Cheap reliable car, suitable for long journeys?

miamoo

My sons in the army, he is training down south at the moment and we live in the northwest so quite a distance.
My OH has asked at a local garage about a cheap run around for when he passes his test. We were thinking a 1.1 really, as he'll only be 18 and insurance is to expensive if the engine is any bigger

The garage bloke told us that a second hand 1.1 couldnt handle a 8hr return motor way journey a couple of times a month, he said it would blow up.

Is this true? If it is, what sort of car can handle that sort of journey, we want the car to be as cheap as possible insurance wise. We have a maximum of 1k for the car, but was hoping to spend between £500-£1,000. Thanks for reading:D

Alexis27

He's talking utter drivel. Any modern car built during the last umpteen decades can run for hours and hours on end.

Try a Ford Fiesta or Ka.

mikey72

Depending on insurance, the old peugeot 106 diesel, saxo diesel, any of the peugeot 206, or 405 diesels.
Skoda fabia is a low group, and dirt cheap.
Petrol start in group 2 for the 2000 to 2007 models, and the 1.9 non turbo diesel is only group 5.

fadetogrey

I think he may have meant if its cheap to buy it will most likely have high mileage and whilst modern cars are reliable at high miles if they have not been looked after servicing wise they stand more chance of breaking down.A "cheap runaround" is I think just that,good enough to run about town and if /when it breaks down you can get a friendly neighbour to tow you home.However if the same runaround breaks down hundreds of miles from home it could cost you the price of it to get it back home again. If he is going to be posted abroad with the army it would be of little use having a car as tax and insurance would only be wasted if he is not there.This may be a case where public transport is the cheapest option.

forgotmyname

Vitually every car out there will be OK driven up and down the motorway all day everu day, In excess
of the speed limit.

A bigger car with a bigger engine will be more relaxed. But thats what the stereo is for.

Engine screaming away, road noise getting too load? Turn the stereo up more.


Armed forces, Just passed test.. £1k for the car but the insurance could be 3 times that....

Your going to buy what the insurance let you... Thinking back to when i was 19/20 i was driving
bit rover V8's, Insurance was more than the cars cost. But not £3 insurance most seem to quote now
for a tiny hatchback.

tersus_slate

miamoo wrote: »

The garage bloke told us that a second hand 1.1 couldnt handle a 8hr return motor way journey a couple of times a month, he said it would blow up.

I used to do the journey from Devon or Hampshire to Central Scotland in a 4-speed 1l VW Polo on a regular basis. And that car was made in 1990, this was 2001/2002 I was doing these journeys. The bloke at the garage was talking out of his behind!

warehouse

You really don't want to be trusting that garage with your business if that's what you're being told. Utter drivel.

Good advice already on this thread, but consider getting him a diesel as it will be so much more economical on the motorway than petrol.

TrickyWicky

Alexis27 wrote: »

Try a Ford Fiesta or Ka.

I can second that. The Ka's have chain driven engines (no cambelt snapping to worry about) and the engines are pretty solid. The rest of the car is the weak point though..

The fiestas on the other hand have reliable engines (with a cambelt you DO need to keep an eye on) and everything else is pretty reliable too. Just make sure the cambelt is changed when it should be.

If you're son has mechanical knowledge or friends who can do it the Ka might be the better option as the engines are very good. The weak points are the front shocks, wishbones, and brakes. Wishbones are the worst to replace but the rest isn't too bad. As for the fiesta, no idea but i've known plenty of people with them and they've had no problems. As said above though, they have cambelts and thats not really DIY unless you've done them before.

andygb

tersus_slate wrote: »

I used to do the journey from Devon or Hampshire to Central Scotland in a 4-speed 1l VW Polo on a regular basis. And that car was made in 1990, this was 2001/2002 I was doing these journeys. The bloke at the garage was talking out of his behind!

I bought an old Polo for £25 in 1992 (it was I think a late seventies model), and it never failed an MOT test, did 500 miles nearly every weekend, and was economical. The only things I had to replace in 2 years ownership was an exhaust system and brake pads and shoes.
We took a 1.1 Punto (1996 model) down to the South of France and back in 2004 and it ran sweet as a nut.

TrickyWicky

Wouldn't touch a fiat myself so you were brave with the Punto. We had a Bravo and it was a money pit. If it wasn't the gearbox it was the engine (both being terminal I might add). The Polo doesn't surprise me though, VWs are known for being very reliable and have a big fan base.

I forgot to add to my earlier post the Ka we have has done loads of long mileage trips up and down the country. Sure the wishbones and shocks have been annoying but its done several 500+ mile journeys up and down the country (with and without stops on the way) and one return trip we did started at 3pm, one hour stop at the other end, and then we got home at 5AM - 13 hours non stop pretty much 300 miles each way. Reliable engines and gearboxes but the other bits can be annoying. Highly reliable though.

Hintza

This thread is full of masochists.

Does he not get a rail warrant?