low cost, reliable car - advice please

gilbert_and_sullivan

This thread is worrying me, us buyers of slightly larger, out of fashion older cars for next to nothing would be much better off keeping schtum about their benefits.

I've already noticed prices of some niche older cars rising, one of mine i picked up for a song in the spring are now fetching much more money in completed sales.

Don't tell 'em Pike.

sliks_mrs

Sorry for jumping on your thread. We have been looking for a car for about 6k. The dacia keeps popping up when i,ve looked for cheaper cars, I had never heard of it! Has anyone owned one that could give some feedback please?
Thanks

jamiec84

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

This thread is worrying me, us buyers of slightly larger, out of fashion older cars for next to nothing would be much better off keeping schtum about their benefits.

I've already noticed prices of some niche older cars rising, one of mine i picked up for a song in the spring are now fetching much more money in completed sales.

Don't tell 'em Pike.

Be a sport, what car?

jamiec84

robatwork wrote: »

Hire for a week, suss out the public transport situation, then do your sums.

I would echo that going for a boring, retiree-friendly car like a Nissan or Rover, or Honda, could be the best option.

Might drive in my own car next week to suss it out (the Mrs might not like not having it though).

I travelled up by train on Sunday, it was about 2hr 45 min on the train, but practically 5 hours door to door (an hour from house to the station, then an hour to the hotel at the other end). I think I could do the car journey in 2 1/2 to 3 hrs on off peak traffic.

That's a big deal to me as I'm away from family all week. I could leave early monday and avoid an extra night in the hotel and be home to see the baby on friday before he goes to bed, which would be invaluable.

darkmatter101

Honda Civic 2.2 CDTI

OddballJamie

darkmatter101 wrote: »

Honda Civic 2.2 CDTI

Gonna be either a write off or extremely high miler for £1500.

Joe_Horner

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

This thread is worrying me, us buyers of slightly larger, out of fashion older cars for next to nothing would be much better off keeping schtum about their benefits.

I've already noticed prices of some niche older cars rising, one of mine i picked up for a song in the spring are now fetching much more money in completed sales.

Don't tell 'em Pike.

Funnily enough, I was just thinking that the Op's intended use would be ideal for some "real" bangernomics.

A middle distance trip once a week and low miles in between over 3 months cries out for something mid '90s (ish) around the £400 - £500 mark with a good MOT, another couple of hundred to know the cam belt's done, and £800 in change to repair / replace / get the bus if needed or buy beer if it isn't.

Even diesels from that era won't suffer the "usual" diesel problems and most of them have far less electronics to cause problems.

But you're right, don't tell 'em....

loveka

I have a Ford Ka which has been so reliable. Its 10 years old now, so I am sadly getting rid of it this week.

I have driven 10k miles a year, all on motorways, and it has been great. It is small but mighty! I often drive 250 mile journeys in it.

OddballJamie

loveka wrote: »

I have a Ford Ka which has been so reliable. Its 10 years old now, so I am sadly getting rid of it this week.

I have driven 10k miles a year, all on motorways, and it has been great. It is small but mighty! I often drive 250 mile journeys in it.

I've seen a KA mk1 after a 50mph collision, was not pretty at all and unfortunately the driver didn't survive.

We had a luxury one for a period, complete rust bucket and although easy to fix was also the most unreliable vehicle I've ever used.

darkmatter101

For £1,500 and for the mileage you anticipate on doing mileage, you have a few paths you could go down on:

1. As others have suggested an older VW/Audi/Seat TDI would be a good choice. They are bullet proof (if they have been maintained properly) and are quite comfortable on longer journeys. Well the Golf, Passat, Jetta, A3, A4 all are anyway. However, looking at their maintenance is key. For £1500 you will be looking at 10 year old plus TDI's with 150k and more miles on the clock. Look at when the timing belt was last changed (they cost around £300 to do) and look at whether its had regular oil changes (otherwise your turbo may blow and its a VERY expensive job!). Problem with TDI's and diesels generally is that they are expensive to fix when things go wrong.

2. Doing 350 miles week(mostly motorway) and seeing that we are coming into the winter season, I personally would avoid the smaller petrol cars such as the Yaris/Polo etc. Wouldn't be as comfortable as larger cars and wouldn't have the power you would like on motorway speeds. However, if you don't mind go for an older 1999-2004 Yaris 1.33 VVTI.

3. My choice would be the E36 BMW 318is/323i/328i M-Tech. You can easily find one for £1500 and they would give around 35-40mpg on a motorway cruise of 70 mph. Excellent driver feedback and very comfortable, more so than all of the above. Bullet proof engines that can easily surpass 250k miles. And they are chain driven so no need to worry about timing belt replacements.