potential change to my half of the drive?

[Philyc]

evening all, 

 

my insurance is up for renewal, now looking at it, my insurance will end up being between 700-800 of my finest quids. through a mix of some bell-end crashing into me and me still being fairly young it is still fairly expensive.

 

now i have been thinking of getting a new car. i currently have a 1994 fiesta (still mk3) 1.3 lx, which i should be able to get 6-800 pounds for.

 

i like older cars with only a tiny amount of electrics, i dont need anything bigger then the fiesta as the wife has an estate, but 4 doors make life easier (still not essential though). i use them mostly for local runs and occasional commuting to courses. maybe once or twice a year a longer run up to yorkshire.

 

so i would be looking for a total cost of max 800 for the car and max 800 for the insurance.

 

my thoughts so far are:

 

- reliant regal (have always had a thing with these, and think it would offset my      mini ownership)

 

- ford puma (i know this is the most modern i would want to go but again, i find them strangely appealing and look like they can be thrown around a corner nicely)

 

 

so what thoughts do you guys have? i am open to any suggestions, but i like unusual, old, shite cars which will run for a reasonable amount of time with me servicing regularly.

[djimbob]

Just put up a For Sale thread to flog my Pug 205, maybe right up your street, (although the Regal sounds ace, modern motoring it is not, but totally great for the fleet), have a look anyhow

[michael1703]

Can you get a regal for £800? I'd have thought £1200ish

[Philyc]

Just put up a For Sale thread to flog my Pug 205, maybe right up your street, (although the Regal sounds ace, modern motoring it is not, but totally great for the fleet), have a look anyhow

 

cheers for mentioning the 205, i have thought about them, its a shame yours is an auto though.

 

Can you get a regal for £800? I'd have thought £1200ish

 

yep, just, ive found 2 regals and a robin not far from me in budget... not looked at them though, so they may be completely crud.

[Sloth in a bowl]

Puma is a giggle to drive and even I can service the thing.

 

If your anywhere in the midlands and want to test drive one then give me a shout.

[UltraWomble]

Sym Dismally - £17 tax, £67 insurance.

£300 of your Earth pounds will see this on your driveway with £50 change to spend on coke and hookers*.

 

 

*Well, some very cheap ones work in Blackpool

[vulgalour]

Nissan Micra of a similar vintage to your Fiesta could be a good choice, even K11s are dirt cheap and do come in five door flavour.  If anything they're more fun to drive than the Fiesta though I find the seats aren't quite as comfortable.

 

Toyota Yaris isn't too bad either as a blandmobile and insurance can be reasonable on them.

 

Vauxhall Corsa B another great choice, Cavcraft usually has four or five hundred of the buggers in stock at any given time and they come with Barbara Cartland's seal of approval.

[Noel Tidybeard]

microbes to seem to age well compared to yarii which do look minging when more than 10yo

[skattrd]

If you're lucky you can get a (slightly rough) Toyota Sera for that money, classic/specialist insurance if you're old enough for that should be cheap as well.

[Philyc]

had a look around, micras i can get for the money, my fiesta is nice and nippy with its 1.3 engine, how are the 1.1 micras to drive?

 

thought of another thing for the list, needs to be a manual, so unfortunately that rules out any of the seras i've seen, although i do like the look of them.

 

ideally it would be something what wouldn't go down in value any more, like my fiesta which is slowly starting to trend upwards for some reason.

[HH-R]

Even the 1 litre is fine. Heard many a person say that they're laughably slow, always driven in the middle lane at 40 MPH etc but they're no better or worse than an equivalent 1-1.2 litre - feel quick unless there's a TDi up your boot or you want to accelerate out of anything's way. Felt a bit nostalgic the other week, had to travel to a place I used to go to 5+ times a week when I had my Micra. About 30 miles on A dual carriageways and country roads with a maybe 4 miles of long uphill stretch which the 1 litre coped with admirably. I never sped back then, but I did think "feck, I used to take that corner a lot faster in the Micra" a few times. They did handle nicely, or maybe I'm just a bit more of a wet blanket now. Mine was rusty a decade ago so watch out for that! I'd roll in a Super S any day.

[cros]

I still have the 1972 Toledo I stuck on here months ago. Buyer a no show and its still under a sheet outside my house. Its a 4 door, very clean inside, sills done, mechanically all good, 35000 miles from new but needs quite a few non structural holes filling. Other than the rusty bits the paint is OK. Chrome is too. £400 . A more comfortable and cheaper option than a Pig (no disrespect to Reliants) but will need work, 205 is the better car and what you save on tax you'll pay out in fuel- Toledo would struggle to get above 35mpg.

