weapon69

After buying a fiesta last year, i'm absolutely sick of it and dying to get rid of it! I'm looking at other cheap cars (£1000 approx.) but i need something with 4-doors and power steering. Do i have a hope in hell of finding such a car that won't break down 2 days after i buy it?

Has anyone else bought a runabout that is reliable? Any advice on make/model etc?

All constructive advice appreciated

Goochie

citroen saxo 1.1

steppers

just down to luck
best thing is to try and find someone who is selling the car for a genuine reason and not just look through the papers
Shouldnt be that difficult but then nor should selling my 94 scoob for 6k but no sod seems to want it

Steppers

N1 SPAN

I got a written off 306d-turbo a few months back for about your budget. It just has a few dents, totally straight car. Already paid for itself with fuel savings! done approx 7k in it. Feels like it will last forever.

There are plenty of good cars for about £1k. You just might have to look at a few. The bigger cars seem to be better vfm.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Well you should buy a decent car in the first place
My little rule of thumb when buying bangers is avoid French, Rover, Ford and GM.

Can't do much wrong with a Nissan Sunny, Primera or Toyota Corrolla

I have previously run bangers (i'm talking £200 here not £1K) of the likes of MKII VW Polos and Golfs (I'm aware that later models are not as sturdy). Nissan Bluebirds, Sunnys. With the only problem being ignition system related missfires (£20 to fix) and a loose rocker shaft on my last Sunny - Was ok...just ran on 2 cylinders Cost to fix was the time it took to re-tighten it and reset the tappets

weapon69

LOL Ali_B i wish i'd never bought the thing, but as a total car novice i just did as the bf advised I'm not buying a FORD for a while!

I'm going to start having a good look round but before i put mine up for sale i'm gonna have to cough up some money for a couple of new tyres

Also theres some scratches down the right side which obviously don't look too good to a potential buyer, is it worth getting it fixed up b4 i sell? i don't imagine i'll recoup my money in the sale as its a cheap car but i guess it would make a quicker sale than people looking and going

Advice?

what would scooby do

As above go jap or go german if you want an older car to last

FYI I bought a 231BHP merc 300 for £1500 at it will go on forever...

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

i bought a ford fiesta 1.1l of e- bay, gave it a full service, the total cost to me was £158! it always starts first time every time we goto it!!! its just a matter of luck at the end of the day what has been treated like etc... mine came from an old granny that hardly used it. even now we only use it for my girlfriend to learn in. maybe 3 times this month?

jamo

Tractor

I bought a 92 BMW 7-series as my run about. Never misses a beat, hugely comfortable, fun to drive, and cheaper to run than you'd think...

dome

I bought a J reg Vauxhall Senator 3.0CD injection with 10 months MOT for £350. Brilliant car. Swithable Auto box, cruise control, switchable suspension, leather interior and electric everything. Have seen 140 on the clock too (as a rather p!ssed off mate in a modified S13 200sx will testify to...)

It is a wee bit rusty but I don't care as it spends it's life in Glasgow streets.

The 12 valve engines are bombproof and parts are cheap. It'll do 30 MPG on a run (but isn't too clever round town to be fair). One of the best cars I've owned

weapon69

Well i've had a quick look on autotrader to give myself an idea. And one more question, should i avoid trade and just look at private sale? (As i said b4, total car novice).

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Well, it depends on what the car is worth and what it will cost to fix. You basically have a choice, and you need to question if it's worth doing.

As you say, if you sell it as it is - at a reduced price. You'll always get more interest in ads as it's cheaper, but people will always be turned off by damage...letting them know when they phone saying that the price reflects the condition will help, but I would avoid mentioning it in any ads.

Fix it, and you'll sell it for more money, but in an advert you car will be like any other similar spec Fiesta out there, so you'll get less interest, but buyers won't be so put off.

Alternatively trade it in at a dealers. In which case do nothing to it (not even the tyres) a trader will just offer the trade value given in their Glasses guide. It helps if the car is dirty so they can't see the scratches/dents so easily - keep the inside clean, which give them the impression that it will valet ok. Find the nerdy looking sales kid at the dealers (the one that's been there 2 weeks and just left college ) They'll always offer the book trade price. turn on the charm when it come down to the dealing, If they won't budge on price - get them to throw in carpet mats, CD player, 12months tax or anything you can think of

dome

At the sort of price your talkling I'd go private. Most traders selling cars at this sort of price tend to be dodgy IMO.
You'll need someone with mechanical knowledge to take along though so you don't get fleeced though. If you do your homework you'll get a better deal for the money.

Duck_Pond

On the same lines as a Pug 306 Diesel - the equivalent Citroen (ZX) is worth a look. Years back I had a ZX TD Avantage with electric windows, power steering, elec sunroof etc. without the worry of the air-suspension of the older BX. It wasn't slow, did lots of miles to the gallon and was very comfy.

vindaloo

Car brands have 'general' characteristics. i.e. You wouldn't want to trust Citroen electrics without testing everything works first.

I suppose the basic rule would be to get the simplest car that you like the look of. It might have wind up windows but they rarely go wrong.

As others have suggested, an old Primera would be a good choice. Even the 1.6 litre engines go well enough.

With regards to your Festa (sp ) if it's just scratches, you could try Chips away or similar. What do you think the Fiesta is worth?

J.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

There is only one.
The indestructable Nissan Micra. I do 1,000 miles a week in one at the moment. Find one that an old lady has had and then run it into the ground.
You need about £1,200 to get an OK one. Runs on fumes, Insurence is dirt cheap, no one wants to nick it etc. Service it every 10k.

