£1k or less - shed, banger, something fruity?

[ClaphamGT3]

One of the spicier Subaru Legacy models?

They'll do the mileage, are hugely practical and are both fun and different

[funkyrobot]

Found a 2001 Honda Accord. MOT until June 2017. Only thing I can see is this MOT fail this june:

'Offside front subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded floor pan'.

Rusting?

[irocfan]

Puma - don't laugh, had 4 adults in one (driver was 6'7")

[funkyrobot]

irocfan said:

Puma - don't laugh, had 4 adults in one (driver was 6'7")

I won't. They look like really good, cheap cars.

Only issue I would have is getting my daughter and her seat in and out.

[ClaphamGT3]

funkyrobot said:

Found a 2001 Honda Accord. MOT until June 2017. Only thing I can see is this MOT fail this june:

'Offside front subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded floor pan'.

Rusting?

Yes, structural corrosion which *should* have been fixed to an at least adequate standard in order to pass on re-test.

Be aware that MOT failures for corrosion on cars that don't have a reputation for corrosion often indicates a badly executed accident repair

[mikeyr]

funkyrobot said:

irocfan said:

Puma - don't laugh, had 4 adults in one (driver was 6'7")

I won't. They look like really good, cheap cars.

Only issue I would have is getting my daughter and her seat in and out.

Not a flat seat in the back (only 2 individual rear seats) so you'd have to check your style of child seat fits. Fine cars to drive, with deep (but impractically shaped) boots so not always practical.

I really enjoyed mine but if you somehow managed to find a rust free one you will spend your time waiting for those rust bubbles to appear. In my case it waited for 18 months then appeared just as I was writing up my for sale advert.

Despite it's size it's not the easiest combo for kids and car parks as the doors are long and open wide.

An absolute hoot to hoon round in though, and that 1.7 engine had a really surprising amount of effortless power even from low revs.

[funkyrobot]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Yes, structural corrosion which *should* have been fixed to an at least adequate standard in order to pass on re-test.

Be aware that MOT failures for corrosion on cars that don't have a reputation for corrosion often indicates a badly executed accident repair

Thanks. I guess Honda's don't usually rust?

[DanQyou]

Could you get a decent Prelude in that budget?

[funkyrobot]

DanQyou said:

Could you get a decent Prelude in that budget?

Have seen one or two on my searches. Would they fit two tall people and a two year old?

I've seen a few Nissan Almera's. However, I'm not sure if they would be big enough for my needs.

Seen a few Accords, but they all have mega miles on. Quite a few Volvo's. Plenty of Ford and Vauxhall examples.

[georgezippy]

I bought this about a year ago for £1050.



It needed a thorough service and a few minor bits but it's turned out well, comfy leather etc, had a stage 1 remap (£85) and now it goes like a nutter (250bhp) yet does mid 30s to the gallon and Saabs are supposed to be quite safe, big boot. Am not sure what I'd replace it with when the time comes.......

[funkyrobot]

Looks great.

[defblade]

funkyrobot said:

Been looking at E39's.

Just do it, you know they make sense.

Very good ones are starting to creep up in price; plenty of £1k ones with a year or three left in them around at the moment though. Easy to work on, too.

I may be biased at the moment

[funkyrobot]

I would love to. However, after doing my research, it seems that they need money throwing at them. Not what I want to do at the moment.

[funkyrobot]

Citroen C5's any good?

Found a 54 plate 2.0 hdi one with year's MOT and 130k on the clock. I'm not doing mega miles, so a diesel is probably a bad idea. Only just over £500 though.

Just realised the steering wheel looks like it has melted.

Edited by funkyrobot on Sunday 23 October 21:39

[defblade]

funkyrobot said:

I would love to. However, after doing my research, it seems that they need money throwing at them. Not what I want to do at the moment.

Seriously? You want a £1k car that will not, at some point, need money throwing at it? Japanese and a dose of luck for you then!

The only expense in the last year or so of running my E39 that has been higher than about £100 was 4 new tyres and you can hardly blame the car for that. Paid £1350 May '15 and have spent roughly £540 on stuff beyond tyres/oil since, some of which was preventative rather than strictly necessary.

[funkyrobot]

defblade said:

Seriously? You want a £1k car that will not, at some point, need money throwing at it? Japanese and a dose of luck for you then!

The only expense in the last year or so of running my E39 that has been higher than about £100 was 4 new tyres and you can hardly blame the car for that. Paid £1350 May '15 and have spent roughly £540 on stuff beyond tyres/oil since, some of which was preventative rather than strictly necessary.

I know a sub £1k car will need money at some point. It's just that if you read my thread on here about the e39, there are a lot of people saying they are expensive to keep.

I do like the cars and tales like yours give me a bit of confidence.

[defblade]

funkyrobot said:

I know a sub £1k car will need money at some point. It's just that if you read my thread on here about the e39, there are a lot of people saying they are expensive to keep.

I do like the cars and tales like yours give me a bit of confidence.

I think most of the people who are saying they're expensive to keep are loving and cherishing them rather than shedding them (flame suit on ). Currently, many shedable E39s about, that's not going to last forever - come back in a couple of years when the remaining half decent ones are heading back up over £4k.

But so long as gearbox and rust troubles are going to do in the majority, why not be one of those who enjoys top class shedding until the death happens?




Personally, I'm starting to look for my perfect, low mileage, E39 Touring to run over the next few years and hopefully cash in on the rise if I can keep it under the everyone-else-thinks-it's-magic 100k miles by then

[funkyrobot]

defblade said:

I think most of the people who are saying they're expensive to keep are loving and cherishing them rather than shedding them (flame suit on ). Currently, many shedable E39s about, that's not going to last forever - come back in a couple of years when the remaining half decent ones are heading back up over £4k.

But so long as gearbox and rust troubles are going to do in the majority, why not be one of those who enjoys top class shedding until the death happens?




Personally, I'm starting to look for my perfect, low mileage, E39 Touring to run over the next few years and hopefully cash in on the rise if I can keep it under the everyone-else-thinks-it's-magic 100k miles by then

To be fair, I've been looking for something cheap for a week or so now. As I live in Lincolnshire, it's as if I'm surrounded by terrible cars.

It's a rarity to find anything with an MOT longer than early 2017 and anything that doesn't look wrecked. There are some examples out there, and I do find the occasional one.

I seem to be surrounded by Ford, Vauxhall and Peugeot examples too. Hard to find a Japanese make around here that is in good nick.

Might as well go for a shed E39 then.

[ducnick]

How about a Saab 9-3 for £500 with a full MOT then spend the remainder on a map and more boost?




http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

Edited by ducnick on Monday 24th October 22:11

[funkyrobot]

Looks good.

I was looking at Almera's. However, I then read about the fact that they have a timing chain issue on the 1.5 engine. Sort of put me off.