Banger-nomincs. Cheapest car to own and run

[white_goodman]

User33678888 said:

I've just realised that the one I linked to, despite being a great deal isn't perfect as they only come as a 3 door. Someone mentioned a new shape Citroen 5door C1 deal the other day on the leasing thread. £1200 down and then £42 a month.

Did they not do the K11 Micra as a 5 door?

[Poopipe]

Mx5 mk1 is possibly worth a shout if you can find one that hasnt rotted (my neighbour did for about £300). Fuel economy isnt great but parts are dirt cheap, cambelt failure is a non issue, you can fix almost anything with a hammer and two spanners, they cost sod all in consumables and they bottomed out price wise years ago so depreciation will be minimal. Not as thrifty as a micra but youll get a lot more smiles out of one.

[S0 What]

strangehighways said:

Surely it's the 106 1.4 or 1.5d?

60 - 65 mpg combined.

75 mpg on a run.

Probably £500 to buy.

This /\/\
Just bought a T reg 1.5D zest2 (tartan seats for the win) with 10 months MOT, a new clutch, driveshafts and zorst for £350, just got back from a London to Swansea and back trip and av 71 MPG (all on A roads no motorway at all), ins group 7, lower tax bracket (pre 2002) 80 quid for 6 months.
It's fooking noisy (but coming fome an 80's TD pickup truck i dont really notice, you might ! ) lol, not as slow as i thought it might be for a non turbo, not quick by any stretch of the imagination but again quicker than my pickup truck
If i could of got a 1.25 fiesta for £350 with 10 months MOT i,, well TBH i would still have got the 106 cos i do have a fiesta 1.25 and although it's a better car it's no where near as cheap to run (hense the purchase of the 106 and the giving of the fiesta to my youngest son)

Ive done the same trip in the last year in a few cars (exact same route, same time of eve ect)
sierra 2.0 8v twincam#(92) 43 MPG
sierra 1.8TD (88) 49 MPG
pug 106 1.5D (99) 71MPG
astra 1.7TD (55plate) 55 MPG
fiesta 1.25 (53plate) 45 MPG
Cant touch the 106 on running costs, *IF* you can put up with the noise and sparseness of the int.

[User33678888]

white_goodman said:

User33678888 said:

I've just realised that the one I linked to, despite being a great deal isn't perfect as they only come as a 3 door. Someone mentioned a new shape Citroen 5door C1 deal the other day on the leasing thread. £1200 down and then £42 a month.

Did they not do the K11 Micra as a 5 door?

Look at the total cost of ownership between the two. A 15 year old Micra will use more fuel, break more (and when it does it won't be under warranty), cost more to tax and possibly even insure. I doubt it'll cost the OP much extra over two years to be in a brand new car with bluetooth, climate control etc etc. I'd say it's £500 or less between them over two years, depending on what it costs to keep the shed running or replace it. Either could be cheaper. 50MPG, £30 RFL and a warranty and breakdown cover help..

Edited by User33678888 on Sunday 29th March 22:20

[vanordinaire]

I bought a 5 door 2004 K12 Micra diesel for £200 as a summer car for my student son. It gets 70mpg, £30 road tax, £460 fully comp for a 19 year old and I can't fault it. The way it's going, it'll probably outlast all our other cars.

Edited by vanordinaire on Sunday 29th March 22:54

[vinnie01]

magpie215 said:

K11.....bombproof we stuck around 60k on our £425 micra over 7 years and it just took consumables

only component fail item was an alternator 5 years into ownership replaced with a £12 used item from ebay.

they really are that cheap and reliable

Or go older still K10 micra i had a rare 'sporty' one with 5 doors only ever cost fuel and stuff like that. sadly was assulted by a van

[beko1987]

I have a ZX 1.9TD.

Cost £350 to buy
Front pads, discs, lower balljoints, trackrod ends, a good service rear pads and 2 tyres see me in for probably £110 all in, did bits here and there so no lump sum
3 advisories on the last MOT, 2 for tyres and 1 for the drivers side lower balljoint
Do 25-30 miles a day, normally 8 miles of b roads, 11 miles of M40 then 3 miles of crawling jammed up A404. If the M40's fked then I go A roads all the way to Marlow up and down hills. Get 480-500 miles at a push to £55 of derv
Runs veg in the summer so I can say I drive a Hybrid!
Tax is £21 a month

Can't fault it at all! I do miss my XM for comfort (£650 and a fair bit of diagnostic and preventative maintanance done for free/some beers), but that was the 2.0TCT auto so stung me for £40 a week even driving gingerly everywhere and not exceeding 65 on the m40. Couldnt live with paying £170-200 a month to get to work and back! £55 lasts me a month, sometimes more depending how much I play with the turbo whilst driving.

