Bomb proof car, petrol, comfy, less than a grand!

[narbles]

I've got a new job and I need to travel around for it. A car is not provided but all mileage is paid for. I'm looking for something "bomb proof" (something Japanese with a chain driven engine??), petrol (simplicity and no DPF/EGR etc. to worry about), it has to have air con or climate control, cruise control is a bonus. It doesn't need to fit much in it. If it's fun too that's also a bonus. I want this to be less than a grand, closer to 500 if at all possible.

I'm relatively handy and will do my own maintenance.

Any ideas?

[Horsey McHorseface]

Civic Type-S 2.0 EP2 (00-05)

[anonymous-user]

Mondeo Mk3 1.8 or 2.0 petrol

[ScoobyChris]

MX-5?

Chris

[narbles]

Currently got an MX-5 and tempted to keep it and use it for this... however: no air con! Could kill me on long drives in the summer.

[AdamIndy]

A Toyota Corolla. They are the cockroach of the car world. Those and Nissan micras.

[mnaylor]

Lexus GS300. Had mine over a year as a daily. 19 years old. Nothing ever goes wrong, it just seems to carry on regardless.

[mrtwisty]

Avensis.

A million taxi drivers cant be wrong....

[colin79666]

Suzuki Swift. The 1.5 has a bit of poke about it as the car is also quite light.

Dealer example (private sellers are a bit less):
https://www.arthurhaslam.co.uk/used-cars/suzuki-sw...

Above has low miles for age but looking at mot history is going to need some work in the next year or two. Probably the same with most things in this price/age bracket to be fair.

Edited by colin79666 on Friday 7th February 07:51

[GreatGranny]

Civic 1.6 preferably in the higher spec so you get climate and leather.

£750 will get you a decent example:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[zygalski]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Jag XJ. 1999 115k on the clock.
Ok not Japanese, but what could possibly go wrong?

[VR99]

GreatGranny said:

Civic 1.6 preferably in the higher spec so you get climate and leather.

£750 will get you a decent example:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Cousin had one of these Civics, also a 1.6 did over 200k and was still going strong...handed on to another family member and likely north of 250k now.
Yaris and Focus MK1 also spring to mind.

[borcy]

GreatGranny said:

Civic 1.6 preferably in the higher spec so you get climate and leather.

£750 will get you a decent example:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Looks like we have a winner

Not sure you can beat that for 750 quid.

[mrtwisty]

borcy said:

GreatGranny said:

Civic 1.6 preferably in the higher spec so you get climate and leather.

£750 will get you a decent example:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Looks like we have a winner

Not sure you can beat that for 750 quid.

My Mother had one of these years ago and it was very good for what it was.

Only downside vs the equivalent Corolla is it doesn't have a chain, so if you're doing 20/30k miles a year, you'll have the belt to do every other year. Not a big cost in the grand scheme of things, but a reasonable proportion of the purchase price at these levels.

Oh and it did require new weather seals when she got rid, got pretty damp in there in the winter. Not sure if that's a common fault?

[blue_haddock]

mrtwisty said:

Avensis.

A million taxi drivers cant be wrong....

Yep a 1.8 petrol avensis should be nigh on bombproof

[vtecyo]

mnaylor said:

Lexus GS300. Had mine over a year as a daily. 19 years old. Nothing ever goes wrong, it just seems to carry on regardless.

This.

Or a Volvo.

[redandwhite]

narbles said:

Currently got an MX-5 and tempted to keep it and use it for this... however: no air con! Could kill me on long drives in the summer.

job done, take the roof off and save your money.

[anonymous-user]

Horsey McHorseface said:

Civic Type-S 2.0 EP2 (00-05)

Yup, has chain driven engine, cruise control and air-con. I just sold a 55 plate one of these, 12 months MOT, full Honda (every receipt, every stamp) service history a couple of months ago for £750. I literally could not give the thing away, I was seriously thinking of just scrapping it due to the number of idiots I had to deal with.

Probably doesn't fulfill the comfy criteria as the suspension is somewhat on the hard side, and the downside is 400 miles to a (50 litre) tank, 350 miles before the fuel warning comes on. Pretty poor on fuel around town, but on a run you should get 40 MPG.

Oh and the turning circle is pretty poor, you literally have to turn much earlier than you are used to in car parks to get into a space or negotiate ramps. Actually one of the main reasons I didn't like the car as our underground car park is incredibly tight.

[culpz]

Lexus IS200? Comfy, reliable, RWD for the fun (ish) bits. It's terrible on fuel, but not a bad trade-off for such a cheap car to buy. They also come in both manual or automatic. Sport spec gets the LSD, but not sure you can get one of them that cheap.

[DailyHack]

Petrol 1.8 vvti Avensis for sure! Or Saab petrol (pretty bullet proof) even just for the seats