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Anything Japanese - they consistently come top of independent surveys. Toyota are supposed to be the most reliable cars, though I've never owned one so can't speak from personal experience.
Skoda Favorit and the Felicia which is the newer version of the Favorit. Felicia can be had for next to nothing so mayaswell go for one of those. 1.3 mpi will be slightly more frugal I think. Parts are cheap, they're spacious, estate has massive boot and rear seats easily remove if required. There's also some great Skoda forums around with very kind people posting (excluding me of course ). You can even pick up low mileage great condition examples if you spend your time searching.
I somewhat agree with the coments about Japanese cars. The range of years given is pretty wide, and I have to agree that in the 80s and early 90s, Japanese was the way but since the early 90s, most Euro manufacturers have got better. If looking at a post 95 car, as well as the Japanese cars, the German cars are good, Fords are pretty relaible too.
On the opposite note, since Nissan joined forces with Renault, their relability had dropped so the balance is swinging. 2 years ago, Which? magazine voted Ford as the most reliable manufacturer.
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Hate to be boring and go with the majority but its true, if you want reliability then Jap cars are the answer.
Toyota, Mazda, Honda or Nissan and you will be way better off compared to other manufacturers.
German cars as mentioned have got to come in the next catagory for reliability VW and BMW genrally are great although BMW when they do go wrong are very expensive so that kinda counters the fact they are pretty reliable though.
Yep, i'd agree with the general view that Japanese cars are reliable even those made elsewhere. Toyo carina or corolla probably 2 of the best, if you want bigger camry...bombproof.
But, parts can be expensive, not brake pads and such like, but things like headlights, electric motors that sort of thing.
Don't rule out Korean cars, hyundai make very good cars and you have the bonus of being very cheap to buy because 'nike trainer' and 'next' people wouldn't want the badge.
IMO, one of the best cars ever made though for being simple and reliable is the good old peugeot 405 diesel, these will easily cover 2 to 4 hundred thousand miles with a little good maintenance, and very cheap now.
Pre 1994/95 Mercedes EClass and the parts aren't expensive either.
I find one of the best ways of deciding such things is to look at what they are driving in Africa and they tend to be old Mercedes, Toyotas and in francophile areas Renault 4's.
I want your veiw on reliable cars from 1985 to 2000!
Clearly i dont care about looks, i just want a cheap, practical, spacious and reliable banger
Thats a very wide range?????
Anyway because of that, my Mk111 Cavalier was fantastic and hardly cost me a penny over many years. Jap spares, ok if you need them, aren't always exactly cheap.:rolleyes:
Right there with you on the Germans. I've had both a BMW 5 series (1992 model 525i) and Mercedes E Class (1988 model 200E) and I unreservedly loved both of them. Neither cost me more than £1000 to purchase.
The BMW was more fun to drive, but parts were a bit more expensive. It still wasn't bad though, as nothing went wrong very often. The Mercedes was amazingly comfortable, quiet and never EVER went wrong in the 3 years that I owned it.
The way to run one of these is to do servicing yourself every 6 months and find a good independent specialist who can do any jobs that you can't do yourself.
The only downside with cars like this is a) finding a good one to begin with and b) high cost of fuel and (sometimes) insurance.
How about a VW Golf, Passat or Polo if you need something small?
Get a Nissan Sunny. Old late 80s ones (87 onwards) have great engines, but bodies are a bit lightweight. Post 1992 ones are probably the best as they are rock solid, great engines and better safety (side impact bars). Still basic by today's new car standards, but good reliability and low cost yields cheap motoring. I used to have both of these cars and moved onto a newer Nissan, but it isn't as good.
Condition and service history are more important than mileage IMO. But still make is important when it comes to spare parts costs - and proneness to problems. For example, DO NOT BUY A LADA it will rot a horrible death and break down every five minutes. Ok I exaggerate, but they're probably not the best cars about. I'd be surprised if you can still get good second hand one of anything but a Niva in roadworthy condition anymore.
The good thing is now the MOT is computerised so I think you should be able to see at least the past 2 results of the MOT's on the internet, if they failed and what they failed on. But bear in mind, if it failed an MOT and has been repaired, then that problem is less likely to occur again, so faults coming up on MOT's aren't a bad thing - so long as it's not due to neglect by the owner.
Anyway Lauren_1 would be nice if you get back to tell us what car you got
Condition and service history are more important than mileage IMO. But still make is important when it comes to spare parts costs - and proneness to problems. For example, DO NOT BUY A LADA it will rot a horrible death and break down every five minutes. Ok I exaggerate, but they're probably not the best cars about. I'd be surprised if you can still get good second hand one of anything but a Niva in roadworthy condition anymore.
The good thing is now the MOT is computerised so I think you should be able to see at least the past 2 results of the MOT's on the internet, if they failed and what they failed on. But bear in mind, if it failed an MOT and has been repaired, then that problem is less likely to occur again, so faults coming up on MOT's aren't a bad thing - so long as it's not due to neglect by the owner.
Anyway Lauren_1 would be nice if you get back to tell us what car you got
Can you actually buy a Ladder in the uk?
I thought the otherside ahd bought them all back for more than they offloaded them over here?
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Most reliable car.
). You can even pick up low mileage great condition examples if you spend your time searching.
if you can of course,
it will rot a horrible death and break down every five minutes. Ok I exaggerate, but they're probably not the best cars about. I'd be surprised if you can still get good second hand one of anything but a Niva in roadworthy condition anymore.
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