[oldcars]

cheers for mentioning the 205, i have thought about them, its a shame yours is an auto though.

 

 

yep, just, ive found 2 regals and a robin not far from me in budget... not looked at them though, so they may be completely crud.

£800 Regal   Whats it like there normally ££££. Rialto's are good too 

[AlabamaShrimp]

So I know I'm a bit biased towards Fiestas but what's wrong with it? You very a now uncommon car with a largish engine so long drives aren't a problem and while the Micra and 205 are very good cars they any better than what you have.

 

Again the Puma is nice, and I also want one, but it's just a mk3 Fiesta with a different top so really not much difference.

 

I would keep the Fiesta and get the Reliant and then a few more cars just in case

[Philyc]

I still have the 1972 Toledo I stuck on here months ago. Buyer a no show and its still under a sheet outside my house. Its a 4 door, very clean inside, sills done, mechanically all good, 35000 miles from new but needs quite a few non structural holes filling. Other than the rusty bits the paint is OK. Chrome is too. £400 . A more comfortable and cheaper option than a Pig (no disrespect to Reliants) but will need work, 205 is the better car and what you save on tax you'll pay out in fuel- Toledo would struggle to get above 35mpg.

 

toledo may be of interest, do you have a link to the original thread? i cant seem to find it

 

£800 Regal   Whats it like there normally ££££. Rialto's are good too 

 

looked a bit rough, short MOT etc. didnt see it in the flesh but was just going on some pictures.

 

So I know I'm a bit biased towards Fiestas but what's wrong with it? You very a now uncommon car with a largish engine so long drives aren't a problem and while the Micra and 205 are very good cars they any better than what you have.

 

Again the Puma is nice, and I also want one, but it's just a mk3 Fiesta with a different top so really not much difference.

 

I would keep the Fiesta and get the Reliant and then a few more cars just in case

 

unfortunately i cant have any more vehicles, what with 3 motorbikes and our two cars i think my wife would kill me.

 

i like cars and driving and like the idea of having a large repertoire and experiencing new cars, learning about different engines and mechanical bits along the way. rolling projects are no problem as long as i can still use them most of the time and no real welding needs to be done as i dont have a welder and probably wont have one for a while.

[cros]

toledo may be of interest, do you have a link to the original thread? i cant seem to find it

 

 

I took the car off when someone said they wanted it.

 

 

 

 

If you're one of those impatient people who cant wait to get home to unwrap it, some pics from August. As you can see theres some rust on just about every panel, so to make this lovely you'll need the big size of Isopon. The best way to think of any car of this age is as a complete load of shit and a money pit, though it does have a certain something. Corrosion.

 

 

First pic was taken before my wife cleaned it up, and before it dawned on her that the 10 vehicles we already have were probably enough to be going on with.

 

 

Rear pic is post clean, looks better.

 

 

 

I've saved the best bit til last, the inside is very nice except for the shitty speakers.

 

 

This has no MOT, pics always look better than it really is etc etc.

 

 

Oh, and the rad is fucked. But I've got a new one which I'll put on instead.

[plasticvandan]

Forget the Regal. Ive owned 5 or 6 (might be more i cant remember!) and a daily car they are not! Parts are scarce and expensive,handling terrible compared to the later ones,very uncomfortable,very noisy.You cant leave it parked up anywhere,kids or drunks will roll it on its side.Insurance isnt cheap for Reliants either.Finding an MOT centre that can test it is also getting harder.

Any Regal that you can find for £800 will cost the same again to get it reliable and usuable.

Chassis rot badly,a frames are unobtainable and also rot.

Very little is obtainable new.

[cros]

Now I'm fired up, heres a nice photo of the Toledo's dipstick. Most of the cars I buy come with gritty black stuff  in their sump, what a treat see some fresh oil.

 

 

 

[oldcars]

toledo may be of interest, do you have a link to the original thread? i cant seem to find it

 

 

looked a bit rough, short MOT etc. didnt see it in the flesh but was just going on some pictures.

 

 

unfortunately i cant have any more vehicles, what with 3 motorbikes and our two cars i think my wife would kill me.

 

i like cars and driving and like the idea of having a large repertoire and experiencing new cars, learning about different engines and mechanical bits along the way. rolling projects are no problem as long as i can still use them most of the time and no real welding needs to be done as i dont have a welder and probably wont have one for a while.

Even a rough one with a mot you still did well finding one for that money.

[Philyc]

The only issue with it would be the no mot which is a bit of a stopper for me.

 

Nothing wrong with the fiesta, it's a great little car but thought I'd have a look around and see what you guys thought

[cros]

No MOT usually means no stoppers.