Car for £1K

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Tue 18 Apr 2006 18:42
Car for £1K - Heather145
Good afternoon all!
I need a help not to choose a car but to choose to buy or not to buy. Situation is complicated for me. I like to drive but had to sell my car two years ago because it was too expensive to keep it but not use it. I work in central London, so have to use public transport. So I need a car only to visit my friends sometimes and make short trips in UK (hiking holidays) without travelling in other peoples cars (no freedom of choice where to go, how to go, where to stop and so on). I would estimate annual mileage about 5 thousand miles or less. But my budget is very limited. Do I have any chance to find reliable car for this amount of money? I was thinking about Nissan Sunny, small Honda Civic, Ford Fiesta or Rover 200-25. My friends are sure that for this money I can buy only rubbish and will spend a lot on fixing all breakages.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 19:14
Car for £1K - Lud
Many know more than me but I wd say you have a good chance of getting something perfectly reliable for well under a K.

But how good are you at coping with car ailments, how good is your usual professional help, are there parking costs where you live, will insurance cost you a bomb?

Others will have specific model advice, although in that price range it pays to be unprejudiced and take the good one when it comes even if it isn't what you had in mind.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 19:17
Car for £1K - blue_haddock
Actually as long as you are choosey you should be able to find a decent motor for £1000. I would remove the rover 200 from the list as they are often problematic, the Fiesta may go wrong but parts are cheap and they are easy to work on, the sunny wouldn't be a 1st choice for me but should be reliable enough and the civic will be reliable but they are popular so prices remain high.

Popular consensus on here would be something like a Nissan Almera - very reliable and because they have a somewhat frumpy image prices are low.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 19:35
Car for £1K - madf
Use the Search facilities in Autotrader.
Age over 10 years.
Mileage under 60,000 miles
Price under £1,000 Surprising what you can find...

local to me:


1988 F Reg ROVER 213 SE Stalybridge Motors 4 Doors, Automatic, Saloon, Petrol, 58,775 miles, Metallic sky blue. great runner, MOT 23/05/06 p/x to . . . . (trade)
£150
25miles



*

1985 VOLKSWAGEN Polo Classic, 52000 miles, 12 months MOT, 1 owner, PSH, lots of bills, radio cass, very good condition. . . . . . (trade)
£295
33miles

1994 FORD Escort 1.6 LX , L reg. metallic blue, E/W, ESR, Fox alloys, new tyres, 60,000 miles, MOTd, . . . . (private)
£325
25miles


*multi-photos 1994 FORD FIESTA 1.1 LX 5dr Hatchback, 55,600 miles, Silver. Sunroof. Good condition. 2 owners. Excellent first car. MOT/Tax end May.. . . . . (private)
£375
39miles

1996 N Reg DAEWOO Nexia 1.5 GLi Woodleigh 3 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 55,000 miles, Green.Insurance Group:4, MOT UNTIL JUNE . . . . (trade)
£395
32miles




1984 FORD Escort MK3, A reg. 5 mths tax, MOT August, 1.3L, twin Weber carburetors, only 57,000 miles, rear spoiler, service history/prev MOTs, classic 1980s Ford, vgc, lovely car, 50mpg, 13 prev MOTs, well maintained, appreciating . . . . (trade)
£450
25miles


*multi-photos 1993 PROTON PROTON SE 1.5 TRIPLE VALUE AUTO, 38,000 miles, 38000 genuine miles,mot feb07,sigma alarm, cl,ew,em,2oweners,some history,all mots,garaged from new good condition,bargain, most see.. . . . . (private)



and so on.
A Proton for under £500 sounds good value to me...




madf
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 20:10
Car for £1K - bell boy
im sorry madf but all those cars you have listed are scrapyard fodder i certainly wouldnt want to own any of them.

--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 20:18
Car for £1K - mss1tw
Even the Golf and Nexia?

Wouldn't touch the Fords myself, either.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 20:22
Car for £1K - bell boy
Even the Golf and Nexia?
Wouldn't touch the Fords myself, either.


i can see an old polo that will have loads of problems starting with the fuel tank pipe and as for the nexia even daydoo couldnt get them right as the ecu"s used to lock up.
I would rather walk .................sorry
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 20:29
Car for £1K - mss1tw
i can see an old polo that will have loads of
problems starting with the fuel tank pipe and as for the
nexia even daydoo couldnt get them right as the ecu"s
used to lock up.
I would rather walk .................sorry


Cheers oldman, I wasn't doubting you - I was genuinely curious!
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 02:06
Car for £1K - mfarrow
1984 FORD Escort MK3, A reg. 5 mths tax,
MOT August, 1.3L, twin Weber carburetors, only 57,000 miles, rear spoiler,
service history/prev MOTs, classic 1980s Ford, vgc, lovely car, 50mpg


That must have been a pretty steep hill!

Seriously, if you want a good car that'll last for ages then buy a Nissan Sunny or Almera! GF's mum has one on 110k and still sounds sweet. Interior build quality is excellent, and has only ever needed welding once to pass MoT.

