The £375 Shed - 03 Seat Ibiza
Discussion
I recently decided to take a break from dog handling so that I could be home a little more and to give me the opportunity to train a new pup. Within two weeks of being home, I realized that running a 2001 BMW 325i Touring (my dog car) around town was a huge financial drain 
The decision was made to sell it and replace it with something a little more economical.
I didn't want to spend too much on the next car, I just wanted something that ran and drove, had 6 months of MOT or more and could squeeze four of us in if absolutely needed. I set myself a budget of £500.
I spent a week hunting, a few years ago this would have been a doddle for me. I used to pick sub £500 cars up all the time. Now the cost of used cars seems to have skyrocketed and I was finding it a little tough.
I looked at everything from a Renault Clio with almost every panel a different color to a polo that had a "Agri spec" decal on the rear window and what looked like a front door matt screwed onto the rear bumper to look like a mudflap. I couldn't find anything that wasn't moments away from death. Until this little thing popped up on marketplace just 25 minutes away.
what does £375 get you?
A 2003 Seat Ibiza 1.4 petrol with 174,600 miles on the clock. With MOT until March 2023 and a folder full of receipts for every service and every little job it ever needed doing. The paint is absolutely trashed and the check engine light is on for an unknown reason but it runs and drives great.
I've not had to do anything to it yet other than change a fog light bulb. I badly fitted a £40 amazon special dash cam because I didn't think this car was next base worthy
but other than that it'll get the bare minimum in terms of servicing and maintenance - only what it needs to stay safe, legal and running until either the engine goes bang or it wont pass a MOT without needing more than £300 in work
The decision was made to sell it and replace it with something a little more economical. I didn't want to spend too much on the next car, I just wanted something that ran and drove, had 6 months of MOT or more and could squeeze four of us in if absolutely needed. I set myself a budget of £500.
I spent a week hunting, a few years ago this would have been a doddle for me. I used to pick sub £500 cars up all the time. Now the cost of used cars seems to have skyrocketed and I was finding it a little tough.
I looked at everything from a Renault Clio with almost every panel a different color to a polo that had a "Agri spec" decal on the rear window and what looked like a front door matt screwed onto the rear bumper to look like a mudflap. I couldn't find anything that wasn't moments away from death. Until this little thing popped up on marketplace just 25 minutes away.
what does £375 get you?
A 2003 Seat Ibiza 1.4 petrol with 174,600 miles on the clock. With MOT until March 2023 and a folder full of receipts for every service and every little job it ever needed doing. The paint is absolutely trashed and the check engine light is on for an unknown reason but it runs and drives great.
I've not had to do anything to it yet other than change a fog light bulb. I badly fitted a £40 amazon special dash cam because I didn't think this car was next base worthy
but other than that it'll get the bare minimum in terms of servicing and maintenance - only what it needs to stay safe, legal and running until either the engine goes bang or it wont pass a MOT without needing more than £300 in work Spinakerr said:
Ideal shed, and as you noted difficult to find anything at a decent price at present.
DO you know which 1.4 variant it is? Looks like there were three versions with differing HP.
It was by far the best option out of what was on offer at the time. I've enjoyed driving the little thing quite a lot. It has sod all power but handles well and the brakes are pretty decent, a lot of fun throwing it around the country lanes on the commute to my current site. DO you know which 1.4 variant it is? Looks like there were three versions with differing HP.
It's the SE Sport 16V which if I'm right was 100HP from the factory.
We had one of those from new for a few years - late 2004 model, but the 1.2 3 cyl engine, which was fine on the move but horrible around town. It used to have regular coil pack failures - not good when only 3cyls to start with! I recall having a 1.4 as a courtesy car and it was massively better.
The pipes to the rear wiper froze one year and there’s several couplings in the line and it blew them all off - so put loads of suitable screen wash in it. The Quantum premium fan jet concentrate from TPS is good and quite cheap if they’ll sell to you.
The pipes to the rear wiper froze one year and there’s several couplings in the line and it blew them all off - so put loads of suitable screen wash in it. The Quantum premium fan jet concentrate from TPS is good and quite cheap if they’ll sell to you.
Smiljan said:
It failed its MOT last time due to overheating and the check engine light being on.
Miraculously it passed at another MOT station having covered only 2 more miles
Good luck OP!
It's not overheated on me yet Miraculously it passed at another MOT station having covered only 2 more miles
Good luck OP!
The only time the needle on the temp gauge has gone above normal operating temperature on it was when I got stuck in standstill traffic on the M5 for half an hour and it was fairly hot outside. I didn't think to turn it off because I was enjoying the very little cold air blowing through in general (touch wood) it has been fine so far so I'm not worried They did tell me that they cleared the codes just before the test to get it through though
i should probably plug it in and at least find out what's causing it to be on i guess Sheepshanks said:
We had one of those from new for a few years - late 2004 model, but the 1.2 3 cyl engine, which was fine on the move but horrible around town. It used to have regular coil pack failures - not good when only 3cyls to start with! I recall having a 1.4 as a courtesy car and it was massively better.
The pipes to the rear wiper froze one year and there’s several couplings in the line and it blew them all off - so put loads of suitable screen wash in it. The Quantum premium fan jet concentrate from TPS is good and quite cheap if they’ll sell to you.
A couple of things to keep an eye on then. I'll have to see if I can get some, I usually just chuck in whatever Esso is selling when I need it The pipes to the rear wiper froze one year and there’s several couplings in the line and it blew them all off - so put loads of suitable screen wash in it. The Quantum premium fan jet concentrate from TPS is good and quite cheap if they’ll sell to you.