Even If I have an expensive toy such as a Scoob I still have one tucked away as a workhorse.

They look c*ap like a bubble car but for chaep A to B stuff. They can't be beaten

Steve

Big Daz

One of the best runarounds I have owned was a H plate rover 214SLI 16v,
central locking Power steering, sunroof, large boot, electric windows, metallic paint etc, bought for £1000 ( a few years ago mind ) I drove it for 2.5 years with a fair amount of abuse and only had to replace one leaking water pipe - £20 IIRC, then sold it for £500 and bought a merc - huge mistake.
I often think about buying another. and before everyone says this was a one off - nope my mate bought one also and did 60K in 2 years in his and his biggest problem was a leaking rear light.

Big Daz

weapon69

I bought the fiesta in October for £1425. So even if it didn't have scratches and stuff , i don't know how much i'll get away with asking Theres a tool on autotrader for prices of old cars...*goes to have a look*

Well, WhatCar suggests the car is worth £1000 now. grrr I'm going to fix it up then sell i've decided!!!

Thanks for all replies

p.s to the the person who suggested Nissan-I had already thought of them as an option and will def look into it

wrxmania

Nissan Primera on anything up to an N plate should be under 1K easy. Bomb proof reliability, great chassis and handling, all the toys and totally reliable.

A smooth, comfortable etc. An unbelievably good buy,

Brian.

EvoBarry

Civic Vti 4dr. quick, reliable, cheap enough and there are still some reasonable ones about as all the muppets tend to prefer the 3dr.

Primera a good idea too. I had a Sunny Gti - bought from in here as it happens, was a great car, right in your budget too but only 3dr.

weapon69

Looked on autotrader and i have noticed that N reg cars have a higher mileage than mine (31K). So hopefully that can bump the price up a bit?

ChrisChennell

I run bangers as commuter cars. had a pug 309, a metro, currently a renault 5. i wouldnt rule out french cars, but they do seem to have more rattles and sound more dead than most.

Im currently looking at a cheap, good fun, practical car though thats come up cheapish

the car is a 5 door hatch, leccy windows in the front, power steering, bit of an exotic / rarity, 140ishbhp and a glorious sounding engine. tidy example and less than £600. cant say fairer than that

Olly

A mate of mine is King of the Crap Car.

He ran a Beetle for 10 years, never spent much on it, and sold it for the exact same amount as he paid.

Then he had a Toyota Carina, with toys, for 150 quid. Did a 30 mile a day commute in it. At weekends it doubled as a builders van as he was doing up a house. He got well over a years motoring, sold it for £100. Never put a spanner to it.

Replaced with an automatic C reg Corolla for £200 (broke his heart). Got 24000 miles out of it, sold it for £300, never put a spanner to it.

I like a cheapie too: just had almost a years fun motoring out of an 8v Golf GTi, which never missed a beat: bought and sold it for £500, or around a month and a half's payments on my newly ordered RX8..

My advice? Buy Japanese or German.

weapon69

I think i was ripped off when i bought my car tbh. Next time, its my choice of car!!!! (Although knowing my superb mechanical knowledge It won't be as good as some of the bargains you got!)

BTW did you buy from people on autotrader or local paper?

MGJohn

No .... is the very short answer....

Here's a rather longer answer why ...

Past few years, purchased several cars for little more than loose change.

Two examples:

F reg Montego Turbo - laid up locally 2.5 years - owner needed if off her drive as house being sold and several vehicles to sell quickly - Monty Turbo started immediately first time - I kid you not - they always do! - after checking all levels anfd fiting good battery of course: 10 quid! - provided I took it away sharpish!

H reg Rover Montego GTi (Similar spec to MG Montego EFi when whole range became Roverised about 1990) - 45 quid with 3 months MoT - bought this 'blind' unseen from well educated, intelligent but car clueless work colleague who'd been profesionally quoted 500 quid to rectify (they don't all do that m8) head gasket 'failure'. All that had failed was the water pump - changed it myself for 30 quid. Driven regularly by his wife - they'd owned the car for 12 years but that quote made them decide to get rid as they had two other cars..... Moral: Beware professional advice or at least get 2nd opinion from trustworthy source!

Both cars STILL going strong and both will cruise at three figures and get up there quite sharpish. Bullet proof reliability and 30 mpg if you go easy on the right foot.

So .... yes provided you know what you're doing, there is some really cheap motoring out there - long may it continue.

Parting shot - you must have noticed how residuals are tumbling on even youngish so called quality marques lately - about time too! UK punters been paying well over the odds for their cars for far too long.

CooperS

I'm currently running an £80 Pug 205 1.9 diesel in an attempt to keep the miles and running costs down on the MINI, it's cheap as hell to run.

A bit ropy in the twisties though

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

I've recently bought two cars, both for £1000 each.

1996 P-reg Chrysler Neon LX, 4 doors, 2.0, Auto, 67,000 miles, FSH, MOT, Tax, Air con, Apline Stereo, Nokia car kit.

[It needs some rear disks, rear pads, and one of the rear dampers is leaking]

1991 H-reg Honda CRX, 1.6 16v (130bhp), 124,000 miles, FSH, MOT, Tax, Air con.

[It needs a service, a mild water leak sorting and a some body work sorting]

Both cars drive fantastically well. The Neon saw me up to York and back through the snow and traffic! The CRX is brilliant fun and it's the best handling car I've driven as a standard package!!