budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Mon 15 Nov 2021 20:09
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - logger

I've always wondered this so worth asking the forum

Is there such a thing as a nippy budget used hatchback ( say sub 10 secs ) that has simple mechanics and I mean by that no turbo or other expensive gubbins that can go wrong and cost a bomb to fix

I doubt it but worth starting peoples brains working lol

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 20:35
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - Xileno

Suzuki Swift Sport 2012-2017 might meet your needs with the 1.6 engine. Your problem will be finding a nice one that hasn't been thrashed.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 20:45
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - logger

Its my son who asked me...and I couldn't answer him lol

A lot of sub 10sec cars either have silly MPG or full of so much stuff like turbos that just maintenance and risk is high

I suppose classic cars would fall into this category but I dont think daily car would

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 20:49
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - daveyjp

Last model Yaris 1.5.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 20:51
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - badbusdriver

The term budget means different things to different folks. How much do you mean by budget?

As well as the Swift Sport (if your budget was smaller), the earlier Swift ('04-'10), as a n/a 1.5, did 0-60 in 10 seconds.

Early 7th gen ('08-'13) Fiesta was available with a 118bhp n/a 1.6. On a lower budget, the 6th gen Fiesta 1.6 (100bhp) will also hit 60mph in about 10 seconds.

2nd gen ('07-'14) Mazda 2 1.5 will also hit 60mph in around 10 seconds.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 21:00
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - logger

thanks

I think he said £1500 ish...

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 22:17
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - Ian_SW

Is the 0-60 time an absolute requirement, or does it just need to feel "nippy"?

A base model Panda feels 'nippy' in town, and is pretty quick off the mark due to it not weighing very much, but is slow at higher speeds so has about a 14 second 0-60 time.

At that budget, unless the car is regularly intended to be used on hilly country roads, I'd stick with something simple, and really small and light such as the Panda, VW Up, i10, Twingo etc. and not worry so much about what is a fairly arbitrary performance figure.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 15 Nov 2021 22:26
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - Big John

Fiat Panda 1.4 100 was a hoot 0-60 9.5 secs with simple but robust 1.4 16v Fire engine with six speed box, Felt faster than the figures as well. However they are getting on a bit now so as well as above trying to find one that hasn't had a hard life might be difficult and condition is all. Some slightly above the £1500 budget but some not by much.

Be careful with that budget re condition and rust is still an issue with cars by that age - particularly rear suspension beam & parts and any subframes.

Also another elephant in the room - if your son is young check insurance costs before buying - speaking from bitter experience!

Edited by Big John on 15/11/2021 at 22:42

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 06:21
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - badbusdriver

I think he said £1500 ish...

Aah, well that puts things in a different perspective!. You can rule out a Swift Sport then, and the only two of my suggestions you'd have a chance of getting for £1500 would be the early 1.5 Swift or the 6th gen Fiesta 1.6. But at that price, neither is likely to be in mint condition!.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 06:50
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - badbusdriver

I think your son will have to compromise a bit because of the budget. The 1.3 version of that earlier Swift ('04-'10) has around 90bhp, as has the Corsa 1.4. The (6th gen) Fiesta 1.4 has around 80bhp (as does a 1.2 Corsa), but still could be classed as nippy (we has a Fusion with the same engine, and despite being a bigger and heavier car, it was nippy enough for us).

But for that budget, condition should be much more important than performance!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 07:53
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - paul 1963

How about a Peugeot 107 or the C1? Son's got a 107 and it's surprisingly quick, £1500. should get a decent one.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 09:49
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - Andrew-T

Is there such a thing as a nippy budget used hatchback ( say sub 10 secs ) that has simple mechanics and I mean by that no turbo or other expensive gubbins that can go wrong and cost a bomb to fix

Some time back when many small engines had no turbo, some were relatively nippy. These days nearly all cars have a turbo, so one meeting your criteria may not seem nippy by comparison. So you may need to follow the advice offered above, and make sure you don't need to worry about fixes, by looking after the car ....

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 10:47
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - edlithgow

How much of a red flag is a turbo? Obviously its never going to help reliability, and will always be a negative, but how much of one?

I've never had one, but I did time on a mostly Australian Charade forum, which was dominated by turbo (turbid?) discussion. I suppose the 3-cyl boosted Charade models were the shape of things to come.

