engine in it, like the one I got for my mother. It was a much more reliable machine.
Those Astra/Belmonts were IMO ahead of their time. It's also an interesting fact that in 1997 or so a young engineering apprentice I knew was looking for her first car. She couldn't find a decent Astra for love nor money, so she ended up with an Escort as her second choice, they were not as sought after.
So my verdict, go for the Belmont but try to negotiate the price down. It has to be a dealer selling it at those prices.
H
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Probably depends on how sporty you are. The Orion probably provides the more relaxed ride but may not have as much kit. Insurance might be different as well. I borrowed a 1.8 Astra CD back in the early nineties and remember how quick & refined I thought it was at the time.... but then the Astra was almost new and it was 15 years ago! I can't remember if the SRI had the more relaxed gearing from the Astra/Belmont CD as opposed to the lower geared GTE. For £700 the Belmont really needs to be top notch.
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£700 for a 16 year old Belmont? Is somebody having a laugh? Thats the sort of car that would cost a tenner at auction.
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Someone's having a laugh. They're not worth more than £150 to £200 for BOTH.
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I like the fact that the Belmont has a low boot sill, and its more rare than the Orion, but IMHO the Orion is more comfortable and better looking. BTW Orion - 1 years MOT, Belmont 10 months and both are private sales - middle aged couples, nice area and neat lawns and driveways.
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How many miles are on both just for interest?
They'd have to be pretty damn low and have a couple of kilos of Colombia's finest to be worth anywhere near that much.
For £575 I could get right now a Ford Mondeo (I know I know) 1.6 N reg with just 76,000miles and MOT'd till December.
£650 get me a 1997 P Reg Vectra 2.0 GLS 5dr, T&T till December with just 85,000 miles.
Do you see where I'm going with this?m
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Adam
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It's only more rare becuase most of its siblings have rotted away to nothing.
Seriously, you've got enough money not to be looking at bangers.
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Couldn't agree more with Michael. He can sing the praises of the Mondeo and I'd be there harmonising with him.
I'll say it again just in case you missed it. These cars aren't worth half that amount.
I'd still be interested to know the mileage though.
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Adam
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Belmont or Orion? Oh my gawd....talk about two of the worlds ugliest and useless cars of the last 30 years!
tenner each.
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Mileage wise somewhere between 40 - 55k, I cant remember the correct amount on both. Ha ha a Mondeo I got one already but its coming off the road for a year to be repaired (head gasket, some fool drove into the back of it and the base of the aerial has gone rusty) and I dont want another Zetec. Well, I certainly would not buy a Renault.....
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Ha ha - Why don't you want another Zetec given it's about 10 years more advanced than the engine you're going to buy?
If I came home with that Orion having spent £250 on it, I'd feel cheated.
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Adam
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Mileage wise somewhere between 40 - 55k, I cant remember the correct amount on both. Ha ha a Mondeo I got one already but its coming off the road for a year to be repaired (head gasket, some fool drove into the back of it and the base of the aerial has gone rusty) and I dont want another Zetec. Well, I certainly would not buy a Renault.....
You could fix that Mondeo for far, far less than spending £700 on an old Belmont.
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The reason that I dont fancy another Zetec is the fact that a old CVH or Pinto (might look for clean Sierra) is easier to repair (should it break down) than a Zetec with it's complicated managment system.
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In that case then, spend a lot less than 500 quid on one so that you'll have some money free for when it breaks down.
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Adam
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imo to buy either and be seen to drive them, you've got to be a chav and have bling all over you:-)
Low rent rust boxes with no redeeming features and favourites for thieves: Fords of that era are so easy to steal they were used as "get me home" transport by the local yobs. Probably still are..
madf
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Chavs round here dont nick them for "get me home" transport, they dont start.
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Even I know how to get an Orion home sans keys.
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Adam
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yes but would you? (dont forget when you wake up its still out side?)
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Om balance I would go for the trusty Vauxhall. That 8v 1.8ohc engine was state of the art at the time and still its basics survive.
Remember that the Orion was the booted Focus of its time.
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There is nothing fundamentally wrong with either of them. In their day they were decent enough cars. The issue is that they are absurdly overpriced given they are 16 years old.
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There is nothing fundamentally wrong with either of them. In their day they were decent enough cars. The issue is that they are absurdly overpriced given they are 16 years old.
