TurboAndy

iTrader: (1)

Im wanting a cheap runaround to give the impreza a break. Im not wanting to spend alot buying it nor do I want to spend alot running it and needs to have good mpg. My budget is £600 which I know has more than halved my market to look at.
Ive had a renault megane 1.9TD which was good on fuel but due to me being tall I have to sit with my head to one side wedged against the roof. Ive also had a Pug 306 19TD which again was ok on fuel but just could not ge comfortable in and in the end the engine went pop.

Please no cars that make me look like I have gender issues or that i like the same sex if you follow me.

So what do you think I should get.

David_Dickson

I think you should get whatever comes up for sale locally that fits the job.....For a cheap runnabout, there is no point narrowing down your search to specific models - keep your eyes open and an open mind and you will find something - quite possibly a car you would never have considered before.

mart360

TBH bangernomics is fine, but your initial outlay of £600, will probably require another £400 straight off

We looked at buying the other half a replacement car over Christmas, her old rover was on its last legs.. Cambelt needed doing, brakes all round , exhaust blowing at the front pipe, and the HG was on the way out.

With the exclusion of the HG, the rest of the bits were reasonable fixes, however the associated costs were not

£100 Brakes, £75 exhaust, but the cambelt was the one that killed it, circa £250-300 notes,


If you look into all the cars, around and below £1000, you,ll find they are
either overdue services, or cambelts are due to be changed.

So your £600 purchase becomes £1000 very quickly, that said, if your mechanically minded, its an easy option, just the time and materials

You could narrow the market, and look for cars with timing chains, Some Nissans, Fords, Saabs and BMW's spring to mind

The costs may be slightly higher, but you dont have to factor in a cambelt change imminentlyWe managed to pick up a 2001 Primera, with 18k on the clock for £1600, and then got another £100 back on the scrap for the Rover. So it cost her £1500 in the end


HTH

MArt

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

My wife has both a nissan micra (K11 1.0) and a vw polo (1996 1.6). Both cost around £800 to buy, micra did 50mpg everywhere whereas the polo did 40mpg, which is bad for for 1.6 and went like a little rocket.
The micra had the common throttle body issue (dry solder joints) which I fixed myself, so didn't cost anything. Then we decided to get the clutch changed as it didn't have long left, which only cost about £200 from Mr Clutch. The I think after a couple of years it failed its MOT due to rusty sills (another common fault) but again, only cost £60 to sort.

The polo needed a new door handle mechanism as the wife snapped the cable hook when the door froze one winter and then a set of brake pads I believe.

We sold both of them after approx 2 years of ownership for around £100 les than what we paid for them.
As a run around, I would recommend either.

TurboAndy

iTrader: (1)

Ive been looking at Polo's but I draw the line ant Micra's lol

Reffro

Mk2 Fiat Punto isn't a bad call. Cheap as chips and the 1.2 is very economical, plus they are very roomy.