|
I think Fords have come on a long way since the Capri!! I think it is unfair to compare a 1970's design with a 1990's jap car.
|
Go for one of the volume makes- Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra- etc and go for condition not age or plate.
Chect out EBay for an idea of prices/ condition.
|
Already tried Autotrader, ebay and pistonheads
Have a look on Gumtree, the idiots haven't discovered it yet :-)
And for reliability and low running costs, as I may have said on here before once or twice, you need to look at typical minicab cars (although preferably examples that have slipped through the minicab net) - Primera, Avensis, Mondeo kinda thing. When these cars were younger a lot of them needed to be dependable as they provided their drivers with their income. If you can find a nice little-old-lady car, always garaged and with plenty of MoT you won't go far wrong.
Edited by Dave_TD {P} on 12/01/2010 at 01:04
|
If you are buying a cheap runabout intended for work, wife, kids etc turn your attention away from Punto's, Clio's, Corsas, Polo's, Fiestas, Micras, etc even if they are 5-door variants. Private/Trade sellers will often describe them as: cheap to run, cheap to tax, low insurance, easy to park. For those reasons they are often more expensive to purchase than bigger cars & they are clearly not sufficient enough for a family of four. I have never been a fan of small cars full-stop, I have always found them to be ill-equipped, very thin knocky plastic interiors with a rock-bottom line of comfort, hard crashy suspension that never lasts long, extremely cramped inside for legs & heads, always shoulder rubbing with the driver when you are sat in the front seat - Last time I sat in the back of a small car was a Rover 25 impression on a long journey to Gatwick 7 months ago. I was sat in the back with 2 adults in the front & 3 at the back + luggage. 3 hours later when we got home, I felt like I was locked in a permanent hunched sitting position, I had muscle cramp in my legs, had whiplash from the lack of headroom, had backache from the hard back bench. To a lad my size the entire car felt like it had been shrunk in the wash.
I think relatives/friends who try to be kind by offering your entire family + the luggage to Gatwick airport in their Renault Clio 1.2 instead of using the bigger Peugeot 406 is the ultimate display of quiet selfishness "don't moan you should have got a taxi" attitude. When I give kind lifts to people to airports to save them a taxi fare I never punish them severely by cramming them all in a small car with their arms + legs hanging out the windows like teacher does in his car with the bash street kids from the Beano comics.
|
Private/Trade sellers will often describe them as: cheap to run, cheap to tax, low insurance, easy to park
>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>but its all true
£125 road tax for the year if chosen wisely
group 3/4/5 insurance
economical
cheap to maintain and possibly easy to service yourself with minimum tools
easy to park
why buy a jcb if a shovel will do?
|
Hmm
My son;s 1995 Peugeot 106 cost £1250 3 years ago. He has done 30k miles and spent £750 on repairs/tyres/brakes.
It should do 100k miles easily..
Modern small cars are usually very comfortable and reliable
Of course if you buy a Rover..-)
|
Of course if you buy a Rover..-)
The Rover 45/MG ZS often topped their class in reliability stakes, it was of course basically an old Civic that had been in production forever therefore all the bugs had been ironed out - they hardly ever go wrong IF serviced.
|
|
I would personally only trust the face-lifted Rover 45 which came out in 2005 just before they went bust. Few were sold but you see them around sometimes. I know someone who has an '05 plate Rover 45 Connoisseur 1.8 automatic - very rare in that trim level and with automatic! I guess the worst problem is that its still got the K-Series engine which has the 45,000 mile blown head gasket problem - but apparently they fixed that for the facelift model.
|
|
Earlier K-serieses obviously had the plastic dowel problems causing head gasket failures as did duff early head gasket design, yes you're right they fixed that in the later engines although this was before the facelift models, however most head gasket problems that were dowel related are in the higher load applications (pulling a big body the engine flexes more) or good old fashioned neglect. The K-series only holds a couple of pints of coolant, if you don't keep on top of weeping hoses or fluid levels you are asking for trouble. The K-series simply will not tolerate being overheated. If looked after it's a superb engine,especially in cold weather where the low volume of coolant means almost instant heat from the heater!
|
|
THis topic comes up a lot & the answers remain consistent - don't look for a specific make & model, buy on condition & service. Iwould avoid anything with even an aiota of prestige like the plague, BMW, Lexus, Audi etc - for 2 reasons - firstly the parts cost more, secondly, it will have reached rock bottom by the time it is worth £1000. CHoices are eastern for reliability but more pricey parts, or western for cheap abundant parts but more questionable reliability. I think an unloved big car is what I would be looking at, like a simple petrol engined mondeo or Vectra
|
|
My current bangernomics Vectra 2.0 CDX cost me 700 quid in July, after 11,000 miles it's had an oil & filter change (using my sucker.....) and I had to replace the indicator stalk 'cos it kept going on to main beam on its own, and that's it. The sheer quantity of astra / focus / mondeo / vectras out there means there are still some nice ones around.
|
As previously mentioned, always buy on condition and history.
I was in a similar position in late '07 and had spent months looking for a good condition Primera GT, which was a nice combination of space, reliability and performance...previously I ran an Elise and a Legacy estate. Out of the blue on this website a BR'er was selling a '98 Mazda 626 2.0 petrol which had not even crossed my radar. I bought it for £995 and intended keeping it for 6 months over winter. I still have it, and have put on 4 new Michelins and had a precautionary cambelt change. Keep looking for a nice Mk2 Mondeo, Primera or similar.... something is sure to crop up eventually (says he who has spent 3 months trying to find a sensibly priced MX5 folding hard top!)
Edited by legacylad on 12/01/2010 at 20:02
|
Whatever you decide to buy, please keep us posted
5 years out of ours so far, although it was a bit more at 1800 I recall
Somehow you feel like you've beaten the system when you shell out little on a car and it proves a gem
Bemuses me how much the folk at work spend on new cars, then worry about where they park it, tiny imperfections, servicing on the dot etc!
|
Somehow you feel like you've beaten the system when you shell out little on a car and it proves a gem
I remember paying peanuts at an auction for a 3 year old Audi 200 2.2 because it had done 100K miles and it sounded a bit tappy. I only intended to keep it 6 months, after I changed the oil the tapping disappeared, I ran it for 3 years and then sold it for more than I paid for it with 164K miles on the clock, it never missed a beat.
Later I bought a 3 litre Senator for £80 at auction, top off the range, every extra. Getting it home I found a full service history in the glovebox, the car had 4 new tyres and a brand new Opal branded exhaust. Again I bought it to sell, but it drove so well I ran it for a couple of years then sold it for £500.
|
"....a brand new Opal branded exhaust...."
No doubt it made a fruity noise....:)
Seriously, the Opel / Vauxhall Senator was a good car with a lovely big lazy 3-litre engine. There was a Vauxhall Royale, which may have been the same car and had its name changed to Senator: I can't remember but no doubt someone will. Rather cleverly Vauxhall named a 2.5 litre version the Viceroy.
|
Audi 200 2.2 sold it for more than I paid for it with 164K miles
Excellent engine that 2.2 5 cylinder. Nice sound and long lasting. In the 100 and 200 they produced better economy than the 90 (I had the 90 Quattro), because they were so aerodynamic for the time.
|
|
