Clio 172/182 / Fiat Panda 100HP / Ford Puma
Discussion
Looking for some advice from the Forum here.
I recently had my Skoda Octavia VRS written off for me, so as a result I have £1500 from the insurance company (plus a bit more potentially) to go buy a replacement.
I already have an MX5 track day car which I also daily (well I have two actually....but moving on...) so this doesn't need to be a mighty machine, it will in fact largely be used by the other half for her short (2miles) commute to work. But I also want something that when I do drive it, is fun, and I could track if the Mx5 is being all rusty and falling apart one weekend.
So my current feelings are:
Clio 172/182 - Had a 197, loved it. But bit concerned these can be pricey to run, what with being all French. But will hold its value. Found a nice local one for £1400
Fiat Panda 100HP - Slow, but fun. And I like slow fun cars. Also tiny and easy to park. We live on a very narrow set of terraced streets, parking is a real problem. Such, the car MUST be small. But, these seem to vary in price hugely.
Ford Puma - oldest of the three, but so cheap! and meant to handle really well? found one locally with allegedly no rust for £900. But......it will have rust. Do I want three rusty cars?
Any feelings/suggestions? Remember:
Small.
Fun.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Not an MX5. Must be able to transport flowers. Girlfriend is a florist.
Thanks!
Simon
I recently had my Skoda Octavia VRS written off for me, so as a result I have £1500 from the insurance company (plus a bit more potentially) to go buy a replacement.
I already have an MX5 track day car which I also daily (well I have two actually....but moving on...) so this doesn't need to be a mighty machine, it will in fact largely be used by the other half for her short (2miles) commute to work. But I also want something that when I do drive it, is fun, and I could track if the Mx5 is being all rusty and falling apart one weekend.
So my current feelings are:
Clio 172/182 - Had a 197, loved it. But bit concerned these can be pricey to run, what with being all French. But will hold its value. Found a nice local one for £1400
Fiat Panda 100HP - Slow, but fun. And I like slow fun cars. Also tiny and easy to park. We live on a very narrow set of terraced streets, parking is a real problem. Such, the car MUST be small. But, these seem to vary in price hugely.
Ford Puma - oldest of the three, but so cheap! and meant to handle really well? found one locally with allegedly no rust for £900. But......it will have rust. Do I want three rusty cars?
Any feelings/suggestions? Remember:
Small.
Fun.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Not an MX5. Must be able to transport flowers. Girlfriend is a florist.
Thanks!
Simon
I didn't think a belt service on the Clio's was quite that much? This one has just been done though...
I am leaning more towards the Fiat, but finding one in my price bracket is tough. Especially as I cant go look at anything til this weekend, although we are in no huge rush.
Thanks for the replies.
I am leaning more towards the Fiat, but finding one in my price bracket is tough. Especially as I cant go look at anything til this weekend, although we are in no huge rush.
Thanks for the replies.
The only really expensive items on the Clio's are the big cambelt job, every 5 years or 72k miles, whichever comes first. At a specialist, if you have the cambelt, auxiliary belt, tensioners, dephaser and water pump all done at once, it's around £700 quid i think. Might be a bit more.
The other is the clutch, which is requires the subframe dropping to get the the little bugger. You're probably looking at £500 total, including the price of the parts, i believe. It's probably something else i'd leave to a specialist too.
They're generally pretty cheap to run other than that. Consumables are cheap. Most other little issues are generally cheap fixes aswell.
The other is the clutch, which is requires the subframe dropping to get the the little bugger. You're probably looking at £500 total, including the price of the parts, i believe. It's probably something else i'd leave to a specialist too.
They're generally pretty cheap to run other than that. Consumables are cheap. Most other little issues are generally cheap fixes aswell.
Fiat Punto Sporting diseasel - 1.9l Vauxhall engine that can be mapped to interesting torque outputs - gearboxes fail before the motors.
Skoda Fabia VRS...
