Spudgun GTR

i only live about 5 minutes from work now. warming up the r33 in the morning, getting it through the school traffic, then letting it cool down again for such a short journey is a pain.

anyone got any top tips for a second car. i want something cheap, very reliable, and doesnt guzzle fuel. cheap insurance a major point too, so no ferrari suggestions please

if you only do ,say, 4000 miles a year or less in your main car, is there any way of getting the insurance down?

i had a seat ibiza a few years back, thought it was pretty nice little commuter. my girlfriend had a ford ka..great fun, wheezy engine.


any other/better cars you can think of...needs to be small to fit on my drive

Neil Smalley

5 mins from work!

Get a pushbike, a moped or bus ?

Short journey's kill car engines, so I would avoid using a car for only 5 mins there and back a day. IF you had to use a car, get an old VW Golf/Nissan anything for about a 1000 quid. Cheap as chips to run and won't matter too much if it goes wrong.

Spudgun GTR

i know what yer mean neil, but i need something for the shopping etc too. also, if i go out for the evening, i dont want to leave my pimp mobile parked up somewhere, especially these days with the scum everywhere it seems

Neil Smalley

Go with a small car, such as a micra/polo or Yaris. The 1 litre versions will only cost you 55 quid a year road tax, grp 2 insurance and are very cheap to service. I would go japanese or VW for reliability thought.

Ere's a thought... Subaru Justy??

chuckster

Our second car's a MY01 WRX, you should do the same...
Skyline and 200SX, lovely jubbly
Chuck

DaveU

Get yourself a smart car

kevin stanton

our second car is a 1.2 renault clio, its just the job for doing the weekly shopping etc.
I don't like taking the turbo to car parks, i've had bad experiances of door bangs in the past

zoog

Old shape punto 1.7 TD - cheap and very practical. TD has good torque.

(I'd get the sporting though if I boughgt one again. peppy 16v 1.2 engine and super handling. )

cpofwales

My second car is a 1.3 skoda favorit, it cost me 175 quid on an L plate, if you can put up with the pi$$ taking, it dosnt matter what you do to it at that money

Blow Dog

cpofwales has it spot on.
I have an absolutely superb F plate 1.3 Honda Civic which I use as a runabout. Cost me £500 and amazingly cheap to run. I love it and would recommend such a car to anyone. Not bad for 13 year old car.

Cem

Matt Churchill

Our second one is a Luxury Ka. Cheap to insure, fuel and it has got all the toys - leather, aircon, CD, heated windscreen mirrors etc. Looks real nice as well I think - jet black with cream leather.

Also it is soooo easy to drive, you only have to look at the clutch for it to go in

Matt

druddle

DaveS6 - what do you reckon of the S6 ?? Is yours standard ?? I have a good friend who has one modded (i think he said over 360bhp) and it goes like a rocket.

How to travel quickly in style !!!!!!!!

Dave

GaryC

2nd Car - New MINI Cooper, about the most fun, chuckable car I have driven.
3rd Car - Westfield Megablade, awesome, makes anything else on 4 wheels look like its going backwards, but with no windscreen/roof/doors its not really the cheap runabout you were looking at although does get into the lowest car tax bracket


Druddle - I looked at an S6, very nice but its a world away from an M5 in every direction.

Spudgun GTR

ok, ive given it some thought today, and i'm off to look at an ibiza in the morning.

seat ibiza 1.4s
99 t reg
metallic green (just like my old one)
sunroof
5 doors
cd multichanger
electric windows
PAS
immobiliser/remote central locking
24k miles, one previous owner
1 years warranty

asking price is £4995. if i put donw 1500 quid, it works out at £81 per month, over 5 years (but i'll pay it off sooner ) at 8% apr.

it does 40+ mpg, group 4 insurance. the dealer remembered me from 3 years ago when i had my last one. one of the best dealers ive ever used.


gonna check out the used prices for these things tonight, and haggle a bit.
basically, its a vw polo, but for 2k less...cant be bad. oh, and no one will nick the badge

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

I would say 106GTI every time, but the ibiza above sounds good....

Cheers,

Nick

frisby

Spud,

I hope for your sake there aren't many bolt on bits for a Seat Ibiza or I'm sure you'll be fronting a quest for a 400bhp fire breathing Ibiza as your every day hack!!!!

