OK, I have have found a few cars at less than 1k and now need some input!!
1) Audi Metro 1.3L hatchback, 1989, 18,000 miles, MOT, taxed. Needs rear bumper. Was £600 but now the gear box has gone it is reduced to £400. Is it worth buying a car (however cheap) that needs work doing to it immediately.
Other cars I have seen and would really apprecaiate any advice are:
2) Citroen AX 1.1, 41,000 miles £595
3) Ford Sierra LX, 1990, MOT. £575
Rover Metro 1.1, 1993, reconditioned engine (worries me a little), new radiator. Tax and MOT. 82,000 miles. £549.
Any help anyone??!!
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1989 Metro; its scrap...to replace the gearbox would be uneconomic...don't touch
1990 Sierra; worth a try if its genuine and not a rusty duffer.
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If you are spending around £500 and know nothing about cars its all a big gamble.
A lot of cars out there at this price are just scrap.
What about extending your budget a little to £1000 plus ?
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We have an 1989 Sierra 1800 LX which we use for shopping. 70,000 miles Starts first time every time and is nippy, easy to drive and cheap to repair.
Saves parking a more expensive car in a town where every second car has vandal damage.
Price seems a little high though. Check for cambelt relacement
Parkers Used car guide says "No-one ever makes a mistake with a genuine Sierra.
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I had a Sierra 2.0 LX for about a year.
Nice car to drive, felt solid. Got a spoiler from the scrappers and it made it look a million times better. Plenty of grunt if not the fastest thing on earth.
The LX has electric mirrors and a rev counter. Other than that I thinks its the same as an L.
Never been in any of the others so can't say. But remember the Sierra was a much more luxurious car in its day than any of the others.
HTH
Mark.
p.s. 1989? 18,000 miles? run away!!! cold-start-tastic!
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I had a Sierra GLX on an 'H'. I bought it 3 years old with 9,000 miles on it and had to have about £150 worth of work done on the engine; damage caused by low mileage cold starts etc. After that drove it 80,000 miles in 5 years with nothing paid before except servicing, tyres, and an exhaust sytem. It looks like the best of the bunch you have found and others seem to think so too. Please let us know what you decide and how it turns out.
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Gayle,
If I set out to look any weekend I bet there would be well over 100 cars in this price range for sale within a 15 mile radius.
25% would be bodged up scrap, the middle 50% in varying degrees of tired and then there are the best 25% to look at.........and just perhaps 10% worth buying.
We can all tell you what is likely to be wrong with every car you mention. For this reason,and that I assume you can't afford to throw away £500 - £1000, you must find someone in your circle of friends/contacts/family who can help look.
Remember you are in a strong position while the cash is in your pocket, it's all downhill after that.
Moosh is right, go up to £1500 for a private sale and you will be looking at far better vehicles.
Best of luck,
David
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Do you fancy a 1992 Citroen BX - My friend has just bought himself a newer car and only wants £500 for this rather nice vehicle, it has electric windows, electric sunroof and has had new front "spheres" fitted recently, which Im sure is a good thing.
it is a decent car, only thing is its in Sheffield.
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Gayle,
See, I was right wasn't I re. our Mr Woollard.
A comfort to us all.
Stu.
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Are these private or trade sales ?
I would go for the Sierra as long as the MOT is 9 months +.
If you are not at all confident in checking over a car then i would suggest taking it to a MOT station and ask them to check over the car for you.Any genuine seller will be willing to do this.
As the other guys have suggested most cars in this price range are really only fit for scrapping so take your time and you will probably come across a genuine bargain eventually.
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I see from your e-mail address that you are at WS Atkins. Can you not ask one of your Engineer colleagues for some free advice?
If you can wait, I know someone trustworthy who wants to sell a genuine good condition K reg Cavalier for £1500 (same owner since 1993) and a F reg Rover 213S for £300 (same owner since 1990, excellent reliability but bodywork has rust - though not a MOT failure - both to be sold in a few weeks time when they get two new Company cars in March 2002)
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Gayle, you're looking at 8 or 10 year old cars. They are, very generally speaking, scrap.
There are lots of cars younger than this dumped on the streets around here because it costs £50 to get a scrap man to remove them. If you're not familiar with the innards of cars, then the only sure way to get a reliable car of this age is from a trusted friend. Even then, the age of such a car suggests that you would have to spend time and money on the probable routine failures of ancilliary parts.
David W knows his stuff. Another £1000 or more may seem a lot. It will seem cheap if you have to spend £200 here and £300 and, in addition, get foisted with an unreliable car . Even then, get expert assistance.
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AFM,
That's what I was really trying to say from the start.
Thanks for synopsing it so clearly !
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One of the worst cars ever made without doubt. The suspension is terrible and if you crash in one I wouldnt fancy your chances!
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I'm surprised that there still offered for sale, I thought they had all rusted away!
