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WetPaint
Original Poster
962 posts
50 months
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Im on a tight budget. I need something cheap and cheerful to get me to work and back. No motorway involved, just some 30mph boring roads.
criteria:
cheap to insure
cheap to tax
as much mpg as possible
less than 1k
fun to drive - not fast necessarily, just fun.
Obviously my short list is the car in the title. I dont want to miss out on a better car if one id available so please make some suggestions.
I would get a classic mini, but at my price range, ill be buying more rust than car.
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P I Staker
2,315 posts
25 months
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Ford Fiesta Mk4 1.25 Zetec, Corsa B 1.2 SXI/1.4/1.6 sport, Peugeot 306/206 diesel... Theres some ideas, all of them better then a Micra in my opinion. 
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s1962a
935 posts
31 months
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I don't really like Micra's much, but I have to admire them as being virtually bullet proof. My Ma's got a 1.0L auto and it's still driving fine even after having been bashed into things or gone for a couple of years without a service. The biggest thing to go wrong was the rear brakes binding, and I think it cost £100 to fix. I drove it the other day when my car was out of action and it's like a little go-kart with power steering.
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Jobless
3,323 posts
88 months
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Ford Ka is a much better drive than the Micra and can also be run for pennies.
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fluffnik
17,329 posts
96 months
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Get an auto...
Not much will stay with a CVT Micra up to 15mph!
I've never failed to have a hoot when I've borrowed my Mum's Micra, they're great round town and less awful cross-country than you might expect.
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Robb F
3,836 posts
40 months
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Just in case you hadn't considered it, if I had the same commute and requirements as you I would buy another 125cc bike! Bike was £900 (almost mint 2008 model with 2K miles from new) and insurance £250. Tax £15 a year. Gear was about £300 for boots, jacket, helmet and gloves and 75-80mpg. You have to be prepared for rain though, but I didn't mind when I remembered how much cheaper it was than staying dry. Again, just a thought
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fluffnik
17,329 posts
96 months
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s1962a said: I drove it the other day when my car was out of action and it's like a little go-kart with power steering.  The CVT auto means you are always in exactly the right gear...
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Jobless
3,323 posts
88 months
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fluffnik said: s1962a said: I drove it the other day when my car was out of action and it's like a little go-kart with power steering. The CVT auto means you are always in exactly the right gear... I had a 1.3 Micra as a run around, it was surprisingly quick up to 40mph. Handle is one thing it didn't do though, I enthusiastically threw it into a tight left hand bend and it went in every direction except the one I wanted it to! The mismatched budget tyres with varying tread levels probably didn't help though!
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WetPaint
Original Poster
962 posts
50 months
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Robb F said: Just in case you hadn't considered it, if I had the same commute and requirements as you I would buy another 125cc bike! Bike was £900 (almost mint 2008 model with 2K miles from new) and insurance £250. Tax £15 a year. Gear was about £300 for boots, jacket, helmet and gloves and 75-80mpg. You have to be prepared for rain though, but I didn't mind when I remembered how much cheaper it was than staying dry. Again, just a thought Not really my thing. Though the numbers do stack up nicely.
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SeldomSeenKid
231 posts
22 months
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I have one, it's my first car, and I love it. It feels quick, probably quicker than it really is through the lower gears, and it's fun enough for town driving. Does tend to get a bit noisy on the motorway though. It's good on fuel too.
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NadiR
585 posts
16 months
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Nigel Worc's
5,278 posts
57 months
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A micra for the op's criteria is about as good as it gets to be honest, a Ford KA ?
You lot having a laugh ?
With the op's budget he/she would be lucky to get one that isn't as rusty as hell, awful things !
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NadiR
585 posts
16 months
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Nigel Worc's said: A micra for the op's criteria is about as good as it gets to be honest, a Ford KA ?
You lot having a laugh ?
With the op's budget he/she would be lucky to get one that isn't as rusty as hell, awful things ! +1 KA's are awful cars IMO. A family member had one and according to them it wasn't fun to drive, it was cramped and it wasn't as good on fuel as they expected it to be.
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deltashad
2,738 posts
66 months
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NadiR
585 posts
16 months
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Don't you mean starting bid?
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Jobless
3,323 posts
88 months
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Nigel Worc's said: A micra for the op's criteria is about as good as it gets to be honest, a Ford KA ?
You lot having a laugh ?
With the op's budget he/she would be lucky to get one that isn't as rusty as hell, awful things ! They are not awful at all, they meet the OPs criteria well and drive a lot better than the Micra. £1k gets you a half decent example. If rust is a worry have a look at Peugeot 106s, they too are good fun to drive.
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Countdown
6,339 posts
65 months
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fluffnik said: s1962a said: I drove it the other day when my car was out of action and it's like a little go-kart with power steering. The CVT auto means you are always in exactly the right gear... Definitely get one with PAS though.
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ambuletz
1,992 posts
50 months
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As someone else said on here, they are the cockroaches of the car world. I would love a white one with the normal uncoloured bumpers (I actually don't like the colour coded bumpers for some reason). on black steelies. Totally utilitarian motoring. Like this  God I'm well weird!
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SlipStream77
1,627 posts
60 months
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You can get an Alfa 156 1.6 for under £500.
34mpg combined is not bad. Insurance group 11E.
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poing
2,301 posts
69 months
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NadiR said: Nigel Worc's said: A micra for the op's criteria is about as good as it gets to be honest, a Ford KA ?
You lot having a laugh ?
With the op's budget he/she would be lucky to get one that isn't as rusty as hell, awful things ! +1 KA's are awful cars IMO. A family member had one and according to them it wasn't fun to drive, it was cramped and it wasn't as good on fuel as they expected it to be. Having owned both I can confirm that the Ford KA is far better drivers car than the Micra and anyone who thinks the Micra handles better is either a terrible driver with no idea what handling is or has driven a broken KA. It's easily one of the best handling cars I've driven and more fun than cars costing many times it's value. That's not to say the Micra isn't fun in it's own way though. In terms of running a reliable car on a budget the Micra wins by a very large margin over the KA. It just won't die unless you hit someone with it. Both my cars were driven over the same commute with the same level of "enthusiasm" so were tested evenly. The Ford needed a lot more maintenance over the ownership period, the Micra only ever needed normal service schedules and some wear and tear items like tyres and brakes. If I was picking between them and budget was an issue, the Micra would win every time. If getting from A to B faster was important then it would be the KA. The one I miss the most and shouldn't have sold was the Micra.
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