Charade or Puma? Which is better choice?

Tigerprint

I personally think the Charade is as 'tinny' or 'tinnier' than the Polo. I felt like a clown when I drove one (of course the colour didn't help matters....it was lilac) I remember the tax being £20 or £30 but the insurance was particularly high.

I like the Puma, its a good looking car. If costs are important though, I would have thought taxing, insuring & running one to be quite expensive. If you can find a 1.4 with reasonable miles then it will be slightly better on the pound. Watch the rust though on the Puma & check the advisories on the MOT whatever you buy.

I'm thinking about cars that are not tinny..... I know the Ford Fiesta has been mentioned but the other is the 306, I know the shape is old, but I still think they are a good looking car, & feel quite a solid little car

jimmy_cricket

OddballJamie wrote: »

The obvious fix would have been a set of winter tyres.

True... but where to store would be a major headache and gave me an excuse to buy a mini clubman (still prefer the puma!)

OddballJamie

I'd avoid the KA, especially pre 2003, noisy engines in those, all of them rust badly.

Out of interest, as you are working to a budget have you got insurance quotes as some of the cars are varying wildly in groups.

Have a look on Gumtree and Ebay too at private ads, because the reality of spending £500 with a trader you're actually getting a £200-£300 car.

Hintza

Brallaqueen wrote: »

I've been driving for 9 months now so looking for a smallish car under 1k and with long MOT.

I would be running insurance quotes before deciding anything.

OddballJamie

Here's a few in your area, should be reasonable to insure with a well tested engine. Shame they're all Peugeots

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201309028583567

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Peugeot-206-Standard-Car-1360cc-Petrol-1-4-el-sr-1999-LX-/200959720722

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Peugeot-206-Standard-Car-1360cc-Petrol-1-4-a-c-2001-LX-/200958441269

scheming_gypsy

Brallaqueen wrote: »

Not really thought about fiestas - they just don't appeal to me somehow and at the moment I'm restricting search to cars with 12 month mot advertised.

Why are you restricted to 12months MOT?

Cars can pass an MOT and blow up the following day. All the MOT does it make sure that certain aspects of the car meet certain criteria at the time of testing. Bent MOT's aren't too difficult to get hold of either, as long as there's a car there that will pass the emissions test, a tester can pass any old heap.
I'm not trying to put you off anything but don't think that 12 months MOT means it'll live forever. A car with full service history and a bucket full of receipts (not just for tyres and wiper blades) and an 8 month MOT can be a lot more reliable and capable of passing the next MOT, than an unserviced car with no history with a 12 month ticket.
Make sure that the car has history with it - service history and receipts to prove it's been looked after, rather than a bit of paper saying it passed some tests at 11:37 last week.

jase1

Brallaqueen wrote: »

thanks but the civic is a bit big for me - I'm used to smaller cars (learned in a mini and peugeot 106, drove polo)

Brallaqueen wrote: »

Renault megane, 1998 R Reg, 119000 miles, 1.6e L
12 months MOT, 695, trader

Eh?

Civic and Megane are more or less the same size!

scheming_gypsy

A 1998 Megane with 120k on the clock is probably begging to be dropped off at the nearest scrap yard.

If you're looking at spending £700 on an R plated with over 100k on the clock. You'd be better looking towards a BMW 3 series.

colino

Forget the older Kas, if they don't look rusty, they've been cheaply tarted up. Forget the Renault, it's into middle age and will let you down expensively soon. I really like the Puma. They're very good sellers and that one benefits by not being in girly purple/pink. My real problem with it, as it's a good colour, very sellable, cheap to look after and maintain, is that it is suspiciously cheap. I'd do a proper HPi on it and check with the previous owner on its real story. Otherwise the fezzy boys would have bought it to strip and speed up their ailing Fiestas. The Daihatsu, unless you are about to draw your pension or its really one of their great Sportraks in disguise, don't bother. A thoroughly tedious example of mobile white goods.

Horizon81

You can just about get a 1.3 Yaris at that price. They've got a surprising amount of poke due to their low weight, which also contributes to a decent MPG.