I nead a cheap (sub £1000), reliable car this week
Discussion
Due to reasons I will go into at some future point, it looks like my beloved ST220 is a total loss. Whilst I wait for the insurance to pay up, I want a car I can buy this week. This is most likely a temporary purchase, just to get me mobile again until I can get a proper car.
- Under £1000
- Needs to be able to carry me and my kids
- Something I'll be able to sell/trade in reasonably easily in a few months
- Something that's not going to let me down, or leave me stranded 100 miles from home
- Something that achieves at least 30mpg on the motorway, and won't cost a bomb to insure
- If it's fun or interesting, so much the better
Podie said:
Nooo...! 
My exact reaction too! The airbag didn't even deploy, but it's a £4200 repair job. Outrageous really. Esure have offered me £5300, minus my excess. I told them it'll cost £6000 to replace, citing various examples on Autotrader, so now I have to enter a dispute with them. Nightmare.Podie said:
Jeez, hope everyone is OK.
I'm fine - completely unhurt (apart from my pride), and nobody else was involved. I'll probably post more details on the Ford forum in a few days when it's settled. Suffice to say, I didn't expect the back end to step out on me, and the police officer's exact words were "...you've done nothing wrong, you've probably just hit a patch of diesel"Gutted. Remember, I'd just had the wheels refurbished a few months ago, spent £700 on the gearbox, and another £240 on tyres...
Edited by Witchfinder on Wednesday 19th January 15:28
Podie said:
[vulture mode]
mmm... red interior would look good in mine
[/vulture mode]
I was thinking about that, actually - asking Esure how much they want for the car. The seats alone have to be worth £500. Engine, touchscreen head unit, etc... it all adds up.mmm... red interior would look good in mine
[/vulture mode]
Edited by Witchfinder on Wednesday 19th January 17:05
Podie said:
Nav units etc seem to go for £1k, Recarros about £500, engines get reasonable money (see another thread I've posted on where someone didn't put any oil in theirs!), wheels would go (again, I'd be interested), so you could probably make it back - if you have the space.
I do have the space, although I'm not sure how the neighbours would react to a half-stripped Mondeo on the drive 
The impact itself left the car with a crumpled bonned, smashed bumper, and both front wings were out of shape from the crumpling. I assume the rad has gone, and one of the Xenon clusters is missing - I never did see where it went to. A lot of crumple damage, yet it was a very low speed impact - no airbags or anything - so I don't really understand it. The doors look great (no rust either). The whole car was in cracking shape.
Podie said:
Xenons go for about £150 a side... bumpers a similar amount (I guess the rear is OK?)...
Bit of a scrape at the bottom of the rear bumper from where I shifted it out of the way of traffic, but otherwise all intact. This is looking more and more viable. I'll see what the insurance co haev to say about it this evening.
Just had the shock of my life when I came to get insurance quotes. Despite the 8 years protected NCB, it's going to cost me more to insure a group-9 Primera than it would previously have cost me to insure the ST220. This doesn't bode well for my future of interesting car ownership. All thanks to some spilled diesel on the road.
£900 insurance on a £900 car! How do people manage to insure cars? I'm looking at whatever I get being slightly more long-term now. Not a happy camper!
£900 insurance on a £900 car! How do people manage to insure cars? I'm looking at whatever I get being slightly more long-term now. Not a happy camper!
Well well, how about this?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
Under 5 grand, four years old, and the same cost to insure as that Primera!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
Under 5 grand, four years old, and the same cost to insure as that Primera!
Sorry, I should have clarified. It was £4900. I wish it had been a grand! Still a proper bargain I think!
It's the 2.0 TFSI petrol. Cruise, TPMS, xenons, front & rear parking sensors. I was surprised to see that some of the basic spec is worse than the Mk I vRS. I'm sure I remember getting climate control and a 6-disc autochanger in my old Octavia. I have to make do with ordinary A/C and a single slot CD player, not to mention winders for the rear windows!
Think I'll get a Parrot kit fitted if I decide to keep it for more than 6 months or so. It's quick (not as quick as the ST220, mind), but pretty economical. Managed about 48mpg on the motorway earlier.
It's the 2.0 TFSI petrol. Cruise, TPMS, xenons, front & rear parking sensors. I was surprised to see that some of the basic spec is worse than the Mk I vRS. I'm sure I remember getting climate control and a 6-disc autochanger in my old Octavia. I have to make do with ordinary A/C and a single slot CD player, not to mention winders for the rear windows!
Think I'll get a Parrot kit fitted if I decide to keep it for more than 6 months or so. It's quick (not as quick as the ST220, mind), but pretty economical. Managed about 48mpg on the motorway earlier.
Edited by Witchfinder on Tuesday 25th January 20:48
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