Jump to content

Best car at being a car £500 - £1000?


Marm Toastsmith

Recommended Posts

Personally speaking and looking at cars available near to me, the £500-£1000 category tends to bring up lots of mid 2000's cars that are the worst one of that car you have seen or badly neglected examples that need work or at least tidying up.

 

I tend to have more luck with the £3-500 bracket and that turns up some tidy late 90's early 00's gems that are tidy and have long MOT's

 

My mother in law needed a car a few years and I found her a Diesel Astra estate on a 53 plate for £700. This was the maximum she had to spend and within 2 weeks of owning it, lots of things went wrong despite it being great when she bought it and she ended up scrapping it after 6 months of ownership.

Next, she bought a 54 plate C-Max for £600, again, a good car, tidy and ran/drove very well.

After a few months of ownership, electrical issues started, oil loss was high despite no obvious leaks and that too was scrapped.

 

With no money left, she bought a mk1 Mondeo for £200 and that was a corker with very little to go wrong. In fact she only just took it off the road because the clutch started slipping but after a year of trouble free motoring, she wasn't going to spend £400 on a clutch.

 

Now she has just spent £700 on a mk1 Focus estate and that needed work within the first few months of ownership but once again, she had spent her maximum money on the car so no money left...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally speaking and looking at cars available near to me, the £500-£1000 category tends to bring up lots of mid 2000's cars that are the worst one of that car you have seen or badly neglected examples that need work or at least tidying up.

 

I tend to have more luck with the £3-500 bracket and that turns up some tidy late 90's early 00's gems that are tidy and have long MOT's

 

My mother in law needed a car a few years and I found her a Diesel Astra estate on a 53 plate for £700. This was the maximum she had to spend and within 2 weeks of owning it, lots of things went wrong despite it being great when she bought it and she ended up scrapping it after 6 months of ownership.

Next, she bought a 54 plate C-Max for £600, again, a good car, tidy and ran/drove very well.

After a few months of ownership, electrical issues started, oil loss was high despite no obvious leaks and that too was scrapped.

 

With no money left, she bought a mk1 Mondeo for £200 and that was a corker with very little to go wrong. In fact she only just took it off the road because the clutch started slipping but after a year of trouble free motoring, she wasn't going to spend £400 on a clutch.

 

Now she has just spent £700 on a mk1 Focus estate and that needed work within the first few months of ownership but once again, she had spent her maximum money on the car so no money left...

 

I know what you mean... nice people often practically give their car away whereas some others try to get top dollar for a pile of crap. And with chod often that's the only difference between a £300 and a £1500 car. At the end of the day avoiding the dogs is an art rather than a science and we all make mistakes now and then. Given what you pay for insurance etc the buying price is moot really. Some of the best cars I've had were dirt cheap (or free) and came with issues but were brilliant once those issues were sorted, others I spent and spent on and never got anywhere.

 

I like scruffy cars because it's obvious what's wrong with them. If a car is rusty and dented it's unlikely to have major mechanical issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scruffy dog eared old shite, breakdowns and dodgy rough owners go hand in hand. It’s so true about rough people and rough cars. Find something owner by somebody vaguely professional in a decent area and expect to find sheaves of expensive receipts showing its had the works done to it. Probably a good buy. On the other hand find me a complete bag of shit nearby on somewhere dubious with shit mods like painted drums and Lexus lights and an owner looking fit for bed and you’ll see me running. Snobbish but crap cars and skint people don’t make happy bedfellows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mk1 Focus - one of the ultimate cheap cars IMHO. Be very aware that they can rust badly, but there are still good examples out there. Parts are dirt cheap and the mechanicals are strong. Get one from someone that has owned it for a few years, not one that has been passed around the houses when it develops a problem that the previous owner won't sort but a new owner will happily ignore.

 

They're brilliant to drive, anyone that says otherwise has only driven a tired example. All the rave reviews are not an accident.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on what you like, but I have found the Citroen ZX estate ideal as an all-round daily hack. It's comfy place to be; roomy & practical to carry stuff; easy to drive; cheap to run; reliable in service; able to squeeze into small places for parking and can be left out in all weathers, in all kinds of locations, without attracting the wrong attention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first Xantia was a 1.9TD with 198K on the clock that was a £295 trade in to clear.

 

It needed a set of spheres, a new heater blower, set of tyres and a service.