[Mr Tidy]

I had a 2 owner Mazda 323 for 6 months last year and it cost me very little.
1996 registration 1.5 so cheap RFL, and non-interference engine so you only change the cam-belt when/if it breaks!
Great car for cheap as chips motoring, but I got bored!

[muley]

Mr Tidy said:

I had a 2 owner Mazda 323 for 6 months last year and it cost me very little.
1996 registration 1.5 so cheap RFL, and non-interference engine so you only change the cam-belt when/if it breaks!
Great car for cheap as chips motoring, but I got bored!

Another vote for the 323. Paid GBP 200 spent 120 on exhaust / distributor / plugs/ oil / leads used it for 2 years, put on 18,000 miles and sold it for GBP 450 - motoring at a profit.

[Gary C]

SidewaysSi said:

Gary C said:

1989 porsche carrera !

Run for a few years then sell for three times what u paid for it.

Not sure about that when you account for running costs, particularly rust when used as a daily driver. They do rust for fun.

I suppose

Any 90's toyota are a pretty good bet.

[Qubit]

User33678888 said:

Look at the total cost of ownership between the two. A 15 year old Micra will use more fuel, break more (and when it does it won't be under warranty), cost more to tax and possibly even insure. I doubt it'll cost the OP much extra over two years to be in a brand new car with bluetooth, climate control etc etc. I'd say it's £500 or less between them over two years, depending on what it costs to keep the shed running or replace it. Either could be cheaper. 50MPG, £30 RFL and a warranty and breakdown cover help..

Edited by User33678888 on Sunday 29th March 22:20

Id say its very unlikely that the lease option would come out on top, unless you are very unlucky or buy unwisely, even if one eats itself and is beyond economical repair I would still expect to be up over 2 years. In fact in an average scenario I would expect to be up by around £1000 over 2 years to be honest. For some people thats a lot of money.

Basically the cheapest way for reliable motoring is an older Japanese car (my choice would probably be a Primera, probably with the bombproof sr20de. 35mpg easy and enough poke. Oil change can be done by any muppet - hell suck it out with a pump and stick some new stuff in - or just dont bother, it will still easily last 2 years doing most mileages).

[Colon]

Shedded a 98 Astra 1.6 16 valve last year, £500 with a years ticket, cost £27 for an exhaust in 7 months, sold for £120 scrap, solid car that would have gone on and was reasonably nippy.

[longbow]

strangehighways said:

Surely it's the 106 1.4 or 1.5d?

60 - 65 mpg combined.

75 mpg on a run.

Probably £500 to buy.

Close... very close!

I think my commuter is the cheapest you can get. 2001 Saxo 1.5D (with Bosch injection pump) running on SVO which I get for 70p/litre for a local ethnic supermarket. When you factor in the cost saving over pump diesel its knocking on a genuine 100mpg.

[Pat H]

I've had a few K11 Micras.

These cars just don't break.

They aren't the cheapest cars to tax, and you won't get more than mid 40s to the gallon.

But there are lots around that have been owned by pensioners, with very low miles.

Despite the naysayers, they are actually quite pleasant to drive. The steering and handling are good, the brakes are sharp and the 16v engine is refined. The gearbox is nice, build quality is splendid and the non existent image means you just leave them anywhere without a care in the world.

Most now have rotten sills and many have timing chain rattles, but there are still plenty of minters out there.

Finally, don't discount the automatic version, with the weirdo CVT. They are a hoot to drive. A cross between a dodgem car and a four wheeled moped. They are cheaper than the manual version because no one wants them.

I once bought a 35,000 mile automatic Micra for £275 and it was a brilliant car. 15 years old and still on it's original exhaust. Ran it for a year, changed the filters and the oil, then gave it to a friend, who ran it for another year. She sold it for £400 and it was still going strong.