Nissan Almera/Primera or Mondeo or Mazda 626. Never had any of them, but they are apparently the current bangernomic cars of choice.
10 years old, 100-200k on the clock, £250-£500. The bigger the car, the cheaper it will be.
eBay is a great place to buy from, in no-reserve auctions from private sellers. Both sides do well (I recently got £620 for a 72k '99 Vectra 1.8LS, which pleased me greatly, and was a good deal for the buyer) Glass's valued it at £350, I'd been offered £100 as trade-in earlier in the year.
If you want something a bit more classy, head towards a slightly older Audi A6/Mercedes W124 with a similar budget. If £400 really isn't a life-changing amount of money, that's what I'd do. BEWARE: you can end up driving a much better car than you would normally. Driving cheap old barges can become very addictive.
12 months' MOT is - to my mind - crucial, as is (if you need it to be reliable) a recent cambelt. A recovery service is essential too.
And as somebody else said, if you buy a common car, at least if it dies, you'll have a load of spares. Even if it's just tyres, pads & discs (waits for flaming about danger of using second hand friction material).
Just remember, £2,000 buys you no better car than does £1,000 - nor £500. It just increases the level of your exposure.
(My latest banger is a £3,750 55-reg Legacy; I have broken all the rules. Equally, every time I look at it, it has acquired another scratch.)
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I'd second the Mondeo recommendation - I had a T reg one with 155k, purchased for £320 with 6 months tax & 9m MOT last August. Didn't miss a beat apart from a new battery and grumpy central locking. Ended up swapping it for an F reg W124 Merc, which has of course needed a little more looking after - still so cheap to fix though! Will cost me less than the price of a dealer service to fix the electric windows, replace a c/l actuator and have an indy mechanic sort the viscous cooling fan. Gets so many approving comments too - not bad for £350!
Primeras and 90s Toyotas sound like a good bet - a mate has had ultimate reliability out of his 160k L reg Celica. If you're not worried about economy then a Lexus LS400 should be a consideration too - it will cost you dearly if something does go, but this may never happen if you're only keeping it a year or two! Have read reports of them going for 140k needing nothing more than new bulbs...
An ultimate cheapskate bet could be a Cavalier - almost worthless now, but strong & hardy and incredibly cheap to repair. You still see G & H reg ones trundling about all the time - I had an N reg one for a couple of years that just went on and on. I think I spent £150 in total on it, and that included a new alternator & a service. They'd sorted the rust out by then too. You'll get a decent one for £250. The Vectra that replaced it, however... I wouldn't.
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P.S. Mapmaker - I've been looking at legacys recently, under 4k is very good for a 55 reg! Eye watering mileage?
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>>P.S. Mapmaker - I've been looking at legacys recently, under 4k is very good for a 55 reg! Eye watering mileage?
No. Barely run in.
Only 104k. FSSH, absolutely immaculate inside, very tidy outside, every single possible extra, and less than 3 years old when I bought it! Bargain of the century, sorry if I'm a bit smug about it...
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I have a fondness for old volvos. If space isn't an issue, have a look at 940/960 or 850 saloons. Tons of car for very little cash. Renowned for starship mileages. More generally, I reckon old japanese can be worth a look, as you can find great examples for peanuts. My MiL runs an X plate accord 2.0S, immaculate, but only worth about £850 if she sold it. On that basis, she's hanging on!
At this price range, though, if you're not fussed, condition is the most important criterion, along with ideally a year's MOT. Tax is a bonus/ bargaining point. I'd look at AT and fleabay, see what's about and see what you like the look of. I'm a great believer in instinct- if it feels right, it probably is.
HTH,
Alex.
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I bought my Mazda 626 18months ago, intending to keep it for only 6 months. Incredibly boring to drive (unlike my earlier Elise, 205Gti etc etc) but incredibly reliable with climate, sunroof, leather. Recently offered to future D in L but retracted when I could not find a good Seat Leon 20VT within my price range. Very unloved. Very underestimated. Last tankful from my 2.0 petrol returned 38mpg...not mimsing either!
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Hope you get back to work soon by the way.
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Just to add to LL experiences. Bought an R reg 626 two months ago to replace an (also good) Audi 80. £1000 pounds with 81000 on clock. Sorted slight misfire with new leads (£35). Excellent car all round, although not boring to drive for me, better than previous cars handling wise, has a bit of poke from 2 litres too. Fully kitted up and not one thing not working, says a lot of Japanese cars really. I also have averaged not less than 35mpg to 38mpg according to brim to brim. Avoid prestige for bangernomics and go for mainstream.
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Thinking laterally, one possible place to look would be any dealers specializing in motability vehicles.
Why? They may have normal vehicles for sale which they've taken in p/x which would more than likely have been driven by older people, lower mileage than average, and hopefully well looked after as well.
I recently joined the Mazda club (hi to Legacylad and Tim above) picked up an R reg Mazda 626 2 litre petrol auto, 66k for £825 which I've been very pleased with so far. Only drawback is disappointing mpg: 26 around town, low 30s motorway, but then it is an auto.
Good luck with your search, I know what it's like to be staring at auto ads looking for a bargain. Hope you find a job soon as well :)
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I've seen quite a few good looking Saab 900's (the 93-98) model with full MOT's on them in my price bracket.
As I said, Insurance isn't a problem for me so anybody have a view on these cars. Older Saabs have a reputation for being well buit but I'm not totally sure if the reputation is warranted.
Thanks
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>>if the reputation is warranted
It doesn't really matter. If it has 12 months' MOT, then the chances are, it's 12 months' transport. So about £30 a month if you're paying £400 (which should be plenty).
If you've found a nice car; it's a car that stirs you heart; it's cheap... then what more can you ask?
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