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I don't want to depress you, but you could spend £2,000 and still get a complete hound - see my post above on 'Baggy Corsas'. I've always been fond of Citroen AXs myself, but you really need to get someone to take a look at it for you, and budget another £300 on top of the asking price for a comprehensive service to include new cambelt and brake fluid change, plus a long hard look at the brakes, suspension and steering.
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i know the seller of the 1.3L metro with 18,000 miles,he's called anthony king, and lives near woking, he sells old toys + childrens books, i have seen it around a couple of times, is it the dark red 5 door, when i looked at it he said it was either the gearbox or the clutch that had problems, personally i think he is asking too much for the car.
p.s its the clutch thats gone, as its slipping badly when driving, nothings wrong with the gearbox.
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Yeah right, oooo look a flying pig!
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if gayle comes back on the forum and agrees with the description of the seller and the car, then you will KNOW that i am right.
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Old metros are really one of the worst cars still on the road today. Steer well clear. For some reason all my mates learned to drive in one and I was always spending my weekends underneath one. Appalling to work on too.
Sierra sounds better. Nearly all Cavaliers should now be in this price bracket and there are masses of those about - pretty sound motors. MOT + tax is everything at this end of the market - go for something with at least 9 months of both.
I don't think it's really fair writing off sub £1k cars as 'scrap'. Many of them still have plenty of life left in them - eg. your average 10 year old Golf/jetta. Some cars are just so unpopular in the trade this is all they go for, doesn't make them bad. A prime example is my '92 Carlton Diplomat bought for £750. Still looks the business and goes well.
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I too learnt to drive in a Metro and drove my mum's G-reg 1.0 City for a few months to and from uni when I was allowed to borrow it in late 1996. Very tinny, noisy and basic, but was very reliable actually. The fuel consumption was not particularly good as it used to average about 37mpg and its performance could be described as sedate. However we sold it in early 1997 in immaculate condition with no rust, apart from a small hole on the passenger door sill which we repaired.
Anyway, in Feb 97 I bought a L reg Astra 1.7d estate, and I felt like I was driving a real car! A revelation compared to the Metro...much more solid, airbag, reasonably modern safety equipment, far more refined, better performance and 52mpg!
Don't buy a Metro, fine by early to mid 80's standards, but you can do far better!
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Phil,
You're quite right to say it's unfair to write off sub £1K cars as scrap. More fair to say some neglect them as if they were scrap and they get what they deserve.
Maintenance and understanding of the model's foibles are the key points.
David
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Dear All,
Just to prove a point (though I don't think I needed to do you?) I just called the seller, who has never met or heard of CW (LAS).
More lies, found out, don't call my bluff again.
Stu.
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i have just bought a hornby dublo 1930's toy signal box off him, so i dont know what he's talking about. did you ask if it was red, a five door, did you ask his name, did you ask if he deals in old toys. i have bought a few antiques off him.
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Even if you have purchased something from his web site, (who knows the truth anymore?) it doesn't mean he 'knows' you or vice versa. (He was quite sure by the way, and let's face it he's not likely to have forgotten meeting 'you').
I know his name and the car details from the ad on the website, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes, how do you think I got his number. I found the ad . . . just like you.
Anyway leave this thread alone, Gayle has asked for help from the knowledgeable members of the Backroom, that does not include a virtual MOT tester.
Yawn.
Have a good weekend.
Stu.
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all i am going to say is - i have been to his place of business, i had to collect 14 items that i bought off him in september.
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have you thought about a peugoet 205, these are still very modern feeling cars, the only problem is that the prices still seem quite high.
the other cars to think about are the VW polo and golf, both these cars are very well built, and should last a LONG time, not cheap to buy a good one though.
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So you did Moosh, and in a lot less words. Sorry.
Yes, it is very unfair to describe all 8+ year old cars as scrap. There are some good 10 or 20 year old cars in this price range. However the chances of Gayle, without knowledgeable assistance, getting one of the 10 to 25% or so which are worth buying at her first attempt, in exchange for £600 or so, are remote. The first few cars I bought were scrap, but I didn't realise that at the time.
The chances of her being able to keep such a car in good running order, without shelling out many more readies, are also small. Scrap is an unfair description, but it conveyed the message.
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So you did Moosh, and in a lot less words. Sorry.
Yes, it is very unfair to describe all 8+ year old cars as scrap. There are some good 10 or 20 year old cars in this price range. However the chances of Gayle, without knowledgeable assistance, getting one of the 10 to 25% or so which are worth buying at her first attempt, in exchange for £600 or so, are remote. The first few cars I bought were scrap, but I didn't realise that at the time.
The chances of her being able to keep such a car in good running order, without shelling out many more readies, are also small. Scrap is an unfair description, but it conveyed the message.
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Assuming you want something durable,and that is not totally horrid to drive,then I think you have to exclude ford,french,Rovers,anything italian,small volvos,old germans.....and some vauxhalls.
What you need is a good old cavalier,their shortcomings are outweighed by their longcomings.I dont mean astras,but corsas can be good,as can selected Carltons.
I have no personal slant on this,I'd probably buy a newer van for that sort of money.
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