£1000 daily - Page 1 - Car Buying

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RED5RACING

Original Poster

33 posts

126 months

Monday 13th April 2020

I own a Clio RS 182 which I purchased in January as a project car. I have decided that I don't want to run the car as a daily anymore and instead just keep as a weekend toy and enjoy track days.

I have now decided to purchase a more sensible daily with a budget of £1000. Ideally something bigger than the Clio and something not so mainstream and a little less popular than a 3 series, A4 or Mondeo.

After time looking on Auto Trader, ebay and here I've narrowed it down to:-

SAAB 9-3 2003>
MAZDA 6 SALOON
JAGUAR X-TYPE
ALFA ROMEO 147

Can anyone think of anything else that fits the bill or have experience of the above cars.

I've found decent examples of all of the above with less than 100k miles, good service history and spec. I'm after a petrol model and not fussed about transmission type

stevemcs

10,268 posts

122 months

Monday 13th April 2020

I guess it depends what you want from the car but if you want to collect any bits then the Mazda being a hatchback might be more practical although I’m not sure if you will pick a tidy one up for 1k

I would be going for the mk3 Mondeo, either 1.8 Zetec or 2.0 Ghia x

Dadoc2001

145 posts

85 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Honda Accord? Very pleasant place to be and very reliable.

amazing driver

270 posts

78 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Why discount the Mondeo? The TDCi's are tough as old boots, cheap, very practical.

RED5RACING

Original Poster

33 posts

126 months

Monday 13th April 2020

I'm after something a little less mainstream and petrol. I have no need for a diesel and at the age of car I'd being looking chances of off needing to replace a dual mass flywheel, turbo, high pressure fuel pump, injector, DPF wouldn't be far away.

Johnny 89

836 posts

181 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Would also add Alfa 159 to the list ifvyoure looking for a bigger car

Evanivitch

26,295 posts

151 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Saab you'll struggle for panels and any specific parts, non-GM parts bin.

Mazda of that age are a rust nightmare (still).

Alfa will likely have wishbone and odd electrical issue at that age, TwinSpark engines are okay if a bit fussy on oil. Not particularly big.

Jag. Why not?

Seems like Volvo territory to me! This one, get the MOT done independently nearby to the seller so there's no tricks.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

TurboBlue

686 posts

192 months

Monday 13th April 2020

At this price point I wouldn't normally highlight a C class Mercedes as they will be rusty, expensive to run and the auto box would be at risk of failure, however, depending on whether you'll take on a really small recommissioning job there is this on Auto Trader a:

1998 MB C180 Esprit
Chain engine
Manual gearbox
Just over 50,000 miles
£900

Hasn't been MOT'd since 2017 due to failing health. Some rust on wheel arches, all detailed on ad.

This will be slow, doesn't have air, uses a daft foot operated parking brake but if I was going buy a thousand pound daily this is what I'd have.

ZX10R NIN

30,521 posts

154 months

Monday 13th April 2020

itcaptainslow

4,696 posts

165 months

Monday 13th April 2020

I’ll add Rover 75/MG ZT to the mix. You can pick up a reasonable example for your budget, and they’re reliable, superbly comfortable cars. I’d go for a 1.8 for ease of maintenance and best value, although they’re not the quickest.

stevemcs

10,268 posts

122 months

Monday 13th April 2020

That Stilo would make an interesting daily hack, but i'd put my money in the Mondeo Zetec.

Wild card, above budget but you would get your money back ... and very different

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ford-Granada-Scorpio-2-...

Shifter1

1,081 posts

120 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Evanivitch said:

Alfa will likely have wishbone and odd electrical issue at that age, TwinSpark engines are okay if a bit fussy on oil. Not particularly big.

What do you mean fussy on oil? That they need oil? Then yes. it's part of that particular engine's design.

Shifter1

1,081 posts

120 months

Monday 13th April 2020

RED5RACING said:

If you are considering the pseudo-Jag X-Type, have you thought of a S-Type? RWD and available with a manual if you enjoy that.

gmugs

36 posts

77 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Try finding a rust-free '05 Civic. If it's under 150k miles the engine and transmission won't give you any problems. If you can find the 2.0 version then it's a (chain driven) K20 engine. Really nice. Toyotas are always a good bet too. X-Types can be good if you find one that's been owned by an older driver and because they are basically Ford Mondeos should be easy to maintain. The earlier ones had some weird electrical problems, but you'd hope they would have been fixed by now.

Edited by gmugs on Monday 13th April 13:14

Edited by gmugs on Monday 13th April 13:15

Jag_NE

3,339 posts

129 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Do you need the second car for practical reasons or do you just fancy a 2nd set of wheels? If it’s the latter and the Clio does the job today I’d keep your cash and use it to keep the Clio tip top. The 2nd car will cost you the grand but a lot more again per annum with an extra insurance policy, VED, MOT, repairs etc. Alternatively chop the Clio in and have one better, all round car.

Evanivitch

26,295 posts

151 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Shifter1 said:

What do you mean fussy on oil? That they need oil? Then yes. it's part of that particular engine's design.

Someone a little cranky?

Having run a JTS myself, which was previously specified as a 10W-40, but now recommended for 10W-60, I believe the same was made of the TS. They also like to burn a bit of oil, which means you should be checking them at least monthly. The problem with that is that being in the shed category of car, people don't tend to look after them so well. So you get low or wrong oil grade, and eventually you might start getting very expensive issues.

fred flange

478 posts

250 months

Monday 13th April 2020

I’ve had a Clio 182 and a couple of years ago bought an old 2004 Saab 9-3 aero, bloody good car for under 1k,you can get a noobtune chip for under £100 and have 250bhp! Mechanically they are perfect but interior wise all ok if it all works common problems is the radio is s

te and can’t be updated as all built in and not worth the aggro ofchanging and mine had the common interior Dan problem which is the resistor which is a pain to change.all in all tho I wouldn’t hesitate to have another.

Justin Case

2,195 posts

163 months

Monday 13th April 2020

TBH for £1000 choose on condition, the make is almost irrelevant at this price level

E63eeeeee...

5,766 posts

78 months

Monday 13th April 2020

Justin Case said:

TBH for £1000 choose on condition, the make is almost irrelevant at this price level

What he said. Find what's available locally and have a long test drive, try everything to see if it works and get someone mechanically minded to have a look at it (if you aren't).

MorganP104

2,605 posts

159 months

Monday 13th April 2020

As the owner of a sub-£1k X-Type myself, I can recommend them to you.

It's a lot of car for the money, as many buyers are put off by the retro looks. These days, the fact the X-Type looks like an old Jag really isn't a problem, and as a result, used examples sell for peanuts.

If I were looking for a shed-money daily now, I'd have another X-Type.

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