Cheap and reliable old cars?

user55

At some point in the not too distant future I'm going to be looking to get a sub £1k car, preferably medium sized , but certainly no smaller than a VW Polo!

It's going to be a while yet, but I'm scared! I've never had a good experience with used cars, never mind very cheap old cars! I'm not worried about looks or street cred but I need it to be fairly reliable and cheap to put right when things go wrong!

Any advice on what cars to look for?

tali

needs to be probably japanese then

user55

OK so Nissan, Toyota, anyone else?

Dazzieboo

Triumph Herald / Spitfire. Very easy and cheap to maintain and run, insurance is peanuts and no tax to pay. I had one for 6 years and it gave me the easiest time ever, unlike my 4 yr old Micra.

fingerman

I've have quite a few old BMW's in my time (if you want something bigger!) - generally 1k is my limit

I'm currently in an M (1995) 525 which I picked up for £450 - done 7k business miles in it and cost me nothing - and it's paid for itself and more!

Out of all the ones I've had, only 2 have broke down, due to battery dead.

If it's not a BM then I agree, Japanese - you should be able to pick up a decent motor for under a grand - Volvo's are pretty cheap and reliable also

Good luck

steveo3002

older saabs are rock solid cars

globalds

user55 wrote: »

OK so Nissan, Toyota, anyone else?

Honda..........?

balsingh

avoid anything british, french or italian and chances are it will be pretty reliable.

Volcano

If you want cheap, reliable AND economical, go Japanese. Mazdas are expensive on parts though.

manda1205

Dazzieboo wrote: »

Triumph Herald / Spitfire. Very easy and cheap to maintain and run, insurance is peanuts and no tax to pay. I had one for 6 years and it gave me the easiest time ever, unlike my 4 yr old Micra.

:rotfl:



look about for a late escort about the R plate or so with no real rust on the arches sills or under the boot floor for around the 700 mark and you wont go far wrong, parts are usually free or pennies, any1 will work on it and its unlikely to break with very reliable zetecs in them, insurance is cheap and tax is the usual

if not the similar age mk4 fiestas or good spec mondeo if you like a little bit of luxury for cheap, i always go ford, big !!!! beemers,volvos and the rest are well and good but if they break they cost and you wont get good millage per £££

why buy jap? to maybe save you a break down, they usually rot like hell given a chance and parts are a chore at the best of times, constantly changing specs mean parts very rarely swap over

i'd deffo steer clear of an old herald (coming from some1 who has 1 in their garden) they rot like hell, some parts are cheap but bodies are shonky, heaters non existant technology from the arc and driving 1 is horse and cartesque

Conor_3

Vauxhall Cavalier. Vauxhall Astra. MK1 Mondeo.

Depending on where you live, a neighbour of mine has a nice MK4 Astra for sale for £550. East Yorks.