If All Your Finances Collapsed What Car Would You Buy

[Clad-Hach]

Say all your finances collapsed and you were left with next to nothing but still needed one basic car to get around...what would you buy and what would influence your choice.

After owning one of these years ago and discovered its by far the most reliable good to drive and cheap to run cars I've ever owned I'd be straight out to get another.

Mine would be a ZC32 Suzuki Swift 1.2...what an amazingly good little car.

[Doofus]

I'd keep one of the cars I already own.

[SchillingTwo]

It can’t happen, but given the hypothetical it’d be an Up! GTi.

[MC Bodge]

Clad-Hach said:

Say all your finances collapsed and you were left with next to nothing but still needed one basic car to get around...what would you buy and what would influence your choice.

If I had no money at all, I would ride one of my bicycles.

If I had a few hundred quid, something like this:



Of course, a self-respecting PHer would have at least £20K in their wallet or find it in gold bullion down the back of the sofa, so they would be able to slum it in a V8 Mercedes CL or similar.

[J4CKO]

MC Bodge said:

Clad-Hach said:

Say all your finances collapsed and you were left with next to nothing but still needed one basic car to get around...what would you buy and what would influence your choice.

If I had no money at all, I would ride one of my bicycles.

If I had a few hundred quid, something like this:



Of course, a self-respecting PHer would have at least £20K in their wallet or find it in gold bullion down the back of the sofa, so they would be able to slum it in a V8 Mercedes CL or similar.

I was being tight having sold my terminally needy MK1 TT, the kids had done with the C1 we bought for them for learning to drive so I made myself use it, lasted a month, maybe a bit longer and it developed a terrible pull to the right, it pulled me into the car park of Halliwell Jones BMW where I bought a year old M135i.

They are perfectly good, they do the job for getting around but I couldn't pretend it was ok when I had enough in the bank to buy something decent.

I will use a bike rather than any car sometimes, some trips work better by bike, some work better by car.

[mwstewart]

Corsa C 1.8 5 door.

[MitchT]

The one I already have!

An M47 engined BMW 120d SE. I have an early 2005 example. It's a bit shabby, has 107k miles and is worth about as much as an empty crisp packet, but it's utterly solid and I can see no reason to move it on unless a complete unicorn spec F32 440i crops up for sale. It helps that the 120d has been known to me since 2009 - it belonged to the OH before me. I may be a little more wary buying something like this if its history wasn't known to me, though having known this one for 17 years I'd know what to look out for on another.

[Nickp82]

Those Swifts are great , an older shape 1.5 is even more fun

In a similar vein, if I had only a few hundred I’d try and seek out a Fiesta 1.25 Mk4/5/6 so there was at least a bit of fun to be had when driving but low running costs.

[skilly1]

Just bought a Fiat panda 4x4 as a temp car, Sui able for when I lose all my cash.

[Glenn63]

My finances didn’t collapse but I sold my daily slightly unexpectedly and needed a runaround car quick so bought one of these for £2400. My purchase was influenced by the fact it was less than 2 miles from my house
And I’m actually suprised how nice it is at 15 years old and over 113k on the clock, quiet, comfortable, no rattles think il keep it till it dies.

[Mar5hall]

I remind you -

|https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/778816/202607057610077[/url][url]

|https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/778816/202607057612888[/url]

[Cloudy147]

Ford C Max.

Practical, comfortable, modern enough to have good protection, cheap to run and repair, radio and cd, plenty of room but not too wide.



Simple motoring.

[Huzzah]

Doofus said:

I'd keep one of the cars I already own.

Likewise. The cheapest, which also happens to be the cheapest to run.

[Oberheim]

In this dire scenario I’ve assumed that one would only have a budget of a grand or so. That doesn’t get you a lot nowadays. I reckon I’d get the best K11 Nissan Micra I could find - even now you still see plenty on the roads and they must be super cheap to keep on the road.

[ATG]

I picked up a slightly dented Daihatsu Terios a few years ago for £1500, I think? It's got just enough 4wd to tow people back onto our driveway. Stuck some AT tyres on it for about 30% the cost of the car and it does the very minor off road stuff we need, and it does tip runs, and it handles steep snow covered lanes and when our main car packed up it took three of us to Lincolnshire and back. And when the main car packed up again it took four of us and a dog to Kent. It's actually all the car you really need, but it could do with a longer top gear and it bounces down the road like a three legged horse at anything much about 50mph, which is funny for the driver and terrifying for the passengers and therefore even more funny for the driver. I'm very glad it's not our only car, but I'm perfectly happy to jump in it and lurch down the road. It's our only manual petrol which I guess explains so of its "attraction".

[Mr E]

Apparently a 15 year old Alfa with 100k on the clock.

[fflump]

Mr E said:

Apparently a 15 year old Alfa with 100k on the clock.

Excellent reply. You win the thread.

[_Rodders_]

Toyota Aygo without question.

Got a soft spot for them. I know the C1 and 107 are essentially identical but it would be a first gen Aygo.

[Dapster]

When all your tiny toy cars die I can give you a lift in my W123 - I'll import one from Beirut. Apart from water in the washer bottle, it'll not need any maintenance and will outlive me!