If you can get a decent Smart for less
than a grand as per the op request then where do I sign

I sold my 2000 ForTwo Passion two years ago for just under £1400, it was in very good condition too, although I admit I'm not very good a selling cars. The Passion is the high end version, you should be able to get a Pure which is the base model for £200 less, and if you go for an earlier year you could get very close to your £1k budget.

You are absolutely correct, which is why it would be best to avoid cars that have not had a rebuild.

However if you are handy with spanners then you can replace the valves, rings and bearings in a long weekend, plus an evening or two. That means you can buy in at well below a grand. That's how I was able to afford mine.

+1 for the Ka, great fun but mind the rust.

Was made redundant in the early 90s and lost the company Vauxhall Belmont (Astra with a boot, horrible thing), so I needed cash-free and maintenance-free transport and had three squareback Polos on the trot.

First two were 1100cc four-speed, not things of joy but they just kept running, each went to the back-street trade at 116K and 111K miles when general paint rot and noisy driveshafts and UJs indicated imminent expenditure. (Living in a flat, and the rented lockup had gone with redundancy so DIY not really an option).

Bought a 1300cc five-speed Polo after that, noticeably quicker and easier on the 100-mile round trips twice a week in the temporary job at that time.

Got fed up with that and started my own business, traded Polo No3 at 85K miles for a Ka, like a go-kart compared to the Polos. Gutless but handled, just like my old '75 1000cc Mini, so once it was wound up you could keep it there. Needed to plan ahead about three miles to overtake - mine was 60bhp, more recent were 70bhp IIRC and might be a bit easier.

The Ka rotted in some funny places - the sump needed replaced for an MoT one time and it was bubbling hard around the filler cap when I traded it on.

Re Ka appearance - mine had body-colour bumpers and 14" alloys, a whole lot better than the grey nappy look IMHO.

Sorry, can't remember the costs now, the first 1100cc Polo was bought nearly 20 years ago anyway, but those four wee cars did me for about 15 years till funds improved.

AHB

3 things I found about the Ka

Its 2 door so nowhere near as practical.
The Micra engines (both 1.0 and 1.3) were far more eager to rev and less prone to oil leaks.
Nobody (apart from PHers) cares about handling. So that's 95% of my family.

This one could end up going for under a grand... eBay 130709125179 - no affiliation.

I turned down a W reg one of those for £50. I genuinely regret it. Would of been ideal but I bought a £350 Ka instead. Was fun in an 'I don't care' kind of way. Was doing 120 mile commute at the time though....

plenty :-)

Ugly
Granny Image
Asmatic
Slow
Appalling handling
Wallowy
Noisy
Appeal to people with no knowledge of cars.


Hateful cars.

Perhaps, and the facelift did it few favours.

Cute in some colours.

True.



If there's one thing that that peppy little motor is not it has to be asthmatic.

It's a 1.0/1.3l shopping trolly, those are all slow.

The 1.0 CVT auto will maintain 80-85mph up hill and down dale all day long.

Havers!

There's a bit of understeer but they're predictable and reasonably adjustable provided you keep the tyres blown up.

The damping is indeed marginal.

For its class, not especially.

They also appeal to those who see past the image to the finely engineered package underneath.

Nonsense.

The K11 Micra is a superb piece of utilitarian engineering.