A cheap car for short journeys

[t4thomas]

I am in the process of moving house.

I still have a world of contract pain ahead but the working assumption is that I'll be moved by end of August.

The new house is 2.5 miles away from the nearest station; It's badly lit and there is no pavement.

I don't mind cycling during the summer, but realistically I want to stay dry and get there quickly and I am therefore looking for a car. As this is such a short journey, I wondered if you had any thoughts about which kinds of cars/engines would deal better with the cold starts and short journeys. I'd like to avoid having to take the car for a longer drive each week if possible.

I have a 1994 106 Rallye or 2007 Honda Civic that I could use, but they both seem to good for these duties.

Thoughts!?

[Shakermaker]

Japanese, petrol, small. That's the usual answer on any of these threads.

Or a small 125cc moped

[t4thomas]

Great!

[IanCress]

Surely a 10 year old Civic (if petrol) is exactly what's needed. You already have a car suited to this purpose.

[DIW35]

Smart car would seem to fit the bill. Roomier inside than you would imagine, and we actually drove one from Kent to Scotland and back without problem.

[t4thomas]

IanCress said:

Surely a 10 year old Civic (if petrol) is exactly what's needed. You already have a car suited to this purpose.

I think that's what I am coming round to.

I don't like the Civic for various reasons, so am always looking for an excuse to get rid of it and get something else.

[A500leroy]

Small scooter or 125cc bike seems the logical choice, oh and a big lock so it's there when you return

[anonymous-user]

Renault twizy

[The Turbonator]

I wanted a sub £500 banger with a years MOT and found a Rover 25 for £400. Was by far the cheapest thing to insure amongst all the other £500 bangers and the 1.4 engine will do 350 miles on a £40 full tank. Didn't expect to like it to be honest, I just wanted a cheap car for a year but the little thing has a certain charm to it.

[Integroo]

Why would one think a ten year old Honda Civic is a bad car for this task ... ?

[raspy]

Nissan Micra.

[Kev_Mk3]

t4thomas said:

Great!

1.3 super S would be awesome but over kill

[Dogwatch]

I was going to suggest an old Focus but realistically with that sort of mileage any Internal combustion engined car is going to give problems after a while with the battery struggling to fully charge and the engine barely getting up to running temp.

That said, if it is only for the Summer months you'll get away with it for longer

[Alex_225]

Buy something fun like a Clio172, cheap to buy and plenty of fun. Plus they'll do 32mpg all the time so not bad on fuel.

[Matt-il77s]

An early C1? the 1.0 is nippy round town and the older ones can be had very cheap now, and they never have high miles on them

[TheInsanity1234]

Look at the Up!/Citigo/Mii trio, they all have 1.0 three cylinders, the eco tech ones are £0 road tax (if registered before the '17 tax changes), and insurance is laughably cheap. My Citigo is only £530 a year for me to insure and I'm 19 with 2 years NCB.

£3,500 should get you into a '12 or '13 reg, and mine is happy to just sit there for 2 weeks at a time then get moved about 2 miles. It's a '16 one though.

Failing that, look on Autotrader for smallest size engine cars, there's loads of old sheds for less than £1k.

[Ian_sUK]

My wife's 1.6 mk1 focus has held up very well to her 1.5 mile commute for 18 months. I expected the battery to struggle and the exhaust to fall off but is been fine.

[lucido grigio]

IanCress said:

Surely a 10 year old Civic (if petrol) is exactly what's needed. You already have a car suited to this purpose.

This ,this and this again.

Why sell a car of relatively low value to buy another of similar ?

[bearman68]

Yaris, Micra, Swift,

[Ste372]

Toyota yaris, Honda jazz, suzuki ignis, Nissan micra, Subaru justy (4x4). All can be picked up sub £1000 for a clean example some even sub £500