LG John

Update on Page 2, post 35

Edit: 'which beater'

Some dumb bint ****-ended our beater the other day and it'll be written off on account of the damage relative to its value. This leaves us in the position of having to replace it......but, with what?

I really don't think after the insurance payout (whatever that might be) and some extra dough that we can breach £2,000 and if we do we are talking £100-200 maximum. Edit: Budget may be up to a max of £3k now

So, the info you need:

Must haves

* Sub 85,000 miles
* 30mpg average and pref' an achievable 35mpg+ on a run (without driving at 56mph!)
* 1997 or newer
* Relatively reliable and easy to get put straight if need be.
* Must be first and foremost easy going daily transport for 25 miles each way commute
* PAS
* Central Locking

Would Likes

* Air-con or sunroof
* Warm/reasonable performance
* Reasonable handling (i.e. not a total barge!)
* ABS

I'm looking for a car with a little 'something' about it to seperate it from the other work drones in zetec fords. That might be zingy performance or perhaps wads of luxury and toys or maybe something completely different.

So far my thoughts are:

* Saxo VTR/VTS (got the handling, fun and performance but could be difficult to avoid dogs at this price)
* 306 XSI (seems to have 'slightly' better than VTR performance and good ones seem available for the money - bigger car too)
* 406 V6 - I've already blown up 2 of these!! They are good though but 30mpg...hmmm!)
* 406 TDI - ticks the boxes except for 'that something'. It's not luxurious nor fast!
* 306 gti/rallye - seems difficult to get sub 100k for the money. Rallye seems cheaper??

You'll notice a french theme - that's what I know best in this price range. Look forward to your input.

Also, this will primarily be SWIMBO's car so I have to be able to make a good case for it one way or another

what would scooby do

Your list is all frenchy poo

Try some swedish 93 or 95

LG John

wwsd - mpg, mpg, mpg I just don't see a saab getting 30mph+ on average unless it is utterly uselessly slow.

I should actually have put that in as a constraint. I really can't stand **** slow cars now. Beater must be good for 100mph in under 30 seconds from rest and 60 in 10.

what would scooby do

You are asking for a lot of criteria to be met

I could sell you my 1997 Rover 200 VI. It's got aircon/sunroof/central locking/PAS/ABS etc etc as it's very light and has 145BHP (revs like crazy) but I like it too much and is ideal for me blatting around London..

Gompo

Before I read your potential options I was already thinking a 306 XSI could be a worthwhile option. Maybe consider a Xsara VTS aswell?

deuchars

Sierra all the way

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Civic LSI/VTEC?

LG John

Does the XSI handle ok? What about grunt? Is it about Saxo VTR fast (i.e. 'warm' hatch). I don't think my criteria is too restrictive personally.

what would scooby do

XSI handle OK if you have decent tyres on them, majorly bad lift off over steer if you dont

wrx-kris

306TD???

scooby222

xsi s handle pretty well and ride well too. if you look at a phase 2 make sure its a later one with the 16v engine, 8valves are criminally slow!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

SB, my LPT 9-3 does 30 plus (computer says between 31 and 35) and goes like the clappers, pretty much feels like my T5 did, Civic Type R's and Mini cooper S's arent really any quicker, my dad has a ZT 190 and reckons mine feels a lot faster than that, I suspect its down to power delivery it doesnt however do anything you could call handling. Plus if you want they remap to 225 bhp for 500 quid.

Might be keeping it a while longer, it was meant as a stopgap after BRM and Fiat Coupe disasters but I quite like it and the kids are now going into private education so I am not going to have that much money left.

406 is quite luxorious, very good ride and very comfy, certainly a better ride than somne so called luxury cars like X5's which ride like a two tonne Golf GTI.

I dont really think at 2 grand you should be chasing traditional fast cars as they will be ragged or fooked, so the Saab might be a good choice as its a steady persons car that just happens to be quite fast.

MooseRacer

9-3 is a damn good suggestion, as is going for something more 'leftfield'. A reasonable low or high pressure turbo 9-3 can be had for less than £2k

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

The LPT and LPT are the same unit just with different boost settings, the HOT (205) I think is a bigger turbo and the Viggen is a 2.3 with a bigger turbo, you dont get quite the same benefit from a remap on the more powerful variants. There are always Volvo's as well, you could get a T5 for that but the fuel economy isnt as good, about 24 mpg.

bohnjegley

impreza sport

LG John

Budget is potentially up by £1k so might be able to stretch to £3k. How does that affect things?

dezmondo

I do 50miles a day and wanted to avoid using the Scoob during the week. When I set out to buy a car I had pretty much the same check list as you and looked at various options.

Eventually bought a Ford Puma 1.7 from a reputable dealer with 6 months warranty for less than £3K for a 1999 (better driving position than earlier models and with the digital odometer which is harder to clock!) with 70k on the clock, full ford service history, A/C, ABS, Traction control, heated screen and mirrors, in dash 6 disc CD and speaker upgrade (sounds pretty good for a factory system). I get 35mpg in a car that will get to 60 in a fair bit less than 9 secs and handles brilliantly.

Evo mag said:
For - Everything
Against - Nothing
............and I have to agree!

The car goes and handles brilliantly whilst being reasonably roomy (bigger that 6 foot in the back and your head catches the roof but that is all). The fact that most WERE bought by women is a shame as many chaps have missed out on such a well sorted car and it seems that most of the Pumas I see around are now driven by blokes so no shame there (plus chicks still dig it so brownie points are available too!).

