Lil'Nick

Hi Guys,

I live in London, so as much as I'd like to have a drivers car, there is little to no point where I live, which is a shame. However, I do go mountain biking in Surrey quite a lot, and I'm dependant on lifts at the moment. I've been considering buying a banger, which is going to get used once a week or every other week to have a muddy mountain bike in and get driven about 40 mile trip if that. And the occasional trip to the supermarket.

So I really don't wanna spend much money at all on buying it, or on fuel, and ideally nothing at all on maitennce for at least 6 months.

My budget is anywhere from £100 - about 800 although the cheaper the better.

I've looked at pretty much every marque, and every kind of car from small run arounds like Fiesta and scrappy Fiats to Merc 190E's.

The car I keep coming back to is the Mundano 1.8TD, which seems to sell anywhere from 300-750 for a banger. My worry is that I'll buy somethign and the gear box will fall out a week later or worse...And also where to buy, I've viewed so many ebay auctions and Autotrader ads now, theyr'e all starting to look the same. Car auction houses worth a look?

Anyone out there got experience of buying at this level, cheap as chips??

Really appreciate your advice.

Cheers

Lil' Nick

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Mondeo will definitely suit your needs. I have a P plate one for running in winter time and for heaving lots of crap around. Has been totally reliable, though its the 1.8 petrol so cant really comment on the diesel engine.

vindaloo

If it's to be used solely for transport bikes and bits, have you thought of buying a van - Astra?

Jonathan Davies

Nissan Primera hatch, or maybe a corolla or something, would be my bet. Vectra or Mondeo would work too I'm sure.

The Chief

My Cavalier is probably worth 250 quid tops - yet is so reliable it is untrue. in all the years of ownership only the battery has gone on it.

i will be flogging it soon only due to me getting something smaller with slighly better mpg.

Reffro

Old Merc estate would be my choice. Parts are cheap if you do require them, and apart from the odd rust patch they're as solid as they come.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

Nissan Micra or Almera.Chain driven cam so no cambelt to change. In 3 yrs my wifes car has had had oil changes every 6 months and a 33p bulb.Even the aircon still blows cold. 97 1.4 Almera its a registered charity....

Edcase

Why the name change, l' il freak?

Billgtt

I use an 1.8 petrol Mondeo as a runaround. Cost me £280 last Oct with 8 months MOT. All i've changed is the cambelt (didn't know when it was last done), plugs and leads. That's it in 8k miles and to be fair, it's actually a pretty good car. If it fails the mot next month i'll throw it away and get another one

brickboy

Mondeos are good because most of the shell is galvanised so they don't really rust at all.

Cambelt & tensioner is the main service item to watch for, should be every 70K miles. IIRC it's about £150 at an idependent.

Clutches are expensive if they go because the front subframe has to be dropped so check this carefully.

But any mid-90s repmobile would do, early Primera or Vectra would do just as well.

Big a1

Sierra!!

Seriously I've had two both costing less than 175 quid with a suitable amount of tax and mot.

Huge boots on the hatchbacks and easily accomodated two bikes with the front wheel still in plus loads of kit.

Find one that someone has owned for the last 15yrs like I did and you are on to a winner.

Lil'Nick

I've had a bit more of a think, and the dullard Nissan Primera is really coming up trumps, I did some insurance quotes last night and 1.6 RSi or even 2.0 GT came up dirt cheap on insurance, and they seem to sell very low too, and go for ever.

I'd also consider an old merc, but I don't think they'd be very frugle on the old juice, insurance and I thoguth parts would be pricey too?

Edcase

You will also be amazed at the handling of the primera gt, much more fun than you might imagine.

Jonathan Davies

Seconded. My primera was also the most reliable car I've ever owned, despite persistent abuse.

The hatch is a lot more practical than the saloon though.

mynickers

Mmmmm, I'm very tempted. The GT's tip over the £1k mark on the hole for a decent one it seems, but a RSI can be had for a lot less. This always happens, you set yourself a budget and it creeps up

I could do a bit of mini-cabbing in one of these too!

Big a1

I've got one of the eGT primera's at the moment. It is really a cracking car, I paid 1.2k for mine last summer and its cost fairly little to keep running.

Full leather, PAS, 150bhp engine with an 8.5k redline and nice predictable handling. Would recommend going for the gt over the sri too. Only problem seems to be rust for a 1997 car that is otherwise in good condition there are a few problem areas.

lee green impreza

just bought a golf gl tdi estate for £650, goes well all the electrics work windows and sun roof!!
Dont know why i didnt get a oiler years ago for a second car!