Finally getting our collection of cars sold - What replacement?

Basically my Fiesta has given us 5000 miles pure city service, not too bad for £400 plus £180 garage bills (full service and MOT) but I am having problems with the valves that sometimes like to get stuck meaning it can take 15 mins to start the car (has happened twice now).

My dads SORN Escort which was left in a damp garage for months has failed the MOT on about 15 different things including a rotten chassis and useless brakes.

I am going to try and sell my dads car for £100 and mine for £300, so we should have about £1000 to spend.

The problem is I also would also need to drive it so has to be quite small but my dad needs it for his business too so it needs to be reliable.

Something that is fairly safe would also be a bonus. No Citreon AX's

What I really like about my Fiesta is it is very easy to fix I have done been able to rewire a few sensors going into the injection system and do other stuff. I don't want something that is too complex. Again no Citreons! :

Any ideas?

Was looking at the 306 Diesel but they seem very over priced. Insurance group should be no higher than 4 or 5. Engine needs to be at least 70bhp as it will be used on the motorway.

 

AT... didn't you ask the exact same question about a e year ago?

There may be an existing thread that answers the question already, that's all..

 

The market has changed a lot since then .

 

Not really. If you now have some experience fixing Fords, stick with Fords - at this budget you'll have to be comfortable doing some diagnosis yerself. £1K could probably get you a reasonable Mondeo which should last at least another 3years with no attention, and check all the other boxes you request.

You'll probably find the group counts rather less than the overall perceived risk in terms of the named driver's age and postcode for overnight parking*. DO call around some more insurers... and add this to your costings. You might find it cheaper to buy a £1.5k car that will secure cheaper insurance for 2 years than buy another disposable nail. Just a thought.

 

£1500 would be well over the budget reallty. I want to drive it too and as I am learning it will be a big big but I think I can manage to drive a small hatch such as 306/Astra.

I was looking at diesel L series Rover 200's too (the MK3) as I know the L series can do mega mileage in the Montego.

 

Sell your car and piss off round Europe, let your dad take care of himself.

 

Charming....!

 

I like Citroens!

 

Nissan Micra or Toyota Starlet. Same answer as last time.

Do you not get bored with hearing us all say the same thing over and over. There really are no different answers. Mind you I suppose you'll ignore the advice, buy a piece of crap and then tell us about it......

 

Citroen ZX.

Or if you want something bigger, I sold my 98R mitsubishi galant a couple of months ago for £1000.

 

The worst cars I have ever owned have been French, sorry to any francophiles out there. I wouldn't touch one with somebody else's bargepole let alone my own. A Japanese car owner could never understand the pain and misery a ZX, Saxo or BX can inflict upon it's owner. I do, I've had them all

If you want bigger, think about this. My Dad sold a Toyota Corolla recently. It was about 12 years old, had 50,000ish miles on the clock, he wanted £1000 for it. He got phone calls from Bristol, St Albans, Glasgow and Norwich within a day of it being on Autotrader. Why do you think that is?

If you want a cheap good car look for something like that. Don't waste your money on something unreliable. Isn't there a saying, once bitten twice shy?

 

I liked my Ford Mundane-o

All the excitement of a Ginsters Buffet Bar, but still looked great with intergalactic mileage, only sold it cos I got bored with its longevity and wanted something different! Don't ever, bloomin, ever buy a Clio. Merde.

 

I must say I have not had a lot of luck with french cars.

 

It's not bad luck Gary, I believe the right hand drive versions are the French revenge for defeating Napolean at the battle of Waterloo.

 

I only suggested the ZX because he wanted a cheaper 306, which is exactly what the ZX is (mechanicals are identical, body is different).

But yes, I love japanese cars - however, it's important to differentiate between japanese cars and japanese cars. For example, japanese built mitsubishis are reliable whilst dutch-built ones (carisma, new colt) are piles of ^$£%. We know that swinedon hondas and sunderland nissans are fine though.

For big-mile reliability and low purchase cost, you can't beat a big japanese car. The real bargains are the japanese exec cars - mitsubishi galant, toyota camry, honda legend, mitsubishi sigma.

Yes, they will cost you more to insure and more to fuel, but you'll more than make that back by having a consistently working car that's not spending it's life on the side of the road or in a garage.

 

Possibly but who would have /drive one??


........only kidding Isaac.

 

Derbyshire Toyota's aren't bad either....

 

The problem is this is my car too, until I pass my test then it becomes both our cars until I buy my own. I am still looking at Fiestas because I know plenty of people who have them and never have any trouble with them, even mine hasn't gone wrong that much considering the engine is warn. I bought a car with no service history and 101k on the clock.

My mates got a 206 GTI 2.0, done 20k on it (the car has now done 70k) and he hasn't had any problems with it at all and he drives very very harshly.

They are complex though.

We will find something it is just a matter of being patient.

My car is running lovely at the moment, but with the camshaft rattling, valves refusing to open at times and the fact I have to use thick oil to stop it smoking means I need to get rid while the car still works. Will sell it for £300 which is about half the price of other N reg Fiestas with a long MOT in the area. Mine has 10 months MOT.

I suppose the ZX diesel may be ok I think they look very bland though . The 306 D seems to be able to cope with mega milleage and its only the xtras that go wrong such as central locking etc.

I was also looking at the Skoda Felicia as they are very very reliable but I have conflicting information regarding how safe they are.

 

AT get yerself one of these,very reliable, piece of piss to maintain,and parts avalaible from the local corner store(in vietnam at least).you can even drive it on a moterbike licence

 

Lol.