Finally getting our collection of cars sold - What replacement?

the luck of the draw.....soem times you can be lucky with a good 'un.

don't even dream of a gti till over 25 though.(+ full licence!!)

+ not a high miler fullstop...they have all been hammered....

too right

....thats running lovely.....?

 

I mean when it works its very smooth you would have no idea anything is up, until you see all the sut on the tail pipe, the colour of the oil and listen to that timing chain rattling away

Oh and yes there is no way I am considering a GTi, though I am almost 25. It is a pitty the Octavia is out of our budget, I've seen a really nice one for £2k.

 

Peugeot diesels seem pretty good from my experience. My Dad has had 3 and my mum has a 106 diesel at the moment. If I was looking for an affordable car I would probably go for a 306 diesel. Turbo if I could afford it as that is a lot of fun It may seem expensive next to a petrol Fiesta but remember diesel is just a more expensive engine, but they last longer and often give better MPG.

However, my Dad now has a Proton MPI petrol thing. Cost only £700 and runs like a charm. Its even quite zippy.

 

OTOH two people at work I know have had them....don't give them a good write up.

 

My wife has one, cheap to run and spares are cheap from places like euro car parts. Hers is a 1.9D and is cheap to insure as well. WIth the seats down it has a good carrying capacity.

FFS, get over it, you want a cheap reliable vehicle you have to ignore how it looks.

 

You've not passed yet? Who's been driving around with you in the fester?

206s have a dreadful rep - myriad electrical faults.

A tad contradictory?

Which might explain the sticking valves...

You can't have aston martin looks for cheap shit money. Sorry.

So buy a japanese car where all the bits carry on working.

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/CARS_popup.jsp?id=200731292650476

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/CARS_popup.jsp?id=200730106140110

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/CARS_popup.jsp?id=200730106163024

 

In what regard?

Maybe the modern ones are different. My Dad had two 205 diesel, an early one when they first came out and a very late turbo one just after they were discontinued (it wasn't a standard model it was made from all the best left over parts ). A 309 turbo came next which is a poor chassis but the engine is good as its the same as the 205. My mum's 106 1.4 has been very reliable but its not the fastest car and having a big (for the car) diesel engine it doesn't have a very tight turning circle.

But.. my Dad helped pick all of them and he used to be a professional mechanic (worked for Ford for some time!) so he might just pick good ones.

 

Steer well clear of Renault diesels. A colleague at work (who has no car sense) bought a Renault Vel Satis 2.2 diesel a few years ago. Recently, at 52K miles the engine blew up and needed replacement.

The Renault main dealer quoted £8K to replace the engine, which was more than the car was worth. He therefore scrapped the car.

So guess what he replaced the car with? Yes, another Renault.

 

Renault dCi engines have a terrible rep: http://www.parkers.co.uk/advice/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=8

Basically the typical failure is that the EGR valve clags up and when it dies, it takes the turbo with it in some sort of entertaining manner, which may knacker the rest of the engine too.

 

Isaac I haven't really been driving much lately but finally got round to booking my theory test. The problem is the budget is just asking for too much.

1) Must be cheap to insure
2) Must be cheap on fuel
3) Must be cheap on parts/easy to fix
4) Must have 5 doors (essential as its also being used as a granny taxi)
5) Must have a boot big enough for a carpet cleaning machine, the Fiesta fits this bill, but not all cars do, the Micra would be too small for this, the Punto also is.
6) Due to my dads weak arm power steering is an advantage but not essential.
The type of power plant is not important, petrol is preferred but diesels are not ruled out.

I think the problem with PSA is you can either get good ones that go on for ever, or you get bad ones that just let you down.

One thing I like about Ford is I know I can very very cheap parts. A had a rear break cylinder fitted for £40 inc the parts and labour for example.

I am looking for poverty spec 8v Vauxhalls too for this reason, as those engines go on for ever.

The Toyota Starlet may be ideal I would have to check the insurance cost though (some small jap cars are very expensive to insure).

 

lol, I notice that all of the sticky threads in the parkers ownership problems forum are for Renault cars. I think that tells you all you need to know...

 

starlet would be fine, a big boot. Alternatively look for a Corolla

 

Just that previous posts made it seem like you go out driving on your own...

So compromise! That's what you do when you can't get everything you want for what you're prepared to pay. The famous quote of Keith Bontrager regarding mountain bikes sums it up: Strong. Light. Cheap. Pick two.

I think you just described a Mondeo 1.8TD...

 

Mondeo
Old Nissan Primera 1.6 -good on all counts
Toyota Starlet (small?) or Corolla
Vauxhall Astra (but check it carefully)..

 

My dad seems to want something a lot smaller. I should point out that it is not me being so fussy, its my parents.

I think at this level the owner is as important as the car too. I am getting very used to spotting duds just by the telephone calls now.

Thanks for all your advice, hopefully by the end of the month we would have found somthing.

 

yeah, this is what I've got (s reg) - just passed it's MOT on saturday and is 9 miles less of 100k on the clock... the engine is spot on - had to replace the usual - tyres, brake pads etc but I've done 33k miles in the last 18 months and paid 1100 notes for it...

 

french cars are terrible. my wife insists on driving them - something to do with her coming from that neck of the woods. Mind you a DS would be an idea.
me i've had toyota's over the last five or six years.

 

Mainly minor niggles I think.

They weren't specific.

 

My pug diesel had a good reliable engine, it was the rest of it that was rubbish (306 DTurbo) - low quality plastic interior, door stays both broke, brakes caused me much grief, appalling dealer service etc. Still, it looked nice . I'd try to avoid french cars myself, but tbh at 1k it's a lottery whatever you get unless you know what you're doing. Bitter experience has taught me to totally avoid anything that has no service history though.

I bought a 97R Golf estate for exactly a grand at the start of the year, and it drives like new now that I replaced the coil and ht leads and cleaned the sludge out of all the breather tubes! A 1.4 petrol or one of the diesels might be a reasonable option, and there are plenty of tidy ones around for little money. I also have a pet theory that certain makes attract certain types of people, and certain types of people look after their car better than others....:Quad:

.....although I'm not going to say which makes and why, as I have a feeling that my theory is total bollox.

 

Thats the sort of impression I got.

I think there could be something in that.....its perhapts not unreasonable to think a golf 1.4/1.6 maybe be treated differently to a gti/souped up number.

Thats despite the fcat that theoretically the higher powered car should be the least mechanically stressed.