mike16v

I'm in the position where I might look to sell the Golf and get a cheap run about to save cash for a replacement car in a year's time... Prob looking to spend £1000 tops.

I've seen one or two low-ish mileage Cavalier GSi's for this kind of money.

Any suggestions of what else to consider? Looking for something reliable, fun, reasonabley quick and cheap to fix when things go wrong. I thought of another XR2i but the one I had was at the age where it was just falling to bits and it was one of the better one's I've seen!

Cheers for any advice.
Mike

dome

There's Loads to choose from. 205/309GTI, Golf GTI. How about a sierra 4x4? Thirsty but great fun. Have a look at your local auto trader and see what you can find?

scooby_xt_turbo

Go get a Nissan Silvia S12, can't go wrong, you just have to try the short-throw gearstick and you'll be conviced, economical for a turbo, loads of space for a coupe, japanese reliability, very straightforward engine for DIY. and they go around for 300 quid or 400-450 with air-con. i had two of them. i bought the first one for 400 quid and it had air-con and 67k miles and the other one for 150 quid with 95k miles and without air-con. Check two things though, first is underneath the boot spoiler for rust cause it works like a spunge and check if the turbo has been changed cause the factory one was cr*p. if those two things are ok, BUY IT. If the shocks on the car are in good condition too, this baby can corner pretty good!!!!!! And if you decide to sell it, you won't lose a pound.

AllanB

Go for a Charade GTti. I did as the Scoob is too juicy to use for daily use.

You can pick them up cheaply and they are very tunable. A decent one for about £1400 altough you can find them for less. Mate bought one for £150 and mine was £650


AllanB

Mike123

Astra Gte 16v has same engine as the Cavalier so is usefully quicker - the engines seem to take higher mileages than the Peugeots and they are usually a bit cheaper than the Golf 16 valvers.
They're good fun to drive and better if you do a lot of motorway mileage than a 205/309 IMO.

DJFish

If I could draw your attention to this:
http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadid=163087

Cheers
Dave

MGJohn

If you want REALLY inexpensive, reasonably fast, economical and spacious motoring, consider a MG Montego Efi or turbo (stop sniggering in the back there - you might learn something ... . Can pick one of these up for loose change. Originally purchased as a source of useful spares, I bought a complete but, non-runner F reg Montego Turbo for 10 quid back in the summer. After numerous timewasters, the lady owner was desparate to clear her drive of several cars and this car had been laid up unused for 2 years. Long story short, quick onceover all fluid levels etc, 5 litres fresh Optimax, good battery .... switched on ... fuel pump pressurised system ... turned key .... started IMMEDIATELY and everything worked, yes everything! .... and after over two years laid up!!! Booked it in for MoT as lady said last time she drove it "it goes quite well" ..... Drove it up and down the drive to clean off brake discs then off for MoT. Few miles later realised far too good to break for spares .... Mind you, needed some money to get that MoT ... 160 quid all in to be precise..... So, got cheap RELIABLE nippy transport which will do 130 mph when no body is looking, handles reasonably, usually gets 25-30 mpg and with a 0-60 time in the low sevens in standard trim. Leaves many higher rated, (highly over-rated - certainly highly over-priced) "superior" cars for dead from the lights and at higher speeds, much to their driver's chagrin. Some even try their luck a second time with the same result as obviously, that first effort surely had to be a fluke ... Did someone say what about residuals and depreciation ? Even with say 100% depreciation, I certainly won't lose any sleep over the totals involved!

As the lady said "Goes quite well" ..... In my time I've owned and driven some really nice cars. Can't ever remember having so much fun in any of them as much as I do with this old "daily driver" hack Monty Turbo ....

brendy

What about a Renault 19 16V - cheap as no one wants them due to high insurance (group 15) and should be able to get an excellent car for less than £1500 top.

p1 tud

xr4x4 seconded here. 2.9 or 2.0 and 4 wheel drive, perfect for winter and fun all year round.

CallumW

I was looking around for a new car to replace my girlfriend's ('89 Renault 11 1.7) and was thinkng of the same kind of thing....

Cavaliers, Sierra's, Granada's are usually from about 1990 for that price ... in the end I got her a Daewoo .

It's N reg, 1.8, easily does about 40 to the gallon (less over 80) and has loads of space inside the car and in the boot.

Cost £850 ... can't be bad

Callum

P.S. used to be owned by a priest too

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Forget the R1916V they are prone to head gasket failure, n the gearboxes are weak points as well. A headgasket change will cost u close to a grand to put right, engine parts are a tad expensive :O I know from experience.

Merc_Cosworth

Monty Turbo - seconded. Bomb proof-ish, and cheap as mess.

Cavalier SRi 8v Saloon. Had a Close Ratio box, and so cheap its silly. Bomb proof mechanicals and a tidy 135bhp.

Alfa Romeo 155 1.8 Twinspark. Ludicrous lift off oversteer and really cheap for a 7 yr old car. great engines, wacky electronics - 12 year anti corrosion warranty. If you can live with the driving position its great

Or as my 400bhp Cosworth Mate has...
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
Renault 21 Savanna Diesel.
£30 to buy
£25 in Derv a month

Just the ticket for lugging cosworth (both ford & merc) engines around in.

worley

I've just sold my Scooby for the same reasons and bought a Cavalier V6. Paid £1k and have a tidy vehicle with 170 bhp and more than enough electrical goodies to keep me happy. In fact I quite enjoy the lazy way I can drive it with fewer worries about damage and costs.

zero_to60

get a Toyota Corrolla - ok no charisma but hey who cares - I use one to commute in - you can leave it anywhere never gets a second look and no one give a fvck about it - never breaks and is good on fuel

Reffro

I looked at all the usual Sierra, Cavalier suspects for a cheap run around, and in the end I bought a Citroen Xantia. They are available everywhere for next to nothing, they have a great turbo -diesel engine, though mine is a petrol auto for the slog across the smoke to work.

Comfort is off the scale, reliabilty is hard to fault also given that it has never failed to start. I was at an auction on Saturday and saw a Xantia 1.8 16v manual, N-reg 47k FSH, two owners in perfect working order, as I took the time to check when the car was started, nice looker in silver, price??? £1250.

marty_t3

I'll second the vote for the Silvia S12. I picked one up for 200 quid, spent 200 quid getting it through an MOT and drove it for a year. Very easy to fix (if anything does actually go wrong) and parts are easy to find at breakers (Bluebird turbo engines make good donors).

If you want to mod it a bit then just stick a FMIC on it and up the boost. I used an old volvo intercooler and some pipes from an Audi, total cost=35 quid Load of tail out turbo charged fun for pennies. Some people say the S12 drifts better that the 200sx due to it's more rigid chassis too. Speed wise, it'll easily match a golf GTi.

Now that i've just reminded myself how much i liked the Silvia, i now know what to buy the g/f when she passes her test

edit to add :

On top of what scooby_xt said, check the brake and fuel pipe under the car, they tend to rust. Other than that, the cars are virtually bullet proof.

[Edited by marty_t3 - 1/4/2003 7:35:08 PM]