Go for the 1996-2001 generation Honda Civic, which was made in Swindon and is available in either three or five-door form. The 1.5 litre VTEC offers a lovely combination of decent performance and good economy, but even the 1.4 is smooth and sweet.
Remember, a lot of these cars will have been in the hands of mature people who, while they might not have done millions of miles, are likely to have looked after them. Beware, though, of the three-door coupes that have after-market alloys and that thrashed-til-the-crankshaft sings look about them.
We had a 1998 S-plate 1.4i SE five-door for eight completely trouble-free years and it never missed a beat.
To paraphrase Niallster, a million old dears can't have been wrong.
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Don't laugh, but the Escort had turned into a decent car in its last few years, with almost all the faults sorted by the final facelift in 1996. The 16v Zetec engines are good for 200,000 miles with decent servicing, you will not find a car that's cheaper to service or fix, and £1,000 will get you an absolute minter.
To give you an idea, a colleague of mine recently picked up a very clean 99T 1.6LX with air-con, 78,000 miles and a full Ford service history for £750. It's a perfectly decent car. Presentable, comfortable, reasonably lively, good on fuel and with stacks of life left in it.
Avoid the 1.4 though - it's horrible!
Cheers
DP
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Saw a W reg one of these for 1800 quid on the roadside !
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Not laughing DP. I had a loan of an "S" reg Escort 1600 a few years ago while my Espace was in for one of its' all too frequent re-fettlings. This particular period of absence was about six weeks, so long enough to form a view of the Escort. Bottom line is, I rather liked it.
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The later Turbo diesels were quite nippy and economical (and bomb proof !)
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'P' or 'R' reg Citroen ZX 1.4i, cheap to buy & run, sweet reliable engine, roomy,comfortable, cheap spares, handles well. Wish I still had mine..........................
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Don't laugh but the Escort
Agreed DP. My 93 16v cost £250 (from a known source though, it was a bargain) almost exactly four years ago, still going well. Not glamorous, but unattractive to thieves, invisible, fairly economical, fairly refined, tough and cheap to fix.
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Nissan Primera, perhaps? Plenty under £1k. If you can stand total blandness, then Nissan Almera.
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Open Autotrader, pick on anything reasonably main stream with a new(ish) ticket that has been looked after. Unless you've got time on your hands, looking for a particular model is likely to end in buying a dog (been there, done that!).
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Peugeot 306-Great handling, smooth ride, comfortable, quite nice looking for its age and parts and servicing costs are generally within affordable levels. Insurance is also very reasonable.
The 1.6 petrol doesn't exactly give sports car performance but is reasonably lively and fuel economy isn't too bad if driven sensibly. Plenty around for under £1000, but do be cautious and make sure you pick a decent one, with service history.
The 1.4 petrol, whilst offering cheaper tax and slightly better fuel economy than the 1.6, is a little underpowered for the size of the car and as such is rather leisurely.
Martin
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Been looking for a replecament Peugeot 106 for oldest son.
Found 2 under £2500 with under 30k miles, immaculate with fsh.
Lots under 40k miles in similar condition under £2k..
Ideal cheap runaround..and not bad on motorways. Dirt cheap to run.
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Id certainly second the Escort, last of the line diesel would do nice, esp the estate as easy to sell on. Still see a few S-reg ones around in nice nick.
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Late model Mazda 626, although it is considerably larger than your previous Cherry & Golf. I also think that the smallest engine size is the 1.8 petrol. My S plate 2.0 SE hatch (98k miles, 2 previous owners with FSH) cost me £995 pre Xmas and is proving a good buy. Average mpg to date is 37. Ins group quite high, doesn't handle like an Elise, leather seats aren't heated, but on the positive side it has a high spec (sunroof, climate control, 6disc cd, alloys) and is overlooked by the majority of the bangernomics community.
Well worth considering IMHO.
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"overlooked by the majority of the bangernomics community"
Not so sure about that. Certainly overlooked by most other s/h buyers, though, who would doubtless go for a Vectra or Mundano for more money instead. I don't want to bore others I've told before, or tempt fate unnecessarily, but my £600 Xedos still makes me smile every time I get in it.
I have two friends with 626's and they seem very happy with them.
Edited by J Bonington Jagworth on 30/03/2008 at 22:43
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Get the Escort - you should get an S / T reg for under £750 (and thats a 1.8 decent spec), might even push you to a GTI...
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Thank you very much for your advice guys.
I will probably go for an Escort but no hurry, the Golf is still usable in the short term.
Edited by timby on 03/04/2008 at 20:11
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