Brettoll Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 So after getting stung buying cheap and Malaysian (I bought an 04 plate Proton for £600 and the clutch/gearbox has gone) I thought I would see what the forum has experienced on sub £1000 cars. Have you had any that have been absolute bargains? What bags of spanners have you managed to get and regret? Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradJohnson Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 The Toyota Yaris' are bullet proof. My Dad swears by them! My first car was the newer shaped Yaris which took some stick as you can imagine, (I'm 18 years old, and think I'm Ken Block) by the time i'd finished with it, it had 200,000 miles on the clock, i had no issues with it at all. I sold it on to my mate who is still driving around in it. Also they insurance group 1 so should be cheap enough to insure and i was getting 56 MPG out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack1987 Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 I bought a y reg honda civic a year ago with a full mot and service history for £650 and it hasn't skipped a beat. It's even fairly economical will do 45 mpg on the motorway. I've always had cheap cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.KYDD Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 +1 for a Yaris. They soldier on forever. A mate of mine bought an older Renault Clio (1995 ish) for £50 with the plan of only driving it for 6-month or so. He kept that car for 3 years! Never failed an MOT and never had any work doing to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*gentlydoesit Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Jap all the way older bms (or german in general) are good but parts can be expensive, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettoll Posted November 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) Yeah insurance is never an issue being 30 and running a chipped 1.9 Audi A4 Avant TDI for a while, but sold it as it was massive and very expensive for parts. Nearly crapped my pants when the turbo started playing up and a recon was nearly £500! Luckily it was the ECU so £70 for the part with a few more pennies for labour. Yaris' are cool but a bit small. Been toying with a MRK2 - MRK3 Golf GTI as parts are rife and they are decent runners.. Civic's are an option Edited November 4, 2013 by Brettoll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradJohnson Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yeah insurance is never an issue being 30 and running a chipped 1.9 Audi A4 Avant TDI for a while, but sold it as it was massive and very expensive for parts. Nearly crapped my pants when the turbo started playing up and a recon was nearly £500! Luckily it was the ECU so £70 for the part with a few more pennies for labour. Yaris' are cool but a bit small. Been toying with a MRK2 - MRK3 Golf GTI as parts are rife and they are decent runners.. Civic's are an option The newer ones are big for a 'small car' i managed to fit 3 bikes in as well as a weekend worth of camping gear and 2 passengers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 90s Audis, any of them really, cheap as hell and will take a beating all day long =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dann2707 Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Had a focus for 2 years and it just wouldn't die, this was remapped to 143bhp so was driven quite hard now and again. Every MOT it just went through with no advisories despite being 11 years old. Was just a tad over £1000 though. My sister has just bought a Yaris and she revs it so hard pulling out of junctions (new driver), and still gets 54mpg! 1.0 powahhh, does feel really nippy too. Passed mot easily too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirlingpowers Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Mk3 Golf, but only those produced in 97, 1.4 engine. Cheap pensioner's car, will do 200k miles without problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azarathal Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Brett get a mk2 mr2 so when I finally get mine we can cruise rather than ride haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamus Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 My 2002 1.6 focus bought at 115k after a hard life with very little history or love during its life has been faultless. apart from a little servicing and tyres its never wanted for anything and I've put 40k on its since owning it. Cleaner, lower mileage ones can be had easily in budget. big enough for 3 bikes and people with a little planning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamWood! Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Another vote for a civic. As many of my friends know, my old civic just wouldn't die. Many hours smashing the limiter, also dropped it into 3rd still doing a lot more than 3rd limiter but just shrugged it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash-Kennard Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 mk2 seat ibiza cupra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HippY Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 german car with a CRDI (non turbo diesel). We have a taxi company, and there is a Seat Cordoba (2008 maybe? around that) with a CRDI. it had 800.000 km last time when I heard it, and with no major expense (ofc the usual stuff) but they are reliable. (Ps: I know that Seat is originally from Spain, but as far as I am concerned, you can find that motor in some Volkswagen group car as well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williams Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Volvo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete.M Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Volvo! I like this guy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Mk3 Golf, but only those produced in 97, 1.4 engine. Cheap pensioner's car, will do 200k miles without problems. Mk3 is a good call, but why only 97 1.4s? They're all as bombproof as each other, my 95 1.9 diesel ran on pure veg oil and only ever needed 1 fuel filter, my 96 16v's engine still lives on in a MK2 4 years later... I'll broaden my 90s Audi suggestion to any 90s VAG, all variations on a theme =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Peugeot, 1.9tdi's run forever and ever. My dads old boss had a 405 for ferrying old people about as part of his coach firm and that did well over 200k before he retired it and my dad had a 405 estate that finally shit the bed at 168k and that was cause he kept putting off doing the cambelt. Obviously the car to buy would be the 306 though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirlingpowers Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Mk3 is a good call, but why only 97 1.4s? They're all as bombproof as each other, my 95 1.9 diesel ran on pure veg oil and only ever needed 1 fuel filter, my 96 16v's engine still lives on in a MK2 4 years later... I'll broaden my 90s Audi suggestion to any 90s VAG, all variations on a theme =) Rust and color degradation for the 97s, and the 1.4 because it is a very quiet, quite frugal, very smooth running and very robust engine. But I admit that there are other good cars to be found in the VW range of this decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) Rust and color degradation for the 97s, and the 1.4 because it is a very quiet, quite frugal, very smooth running and very robust engine. But I admit that there are other good cars to be found in the VW range of this decade. There's no difference between the years If rust is a bother, then Audi 80/90's of a similar vintage are galvanised, et voila! Edited November 4, 2013 by Jolfa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirlingpowers Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 The Golf facelift in 1995 was primarily a major effort to eliminate quality and rust problems. With the 1997 special editions came some intense colors which generally age very well. A 1997s red is still an intense red today, for example, which is also true for many 1996/1995 colors - but they did not have the overall presence and style the colors got from the effect of fully painted bumpers and mirrors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Mk3 is a good call, but why only 97 1.4s? They're all as bombproof as each other, my 95 1.9 diesel ran on pure veg oil and only ever needed 1 fuel filter, my 96 16v's engine still runs on in a MK2 4 years later... I'll broaden my 90s Audi suggestion to any 90s VAG, all variations on a theme =) My mk1 caddy has a 1.9l diesel engine from a mk3 golf, it's super loud but from what I've been told it's a super reliable engine (can't give an input as she's not road legal yet due to needing welding). I'd definitely give vw golfs a vote though. Mk3s seem to be super cheap on ebay, easy to find ones around the 500 quid mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bing Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Mk3 mondeo 2.0tdci estate. Over 50mpg, go like stink, masses of room, just make sure its had the clutch done and you'll be fine. Decent 04-05 plates are around a grand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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