They did seem to break them a lot, but they were often boosting them quite a bit more than factory specs.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 11:56
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - elekie&a/c doctor
Mk1 Focus st 170 can be bought for this kind of budget. Although not much quicker that a standard 2.0 . Plenty of these around with loads of service life still in them .
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 12:54
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - galileo

Remember that published 0-60 times are achieved by experienced test drivers who have no concern whatsoever about the effect on clutches/transmissions/engines/tyres achieving the best time will have.

The owner who does care about such things will rarely manage the claimed performance.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 13:03
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - SLO76
“ How much of a red flag is a turbo? Obviously its never going to help reliability, and will always be a negative, but how much of one?”

Not necessarily. A well designed turbo installation should last as long as a non-turbocharged engine if properly maintained. Think of the old PD 1.9 VW’s, Isuzu 1.7 TD’s, Volvo T5’s, Toyota turbo diesels (pre BMW and excluding the 2.2 D cat) Rover Montego and later 420/620 diesels based on the Perkins design all would run to massive mileages if regular oil changes were administered. There are many more that can last as long if not longer than harder worked normally aspirated engines.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 15:52
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - galileo
“ How much of a red flag is a turbo? Obviously its never going to help reliability, and will always be a negative, but how much of one?” Not necessarily. A well designed turbo installation should last as long as a non-turbocharged engine if properly maintained. Think of the old PD 1.9 VW’s, Isuzu 1.7 TD’s, Volvo T5’s, Toyota turbo diesels (pre BMW and excluding the 2.2 D cat) Rover Montego and later 420/620 diesels based on the Perkins design all would run to massive mileages if regular oil changes were administered. There are many more that can last as long if not longer than harder worked normally aspirated engines.

The turbos made where I worked were O/E equipment for Cummins, Volvo, Scania and MAN heavy duty diesel engines, even the medium duty Cummins units had a 250,000 mile warranty.

Petrol engine turbos run hotter than diesel units so really should have water-cooled bearing housings, and, as has often been pointed out here, oil and filter changes must meet or be better than maker's specification for long life.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 12:58
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - mcb100
I’ve not looked at prices, but a couple of candidates may be something like a Clio 172, a Yaris 1.8VVT, of a mark 1 Škoda Fabia vRS. The latter is a diesel turbo, but it’s the near bulletproof 1.9 PD engine.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 13:05
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - SLO76
Used to be loads of simple mild hatches that offered a bit of pep but had simple mechanics. Nova SR, Pug 205 XS, Rover Metro GTa, Fiesta Sport etc etc.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 15:59
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - badbusdriver

I’ve not looked at prices, but a couple of candidates may be something like a Clio 172, a Yaris 1.8VVT, of a mark 1 Škoda Fabia vRS. The latter is a diesel turbo, but it’s the near bulletproof 1.9 PD engine.

My nephew had a Fabia VRS turbo diesel as his first car at 17. Surprised me a lot as I assumed the insurance would be prohibitive, but while I don't remember the actual figure, it was actually very reasonable. According to him, the insurer classed it as a 'family car'(?)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 16 Nov 2021 17:48
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - Andrew-T
Used to be loads of simple mild hatches that offered a bit of pep but had simple mechanics. Nova SR, Pug 205 XS, Rover Metro GTa, Fiesta Sport etc etc.

You won't find a decent 205XS any more for the price suggested above, SLO .... :-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Nov 2021 06:08
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - veloceman
You may get a 1.4 Fiat 500, Mito 1.4 (‘09) or Grande Punto Sporting (‘07) will be a better bet.
Certainly the Fiats are simple and cheap enough to repair but all will be getting quite fragile at this age.
You also may get a Saxo VTR or 106 XT.
There is a tidy XT on Autotrader but in truth you unlikely to get a Saxo that hasn’t been messed about with.
Best cheap fun car I can remember is the AX GT. Supple ride with great handling and weighed little more than a crisp packet.

Edited by veloceman on 17/11/2021 at 06:31

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Nov 2021 09:13
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - groaver

Proton Satria with 1.6 l engine.

There was a GTi at one point too.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Nov 2021 09:25
budget nippy hatchback with simple mechanics - joegrundy

Ive got a 2009 Hyundai i10 1.2, and I was surprised at just how nippy it is.

The HJ review quotes 0-60 as 12.8 secs but as said above that doesn't mean much. It's 82hp in a light car so is perky, especially if you use the revs available but you can still sit comfortably at 70 at 3000rpm. Cheap to run and maintain. £30 pa ved.

Worth a look, I think.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link