buying a car under a grand

want2bmortgage3

i've currently got a 1992 golf driver 1800 petrol (mark 2) which keeps on going and has a long mot but the tax runs out in february which is almost £200 a year. the car only cost £300 nearly 3 years ago and i've spent very little on it apart from MOT and tax.

MPG has been poor lately (26 last time, at best 36 in the summer, averages about) even on a-road journeys. i travel about 25 miles a day so the fuel can add up. now the sunroof has started leaking and made the drivers seat wet and lots of condensation as well as the boot not locking, and it being a bit tired having done 244,000 miles i am thinking of replacing it.

so looking for recommendations for something cheap to run, a bit more modern, preferably petrol, small to medium size (happy with golf size). looking to spend £600 to £1000.

computershack

Well if you actually serviced your car and replaced the blocked up fuel filter,knackered spark plugs and manky gloop that's masquerading as engine oil, you'd find that the car ran better and gave better fuel economy.

On a Fifth Gear programme about fuel economy, one car got a 30% improvement just for having a service. It'd not had one in years.

£600-£1000 is just going to buy another shed. My brother said he needs to find a car with tax and mot that'll do 300 motorway miles per week for £500 by Monday. Not a cat in hells chance.

rictus123

If you can get insurance ok, which driving a golf im sure you must be, maybe look at an Audi A3 1.6?

rictus123

Saxo Vtr even?

motorguy

rictus123 wrote: »

If you can get insurance ok, which driving a golf im sure you must be, maybe look at an Audi A3 1.6?

Wow - i'm stunned, you can actually buy those for around a grand now. Great cars.

pitkin2020

rictus123 wrote: »

If you can get insurance ok, which driving a golf im sure you must be, maybe look at an Audi A3 1.6?

lol please find me one for under 1k that hasn't been to the moon and back. With a brand like Auid your best to spend more for a well looked after version than the dregs at the bottom that could end up costing you a fortune to rectify

As mentioned you need to way up the cost of A) a damn good service and repairing the problems to buying another car that could still have problems and have to have money spent on it.

If the car has been reliable i'd be inclined to get the problems fixed,
good service £100 ish, sunroof seal and boot lock from a scrappys around £50. The golf is a very easy car to service aswell you can easily do it all with a spare hour with little no mechanical experience

pitkin2020

rictus123 wrote: »

Saxo Vtr even?

stick with the golf, in fact i personally would rather have a golf cart than a saxo, cheap tacky interiors very under powered engines (1.0) atleast and not that great fuel economy

rictus123

ok sorry just going with the cars people i know i have bought for under a grand! only last 1 is a vectra! But il let pitken tell you!

pitkin2020

to be fair a saxo is good as a starter car but i wouldnt have one (each to their own and it wasn't a dig at you)
The problem is at the moment over the las 6 months used car prices have gone up, a car last december you could have got for 1k is now going to cost around £1200-£1600 depending on make and model.

The best thing to do is look on autotrader website, search for upto a grand with 30 miles of your area, see what you fancy then go to www.honestjohn.co.uk and view info on that car for potential problems

motorguy

pitkin2020 wrote: »

lol please find me one for under 1k that hasn't been to the moon and back. With a brand like Auid your best to spend more for a well looked after version than the dregs at the bottom that could end up costing you a fortune to rectify

As mentioned you need to way up the cost of A) a damn good service and repairing the problems to buying another car that could still have problems and have to have money spent on it.

If the car has been reliable i'd be inclined to get the problems fixed,
good service £100 ish, sunroof seal and boot lock from a scrappys around £50. The golf is a very easy car to service aswell you can easily do it all with a spare hour with little no mechanical experience

Heres one for £950 with 120K miles. thats only 10K per year.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200953349181153/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/audi/model/a3/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/bt667gu?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt667gu%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fmake%2Faudi%2Fmodel%2Fa3%2Fpage%2F1%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc&logcode=p

Heres another with 95K miles for just over £1000

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200943344244678/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/audi/model/a3/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/bt667gu?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt667gu%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fmake%2Faudi%2Fmodel%2Fa3%2Fpage%2F1%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc&logcode=p

But i do agree with you. I'd be inclined to repair the golf. Any car for around £1000 will be troublesome

pitkin2020

pgilc1 wrote: »

Heres one for £950 with 120K miles. thats only 10K per year.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200953349181153/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/audi/model/a3/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/bt667gu?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt667gu%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fmake%2Faudi%2Fmodel%2Fa3%2Fpage%2F1%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc&logcode=p

Heres another with 95K miles for just over £1000

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200943344244678/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/audi/model/a3/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/bt667gu?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt667gu%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fmake%2Faudi%2Fmodel%2Fa3%2Fpage%2F1%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc&logcode=p

But i do agree with you. I'd be inclined to repair the golf. Any car for around £1000 will be troublesome

i did look myself actually and was surprised to see A3's for under a grand i have always loved the A3, i wouldnt get a 1.6 though but if thats your thing its adequete enough.
we could all be listing get this or that but really you need to see whats in your area as price do fluctuate across the UK