Cheap to run, reliable and 'cute' car for under £1k?

pendulum

My first thought was the 1.25 Fiesta. I had a 1998 one and girls thought it looked cute mainly because it looks like it had a sad face (makes girls want to huggle it to cheer it up). Also reliable, economical and fun to drive. A good all rounder.

Kilty_2

This works on the cute scale for me - don't know how much you can pick an early one up for though?

catflea

Austin A35

Cheap to buy, cheap to insure (classic policy), and if you are prepared to have a go yourself VERY cheap to maintain.

Noctu

Suzuki Ignis

smudger1964

Peugeot 106 diesel get 65 mpg out of mine dont get much better than that..fill it up dont have to think about it for over 600 miles

jase1

What exactly is "cute" in this context?

It's a ton or more of steel and plastic with four wheels and an engine.

I don't think I can name a single car that's "cute". Pug 106s, Ford Fiestas etc are just "some car" to me. My washing machine has more "charisma".

At under £1000, make and model become pretty much redundant when it comes to cheap to run and reliable. How the thing has been looked after is far more important. A Daewoo Kalos or a Ford Fiesta? Whichever of the two is in better condition.

Now, that A35 on the other hand, at least that is interesting!

claire16c

I bought a Ka. Id known a couple of people to have problems with them but bought one anyway... I had it for about 2 years before getting rid of it because the repairs were starting to cost more than the car was worth. It only just made to to the garage where I was exchanging it for something else without breaking down, was making all manner of weird noises thank goodness they didnt notice..

Since then Ive known another 2 people to get them and have endless problems.

Avoid!

As for the Nissan Micra - my mum bought one when I was about 3 and my sister a baby. We both learnt to drive in it - thats how long it kept going for!

cyclonebri1

jase1 wrote: »

What exactly is "cute" in this context?

It's a ton or more of steel and plastic with four wheels and an engine.

I don't think I can name a single car that's "cute". Pug 106s, Ford Fiestas etc are just "some car" to me. My washing machine has more "charisma".

At under £1000, make and model become pretty much redundant when it comes to cheap to run and reliable. How the thing has been looked after is far more important. A Daewoo Kalos or a Ford Fiesta? Whichever of the two is in better condition.

Now, that A35 on the other hand, at least that is interesting!

Hmmm, and some folks are confusing "cute" and "ugly" , although for a thousand quid rust free and reliable are more important criteria.

blizeH

Huge thanks for the replies guys - lots of things to think about and take into consideration! Seems like for reliability at least the Micra is the best option by far, and seems to be a real nice little drive too all things considered, although it is rather ugly...

The Kalos looks okay, and I do like the old Puntos but unsure on the reliability front after reading a few reviews. All good options though and I shall suggest them to my girlfriend, thanks

@ Kilty, what kind of KIA is that? Looks like it'd cost a lot more than £1k though unfortunately, and doubt I could convince my girlfriend to spend a few thousand (or more) on 'just a car'... definitely fits the criteria though I think :P

wba31

My first 3 cars were Nissan Micras, albeit I only paid £250 at most for any one of them, such brilliant little cars. if you can spend up to £1k i'd be tempted by a 206, good looking cars, reasonable to drive, and there are enough of them around for spares etc. I personally wouldn't touch a corsa, or a Ford of that age, but that's just my opinion.