Budget of £1700 - what to get?!

PJMardy

Thanks everyone. Condition is key - I'll remember that!

I know this is INCREDIBLY daft... but I can't get an S40 for completely personal reasons. It would remind me of someone who came very close to ruining my life (not an ex, someone far crueller!) so I just couldn't stand to get in one. I know - it's completely ridiculous but I couldn't do it!

Good to know about the 12k mile cost/benefit tipping point too.

Love these boards!

gilbert_and_sullivan

If you won't consider an S40, then do consider its sister the Mitsubishi Carisma, preferably with the 1.6 petrol engine not the 1.8, should come in way under budget.

ILW

Nissan Micra. Thousands of these still running at 20 years old.

PJMardy

ILW wrote: »

Nissan Micra. Thousands of these still running at 20 years old.

Yep, that's on my list too after being recommended by someone else on these forums - I'd never considered them before but everyone seems to love them here!

Strider590

ILW wrote: »

Nissan Micra. Thousands of these still running at 20 years old.

PJMardy wrote: »

Yep, that's on my list too after being recommended by someone else on these forums - I'd never considered them before but everyone seems to love them here!

Woah, be careful there...... Micra are up there almost on par with the Golf for having a reputation they don't deserve. The early models were pretty robust back in the mid 90's, but now they're falling apart and the newer one's are nowhere near as good as their predecessors used to be.

It's also a small car, gonna cost a fortune to buy an old basic spec model.... I'd go bigger and newer for less money.

PJMardy

Strider590 wrote: »

Woah, be careful there...... Micra are up there almost on par with the Golf for having a reputation they don't deserve. The early models were pretty robust back in the mid 90's, but now they're falling apart and the newer one's are nowhere near as good as their predecessors used to be.

It's also a small car, gonna cost a fortune to buy an old basic spec model.... I'd go bigger and newer for less money.

Oh blimey... OK, well, I'm going to keep hold of all the comments/advice on here and then look for something in good condition! I was also looking at Golfs - are they a no-no as well then?

Strider590

PJMardy wrote: »

I was also looking at Golfs - are they a no-no as well then?

They're not bad cars, they're simply no better than anything else out there.
BUT they cost a lot more because of that old myth that they're the most reliable. I don't mind paying more for something that is genuinely better, but paying more because of an old myth, which was based on a truth in the mid-80's...... Not sure I could do that some 30 years later.

The Skoda Octavia and the Audi A3 (and I think the SEAT Leon) are built on the same platform, do they get this same legendary status? Put the 4 in a line up and ask 100 people which they think is the most reliable and they'll pretty much all point at the Golf for no logical reason at all.

jase1

The old (pre-2003) Micra was pretty much as bulletproof as small cars get (watch out for rust underneath though). The post-2003 cars (which are little more than reskinned Renault Clios, and saddled with a troublesome timing chain setup) are not as good.

Carisma 1.6 is a good shout though. These really are underrated (as are Mitsubishis in general actually); they don't rot, the 1.6 engine is pretty much indestructible (the 1.8 a lot less so) and parts are generally cheap as they are shared with a number of other cars.

The 1.6 Lancer from around 2005 provides more of the same. Dull as ditchwater, but the Lancer is a better car than the Carisma/S40 in all honesty -- built down to a price in terms of the interior etc, but the mechanicals are tough and durable. It's a newish car but an old-school design, and that's no bad thing (the 1.6 is 8-valve!).

funkycoldribena

At 1700 quid, the best is 1.6 Focus,cheap to fix,1000s about,parts aplenty,nice drive.

PJMardy

Thanks everyone - this is all really helpful stuff! Going to persuade a mechanic friend to come with me to look anyway, so hopefully won't have the usual bad luck I have when buying cars...!

ooh, another thing - in terms of mileage, I think I got told at some point to try for under 80k but other threads on this forum seem to suggest that is rubbish and it's about how the car has been driven (e.g. loads of motorway driving versus hammering the gearbox doing a few miles round town) - so is there an optimum or is down to the individual car really?

Thanking you kindly
PJ