Cheap and basic spare car

[Starjet99]

What would you recommend as a cheap and basic car, to act primarily as a spare car for when the other car is off the road/in the garage or for use when parking in a non too salubrious are, or perhaps the weather is so terrible that a powerful RWD V8 is not the best mode of transport. Something I'd readily lend to a friend or family member if their car is off the road, that sort of thing.

Performance, comfort or desirability (to most people) is not at all a decision making factor.

Whatever it is should be capable of being parked up for days or weeks on end and just expected to work. Ideally, as it'd have few as possible electrics to go wrong/throw a sensor/drain the battery, plentiful cheap parts, something easy to work on and that can usually be fixed with a hammer and socket set on the drive!

Currently thinking along the lines of an old Peugeot 106/Citroen Saxo. What would you suggest?

[anonymous-user]

How cheap does it need to be? 1st Gen C1/107/Aygo should do the trick.

[ChrisH72]

First generation Yaris 1.0.

I've heard these are bulletproof and easy to work on.

[Starjet99]

RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:

How cheap does it need to be? 1st Gen C1/107/Aygo should do the trick.

Good question

I'd suggest £1.5k. Cheap enough I can park and leave it without a second thought!

[steveo3002]

RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:

How cheap does it need to be? 1st Gen C1/107/Aygo should do the trick.

was going to say the same , cheap to fix /insure /tax too

[itcaptainslow]

Echo the Aygo/C1, they’re brilliant. Nothing much goes wrong, cheap to tax, fuel and maintain.

[Pastor Of Muppets]

FN Civic, 1.5k should get you a 2008 to 2010 model, a CTDI would be a good choice, I have one I use
for emergencies, it's parked up for several weeks at a time and has never let me down, no issues
whatsoever over the last 3 years.

[ClaphamGT3]

At that price point, buy on condition not on preconception of a make or model. Set £1500 max price and 10 mile max distance in Autotrader and buy the best condition car that comes up

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say look at the Grande Punto they're robust cheap to run & you can get a T Jet in budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101228...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012217...

Sporting

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101188...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101208...

Mazda2 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012147...

Swift Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101047...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101057...

C2 VTS

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012267...

[MrGTI6]

Another vote for the C1/107/Aygo. Early ones are getting cheap now. They're £20 to tax, they run on air, they're chain-driven so no cambelt to worry about, and they're very reliable. Parts are cheap and they're even quite fun to chuck around. I honestly wouldn't even bother looking at anything else.

Clutches aren't the most durable, but that's more down to them being driven unsympathetically above anything else. A sensible driver should easily get the clutch to last the life of the car. However, don't be put off by one with a high biting point. A clutch kit can be had for next to nothing and it's an absolute doddle to change one.

Just avoid the automated manual versions, which are st. They are badged 'EGS' on the C1, '2-Tronic' on the 107, and 'MMT' on the Aygo.

Also, don't bother with the diesel version (only available as a C1 or Aygo). They're very rare anyway, but they're hardly any more economical than the petrol, but less reliable and much slower.

[Richard-D]

ClaphamGT3 said:

At that price point, buy on condition not on preconception of a make or model. Set £1500 max price and 10 mile max distance in Autotrader and buy the best condition car that comes up

This is the best way to deal with it. If you start looking for something specific you'll spend as much money travelling around as you've saved.

I bought a nice 2007 focus (with almost a year MOT) for a friend yesterday for £750. I would also have bought an Astra, Vectra, Golf, Bora, Leon, Fabia etc etc.

[Starjet99]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say look at the Grande Punto they're robust cheap to run & you can get a T Jet in budget:

That's what I have now for the same duties, albeit a 1.4 16v non-turbo. A very capable car, for what it is, but I tend to find it doesn't like sitting for more than 2-3 weeks as it'll more often than not throw a random electrical gremlin my way, which (generally) goes away once I've used the car a bit.

Current lottery is the PAS. Decided not to play on Friday (at the same time that the XKR decided to throw a strop resulting in an enforced unexpected work from home day), but took the car out twice for runs yesterday and the problem has gone away! Will it work tomorrow? Who knows...

[Starjet99]

MrGTI6 said:

Another vote for the C1/107/Aygo. Early ones are getting cheap now. They're £20 to tax, they run on air, they're chain-driven so no cambelt to worry about, and they're very reliable. Parts are cheap and they're even quite fun to chuck around. I honestly wouldn't even bother looking at anything else.

Why didn't I think of this?

I had a brand new one for a couple of years in 2012 on a mega cheap lease deal. It was great!

[Desiderata]

I got an old Berlingo Multispace for exactly the same reason as you're asking. Cheap, economical, simple, practical and very not desirable. I added winter tyres, a towbar, and full length roof rack from an old van in a scrappy and it's become a victim of it's own success. It's become the go to vehicle for everyone in the household. It can carry five people, or half a ton of firewood, runs all week on a thimbleful of diesel and costs less than £300 a year to tax and insure.
The poor wee bugger's done 10000 miles since June.

Edited by Desiderata on Sunday 24th January 12:48

[A500leroy]

Fiat panda all day long, stretch the budget a bit and youll get into 4x4 territory for when the weathers really grotty.

[MC Bodge]

Desiderata said:

I got an old Berlingo Multispace for exactly the same reason as you're asking. Cheap, economical, simple, practical and very not desirable. I added winter tyres, a towbar, and full length roof rack from an old van in a scrappy and it's become a victim of it's own success. It's become the go to vehicle for everyone in the household. It can carry five people, or half a ton of firewood, runs all week on a thimbleful of diesel and costs less than £300 a year to tax and insure.
The poor wee bugger's done 10000 miles since June.

That's excellent.

[Nickp82]

Suzuki Swift 1.5 GLX, they’re great fun to drive and pretty robust

More solid than an aygo type car (well solid feeling anyway)

[ZX10R NIN]

Starjet99 said:

That's what I have now for the same duties, albeit a 1.4 16v non-turbo. A very capable car, for what it is, but I tend to find it doesn't like sitting for more than 2-3 weeks as it'll more often than not throw a random electrical gremlin my way, which (generally) goes away once I've used the car a bit.

Current lottery is the PAS. Decided not to play on Friday (at the same time that the XKR decided to throw a strop resulting in an enforced unexpected work from home day), but took the car out twice for runs yesterday and the problem has gone away! Will it work tomorrow? Who knows...

Take the - off when parking it up & you'll find when you use it, you don't get the gremlins.

[mbwoy84]

MK6 Fiesta 1.25

[DoubleD]

Richard-D said:

ClaphamGT3 said:

At that price point, buy on condition not on preconception of a make or model. Set £1500 max price and 10 mile max distance in Autotrader and buy the best condition car that comes up

This is the best way to deal with it. If you start looking for something specific you'll spend as much money travelling around as you've saved.

I bought a nice 2007 focus (with almost a year MOT) for a friend yesterday for £750. I would also have bought an Astra, Vectra, Golf, Bora, Leon, Fabia etc etc.

I would go further out than 10 miles, a few extra miles might get you something a lot better.