I need a shed / (Toyota Carina E 1.8)

Kilty_2

Are these generally reliable old smokers? Going to look at one later with a view to running it for 8 weeks / 3-4k miles and then disposing of it either by selling it or scrapping it.

~140k miles on clock, few months MOT.

Anything I should be looking out for in particular?

Kilty_2

Figures suggest these returned ~40MPG combined when new - seems high for an old 1.8....

goosander

Sounds ideal for your purposes. IIRC they have lean burn engines hence the decent economy.

Hammyman

Kilty wrote: »

Figures suggest these returned ~40MPG combined when new - seems high for an old 1.8....

Not really...2 Litre Vauxhall Cavaliers were doing this a decade earlier.

And yes, they're quite bullet proof - often used as private hire cars.

harveybobbles

I'd be tempted to keep it and sell your Korean [STRIKE]piece of rubbish[/STRIKE] car...

Or have some fun with it like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA_KtjDymig&feature=related

or this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vCdB8KCshY&feature=related

This is my fave though lol...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa8n3_dGKYU&feature=related

jase1

Why are you without the Kia? You've not bust it already have you?

And yes the old Toyota lean-burn does deliver 40mpg... just remember that this old nonsense about running around in 5th gear doesn't apply to this car even more than it doesn't apply to anything else. Low gear, high revs, narrow throttle.

bigjl

They were stupidly reliable.

Almost every single Carina E in London ended up a minicab.

I har one for a couple of weeks many years ago. I remember it as a smooth drive, but got rid as i was a Vauxhall man really back then.

I reckon that you may find yourself preferring it to your Kia.

I also think it will do nearer to 40mpg on normal.running around, maybe mid thirties round town.

Definately a good bet as a smoker. My mate has just gone back to his Cavalier after a couple of years in a Honda people carrier. But he now does a lot more miles and he will get an easy 40mpg out of his Cavalier.

nonnatus

Oh My god, My Mum has a Carina estate and despite it looking like a relic from the past, having mismatched doors and more rust than paint it's an INCREDIBLY reliable car that has just sailed through yet another MOT, needing no work. It's done 188k. I think she'll mourn it like a person when it finally dies :rotfl:

Kilty_2

Hammyman wrote: »

Not really...2 Litre Vauxhall Cavaliers were doing this a decade earlier.

What went wrong then? Safety tech increasing weight?

jase1 wrote: »

Why are you without the Kia? You've not bust it already have you?
.

Nah, need to do 3-4k miles in 2 months for work and don't want to risk exceeding the mileage limit on my PCP (or particularly drive 300+ miles at a time with luggage in my Picanto either)

Carina I was going to look at had gone

Distinct lack of sub-£300 cars around here, all seem to be miles and miles away

adamc260

Kilty wrote: »

Are these generally reliable old smokers? Going to look at one later with a view to running it for 8 weeks / 3-4k miles and then disposing of it either by selling it or scrapping it.

~140k miles on clock, few months MOT.

Anything I should be looking out for in particular?

Anything that was a popular taxi car (or a toyota for that fact) is probably quite reliable!

Kilty_2

adamc260 wrote: »

Anything that was a popular taxi car (or a toyota for that fact) is probably quite reliable!

There's a 300k mile SDI Octavia on ebay not too far away