what car for the MIL? £1000ish to spend
Discussion
My mother in law has had a Mk1 Megane Coupe since it was nearly new. She's had it serviced at Renault most of its life and it's been garaged every night without fail. When I've been underneath I've been surprised at how clean and rust free it is. On Tuesday the inlet cam pulley failed causing the timing belt to slip etc. it's currently partially stripped at an inependant garage who says at worst she would need all 16 valves replaced at £1100.
That's obviously more that the cars worth so we are considering getting a different car. It's about 140 miles away from the workshop where I work otherwise I'd consider fitting a secondhand engine for her with a new belt and clutch. Parts and flatbed transport would likely be over £500 and the engine would be unknown.
Any ideas what's around for roughly £1000 but maybe upto £300 more? Criteria:
Economical to run
Petrol as most of her miles are around town and less chance of big bills
Good reputation for reliability
Small enough that she can fit it in her small garage.
Space to fit her suitcase size bag she uses for work
Edited to add that she does travel here down the m3 and a303 quite often so needs to cope well there!
I'm thinking Puma (mrs hates them) plus change to sort the arches or something like a 1.4 Fabia. Any other ideas?
That's obviously more that the cars worth so we are considering getting a different car. It's about 140 miles away from the workshop where I work otherwise I'd consider fitting a secondhand engine for her with a new belt and clutch. Parts and flatbed transport would likely be over £500 and the engine would be unknown.
Any ideas what's around for roughly £1000 but maybe upto £300 more? Criteria:
Economical to run
Petrol as most of her miles are around town and less chance of big bills
Good reputation for reliability
Small enough that she can fit it in her small garage.
Space to fit her suitcase size bag she uses for work
Edited to add that she does travel here down the m3 and a303 quite often so needs to cope well there!
I'm thinking Puma (mrs hates them) plus change to sort the arches or something like a 1.4 Fabia. Any other ideas?
Edited by dai1983 on Wednesday 22 October 20:33
I know what you mean and have been shopping around for parts myself:
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141437270424?nav=SEARCH which is cheaper tha I thought!
Was gonna type loads but am I better off posting in the engines section?
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141437270424?nav=SEARCH which is cheaper tha I thought!
Was gonna type loads but am I better off posting in the engines section?
dai1983 said:
I know what you mean and have been shopping around for parts myself:
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141437270424?nav=SEARCH which is cheaper tha I thought!
Was gonna type loads but am I better off posting in the engines section?
And to extend the concept.. you say a replacement engine is an unknown, but is it really any more unknown than the engine in a £1000 car that you don't know the history of?http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141437270424?nav=SEARCH which is cheaper tha I thought!
Was gonna type loads but am I better off posting in the engines section?
feef said:
And to extend the concept.. you say a replacement engine is an unknown, but is it really any more unknown than the engine in a £1000 car that you don't know the history of?
There is that but there's also a difference between an engine you hear running and are able to drive than an already stripped engine from ebay!If she didn't need it and I could work on it during my spare time it would be a no brainer.
dai1983 said:
feef said:
And to extend the concept.. you say a replacement engine is an unknown, but is it really any more unknown than the engine in a £1000 car that you don't know the history of?
There is that but there's also a difference between an engine you hear running and are able to drive than an already stripped engine from ebay!
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