 

The only issue I had in a year's motoring was a dodgy cooling fan (well documented wiring issue at that sort of mileage, I confess to not ever bothering to fix it properly) and an annoying water ingress issue into the cabin that turned out to be the rear window washer.

 

The thing drove like a car with a quarter of the miles on it. Even the air conditioning worked!

 

They're not as fragile as people think...just don't buy a damn Activa where they've made an already complex car even more complicated seemingly for the hell of it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll second the Xantia and Picasso suggestions.  They tick all the boxes.  Xantias are about as cheap as they'll ever get now so if you want to bag a good one for not a lot, now is the time.  The other car to go for is the R8 Rover, it's exactly what you described, especially in 1.6 Auto hatchback variety, still available cheap though less plentiful than they were so again, if you want one, get one now before they're gone.

 

Most middle class French and Japanese (Rover gets bundled in here because Honda) mid- to late-90s offerings will do what you want, really.  If you're picky, and prepared to invest in its care once bought, you'll end up with something boringly, unfailingly, reliable.

 

Probably also Skoda Octavia too, now I think about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest mid-late 90s stuff is largely decent...it was the era where the electronic kit had got good enough to be reliable, give good economy, reasonable performance etc...but hadn't started to get so utterly over complicated as it did after 2000.

 

I do fancy one of the R8 Rovers. Drove a few at the garage and they felt far more comfortable and gentleman's club like than a car of that size had any right to.

 

We had a TD one that came through a few times and it went surprisingly well actually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MK4 Astra with an 8v engine. I don't want one, but as basic transport you won't go far wrong.

Yep, I had one for a while around 2004, perfectly capable of being a car but dull as dishwater, which was exactly what I needed having part exd an awful early Laguna 2 which was still in pieces for it.

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My girlfriend recently passed her test and we found a nice little 2 owner '03 Honda Jazz for £680. No timing belt and no bells and whistles on our S model so not a lot to go wrong (although the stereo is surprisingly decent). it is unbelievably practical considering its size and goes well whilst being pretty economical too. My only criticism is that the ride is a bit stiffer than it ought to be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suppose if it had Suzuki badges on it, it'd be reliable then???????

Is it a Suzuki? Am confused... was a genuine question... Whenever I look at cheap Fiats for sale they seem to come with a list of major faults. Might just be a coincidence. I quite fancied a Multipla once, but in a brief search couldn't find one actually capable of being transport. Last Fiat I had the use of was a Regata. It was great, apart from an intermittent misfire that was never solved and rampant rust... that was a long time ago.

 

Marm!!! Do not let Jack see this.  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Did he buy it in order for it to be totally hassle free? I think not. I think he bought it cos it's a cool car. I love Saabs.

 

 

I'll second the Xantia and Picasso suggestions.  They tick all the boxes.  Xantias are about as cheap as they'll ever get now so if you want to bag a good one for not a lot, now is the time.  The other car to go for is the R8 Rover, it's exactly what you described, especially in 1.6 Auto hatchback variety, still available cheap though less plentiful than they were so again, if you want one, get one now before they're gone.

 

Most middle class French and Japanese (Rover gets bundled in here because Honda) mid- to late-90s offerings will do what you want, really.  If you're picky, and prepared to invest in its care once bought, you'll end up with something boringly, unfailingly, reliable.

 

Probably also Skoda Octavia too, now I think about it.

 

Would love a Xantia - and agree that now is the time. Picassos are just too ugly I think... never quite understood the point in them... I mean, they're sort of tall and blobby. But why? And if tall then why not boxy? Funny how you have these sort of prejudices - I mean, I like ugly cars, but when Picassos were new they were so popular...with a certain type of buyer...that it kind of put me off them. I still don't get it. Maybe it's time I...just...let...go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This seems to be the only Xantia for sale in the country at the moment. It ticks every box, is cheap, local-ish, and looks awful.

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/citroen/1994-citroen-xantia-2.0-i-lx-5dr/1322865336

 

MOT history looks better than the pictures... it's so grotty that part of me thinks it must be alright.

 

Someone will have to buy it sooner or later. Probably not me though.

 

Are the petrol engines any good?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seconded...the MK2 Accent, despite it having a look only it's design team could love is a very competent car...your best bet is the 1.3i as shown in the picture...they look "pure" whilst the other higher spec models look very tacky with their bargain basement different grilles and add-ons. I've owned two sub-£300 examples and had no regrets other than i wish i had them now...cheap to insure, roomy, relatively comfy, lovely to drive and great MPG. I wish it was still in production now :-(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...