BigHeavy10 said:
It's not overheated on me yet The only time the needle on the temp gauge has gone above normal operating temperature on it was when I got stuck in standstill traffic on the M5 for half an hour and it was fairly hot outside. I didn't think to turn it off because I was enjoying the very little cold air blowing through in general (touch wood) it has been fine so far so I'm not worried
They did tell me that they cleared the codes just before the test to get it through though i should probably plug it in and at least find out what's causing it to be on i guess
The only time the needle on the temp gauge has gone above normal operating temperature on it was when I got stuck in standstill traffic on the M5 for half an hour and it was fairly hot outside. I didn't think to turn it off because I was enjoying the very little cold air blowing through in general (touch wood) it has been fine so far so I'm not worried They did tell me that they cleared the codes just before the test to get it through though
i should probably plug it in and at least find out what's causing it to be on i guess 
Fingers crossed for you, the shed rules are don't spend any money unless absolutely necessary. My last shed (306 Pug) had chronic overheating issues at the start until I found a hose not secured properly. Fixed for zero pence.Keep us updated please on how it goes over winter.
BigHeavy10 said:
It's not overheated on me yet The only time the needle on the temp gauge has gone above normal operating temperature on it was when I got stuck in standstill traffic on the M5 for half an hour and it was fairly hot outside. I didn't think to turn it off because I was enjoying the very little cold air blowing through in general (touch wood) it has been fine so far so I'm not worried
They did tell me that they cleared the codes just before the test to get it through though i should probably plug it in and at least find out what's causing it to be on i guess
It's a tough ask to find anything remotely decent under 500 quid these days. Regarding the overheating issues. The going fans used to seize up on the same year polos so I'd guess it'll be a common issue across the ibizas aswell The only time the needle on the temp gauge has gone above normal operating temperature on it was when I got stuck in standstill traffic on the M5 for half an hour and it was fairly hot outside. I didn't think to turn it off because I was enjoying the very little cold air blowing through in general (touch wood) it has been fine so far so I'm not worried They did tell me that they cleared the codes just before the test to get it through though
i should probably plug it in and at least find out what's causing it to be on i guess My niece had a W plate 8V 1.4 Ibiza that had terminal clutch and gearbox issues at around 120K miles so we sold it as "Spares or Repair" for £300 on Gumtree, yet someone drove over 150 miles to see it then got upset when it died before he got it home!
Hers was pretty gutless, but a 16V must be quite peppy so I hope it keeps you mobile for a while.
Hers was pretty gutless, but a 16V must be quite peppy so I hope it keeps you mobile for a while.
Mr Tidy said:
My niece had a W plate 8V 1.4 Ibiza that had terminal clutch and gearbox issues at around 120K miles so we sold it as "Spares or Repair" for £300 on Gumtree, yet someone drove over 150 miles to see it then got upset when it died before he got it home!
Hers was pretty gutless, but a 16V must be quite peppy so I hope it keeps you mobile for a while.
That's why I rarely sell anything on, it usually just gets scrapped. I only sold the BMW because the guy that bought it made it clear he was buying it to turn it into a drift car and wouldn't be using it on the roads, otherwise it would have been scrapped. Selling a car just seems to be a huge headache nowadays. Hers was pretty gutless, but a 16V must be quite peppy so I hope it keeps you mobile for a while.
Its not the fastest thing in the world but its a ton of fun on the back lanes :laughing:
carinaman said:
MoT history check says registered 23rd June 2003.
Cars registred from 1st July 2003 will fail an MoT on an EML.
It may go through an MoT with the EML on.
I may just have to discuss this with my tester and see if he agrees to it Cars registred from 1st July 2003 will fail an MoT on an EML.
It may go through an MoT with the EML on.
Edited by carinaman on Sunday 25th September 22:48
I will try to get the light off beforehand though.
BigHeavy10 said:
I may just have to discuss this with my tester and see if he agrees to it
I will try to get the light off beforehand though.
Just turn it off with a £15 code reader. Probably “cat Conv efficiency behold threshold” or something similar. Will be interesting to know if the date thing applies though.I will try to get the light off beforehand though.
I have a 57 plate 1.4 Formula Sport - the 100hp version. Bought last year for about £800 as I got rid of my Kadjar and associated finance due to permanent WFH
I bloody love the little thing. Put a new head unit in so I have Bluetooth, treated it to some mats. It's had new discs and pads all round, water pump and timing belt done at 104k (probably a good thing I did when I saw the old one)
EML comes on and goes off. The ECU is on the bulkhead at the rear of the engine bay at the bottom of the windscreen so watch for water ingress (I found out when a car wash dryer blew water into the ECU and it went mental until it dried out before sorting itself and driving fine)
7k miles in it and it's not missed a beat in a year
Got a team get together in 2 weeks - typically going to Reading on the day of the train strikes. See how she gets on
I bloody love the little thing. Put a new head unit in so I have Bluetooth, treated it to some mats. It's had new discs and pads all round, water pump and timing belt done at 104k (probably a good thing I did when I saw the old one)
EML comes on and goes off. The ECU is on the bulkhead at the rear of the engine bay at the bottom of the windscreen so watch for water ingress (I found out when a car wash dryer blew water into the ECU and it went mental until it dried out before sorting itself and driving fine)
7k miles in it and it's not missed a beat in a year
Got a team get together in 2 weeks - typically going to Reading on the day of the train strikes. See how she gets on
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