I'm looking for a cheap, second-hand car that's not too far away from me. I've looked on auto trader which has given me a couple to think about but are there any hidden gems? Any to not prod with a bargepole? Budget would be £2000 I think, manual gears and it HAS to have a window I can wind down in the back so one of my dogs can stick his head out.
I'd go with something like a focus. Cheap, easy to get bits for, economical and there are plenty to choose from. A golf might be another option, you can get some sporty varieties that are quite nice to own. Hope this helps Enterobsidian
Honda civic aerodeck. Some come with the 1.8 vtec which is good for about 167bhp. Best thing about this version is there mainly own by old people so haven't been thrashed. Plenty of room for the dog too
I got my focus for just a bit over that 110 bhp, and does around 70mpg on motorways if I drive it properly. Another good thing is that as its a ford the parts are very very cheap. I have had the car 2 years now, and not had any problems. Another thing to say is that the Focus is VERY fun to drive. I get a load of rental cars through my work and nothing has come close to the focus for the amount of fun it is.
You can pick up a pretty decent bmw e46 for that money, something like a 323 Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Skoda Fabia Mk.1 1.9TDI. You can get some higher mileage ones at about £2000,-- and will be positively the best money you've ever spent on a car, guaranteed.
I have a focus 2001 and thats awesome for all the reasons you wanted, and thats worth about £1100 so you could prob get a 2003/2004 edition for the money you are looking for. I have also had peugeot 306s before, and they are also very nice cars - economical, fairly powerful, cheap to maintain etc. edit: don't get a skoda, they might be good now, but people will lol at you
Skoda are VW now aren't they? The 1.9TDi sounds really nice, which is probably what other people think too, as they're a bit thin on the ground second-hand! Might be a Focus then. I was thinking Fiesta but I remember reading that Ford over some years didn't galvanise the bodywork on Fiesta's or Ka's. The Ka's seem to be worse affected with rot setting in fairly quickly. Looking through, a low yearly tax - something up to tax band C - would be ideal. It narrows the field down a lot but at least it's something for me to focus on.
I had a fiesta before this focus - 1999 edition with a good 115k miles on it. It "did" have some rust on by the time it exploded on me, but im sure part of that was down to me cleaning it only once or twice a year That was a good car though - basic, no doubt, but it never failed to get me to where I was going. It even got my brother 150 miles or so when there was a big oil leak into the engine, after which it got scrapped But never a journey happened to that car when it was mine whereby it did not finish.
Plenty of Ford focus in this budget range. 1.8 to 2lit engines available around this mark as well. Id avoid BMWs + any high brand image style car in the £2k price range as most of them are garbage. ( they are cheap for a reason most of them bearly class as parts in this price bracket) My advice to anyone in this budget is always the same stick the big brands nissan ford and renault. you cant go wrong and the prices for parts are super cheap. Id also probably set aside £500-£1000 for parts for the next year or two on any second hand car that id buy. Yes you can pick up some exoitic bmw for the price but the parts will cost you more than the car is worth 90% of the time.
Check out the Alfas, they don't have the best repair rep going around but my elder sister has had a ten year old one from new and its been reliable. You can get nice 147 1.6 t-spark or 156 1.8 t-spark in that price range.
Not a nice one, the T5 engine mileage upper limit it 255K before its cooked, and a lot of V70's are hovering around the 170K mark. Also a T5 gives you smiles per gallon not miles per gallon. You would average low 20's careful driving, and mid teens with a heavy foot. Think the lowest I got one was 12mpg Couldn't agree more, everyone should own an alfa at some point. Some how alfa horse power always feels like an understatement, so 150hp feels more like 180hp. I give the focus its due they do drive well, but just plain boring. I introduce to you SAAB. My 1998 900 2 litre Turbo, pumps out a health 185hp and returns 40mpg on average. I got mine for a song with FSH from a dealer, but there are many Saab's out there that are just overlooked. Parts and servicing cost the same as most fords, in some cases cheaper. You could pick up a 2001 9-3 2 litre turbo with under 100K on the clock for less than a grand. Mostly all owned by caring people (even the quick ones), always serviced and build quality is wonderful. My 900 is sat on 176k, still running perfectly (touch wood) and all its cost me is serviceable parts, like brakes and tires. Insurance is crazy cheap, my renewal last year aged 24 was £530 fully comp and laughing as it tumbled a shocking £250 from the previous year. Also the boot is a good size for multiple bodies. I've driven a few saab's at speed and always felt 100% secure and stable with minimal body roll (oh my 900 came from the factory with a front suspension brace that all boy racers would love to fit, mines stock! hahaha)Even driven a 99 turbo 2 door coupe, love the sound of those. My friends 99 turbo, beautiful car (little more than your budget..) Give Saab a good look, you won't be disappointed and you'll get a car that you'll really love.
I must admit, Alfas do look really nice and there's one or two that are very tempting. The historically poor reliability of them however, is the elephant in the boot, so to speak. edit: Hmm, hadn't thought about a Saab.. thanks! I want it. Come on insurance, pull your finger out.
Saab is Sweden's answer to Porsche but with swedish sense. Even the non turbo petrols pull extremely well. Driver and passenger comfort is similar to high end German brands, if not better. The internal switch layout is perfectly logical and simple with a robust feel to every switch. I drove from Huntingdon to Kendal non stop in just over 4 hours as I ENJOYED the A684 in the Dales. I got to kendal fresh as a daisy with a huge grin on my face after the joy of the A684, I have to omit my 900 is a motorway cruiser and a B road bruiser. acceleration from 55 to 120mph is savage, I say 120 because if you pull out to overtake and drop your foot, you'll hit a buck 20 before you pull in again.
Now? I don't know your age, but they've been VW for about 22 years now. (bought up 1991) Saabs are nice. I have to second the alfa's, for some reason the twin-sparks are ridiculously cheap. (I suspect it's the milage) The 156's suspension is a bit underdimensioned on the front wheels though, so expect some bushings that need changing on higher milage cars.
I've got an Octavia vRS in diesel and its the best car I've ever owned - but outside the budget so I didn't mention. Missus used to have a Fabia vRS, they're also still a bit outside your budget but a damn fast car (especially with a remap, which the inlaws did to their Fab vRS vroom vroom!).
