cheap but reliable car?

Stoke

JustinR1979 wrote: »

6'5" mate fitted in his wifes Lupo

Lupo's are deceptively gracious with regards to stuff like head room, leg room, and arm space (both sides), well, in the front that is. I don't consider myself tall, but I have real problems in my girlfriends Ka as my head is constantly touching the roof when I drive. Peugeot's are the same. With a Lupo you do get a surprising amount of space for you and a single passenger, which I'd say is a fairly common scenario for most people with Lupo's.

Forget about taking people in the back unless they're a child or about 8 stone wet through. The boots are also glorified glove boxes, however the cars are dead reliable (Especially the diesels which last forever) and very easy to work on and service. The Lupo is a bit of a gem for me. The interior of a Golf, at the cost of a pack of peanuts.

Richard53

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Is it me, or does this smell a lot like Darkmatter unmasked???

Well spotted.

ruggedtoast

kataklysm wrote: »

Nissan Almera? Seriously. I bought mine (1.8 SE auto, ex-mobility, all the gadgets) 3 years ago and it's cost me next to nothing in repairs compared to previous cars. I deliberately chose it because I only ever saw pensioners driving them, and if there's one thing older folk know, it's how to choose a rock solid car. Plenty of people report having theirs well beyond the 150k mark without a problem. I honestly didn't have too much hope to begin with and figured it would do for a while. Now - if it conked out tomorrow, I'd just go buy another. A Fiesta would also be worth looking at in your price range.

The key when bargain hunting is to understand that there are no real bargains. When people think 'small, cheap and reliable' they immediately think: Yaris, Civic, Jazz etc.... and now those cars have ceased to be affordable. Look at the Yaris on AutoTrader - there's not much under £800, and those that are won't be good.

Then again, find something fairly unglamorous, an unpopular colour, perhaps something pre-facelift but well looked after with a reputation for reliability and it's likely to be a good bet. Try to avoid being tempted by the cars with options or unusually low mileage in your price range - if it was truly good buy, it would be priced accordingly. Check the reviews on Honest John too. And remember that a few years ago people started ditching cars with a higher MPG/insurance, devaluing second hand models that are in all other respects excellent and reliable cars..

Lol, I bought a 6 year old Almera as my first car 6 years ago, with 55,000 on the clock. In another 55,000 miles the only thing I have had to spend money on is a new brakelight switch. They're indestructible, and its always fun seeing the looks on peoples faces when I'm not a pensioner in a flat cap.

Will get another Nissan when it eventually does die. Not an Almera. Something less embarrassing.

=rizla=

carzymaisey wrote: »

Are micras reliable rizla?

Sorry for the late reply.


I had a Micra for a few years, and yes it was very reliable, apart from servicing I didn't have to spend a penny on it.

austin

Don't go for a Ka. Rotboxes.

Considering all OP's requests, the car that keeps coming to mind is the Mk2 Clio 1.5 DCi:

-Can be had for less than a grand
-Fantastic Fuel economy 50+ mpg (especially at the current price of diesel)
-£30 per year road tax (last time I checked)
-One of, if not the first cars to be in this tax bracket
-Nippy little things, not exactly sluggish
-Same diesel engine as Nissans
-Often an overlooked car when budget is in mind.

Keep them serviced and they'll keep you happy.
Just make sure there's a good Service History when buying.
Definitely my sub £1k car of choice anyday.

BeenThroughItAll

austin wrote: »

Don't go for a Ka. Rotboxes.

Considering all OP's requests, the car that keeps coming to mind is the Mk2 Clio 1.5 DCi:

-Can be had for less than a grand
-Fantastic Fuel economy 50+ mpg (especially at the current price of diesel)
-£30 per year road tax (last time I checked)
-One of, if not the first cars to be in this tax bracket
-Nippy little things, not exactly sluggish
-Same diesel engine as Nissans
-Often an overlooked car when budget is in mind.

Keep them serviced and they'll keep you happy.
Just make sure there's a good Service History when buying.
Definitely my sub £1k car of choice anyday.

A sub-1000 diesel Renault?

You're brave.


BTW - it would be more accurate to say 'the same diesel engine supplied by Renault to Nissan', as it's a Renault engine used by Nissan, not the other way around.

austin

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

A sub-1000 diesel Renault?

You're brave.


BTW - it would be more accurate to say 'the same diesel engine supplied by Renault to Nissan', as it's a Renault engine used by Nissan, not the other way around.

Why would I be brave? You shouldn't really comment in a motor thread if you display naivety like that. Any sub 1k car and you are taking a risk. A sub 1k Honda, VAG, Doesn't matter. And what's the point nit picking about who manufactures the engine? Renault same as Nissan, Nissan same as Renault. Both statements are correct.

BeenThroughItAll

austin wrote: »

Why would I be brave? You shouldn't really comment in a motor thread if you display naivety like that. Any sub 1k car and you are taking a risk. A sub 1k Honda, VAG, Doesn't matter. And what's the point nit picking about who manufactures the engine? Renault same as Nissan, Nissan same as Renault. Both statements are correct.

You shouldn't really get so worked up when someone disagrees with you. Just because I don't share your rosy view of Renault's staggeringly dull product doesn't warrant your reaction and accusation of naivety. I find that quite insulting and unnecessary.


I've run plenty of sub-1K cars and they present significantly less risk if you stick to makes and models without known reliability issues.


Ever wonder why Renault don't top the reliability indexes? Or how about Dacia? Do they? Nissan? Nope, they don't either.


Renaults in general have a long list of, particularly, electrical issues which are avoidable. Personally, I'd rather spend my grand on something which doesn't.


Having run a fleet of Renaults in the past and had literally hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of lost time as a result of reliability problems in the first year (which was reduced to tens of thousands when they were replaced with Skodas), you'll forgive me if I don't have much faith in their vehicles. You won't forgive me, of course, as you clearly are way too sensitive to differing opinions than you should be.


And nit-picking? The phraseology of your statement was, as far as I can tell, fairly clearly intended to imply that the Clio's engine was sourced from Nissan and therefore would be reliable because let's face it, 'everyone knows Nissans are mega-reliable'. I was just pointing out for clarity that the K-type engine is a Renault design, supplied to Nissan. I'm certain you'll argue that's just me playing semantics and you never intended readers to infer reliability from your statement, but there you go.


I live in the North East, so I know plenty of Nissan employees and the only reason most of them drive Nissans is because they pay peanuts for them and change them every two years for a new one.

andygb

forgotmyname wrote: »

Only 30,000 hours (3.42 years)

If they last so long why are you on your 3rd?

Should have bought a Mondeo

That would be 30,000 driving hours - probably between 150K and 250K miles - on continental motorways of course:D
I also have the VAG 1.9TDi PD engine. We bought it early 2012 with 93K on, and it has now done 135K. Other people on the owners forum have done between 300K and 500K on them.

andygb

Anything on this page would be ideal IMO.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/skoda/fabia/postcode/me158hb/radius/1501/engine-size-cars/1-7l_to_1-9l/price-to/1000/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/fuel-type/diesel/quicksearch/true

None of those engines should have DPF's, and they should all be capable of 55MPG plus low tax.