Cheap car to buy and run

[gman88667733]

Finally getting around to getting shot of our Kia Sorento and getting something better on fuel... £100 a week on fuel is sickening for me!
I am looking at low running costs and low price. I will stick a dog guard in the boot for our fairly small spaniel, so doesn't need to be a big car.

I have considered MK6 Fiesta's, Yaris, Suzuki Ignis, Fiat Panda... Anything else worth considering? I am assuming Petrol N/A for less big bill potential?

It will do about 12k-15k miles a year. Even if it only lasts a full year, if it is a cheap car, I don't mind.
Not fussed on mileage or spec as long as it'll run well for at least the year of MOT.

The big thing here is we want better fuel consumption!

Any suggestions would be very helpful. I assume privately buying will get the best value as well?

Cheers

[magpie215]

Focus estate?

[p4cks]

gman88667733 said:

I am assuming Petrol N/A for less big bill potential?

Pretty much this.

It might be worth putting your budget on here so it'll help other posters put some recommendations. As an example you could have a £12K 1.4 Audi A3 running 44mpg or have a £500 Focus running about 38mpg (I did the former, now doing the latter)

[gman88667733]

My budget ideally is £1k. It could be higher, but given the abuse it'll get, I don't want to worry about dents or scratches.

[gman88667733]

magpie215 said:

Focus estate?

MK1 or MK2?

[steveo3002]

aygo /c1/107 cheap to run , cheap to insure , very basic to diy fix , cheap or 0 tax

[p4cks]

gman88667733 said:

My budget ideally is £1k. It could be higher, but given the abuse it'll get, I don't want to worry about dents or scratches.

Now we're talking. You need the shed thread, loads of posters on there happily driving around in £1K sheds with not a care in the world and a smile on their face knowing that they're driving alongside cars which cost the owner thousands over the length of their lease agreement

The 'go to' shed seems to be the Ford Focus 1.6 petrol. I bought one and it's been mostly non-eventful, which has been ideal. Every panel is dented or scratched so it's awful to look at, but as long as the interior is nice then I'm really not bothered.

Shed thread : https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[gman88667733]

p4cks said:

Now we're talking. You need the shed thread, loads of posters on there happily driving around in £1K sheds with not a care in the world and a smile on their face knowing that they're driving alongside cars which cost the owner thousands over the length of their lease agreement

The 'go to' shed seems to be the Ford Focus 1.6 petrol. I bought one and it's been mostly non-eventful, which has been ideal. Every panel is dented or scratched so it's awful to look at, but as long as the interior is nice then I'm really not bothered.

Shed thread : https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I'll be honest, spending so little seems more exciting to me, after having more expensive cars for my first few cars, the thought of dropping £13k on a car now makes me feel a bit sick.
The mk1 focus does seem to be rated highly, my only worry is rust? The estate one would be ideal for me really, a bigger car is not essential, but it'd be much preferred. Plus, if it drove anything like the MK6 Fiesta's I've driven, they were great.

Also, is Gumtree/eBay the go-to for this price range? I have a feeling a £1k from a dealer is not worth it....

[alfabeat]

Also consider going automatic, so rules out potential, expensive clutch / dmf issues.

I'm running around in a 2008 SAAB 9-3 estate (1.9 diesel Auto) for the last 2 years. Fantastically comfortable, reliable, easy/cheap to service and get bits, and being an Auto, no worries about clutches and DMF's, and returning 40+mpg. Love a shed.

Will have plenty of space for the dog and moving stuff around too.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[gman88667733]

alfabeat said:

Also consider going automatic, so rules out potential, expensive clutch / dmf issues.

I'm running around in a 2008 SAAB 9-3 estate (1.9 diesel Auto) for the last 2 years. Fantastically comfortable, reliable, easy/cheap to service and get bits, and being an Auto, no worries about clutches and DMF's, and returning 40+mpg. Love a shed.

Will have plenty of space for the dog and moving stuff around too.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Our last few cars have been autos and I fancied a manual this time around, for better fuel consumption and also just because I fancied a change really....

However, that SAAB does look very nice......

[p4cks]

gman88667733 said:

I'll be honest, spending so little seems more exciting to me, after having more expensive cars for my first few cars, the thought of dropping £13k on a car now makes me feel a bit sick.
The mk1 focus does seem to be rated highly, my only worry is rust? The estate one would be ideal for me really, a bigger car is not essential, but it'd be much preferred. Plus, if it drove anything like the MK6 Fiesta's I've driven, they were great.

Also, is Gumtree/eBay the go-to for this price range? I have a feeling a £1k from a dealer is not worth it....

Fords of that era do rust, but thankfully it's the body panels rather than anything underneath which is <strangely> a good thing.

