Something around £500

[funkyrobot]

Am I in a dream world thinking I can get some sort of half decent runabout for so little money?

I need something to just use for tip runs, do the odd longish journey to pick bicycles up and get me to work a couple of miles way when I'm being lazy and not cycling.

It may be used for the odd weekend family run too.

Is it better to budget for something around £1000 and go from there, rather than spending £500 and having to spend it again?

Oh yes, I would like to learn some spannering skills on it too.

Deluded?

[Zooks]

A £500 purchase cost is easily do-able providing you don't want a small, cheap to run, cheap to insure, appealing to new drivers type car.

Plenty of old barges about for that money

[jas xjr]

It can be done,I have several times. I always look for a long mot,a matching set to f tyres and 4doors. Never let me down.
I did go a bit mad and spend £800 on an E39 520i, but that has passed 2 mots without any cost.
Maybe a little bit more work trying to keep one on the road but these bargains are out there.

[Saleen836]

This just showed up on AT...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[thel33ter]

Plenty of things around at that money, but is luck of the draw. Been in the same boat twice with a budget of ~£1000 and spent £600 the first time and £500 the second since the stuff at £1000 never seemed twice as good.

MK1 Focus estate would be my go-to for that money. They are simple to work on and parts are cheap, 30k miles has cost me some tyres, a cam belt and some cheap easy to DIY bits (£10 power steering pressure sensor blew up).

Probably less like what you're looking for, but we've more recently bought a Saxo for £500, with a new exhaust, alternator, cam belt, and the head gasket done within the last year! It has just passed its first MOT with us, is fun to drive, and the rear seats fold or come straight out leaving plenty of room for a bike. It has however needed a replacement airbag.

MK1 Yaris is also a popular dirt cheap choice.

Edited by thel33ter on Thursday 21st March 16:45

[funkyrobot]

Cheers all.

Looks like I'll be gravitating towards a Focus or old Mondeo.

That 5 series is an interesting thought though. Wouldn't have even considered something like that.

[Gary29]

I picked up a Suzuki Liana hatchback for less than £500 about six months ago now, it has less than 60K on the clock, the previous owner (really nice Polish guy) had just done a load of work on it himself, new brake lines and a gear linkage, new battery, I love it, it gets used more like a van than a car.

[GreatGranny]

Saleen836 said:

This just showed up on AT...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

That's cheap even with the short MOT (10 days).

Last MOT had no advisories.
Maybe worth a gamble?

[Saleen836]

GreatGranny said:

Saleen836 said:

This just showed up on AT...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

That's cheap even with the short MOT (10 days).

Last MOT had no advisories.
Maybe worth a gamble?

I would if I were looking, after all it is Mondeo based

[funkyrobot]

Saleen836 said:

GreatGranny said:

Saleen836 said:

This just showed up on AT...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

That's cheap even with the short MOT (10 days).

Last MOT had no advisories.
Maybe worth a gamble?

I would if I were looking, after all it is Mondeo based

Really short MOT like that makes me a bit nervous. Could be worth a pop though. Or you could wait 10 days and see if it gets a new MOT.

[funkyrobot]

Gary29 said:

I picked up a Suzuki Liana hatchback for less than £500 about six months ago now, it has less than 60K on the clock, the previous owner (really nice Polish guy) had just done a load of work on it himself, new brake lines and a gear linkage, new battery, I love it, it gets used more like a van than a car.

Something I would never have thought of. Thanks.

[funkyrobot]

Zooks said:

A £500 purchase cost is easily do-able providing you don't want a small, cheap to run, cheap to insure, appealing to new drivers type car.

Plenty of old barges about for that money

Well, I had been looking at small(ish) runarounds, particularly in respect to learning some spannering.

However, it seems you do get more for your money with something bargetastic.

[Jamescrs]

In the past I've bought a few cars for around £500 and had useful service

Merc C180 (W202)
Ford Mondeo ST24
Citroen Saxo VTR
Ford Courier (van)

All were good in their own way, Ioved the Merc but it failed an MOT needing a grands worth of welding, half wish I'd got it done now.
The modeo was brilliant too but old Mondeo's like to rust a lot, especially the Mk2 version

[Ian Geary]

This sort of thing come up quite often on my local facebook cars for sale







Can't scour the mot history unfortunately, but cheap cars are out there.

Ian

[Mr Tidy]

Back in 2014 I bought a 1996 Mazda 323f 1.5i for slightly over that budget with just over 60K miles and 2 previous owners.

Cheap as chips because road tax was about £150, and it had a non-interference engine so if the cam-belt failed you just got a new belt fitted without needing any new internal parts.

The other option I considered was a Honda Civic 1.5 litre, but I don't know if they have an interference engine or not.

But within a few months I got bored with the (lack of) performance and replaced it with a BMW 325ti Sport.

[funkyrobot]

Just found a Jan 2005 Focus 1.6 petrol for sale about a mile away.

It's done 110,000 miles, has mot until Jan 2020 with no advisories, part service history (not sure on that yet). Looks ok.

It's up for £750. Worth a look?