Sub £1k winter shed / barge / whatever

[Jawaman]

If it has to be one of those four then 306 gti or volvo for me

Volvo arguably the most capable of the mileage

[Snowboy]

Whatever is for sale within a 20 minute drive and looks like it might last the winter.
If there's a choice choose the one with the best tyres.

[dapearson]

I still say Avensis. Japanese build quality. Comfy and fairly decent spec. No rust issues. Reliable petrol engines that aren't terrible on fuel. Worth peanuts.

Granted they're not the peak of driver involvement and you won't look back at it when you park up and think "ooh yeah", but for solid transport i really rate mine.

[TheJimi]

Snowboy said:

Whatever is for sale within a 20 minute drive and looks like it might last the winter.
If there's a choice choose the one with the best tyres.

I did briefly consider driving 350+ miles to buy a 600 quid car last week, but I came to my senses, and I'm now restricting it to 100 mile radius.

[sawman]

last winter I spent £300 quid on a merc W201 which was fab, but rusty.
Over the summer I was looking for a W124 estate, as the boot would be useful, but eventually traded the w201 in (plus £300) for a W202 estate (with aircon) just put some winters on it (it came with 2 so just had to buy 2) its v comfy, and with the 2.8 v6 can handle a traffic light grand prix if the urge takes me

[Tant]

I'm currently knocking about in a Puma 1.7.

It's not been tested in the wet/ice/snow yet, but one thing I will say about it (as well as it being fun and reasonably economical) is that the heater is bloody epic....warms up nicely in next to no time...less than a mile or so, and reaches temperatures that is incredibly toasty. Much better than the diesel mondeo I run as a normal daily, which takes for ever to get warmed up.