Daily drivers - cars to park at the station

[WigWonder79]

Guys,

I commute at least once a week into London, from Farnborough and it amazes me that people will park really tasty and expensive kit at the station. For anyone that knows Farnborough Main station, there is one parking row closest to the lines that is so narrow, you almost can't help kissing bumpers to get out of the parking spaces; so I imagine the risk of damage pretty high, which can only follow at other stations.

So is there a niche / gap in the market, out there for daily drivers of such a condition that owners don't mind getting dinged, etc. on the basis that their nice machines are safe at home?

Cheers

Wig

[Bellatrix]

There is a definitely niche and it's already filled by the Citroen Xsara Picasso.

[bullio]

This is where the rusty generation of Mercedes can be useful. Dirt cheap, shagged bodywork but often still a pleasant drive.

[caelite]

Mx5? Clean one can be had for £2k, perfect size for squeezing through city traffic (although being 'low' is a bit of a PITA), efficient enough, better turning circle than the majority of fwd city cars.

Chuck a hardtop on for ~£300 and your sorted.

[J4CKO]

PO of my previous car, a 350Z roadster left it at the station every day, the doors looked like a Golf Ball there were so manky dinks.

Why people cant get out without damaging someone elses car, I dont know.

[edo]

Defender

[Dr Interceptor]

Buy this for £500... Http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

If it breaks, weigh it in, buy another. One of these a year is the same price as bumper respray on anything remotely tasty.

[456mgt]

My station car. To scale..

[Tickle]

I have an aygo for train station duties, Elise for dry weekend use.

Never had any dings to the aygo, although I park it in the end of rows. I would not fancy parking my P&J at a station; However, IMHO supermarkets are worse than stations!

[Alex_225]

OP, I have wondered the same thing myself having been a London commuter since 2005. The entire reason I bought a second car was for parking it down at the train station, back then it was a £650 Renault 5.

If I have to take the car (can bus included on my travel card) i use my old E Class but that was bought purely for day to day driving. I would imagine if you want a car specifically for a car park, you want something cheap, small engine and in a small body. Clio, Fiesta etc. Something so cheap you don't care if it got a ding or two.

I'm staggered at some of the cars that park in my station car park. Ferrari FF, Audi R8, Maserati Quadriplegic, various Porsches, CLS63, M cars etc. Also, surprises me how those cars park as they don't try park in a corner or out of the way but just ditch the cars in any old spot. The Maserati stood out purely as it was 2ft longer than the space it was in!

[Joeguard1990]

You'd be surprised.

The last car I'd expected to see in a car park everyday at Chatham (Kent) station is a brand new BMW M4 but lo and behold...

As to your question, what;s your budget?

You want something that looks okay-ish I guess with a premium badge but don't give a crap about.

VW Polo?

[Stupeo]

My M135i - fits into almost any space - but I do pay extra usually for Proximity Parking.

[C7 JFW]

Golf Mk4. Loads of them, plenty are affordable, reasonably well built and blend in a treat.If you want one with more than 10bhp, there are also a couple of choices.

They seem to be a very popular runaround for a lot of people with nice toys at home.

[eltax91]

And old Jap 4x4. Will always start, go and stop. Park it where you like.

Quadrupley useful as station/ tip/ tow/ snow car.

[daveenty]

Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ ideally petrol.

Cheap to buy and people will be terrified of parking near you, especially if it's a bit ragged around the edges.

[OneTwo]

Older Merc A Class or Audi A2? higher spec models have several 'luxury' attributes to make life more comfortable (or less suicidal), footprint is smaller than a Ford Ka, already fugly so a few dings won't make much difference to the overall appearance.


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Avantgarde SE 2.0D for £3000 with 46k.


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

1.4SE for £2695 with 62k.

[vikingaero]

bullio said:

This is where the rusty generation of Mercedes can be useful. Dirt cheap, shagged bodywork but often still a pleasant drive.

Most Mercs are too long. I have a Daihatsu Charade as my station car. I can still get out even if both sides of me park badly in the narrow spaces.

It does demonstrate how people will stretch to buy a nice car at £x99 a month and all but abandon it to save a penny.

[caelite]

OneTwo said:

Older Merc A Class or Audi A2? higher spec models have several 'luxury' attributes to make life more comfortable (or less suicidal), footprint is smaller than a Ford Ka, already fugly so a few dings won't make much difference to the overall appearance.


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Avantgarde SE 2.0D for £3000 with 46k.


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

1.4SE for £2695 with 62k.

Audi A2 is pretty awesome actually. They are super efficient, definitely a product of VAGs golden era. Although the one warning that does come with them is if it does get pranged it will get written off, due to the aluminium construction that nowhere wants to work on.

[JackReacher]

I see the same at Fleet station, plenty of nice cars which I find a bit surprising, but it's not so much the exposure to parking dings, it's the fact that most of these people only drive a mile or 2 to get to the station, and then home again. The will never get warmed up properly during the week which can't be good for them.

I agree that cars are much more vulnerable in supermarkets, with careless mums/dad's, van drivers and the elderly.

A cheap Aygo or Up with air con for demisting is all the station car you need IMO

Edited by JackReacher on Friday 28th April 08:11

[Frankthered]

JackReacher said:

I see the same at Fleet station, plenty of nice cars which I find a bit surprising, but it's not so much the exposure to parking dings, it's the fact that most of these people only drive a mile or 2 to get to the station, and then home again. The will never get warmed up properly during the week which can't be good for them.

I agree that cars are much more vulnerable in supermarkets, with careless mums/dad's, van drivers and the elderly.

A cheap Aygo or Up with air con for demisting is all the station car you need IMO

Edited by JackReacher on Friday 28th April 08:11

For that kind of mileage, I always think a Twizy would be a hoot! Easy to park too!