Front wings go, as do the back arches at the bottom. Everywhere else is fine.

Water can get into the plugs but there are two fixes you can do, both cheap, which remedy it. I'll not bore you with that at the moment though

[gman88667733]

p4cks said:

Fords of that era do rust, but thankfully it's the body panels rather than anything underneath which is <strangely> a good thing.

Front wings go, as do the back arches at the bottom. Everywhere else is fine.

Water can get into the plugs but there are two fixes you can do, both cheap, which remedy it. I'll not bore you with that at the moment though

How much should I look to pay for a reasonably decent one? I assume well under £1k?

[p4cks]

gman88667733 said:

How much should I look to pay for a reasonably decent one? I assume well under £1k?

I'd have killed for a budget of £1K.

£525 got me this https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[gman88667733]

p4cks said:

I'd have killed for a budget of £1K.

£525 got me this https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

So yours is a MK2? I didn't realise these could be had so cheaply! I had a 2007 MK2 TDCI as a loan car which was a bit knakcered.. Liked the car, hated the engine.

[p4cks]

gman88667733 said:

So yours is a MK2? I didn't realise these could be had so cheaply! I had a 2007 MK2 TDCI as a loan car which was a bit knakcered.. Liked the car, hated the engine.

Yep, cheap as chips. Comes with 'all' the toys... cruise, air con, leccy windows, heated windscreen, leccy mirrors and now has bluetooth connectivity (works great up to 30% of the time) which was £3

[alfabeat]

gman88667733 said:

Our last few cars have been autos and I fancied a manual this time around, for better fuel consumption and also just because I fancied a change really....

However, that SAAB does look very nice......

I purely went down the auto route so as to remove the potential clutch/dmf issue (as I bought this as a cheap winter car and not wanting to have to spend mega money on it). Now I've had it for 2 years, I love the automatic. Makes driving in traffic so easy, has an effective SPORT button and paddles on the wheel (never really use them mind).

Total spend on it over 2 years, has been very little. New alternator belt, egr and a service. all of which I did myself. It's such a comfy place to be and if you are doing 12k+ miles, I think something a little bigger than a Panda/Fiesta etc is a better idea.

This was bought as a stop gap vehicle, but, to be honest, it is so good, it is staying as my primary vehicle now.

[anonymous-user]

A shed that nobody else would recommend, I ended up with a £1200 2007 Renault Megane 1.5 DCi. I know people on here will say go petrol Japanese, but I also had a 55 plate Civic Type S and it felt ancient and the fuel economy was poor compared to the Megane (37MPG vs 60MPG+). Also Japanese cars love to rust, just take a look underneath and you will see all the suspension will be crusty and spots of rust all underneath. The megane in contrast looks brand new and even has the original exhaust.

Bought September 2017 with 61K miles, currently on 87K miles, road tax is £30 and it will do 60MPG all day long. Now I admit I have probably been very lucky, but in that time nothing has gone wrong and I have only spent money on tyres and service filters on eBay (Air and Oil filter is £10 delivered, oil my dad gets from work).

My parents have an 08 ScenicMK2 1.5 DCI they bought for £900 18 months ago, although that had to have an injector seal and a few suspension components but it was not as well looked after as my car.

I can actually get a company car from work, but I took the allowance instead and it goes into my Marcus account every month (plus I don't have to pay the Benefit In Kind tax). The Megane worked out at about 2.5 months of car allowance/BIK payments. I think I worked out taking the company car Golf/Base 1 series/Base A class would have cost me £15k+ over 3 years.

Love the lack of worry, not having to go to a dealer for servicing and obviously the massive financial benefit.

My only experience of a Ford Shed was a Ford Cougar 2.0, 400 miles to a tank, and again it liked to rust. I noticed a rust blob on the bottom of the cill one day, pushed it and my finger went straight through.

Have I mentioned how much I hate rust!

[clockworks]

For a cheap and economical car, I don't think you can beat a Fiat Panda diesel. I bought one about a year ago, and including tax and insurance it cost me a few quid over a grand. Amazing economy - a true (measured brim to brim) 70mpg.

Mine did have a couple of issues - needed a new clutch, and sometimes cut out the first time I pulled away from cold - but it had done over 130k miles.

Look for a good one with less miles for a bit more cash, and I don't think you'll find anything cheaper to run.

[Lemming Train]

steveo3002 said:

aygo /c1/107 cheap to run , cheap to insure , very basic to diy fix , cheap or 0 tax

You're not getting a spaniel in the boot of any of those.

[gman88667733]

High 30s MPG is a revelation compared to what we get at the moment... So the thought of getting 50+ is something of a miracle to me. I do think i'd prefer something slightly bigger than a super mini, if it was going to prove somewhat reliable.