Befroe you buy the Ibiza, make sure you can get a neon light kit for it, the mod of choice these days

laters

stu

Spudgun GTR

nick
i thought about a hot hatch, but it would defeat the object. i'm trying to save a bit of dough, have a blend into the background car for the donkey work, but one thats nice to sit in too.

i just looked on autotrader website. i cant seem to find ONE ibiza 1.4
i checked with their parkers used price guide, and guess what!

new price £9390
A1 £6050
Trade £4690

so basically, he's offering it to me for about £300 above trade price...if this is true, then its a done deal

Spudgun GTR

@ stu
actually mate, i did ask about an old cupra, but he couldnt get his hands on one
unfortunately i have to be sensible with this one

however, the skyline modifying will continue this year
i might get some even BIGGER turbos put in....scaaaarrryyyy!

polarbearit

Spudgun, if you've got the cash, go to an auction, V plate Ka's, Fiestas, Corsa's etc tend to go for around £3000, and they are the same cars you'll see a week later at your dealer for £4000+...

I've bought a couple of cars at auction before...

Here are a couple of car auction houses -
http://www.manheimeurope.com/
www.bca-auctions.co.uk

Jon

Spudgun GTR

jon
unfortunately i aint got the spare cash at the moment, tax bill due soon
i would be too nervous buying at an auction, and i like the idea of a warranty and local friendly dealer with the peace of mind that kinda comes with it.
silly i know, and not the cheapest way to do it, but i'll be able to sleep at night

p.s
the ibiza will also be used at night to block anyone trying to get my skyline out....cushty


by the way jon
liana is offloading the pulsar. i dont want it, skyline MUCH nicer to drive and far quicker (i drove her pulsar yesterday), so she's heading back to scoobyland very soon

polarbearit

Sounds like a good choice mate... Keep the skyline! Get Some 2835 turbos and 740cc injectors

DaveS6

druddle,

Cheers!.. the S6 is a dream.. 4.2l V8 putting out 340bhp. It's not a year old yet so it's not modded in any way.

Have an friend in South Africa who has chipped, exhaust and cold air feed and is getting close to 400bhp.

I'm one of the lucky one's who has an RS6 on order.. expecting same 4.2l v8 with twin turbo charges.. should be good for about 450bhp. Hope to see it early 2003.

Dave

subevo

just sold the scooby for a smart car and i love it.55mpg you can kick the doors and they dont dent (flexible plastic ).you can chip them for £250 i.e. around 75 horses 120mph.nippy away from lights.only weighs 720kilos.millions of accessories including brabus tuning gear.gets more looks than the scoob and not as stealable.best bit is it is 11pence per mile to run. less than 6 grand brand new. still have my lotus esprit for real fun yehaaa!!! p.s. they do a diesel version supposed to do nearly 90mpg.

Spudgun GTR

i put the deposit down today on the ibiza.
it has a few minor blemishes here and there, but nothing major. probably why its so cheap. in pretty good nick though, and hardly a heap.
was like old times thrashing the **** of it should have it by saturday, cant wait

Spudgun GTR

picked the little ibiza up today.
forgot what its like to relax driving! no need to go fast, no one expects you too. everyone leaves you alone! great!

went to fill it up, no turbo timers, no cooling down, no worrying about anything. shoved a load of crappy 95 ron in it, fired it up, shot off. no 30 secs to get going, no hassle! wonderful.

it may have 490bhp less than my other car, but its gonna be fun seeing how many miles i can get out of a tankful, in a weird sort of way.


i think getting this 2nd car was one of my better ideas

dharbige

Our second car is a Pug 106 1.1 Zest 3, which has all the gadgety bits like electric windows, mirrors etc, looks pretty nice (well, I think so!), handles OK and has absolutely no grunt whatsoever. Still fun to drive if you thrash it to within an inch of the redline. Very cheap to insure, tax and run.

[Edited to add the following:]
Of course, the best fun second 'car' is not a car but a bike. Go and do your Direct Access (for those without a Cat A licence) and buy something like a Fazer 600 (just like mine ) - loads of torque, easy to ride, nice and comfy and quite practical if you put a decent top-box on it. Will also beat pretty much any car in a traffic-light GP!

[Edited by dharbige - 1/7/2002 9:44:11 AM]

DaveS6

My wifes car (so she thinks! ) is a Toyota Yaris T-Sport.. bloody fantastic.. has a vtec engine so comes alive at 4000rpm and because of it's weight it is a joy to zip around in..

wouldn't want to take it on the motorway mind.

My main car is an Audi S6, as you can probably guess from the name, but it only does about 14mpg around town so I bought this Yaris for town work and it really is magic.. i would definatly reccomend it!

Dave

[Edited by DaveS6 - 1/7/2002 4:16:13 PM]