What Car £1k-£2k

[Jonnobris]

Hi,

With a budget of £1k-£2k what would people buy if they wanted a reliable daily driver? I'm thinking covering upto 7k miles a year some motorway but manly local stuff.

I'm thinking something German or Japanese?

Any suggestions? What have people had experience of?

Thanks,

[carbonblack]

Wrong section and very vague requirements!!

There's hundred of cars out there at 1-2k a lot of which are perceived as reliable.

Put your budget into Autotrader and go and find a Honda...

[Jonnobris]

Appologies for posting in the wrong section, new to the forum. How do I get this moved?

My requirements are broad and it was just a general question as to whether anyone wanted to share experience of cars in this price range that they would recomend?

[Pixel Pusher]

Jonnobris said:

How do I get this moved?

Welcome to PH.

Hit the report button and ask a Mod to move it to General Gassing.

It's possible however that because you've only just joined, you may not actually be able to reply to your own thread just yet??

Unsure of the 'probation' period for new members in GG or if there even is one any more.

[INWB]

Jonnobris said:

Hi,

With a budget of £1k-£2k what would people buy if they wanted a reliable daily driver? I'm thinking covering upto 7k miles a year some motorway but manly local stuff.

I'm thinking something German or Japanese?

Any suggestions? What have people had experience of?

Thanks,

Not sure as it is all a little vague but -

On that budget don't go sexy. Just a solid little hatch will see you through. Fiat Grand Punto around 2007/08 with 60,000 ish on it is well within budget. Comfortable, cheap to run and insure and a great daily.

Alternative would be a fiesta. 06/07 1.2.

If you want a bit of fun a Mini Cooper - I'm looking for one for my son at the moment and decent ones are rarer than hens teeth.

[Morry10]

Probably something along the following lines:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Good luck with your search

[BluePurpleRed]

I have an £1150 run around E46 323i that I am very happy with.

The Drive By Wire throttle is a bit pants but that's the E46 for you, and I have acclimatised to it.

Solid car, feels so much more premium to be in than a hatch. Its quite economical and hasn't given me any bills in 2 years.

I have been on the lookout for a replacement in an Audi a4/A6 Avant but not seen anything that nice to tempt me away from it despite upping my budget to £3k

I think its about seeing an honest car and you will just know when you see it. Decent paint, no rips, decent tyres etc.

I do think I was lucky though but as soon as I saw it I just new somehow it was a goodun and thats why I went for the 323 and not a 328 or 330 I wanted as it was "honest"

[300bhp/ton]

Jonnobris said:

Hi,

With a budget of £1k-£2k what would people buy if they wanted a reliable daily driver? I'm thinking covering upto 7k miles a year some motorway but manly local stuff.

I'm thinking something German or Japanese?

Any suggestions? What have people had experience of?

Thanks,

Hi and welcome.

First up, what sort of car and what sort driving?

I mean, do you actually enjoy driving, so do you want a drivers car? Or are you looking for a cruiser, something comfy?

Or do you have other practical considerations, such as number of seats, doors, size of boot, etc.


As for "reliability". I'm yet to find anyone who can actually give a definition or example of what this really means. Or at the very least, what an unreliable car would be. Pretty much any 'modern' car built in the past 30+ years is perfectly capable of daily duties.


Some cars you could consider.


Toyota Celica VVTi 190

MR2 Mk2 or 3

Alfa Romeo GTV coupe

Jaguar XJ8

Suzuki Jimny

MINI Cooper R50

[pidsy]

paid £1100 for a nice audi A4 avant last year for the dogs.

probably the most reliable car ive ever bought (ive spent 3x that much on fixes to my M3 so far this year).

theres loads of them for sale at your price point.

[INWB]

pidsy said:

paid £1100 for a nice audi A4 avant last year for the dogs.

You dogs can drive?

[sparks_E39]

E39 528i.

[Dubmaster77]

sparks_E39 said:

E39 528i.

+1 preferably a manual. Mine averaged 30+MPG on average. Just check the coolant system has been thoroughly looked after/ changed. Try and get one with sport suspension even if it is an SE.

[Rjbell]

If you don't care what it looks like get a CHEVROLET KALOS. Number 3 in the top 100 most reliable cars on reliabilityindex.co.uk.

[anonymous-user]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

HTH

[bobbybo]

saw a nice Mazda estate/hatch the other day 323 I think,

also the Lexus 200 sportbacks are great cars, some very sporty and very cheap money now, nice cars

[FD3Si]

The answer to 'cheap to buy and run reliable runaround' is basically always whatever form of Micra falls into the relevant price bracket.
It's not sexy, it's not fun to drive (maybe a 160SR maybe) but it will barely ever go wrong, and even if it does, parts are ten a penny and cost peanuts.

[ZX10R NIN]

What size of car are you looking for?

[pidsy]

INWB said:

pidsy said:

paid £1100 for a nice audi A4 avant last year for the dogs.

You dogs can drive?

Haha, I'm sure one of them would give it a good go.

Or just chew the steering wheel.

My off roader is unreliable and I hated putting 2 dogs in the nice car. For what I paid for it, I love the Audi b

[Mr Tidy]

I had a Mazda 323f for 6 months for that purpose, but it wasn't very nice and the 1500cc engine just felt sluggish.

So I replaced it with a BMW 325ti Compact which I've had for 18 months now, and it is such a pleasant way to travel! Mine was in your budget and is an Imola Red Sport model with full leather, and had done 80K miles. Bonus is it has hatchback practicality should you need it, and Compacts seem to be pretty immune from the rust that afflicats all other E46 bodystyles.

But as has been said, check the cooling system - mine needed a refresh soon after I bought it as the radiator had bowed at the bottom (a common problem on E46s).

Good luck anyway!