Work mates car FAIL!

[chrisnic0]

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker first time poster!

Quick question one of the guys I work with currently has no car.
He has been driving for 1 year he is 25 and has no NCB.
His last car a 1.4 Megane hatchback died on the motorway after the engine seized (no oil change)
He really doesn't care about the looks or handling or anything for that matter. He wants cheap, has £1200 max, cheap to insure, and "reliable" He now knows that servicing cars is essential, but we have been arguing in work all day regarding his next car.
He is going to buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-25-1-4-2002-Impres...
On Saturday unless I can stop him.

Can anyone recommend a car? Postcode is CH1 (Chester)

Cheers

Nico

[marcosgt]

chrisnic0 said:

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker first time poster!

Quick question one of the guys I work with currently has no car.
He has been driving for 1 year he is 25 and has no NCB.
His last car a 1.4 Megane hatchback died on the motorway after the engine seized (no oil change)
He really doesn't care about the looks or handling or anything for that matter. He wants cheap, has £1200 max, cheap to insure, and "reliable" He now knows that servicing cars is essential, but we have been arguing in work all day regarding his next car.
He is going to buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-25-1-4-2002-Impres...
On Saturday unless I can stop him.

Can anyone recommend a car? Postcode is CH1 (Chester)

Cheers

Nico

Why bother stoppping him? Seems he'd be happy with anything...

If you say "Get an X" and he has one minor quibble with it, you'll never hear the end of it...

M

[Rawwr]

Apart from the colour, what's wrong with it?

[SWoll]

marcosgt said:

Why bother stoppping him? Seems he'd be happy with anything...

If you say "Get an X" and he has one minor quibble with it, you'll never hear the end of it...

M

This...

[George7]

The HG will probably go on it. Warn him and if he doesn't take your advice, wait, then say I told you so when the HG inevitablly goes

He could probably pick up a tidy 1.25 Fiesta for that money. They're very good little low maintenance cars.

[Riknos]

This:

chrisnic0 said:

His last car a 1.4 Megane hatchback died on the motorway after the engine seized (no oil change)

Will stop it from being this:

chrisnic0 said:

"reliable"

He sounds like an idiot, tell him to get a push bike..

[RemainAllHoof]

marcosgt said:

Why bother stoppping him? Seems he'd be happy with anything...

If you say "Get an X" and he has one minor quibble with it, you'll never hear the end of it...

M

That's a good point. I think the best thing to do is let him get what he likes the look of. My sister had her heart set on a Clio despite me warning her that French cars are not well-built. £4000 later she agrees with me.

[Frik]

George7 said:

The HG will probably go on it. Warn him and if he doesn't take your advice, wait, then say I told you so when the HG inevitablly goes

Given that people tend to point out that this never happens "if you keep an eye on the water level", you're probably right.

[Snowboy]

The Rover 25 is a nice little car.
My GF had one.
Fairly comfortable, huge boot, inexpensive to run.

For £1200 you're taking a punt on any car you buy.
So let him get on with it.

[mercfunder]

What's wrong with it? Seems a decent enough car to build a bit of no claims on.

[kambites]

Looks like a fairly good purchase to me. The 1.4 K-series is a decent enough engine.

[EDLT]

My dad had a Rover 25, I think my 306 is quieter and better built

[kambites]

doogz said:

I never really 'got' this.

What is keeping an eye on the level going to do? When it starts to drop, it's because the water is going somewhere. Usually, because the HG has blown. How does keeping an eye on it prevent this?

The water level doesn't drop because the head gasket has gone (it's usually because a hose has fallen off or split somewhere), the head gasket goes because there's no coolant in the system so the temperature gradient across the head/block interface gets too great for the gasket to cope with the uneven metal expansion.

Or because someone has thrashed the engine to buggery when its cold, with the same result.

[kambites]

doogz said:

Not what happened to mine, but fair enough.

From what I've seen, it's quite rare to see 1.4s go for another reason (although of course it can happen to any engine). The larger capacity engines certain do go regardless, although obviously they go for this reason as well.