It's a Fraud Fester in drag at the end of the day so easy and cheap to service and repair (carried out a full service on ours myself including new front disks and pads for less than a hundred quid!!).

All in all I would recommend one to anyone wanting a fun, reliable cheap to run car that can actually suprise exotica on twisty roads!!

Test drive one at least, I think you'll agree!

taffyboyo

civic 5 door 1.8 v tec, (mb6 I think)
well built, comfortable drive and revvy

dezmondo

POOMA

rabskyline

excuse my ignorance...but what is a beater ??

anyway, what about a accord type r ! around 3k (or a little more but not much) plenty of poke,space,fuel economy etc etc...

LG John

Puma is a strong contender I have to admit. It'll probably score well with SWIMBO but I've heard they are quite nippy in a straightline and handle well. I assume the handling is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than a 1.25 fiesta which is utterly ****e!! Also raced one in a straightline when I had my VTS and there wasn't much in it!!

Civic VTi's are also a strong case as well with honda reliability and strong revvy engines.

dezmondo

Yeah, it is bizarre tha it's a fester underneath because the Puma said to be one of, if not the, best handling small coupes ever, feels so tight and direct yet gives feed back in buckets.
Not bad in a straight line (can be bluefined for about 300 quid to give up to 132bhp and 170Nm torque with better midrange push, but I don't think it needs it due to the fact you can carry so much speed into (and out of) the bends and lets face it that is where most of our driving is done).
Will cruise happily at 90 (on a private test track ) and never gives less than 35mpg.
My mrs had always fancied one (based purely on cutesy teardrop looks mind) and when I did my homework I did not see any reason to argue, pleased I didn't, it's great.

rallycol

iTrader: (4)

Go for styling and unreliability,but alot of car for the money look at Alfa Romeo or put the sensible head on and go A4 / Honda or if you have a bit of bottle, a classic ,no road tax ,buttons insurance,and dirty hands

Dream Weaver

Focus

wayno

iTrader: (3)

c20let+f28 in mk3 astra

with 6 speed i used to get 40+mpg on motorway and is very fun to drive, would recommend getting lsd fitted

Andy M3

LG John

DW, I think I'd do my wrists if I ended up becoming a 'focus drone'.

Current Strongest Contenders are (in no particular order)

Peugeot 206 GTI

+ Strong performance but reasonable economy.
+ Something of a hot-hatch compromise (good for Laura)
+ Good looking inside and out
+ Reasonably well equiped with ac/climate, computer, electrics, etc
- Questionable hot-hatch merits
- French so build quality/reliability issues
- Looking at a full £3k to get one that isn't very old and high mileage

Ford Puma

+ Reasonable running costs and reasonable performance
+ Excellent handling
+ Reliable
- Girly looks
- It's a ford (i f*cking hate fords)
- slightly impractical shape?

Honda Civic VTI

+ Strong honda vtec engine
+ Reliabilty
+ Small saloon practicality
- Boring to look at inside and out
- I don't know enough about them (mpg?, running costs?, known problems?)
- Lack of fun (guestimate)

...out there wildcard:

saab 9-3 areo (hot)

+ Big car practicality, toys and comforts
+ Should run for ever and a day
+ Monster mid-range grunt
- Unknown fuel economy (I'm a boost-a-holic!)
- Cumbersome handling and lots of weight to move around
- Old man looks
- Probably bigger and more grown up than we need.

Further in depth thinking and anaylsis will probably have to wait a bit until we find out what the exact insurance payout will be. Keep the suggestions coming though

STi5_TypeR_VLtd

Correct me if I am wrong but if your car is damaged and you were not at fault (i.e. rear ended) then you can insist that the car be repaired.

This is certainly the approach a colleague of mine took when his car was hit front on by someone on the wrong side of the road... his 306 was beyond repair but this ensured the payout was very favourable. His car was worth at best £1800 but they paid him £2300

LG John

Comparable examples of our fiesta seem to fall between £500-1200. Ours, whilst reliable, was getting tatty so probably only had a sale value of around £500 and probably less if you were not willing to wait around. However, it's relative value (to us) is higher. We knew all the things that were wrong with it (or lack of things rather) and it would no doubt have given many more miles of cheap motoring before giving up. If the insurance offer £500 they will be told where to go!! It would be an absolute lottery trying to replace the fiesta with another of the same kind and condition at that price. Our passed its last MOT in Jan with absolute minimal work and not even any 'heads up' work!

I doubt very much they will repair the car as it needs new bumper, new tailgate and one of the main beams behind the bumper is buckled. We'll certainly be arguing for a reasonable payout if the car is written off.

It's a long shot but I'd like to try and get £1k for the car then chuck £2k of our own hard earned to get something a little younger, less miles, sportier and more suitable to the 50 mile round trip we undertake every day.

RLE

iTrader: (2)

was in a similar boat to you a few months ago SB and had a very similar list of cars as "potentials"

Ended up giving a 306 HDI a try bearing in mind it was going to be used for commuting in fairly busy traffic. Must admit its a great car. Fuel economy is fantastic (average 550 miles to a tank which means one fill up every month for me) ;it's fairly nippy and handles quite well.

£3k bought me a five door X reg with 52k FSH.