£500.....

[iaincb1]

what car?

No real criteria at this price. Will be used for commuting though, so needs to be as reliable as possible and preferably long mot and tax.

I have looked at stuff like 850 T5's and BMW TDS's, can I get decent enough ones for this money? Otherwise it will have to be something cheap and boring I expect.

Hopefully just a temporary car for a few months; I have a Fiesta RS Turbo which has come off the road for a while, but will be sold eventually.

Suggestions please.....

[SpeckledJim]

Primera. Every time.

[boobles]

I suspect that £500 wont get you a decent T5, infact it will be dogste at that price.
Something like this perhaps?
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...


Or this?

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[SuperHangOn]

The car in the best condition with the longest MOT.

[FarmerJim]

SuperHangOn said:

The car in the best condition with the longest MOT.

This.

The £500 price range is not the place to be fussy about model or specification.

[OzzyR1]

I was just considering this on ebay as a winter runabout but rejected it on the grounds that I don't actually need another car and have nowhere to park it anyway

Mazda 626, excellent history, lowish milage, important bits replaced, lots of toys. Have been watching the seller for a while as she seems to have loads of dealer contacts and finds decent p-ex cars. Good feedback too.

Couple of hundred above your budget but might be worth it for a good one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-51-MAZDA-626-GSI-SE...

[Tuvra]

Get a Saab!

[Captain Muppet]

Stretching the budget a little to £600 and I've bought the following cars:
BMW 320i
Nissan Silvia turbo
Mazda RX7
BMW 535i

All with MOT and tax.

The 535 had a leaky radiator (£50 fix) and the steering lock broke (free fix but a day off the road) but other than that they all lasted a year with no problems.

[dtmpower]

MX5 - should be able to get one with some MOT left.

[PaperCut]

Seat Toledo! You may even get an early, albeit leggy, 2.3 V5!

[320touring]

I'd have to agree re the " car with the longest MOT" suggestions.

if its just a snotter for pootling to/from work.

Also, I'd avoid the 525tds e34- big bills if the fuel pump gies up the ghost.

buy something cheap to run, run it for 12 months, put the fuel savings to one side.

sell it after 12 months, then put that money to the pot of saved cash, and buy a better one

[sjc]

This looks like a good honest car,lots of stuff done recently, and plenty of life left in the BMW diesel.The steering wheel will sell for nigh on £150 on it's own!

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

[6fire]

For £500 forget anything interesting. You need an automotive cockroach such as a Toyota Corolla or Nissan Micra.

[renrut]

Depending on the commuting distance and roads but how about a Fiat Cinq or Seicento Sporting? £500 should get one with everything sorted and they're a hoot on back roads.

That or a Primera as said - bomb proof and only rust and serious neglect can kill them.

[iaincb1]

Thanks everyone, some good suggestions

However, I have been looking and as said, it looks like it's going to be whatever comes up that looks like it will last and is close enough to me.

Unfortunately at this point in time I can't stretch the budget.

My main concern is that I'm going to buy a shed that will quickly demand more money off me, I have never had good luck with cars. Obviously it's pot luck sometimes and I will be careful on inspection.

Just need to wait for a few days for the money to be available in my account.

I may even pop down to my local car auction but that scares the hell out of me

[ImpossiblyDaft]

boobles said:

I suspect that £500 wont get you a decent T5, infact it will be dogste at that price.
Something like this perhaps?

£500 will be a slight risk with a T5, but you can get a decent one for that (though obviously not the T5R). I had one for a temporary car the other year and sold it for £560, it wasn't perfect but it was in pretty good condition and just needed the handbrake adjusting really. Certainly no more of a gamble than an old BMW - I'd definitely reccomend one.

[damci]

Almera or Primera GTI

[n3il123]

boobles said:

I suspect that £500 wont get you a decent T5, infact it will be dogste at that price.
Something like this perhaps?
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...


Or this?

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Not true.

I brought an 850 T5 for £500 on the nose with 12 ticket last year, I ran it for 20,000 miles and parked it up just before the MOT ran out. Spent nothing on it other than 2 tyres and a set of front pads. Its now sitting on my drive waiting for me to get round to calling a scrappy. The only reason I sold it was because a nice e39 touring popped up.

[funkyrobot]

OzzyR1 said:

I was just considering this on ebay as a winter runabout but rejected it on the grounds that I don't actually need another car and have nowhere to park it anyway

Mazda 626, excellent history, lowish milage, important bits replaced, lots of toys. Have been watching the seller for a while as she seems to have loads of dealer contacts and finds decent p-ex cars. Good feedback too.

Couple of hundred above your budget but might be worth it for a good one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-51-MAZDA-626-GSI-SE...

The only thing I can note on that car is the old Mazda rusty wheel arch problem. Any chance that could fail an MOT?

[boobles]

n3il123 said:

Not true.

I brought an 850 T5 for £500 on the nose with 12 ticket last year, I ran it for 20,000 miles and parked it up just before the MOT ran out. Spent nothing on it other than 2 tyres and a set of front pads. Its now sitting on my drive waiting for me to get round to calling a scrappy. The only reason I sold it was because a nice e39 touring popped up.

Think you were lucky to find a decent one then at that price.