Can anyone recommend a cheap runaround?

[chris71]

Hello,

I'm hoping to get something fun in the near future (you might have seen me debating MX5s a few thousand times!) - whatever it is, it's unlikely to fit a couple of mountain bikes or indeed passengers in, so I think I might need a runaround to go with it (and also something cheaper to run than my current car whilst I save up!)

In order of priority it needs to be,

* Peerlessly reliable
* Cheap to buy - under £1000 ideally
* Cheap to insure for a 23 year old male
* Small to medium sized with a hatchback and folding seats
* Reasonably economical
* As an after thought, something vaguely amusing to drive would be good, but only after the other stuff has been taken care of, I'm not looking for a sportscar!!

Based on the first of those, everyone seems to say go Japanese - TBH a citroen ZX or maybe even a cheap 306 would have been my first choice otherwise. A primera would probably be quite good, but is a little bigger than I'd really like as I have to park in London. Maybe something like an old civic hatchback or a mazda 323 - MX3 even?

Any ideas?

Chris.

[_Batty_]

my rover 620Ti
200bhp leather and fake walnut
i want a 200sx

[chris71]

Hmm, bit short of MTB space in an MR2?

Somethjing like a 620 is a bit big really - rover 220 SDi maybe? (or civic, 306 etc)

[swansea v6]

I used to have an mx-3 but decided to sell when my insurance jumped to £800 from £400!!! although it was an import no company liked it. Really steep insurance when you consider im 30 with 7 years no claims in a low risk area, so check your insurance quote before looking at one. To give you an idea how expensive it was, I now insure my imported mx-5 (eunos), on a modified policy for just £290...........

[wadeski]

Primera GT, or if you jsut want something to sling bikes in, a Honda Civic Shuttle...

[turbo-tastic]

_Batty_ said:

i want a 200sx

Do it

A daily, cheap runabout?? Pug 306 DTurbo?? Or an E30 318i.
Or, if you are really cool, a Volvo 360 GLT



edit, a volvo ticks nearly all those boxes

chris71 said:

* Peerlessly reliable Ali's spent all day on the limiter sideway, and drove home no probs
* Cheap to buy - under £1000 ideally you could get 5 with £1k
* Cheap to insure for a 23 year old male pennies to insure
* Small to medium sized with a hatchback and folding seatshuge with seats folded flat
* Reasonably economical ish
* As an after thought, something vaguely amusing to drive would be good, but only after the other stuff has been taken care of, I'm not looking for a sportscar!!oh yes they are, with limited mods, they are ace to drive

Check this out
www.driftworks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28029&highlight=ali

Edited by turbo-tastic on Sunday 14th January 23:48

Edited by turbo-tastic on Sunday 14th January 23:50

[turbo-tastic]

gash, double post

delete me please Gaz

Edited by turbo-tastic on Sunday 14th January 23:48

[turbo-tastic]

Los Angeles said:

what's the proper name for that utterly silly two-seater Suzuki pretendy jeepy with the open rear end?

The SJ. Either 410 or 413. Pretty good offroad beleive it or not, and a swift GTi engine is a common transplant. Although its not what I'd call "fun to drive" on the road :no:

[Chris71]

A 360 GLT had occured to me as a possibility - somewhat on the fun side of practical though (based on insurance and economy). Primera GT/SRi also possible, but a bit bigger than I'd like really. Vans/4X4 etc getting a little too primitive on the driving experience and perhaps a little thirsty.

Ideally it'd be mid sized hatch (small on the outisde, big on the inside!) with folding seats, reasonable insurance and economy and just maybe not too bad to drive. Along the lines of:

Pug 306 (too expensive/unreliable?)
Citroen ZX (too unreliable?)
Honda Civic hatch (can you get a decent one for that price? insurance?)
Volvo 360 GLT (insurance/reliability/finding one these days!)
Rover 220 SDi diesel (pushing budget)
Ford Fiesta (bit small/dull drive/reliability)
Citroen Saxo (bit small - probably knackered in this price range)
Nissan Sunny (??)
Toyota Corrola hatch (??)
Mazda 323 (??)
Mazda MX3 (insurance?)
Astra hatchback (??)

Can anyone comment on these or add to it?

[Mr Beckerman]

turbo-tastic said:

Los Angeles said:

what's the proper name for that utterly silly two-seater Suzuki pretendy jeepy with the open rear end?