They were eboth horrid examples of automotive engineering even 16 years ago
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Low rent rust boxes with no redeeming features and favourites for thieves: Fords of that era are so easy to steal they were used as "get me home" transport by the local yobs. Probably still are..
Actually the Belmont is a more popular steal than the Orion.
1st - Belmont.
7th - Orion.
www.moneyworld.co.uk/news/news-car-theft-012672.ht...l
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The reason that I dont fancy another Zetec is the fact that a old CVH or Pinto (might look for clean Sierra) is easier to repair (should it break down) than a Zetec with it's complicated managment system.
This is a bit of non-issue really given that, generally, well maintained Zetec engines just don't need repairs that often, if at all.
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Im going to repair my Mondeo, but the problems are so bad that it has to come off the road (plus the MOT runs out in 10 days) as I have to cut the windscreen out to fix the roof, plus the substancial shunt up the rear. I also need a car to run around in hence me buying one of these two. I would rather drive a knackred VW Derby than that stupid Renault 19 "chamade", or whatever it was called. It looked like a 19 with a MFI wardrobe screwed (badly at that) to the back. I wanteed to know from your experience on OWNING these cars, not idiots "pub-talk".
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Dear MR bacon and Eggs.
You got your advice. Its says they are over priced.
Take it or leave it
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Unless your Mondeo is a nice Mk2 or a Mk3 (unlikely if its rusting away on the roof), you could REPLACE it for the budget you are setting aside to buy a rundabout whilst you fix it. It doesn't make an awful lot of sense.
Yours Sincerely,
A N Idiot.
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You could always sell the Vaux/Ford on later anyway.
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If it absolutely must be one of the two you mention bacon, then I'd personally go for the Belmont as they've got strong, punchy engines and surprisingly economical. They've also got a huge boot, bigger than a Granada saloon of similar vintage!
As others have said though, they're both over-priced. You could get a last of the line Cavalier SRi, or even a Vectra for less.
Heres a link to an Astra SRi on ebay, which were more desirable at the time.
tinyurl.com/adlbj
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Buy the Belmont. Listen not to the doom sayers; keep clear o a £500 Vectra, now that would be a bag of nails, an earlier Cavalier would be a better buy. Look at the Bangernomics side of it, each month's MoT is worth in the region of £40.00. Decent cars of any vintage seem to bottom out at £500.00 or so. As somebody else says on this site - Simplicate.
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>>Decent cars of any vintage seem to bottom out at £500.00 or so.
At a dealer, maybe. In the real world, a scrap car is worth maybe £50. (Add £200 if it's the sort of galvanised estate car that somebody will put a secon dhand engine into after it dies.) Add £20-£30 for each month of MOT remaining.
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Just thought that I would tell you that I bought neither of these cars. I dident fancy the Belmont as, well its a Vauxhall and on very close inspection the Orion had rust breaking through on the inner sills - I had the cheek to pull the carpet away from the sills and I had a suprise, glad I did. In the end I bought a Rover 418 SLD Turbo. 1992 K, for £250 with 6 months MOT. Quite a nice car, having thought for many years that Rovers were "old man's" cars.
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>>In the end I bought a Rover 418 SLD Turbo.
Good choice,good luck with it.
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Steve
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In the end I bought aRover 418 SLD Turbo. 1992 K, for £250 with 6 months MOT.
Much better value than the two clunkers that started the thread then!
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I still think Rovers are an old man's car..
I'll get my coat....
madf
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In the end I bought a >> Rover 418 SLD Turbo. 1992 K, for £250 with 6 months >> MOT. Much better value than the two clunkers that started the thread then!
And the motor is the PSA XUD, far and away the best diesel of it's era.
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I dident fancy the Belmont as, well its a Vauxhall
At least Vauxhall are still going strong, unlike Rover ....
;o)
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At least Vauxhall are still going strong, unlike Rover .... ;o)
I suspect Vauxhall/Opel would be bankrupt too if they wern't propped up by GM. What Rover needed all along was a stronger partner willing to invest in the new models they needed.
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Good motor the Rover - porbably better than the other two !
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>>What Rover needed all along was a stronger partner willing to invest in the new models they needed.
Or at least corrected the HG failure problem/ecu non memory to record faults, giving the public and garage hard time in finding faults,I think if another engine was fitted rover story may have had a different outcome??
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Steve
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