Cheap (under £500) used car

tinoest

Hi all,

Ive just finished my final year at uni and im looking for a cheap (under £500, possibly a bit more....) car that I can buy to drive around the country a fair bit.

I own a old Austin Mini which whilst fun to drive currently needs alot of repair work after three - four years of Motorway and such like driving. With very little spent on repair work or maintenance other than to keep her running.

So whilst she is off the road I would like a cheap reliable car to get me around. Ive looked at Vauxhall's (Don't really like the Corsa...) I used to own a old 1987 Nissan Micra, which was perfect for what I want now....is there anything similar I should look out for which is about the price im looking for?

Obviously a 1.0ltr or something similar would be good as cheap insurance and tax is deseriable.

Any advise or knowledge is appreciated. I can maintain a car to stripping the engine down and a full rebuild level, but I would rather not as ive already got one car I have to do that with :rotfl:

anewman

Skoda Felicia 1.3 would be a good option. Relatively cheap to insure (and come in at the under 1.6l tax bracket). Parts are a reasonable price and it's easy to do DIY work on. Plenty out there all cheap so you can be fussy which one you go for too. Look out for leaky sunroofs, corroded suspension spring cups (bottom one new shocks needed), rust in the tailgate, leaky windscreen seal (water in fusebox/damp soundproofing behind dash). Rattly noisy engine is common in the 1.3 and usually indicates the timing chain is stretched, but there's usually nothing more than the noise to worry about and it's a relatively easy job to change with parts and gaskets cost approx £40.

tinoest

I also forgot to add which places are good to look?

I assume ebay if your careful, autotrader, used car dealers and local free ads, anywhere else?

Grudge_Turd

Hi, I do just that buy a banger with a years MOT, £250 is my limit, you can still buy a decent car for little money. I have had two mondeo's, the last one cost me £150 had a years MOT and tax and needed the cambelt changing, didnt bother and it went boom.

Anyway i drive a 2ltr Zetec Mondeo, 90,000 miles and has just passed its second MOT with no problems.

Try looking at Honda Concerto, Micra's are good but can be pricey if they need fixing, old school Honda's are OK but pricey to insure. Look through your local free paper and look for cars owned by old boys!!

There are more bargins to be had with this scrappage scheme as it costs garages to store them and they look pants on the forecourt.

If it looks to good for the money then it probably is!

Good luck and ask lots of questions!

anewman

Grudge_Turd wrote: »

There are more bargins to be had with this scrappage scheme as it costs garages to store them and they look pants on the forecourt.

The scrappage scheme is just that. To get the discount there has to be a certificate of destruction, the cars cannot be sold on.

Another place to look is pistonheads. If any of them suggest paying before seeing the car, or mention anything about being abroad or moving abroad, run like anything,

delain

i would say a nissan micra. got a 1995 (N plate) one for £400 from ebay abt 2 years ago. Sold it to my mum and its still going!

Inactive

Grudge_Turd wrote: »

There are more bargins to be had with this scrappage scheme as it costs garages to store them and they look pants on the forecourt.

In fact there are less bargains to be had since the scrappage scheme, all cars must be scrapped, that means there are some perfectly good cars getting scrapped, leaving less in the market place.

MrSmartprice

I would avoid things like Auto Trader if you are trawling at the bottom of the market. And don't be tempted by those junkpiles with stickers in the windows that appear in certain areas of some towns.

My advice would be to look in post office and newsagent windows to see what is being offered locally. This is where pensioners tend to sell their cars, especially widows after their hubby has died. Some of these cars may be a few years old but they have never been thrashed, tend to be low mileage, and will have been serviced without fail. I have found a few cars for people in this way. They tend to be cars which are cheap to insure too. Don't be too fussy about make, condition is far more important in an old car. Just make sure it's not a Rover;)

avantra

MrSmartprice wrote: »

. Just make sure it's not a Rover;)

Hahaha, I was just about to tell the op that for this kind of dosh he can get a diesel Rover 400 or 45, frugal, sizable,very reliable (diesel but only the diesels) and cheap, did I mention reliable?:cool:

MrSmartprice

avantra wrote: »

Hahaha, I was just about to tell the op that for this kind of dosh he can get a diesel Rover 400 or 45, frugal, sizable,very reliable (diesel but only the diesels) and cheap, did I mention reliable?:cool:

And of course the worst diesel engines ever made!:o

Quite appropriate though. They were among the worst cars ever made!:rotfl:

avantra

MrSmartprice wrote: »

And of course the worst diesel engines ever made!:o

Quite appropriate though. They were among the worst cars ever made!:rotfl:

This is debatable, the L type diesel was the most reliable/advanced British made diesel lump of the day. These engines are built like a tank and I would genuinely recommend them as a cheap long term transportation, better than many Fiats/Korean/fords of the early 00's