The SJ. Either 410 or 413. Pretty good offroad beleive it or not, and a swift GTi engine is a common transplant. Although its not what I'd call "fun to drive" on the road :no:

Nah, the 2 seater jobbie is the X90. On the Suzuki theme, there is also the Baleno hatch, which are silly cheap for what they are.

[bint]

The ones I'd suggest are already on your list - Nissan Sunny, Corrolla and 323 or 323F.

[Chris71]

Any recommendations between the above? I'd guess they're all reasonably reliable, economical and plentiful to find. Any 'highlights' in the driving experience?

Speaking of which - 360 GLT kind of appeals (I'd forgotten about those!!). Can you tell me any more about them, Ed? - they're turbocharged I presume? Definitely worth an insurance quote....

Being dull and sensible again for a second a pgug 306 D Turbo would be an option if I could get a decent one for the price. I've heard the 306/Zx's start to disintergrate at a certain point and maybe the ones in my price range have passed that!!

Chris.

.....Baleno looks like a possibility if I could find a decent hatch for that money. Are they based on anything more common? Just wondering about parts and servicing....

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 15th January 13:37

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 15th January 16:26

[turbo-tastic]

Nope, all of the 300 series Volvos are NA GLT is Swedish for GTi

I was seriously considering one, as they can be a huge laugh for very little cash

They all come with open diffs as standard, so if you want any sideways fun, you'll need to either nail it like a physco in the wet, or get the diff welded (cost about £30)

360's are 2.0 and GLT's are injection. 340's are either 1.4 or 1.7, and IIRC you can get the 1.7's with injection aswell.

Did you watch that video on DW?? Ali's 360 GLT (a super rare black 3 door) spent all day on the rev limiter, with the temp climbing pretty high, and drove home with no worries (his exhaust fell off after a particularly high speed bump, but thats not the cars fault).

[Chris71]

Thanks. Googled them a little since then as well - seems to be a bit of a mixed reaction, but I'd definitely be tempted for £500. Not sure I'd want to weld the diff - I presume you get manic rear tyre wear and it's pretty much permanently sliding? Don't get me wrong, that sounds like great fun (saw the vid ), but I need to use this for motorway stuff and driving to work before the shreddies have kicked in!!

Sounds like I'd definitely want a GLT though if I did, even they aren't the rapidest of cars. The chances of finding one in decent condition seem to be very low - don't think I've ever seen one advertised. Although someone in a banger rally we entered last year had one - would have been fun up Stelvio!!

In terms of other sutff, the Baleno looks tempting - in a sensible sort of a way. Plus I'm being told maybe my original choice of a Citroen ZX isn't as bad as it sounds!!

[wedgepilot]

In a similar vein to the Volvo, have a gander at Saab 9000's:
www.saab9000.com/information/buying/buying.html

Cheap as chips, galvanised body, luxury interior and the B234 engine was easily Saab's finest hour - totally over engineered and industructible (loads of tuned 300-400bhp ones around on stock internals). The non-turbo ones can be a bit dull though.

Get a hatchback version, and you won't believe the space in the back with the seats down. MPG is pretty respectable unless you cane it everywhere. Also, they have the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in!

I had a £500 auto B202T that I drove to Scotland and back twice, and it never let me down. I still miss it...

Either that, or a Nissan Sunny.

[Chris71]

wedgepilot said:

In a similar vein to the Volvo, have a gander at Saab 9000's:
www.saab9000.com/information/buying/buying.html

Cheap as chips, galvanised body, luxury interior and the B234 engine was easily Saab's finest hour - totally over engineered and industructible (loads of tuned 300-400bhp ones around on stock internals). The non-turbo ones can be a bit dull though.

Get a hatchback version, and you won't believe the space in the back with the seats down. MPG is pretty respectable unless you cane it everywhere. Also, they have the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in!

I had a £500 auto B202T that I drove to Scotland and back twice, and it never let me down. I still miss it...

Either that, or a Nissan Sunny.

I followed a very rapid 9000 a while back, sound like good cars, but they're just too big for a numpty like me to park in London

Hate to say it, but a Sunny might be closer to my requirments.

Having got the whole plan sorted out it's now occured that I might end up actually living in London (rather than just spending a lot of time there) in the not so distant future and maybe I should reconsider and put all my money into one car. But in the past I've found it virtually impossible to find one that's compact, yet big enough to fit a bike in, fun to drive (preferably RWD) and robust enough to live out on the street. DOH!