My favourite:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-st-2-0/13248...
Skoda Fabia VRS...
My favourite:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-st-2-0/13248...
Toed64 said:
Fiat Punto Sporting diseasel - 1.9l Vauxhall engine that can be mapped to interesting torque outputs - gearboxes fail before the motors.
Skoda Fabia VRS...
My favourite:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-st-2-0/13248...
A Vauxhall engine!!Skoda Fabia VRS...
My favourite:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-st-2-0/13248...
Please.
A FPT engine shared with GM in exchange for some platform & engine sharing with Fiat & Alfa.
snowen250 said:
Looking for some advice from the Forum here.
I recently had my Skoda Octavia VRS written off for me, so as a result I have £1500 from the insurance company (plus a bit more potentially) to go buy a replacement.
I already have an MX5 track day car which I also daily (well I have two actually....but moving on...) so this doesn't need to be a mighty machine, it will in fact largely be used by the other half for her short (2miles) commute to work. But I also want something that when I do drive it, is fun, and I could track if the Mx5 is being all rusty and falling apart one weekend.
So my current feelings are:
Clio 172/182 - Had a 197, loved it. But bit concerned these can be pricey to run, what with being all French. But will hold its value. Found a nice local one for £1400
Fiat Panda 100HP - Slow, but fun. And I like slow fun cars. Also tiny and easy to park. We live on a very narrow set of terraced streets, parking is a real problem. Such, the car MUST be small. But, these seem to vary in price hugely.
Ford Puma - oldest of the three, but so cheap! and meant to handle really well? found one locally with allegedly no rust for £900. But......it will have rust. Do I want three rusty cars?
Any feelings/suggestions? Remember:
Small.
Fun.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Not an MX5. Must be able to transport flowers. Girlfriend is a florist.
Thanks!
Simon
Ahahahahah, that's a good one! I recently had my Skoda Octavia VRS written off for me, so as a result I have £1500 from the insurance company (plus a bit more potentially) to go buy a replacement.
I already have an MX5 track day car which I also daily (well I have two actually....but moving on...) so this doesn't need to be a mighty machine, it will in fact largely be used by the other half for her short (2miles) commute to work. But I also want something that when I do drive it, is fun, and I could track if the Mx5 is being all rusty and falling apart one weekend.
So my current feelings are:
Clio 172/182 - Had a 197, loved it. But bit concerned these can be pricey to run, what with being all French. But will hold its value. Found a nice local one for £1400
Fiat Panda 100HP - Slow, but fun. And I like slow fun cars. Also tiny and easy to park. We live on a very narrow set of terraced streets, parking is a real problem. Such, the car MUST be small. But, these seem to vary in price hugely.
Ford Puma - oldest of the three, but so cheap! and meant to handle really well? found one locally with allegedly no rust for £900. But......it will have rust. Do I want three rusty cars?
Any feelings/suggestions? Remember:
Small.
Fun.
Cheap.
Reliable.
Not an MX5. Must be able to transport flowers. Girlfriend is a florist.
Thanks!
Simon
I've had a couple of Pumas (some time ago now admittedly) and they are good fun for the money, but the only ones you'll find without rust are in the Ford museum (possibly not even then!).
While the boot is big for the size of car, it's pretty shallow - not sure it would suit moving delicate bouquets of flowers around.
Squadrone Rosso said:
A Vauxhall engine!!
Please.
A FPT engine shared with GM in exchange for some platform & engine sharing with Fiat & Alfa.
Haha... used in Saabs too... & the Doblo vanPlease.
A FPT engine shared with GM in exchange for some platform & engine sharing with Fiat & Alfa.
...actually, I did know that, but thanks for the response! The Alfa/Fiat 1.9 diesel is one of the toughest out there and much tougher (IMO) than the GM 2.0 DTI. I had a Doblo van in the driveway until a few days ago, that had covered 180,000 miles without an engine problem, ever.
Edited by Toed64 on Monday 29th January 13:34
Thanks for all the replies!
Great info on the Puma regarding the boot, the old Octavia VRS had a huge boot, but we do need something with some height. Also fair point on rust. I'm fighting tin worm on two cars, three sounds demoralising.
I'll check out the Ignis and Swift options too. I'm not too fussed about straight-line speed, been there done that, i'd rather a nice chassis. Plus she drives like miss daisy, so it will only be wasted on her...
The Clio im looking at had all the belts done last year, so that's a plus point.
The only thing was a 325Ti Compact Sport? But these seem rare as manuals.
No diesels i'm afraid, average journey of 5 miles a day wont do it much good I feel. Plus I don't like them.
Great info on the Puma regarding the boot, the old Octavia VRS had a huge boot, but we do need something with some height. Also fair point on rust. I'm fighting tin worm on two cars, three sounds demoralising.
I'll check out the Ignis and Swift options too. I'm not too fussed about straight-line speed, been there done that, i'd rather a nice chassis. Plus she drives like miss daisy, so it will only be wasted on her...
The Clio im looking at had all the belts done last year, so that's a plus point.
The only thing was a 325Ti Compact Sport? But these seem rare as manuals.
No diesels i'm afraid, average journey of 5 miles a day wont do it much good I feel. Plus I don't like them.
The 325TI was a lovely thing. I had a gently battered one for a year or so...and I loved it.
For some reason, they don't seem to rust as badly as the other E46 models. The rear chassis/subframe still cracks (mine did). I bought it to replace my MX5 trackday heap, but someone offered me a price I couldn't resist.
I have a Corolla TSport trackdaycar now. That's another cheap hot hatch you might consider. Great engine and very tough, so long as you keep the oil topped up...and a bit overfilled for track days to overcome the oil starvation that kills many of them on track.
For some reason, they don't seem to rust as badly as the other E46 models. The rear chassis/subframe still cracks (mine did). I bought it to replace my MX5 trackday heap, but someone offered me a price I couldn't resist.
I have a Corolla TSport trackdaycar now. That's another cheap hot hatch you might consider. Great engine and very tough, so long as you keep the oil topped up...and a bit overfilled for track days to overcome the oil starvation that kills many of them on track.
Toed64 said:
The 325TI was a lovely thing. I had a gently battered one for a year or so...and I loved it.
For some reason, they don't seem to rust as badly as the other E46 models. The rear chassis/subframe still cracks (mine did). I bought it to replace my MX5 trackday heap, but someone offered me a price I couldn't resist.
I have a Corolla TSport trackdaycar now. That's another cheap hot hatch you might consider. Great engine and very tough, so long as you keep the oil topped up...and a bit overfilled for track days to overcome the oil starvation that kills many of them on track.
For the 325 it is finding a good manual in budget that is the issue! For some reason, they don't seem to rust as badly as the other E46 models. The rear chassis/subframe still cracks (mine did). I bought it to replace my MX5 trackday heap, but someone offered me a price I couldn't resist.
I have a Corolla TSport trackdaycar now. That's another cheap hot hatch you might consider. Great engine and very tough, so long as you keep the oil topped up...and a bit overfilled for track days to overcome the oil starvation that kills many of them on track.
Corolla is I am sure a great car, but I struggle to be excited by them? Il have another look though. The reliability factor is tempting. Plus the fact it is so discreet. The Skoda drank oil like a Texan drinks bourbon so topping it up is no hardship.
Thanks
What about the Focus ST170? Clio will be better, but as said above £1000+ for a cambelt change. A very good ST170 will be no more than £1k, get one with the Climate Pack, that comes with bi-xenons, quick clear screen and the climate control. 5 doors seem to be better condition than the 3 doors of the same price, if you can find one in Capri Blue then that's the colour to go for. Like a VTEC the power and torque is at the top end, so you have to rev them. The real golden point of the car is the steering/handling though.
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