--------------
Mike Farrow
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 19:37
Car for £1K - mss1tw
My friends are sure that for this money
I can buy only rubbish and will spend a lot on
fixing all breakages.


I bet I know what their opinion of cars that have done more than 100,000 miles is, too. ;o)
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 20:04
Car for £1K - Peter D
Yes you can, something like a 1998 Pug 106 with 75k on the clock i.e. it's had it's cam belt and water pump changed. But add to this Insurance as you may have no NCD, break down cover and wear and tear costs, tyres and servicing and the odd repair then it soon adds up and the 1K car lasting say 3 years may work out 1500 a year all in that's 50 days car hire if you shop around. Regards Peter
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 20:27
Car for £1K - bell boy
heather145 get yourself down a car auction and look for the genuine MAIN DEALER part exchanges pick one or two out that seem right with a current mot and see if the traders sniff round them ,if they do then fair chance its worth buying and you can outbid them.
Please keep to sensible stuff though (ie boring)
fiesta
corsa
clio
punto
and make sure it is main dealer and not a crafty trader having one over on you.
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 22:47
Car for £1K - PoloGirl
I'd question the safety of anything that only cost £1000, sorry!

Can you put your £1000 in the bank and just hire a car for the rare occasions you need one?

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Tue 18 Apr 2006 22:52
Car for £1K - bell boy
I'd question the safety of anything that only cost £1000, sorry!
Can you put your £1000 in the bank and just hire
a car for the rare occasions you need one?


what a load of baloney.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 23:02
Car for £1K - smokie
"what a load of baloney."

Care to expand at all oldman? To me, the idea has some merit, and Pologirl speaks from experience, knowing plenty about the joys of motoring on a budget.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 23:05
Car for £1K - bell boy
if you cant find a safe decent car in todays market that is flooded with cars for a grand then i will eat my hat.
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 23:36
Car for £1K - George Porge
I bought a Volvo 240 estate for £250, ran it for 18 months and only cost me £25 for a brake pipe in that time.

Look for 1 /2 owner historied cars, booted saloons are always cheaper than hatches.

I'd look for

Small Volvo's
VW Vento
Seat Ibiza / Cordoba
Skoda Felicia

Buy on condition / history rather than youngest car on offer.

Good luck
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 01:44
Car for £1K - Lud
Yes utter, utter baloney. You can getr perfectly good cars for nothing.
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 09:32
Car for £1K - mare
I'd question the safety of anything that only cost £1000, sorry!
Can you put your £1000 in the bank and just hire
a car for the rare occasions you need one?


I diasgree that you can't buy a decent car under a £1,000, but taking PG's excellent suggestion further and assuming that OP lives in London and parking is a right hassle for when you don't need the car, check these people out

www.citycarclub.co.uk/default.htm

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Tue 18 Apr 2006 23:29
Car for £1K - jus' cruising
Just before Christmas I needed a car quick, and had a grand. I had to have an estate, and there was seven around to look at. Ended up with a 98 Escort at £700 (book price £1000+), 69k on the clock. Booked it in for a service, and the mechanic gave it a good report. Since then it's needed new headlight bulbs. It drives very well (for an Escort), starts first time etc. Cars are out there for the price you want to pay, but the most important thing is to get someone who knows about cars to advise you so you can avoid the death traps and bag a value for money car. happy hunting!
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Tue 18 Apr 2006 23:37
Car for £1K - Avant
Heather - you may have done this sum already - but if you can estimate how often you're likely to need a car in the next year, get a price on the cheapest hire car off the Internet, and compare with the cost of a £1,000 car + running expenses + MOT + car tax + anywhere between £500 and £1,000 for repairs.

Well worth considering each on its merits, andf the argumeant certainbly isn't baloney.

If it's still cheaper to buy, then anything is a gamble but something Japanese is probably your best bet: Nissan Micra / Sunny / Almera, Toyota Starlet / Corolla, old Honda Civic, Mazda 323.
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 00:25
Car for £1K - frazerjp
A friend found & bought an N-reg Renault Laguna 2.0 for 1k, it's only got 60k on the clock. The only two faults are a broken aerial which he did himself after he brought it & the drivers seat brackets are quite loose, considering he's quite big anyway!
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 01:47
Car for £1K - Lud
But I wouldn't try an auction without experienced help. Really quite difficult whatever they say.
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 02:03
Car for £1K - Union Jack
Heather - The experts certainly seem to feel that you can indeed find a reasonable car for around £1000 so, in that sense, the cry of "Baloney" is not wholly inappropriate.

However, it's all the other costs that would really add up, and as Polo Girl and others have said, setting up a deal where you build up a good relationship with your friendly local hire outfit for long trips, and taxis for shorter trips, could be well worth considering - particularly since you would be relieved of some of the longer term worries of car ownership in what I am assuming - since you don't say where you live, as opposed to work - is the Greater London area, especially parking.

The only down side might be that you would not be generating a longer no claims discount on your insurance, but that would not be the end of the world. Incidentally, the foregoing is not just surmise, but is soundly based on the relative experiences of my two London-based children, one having gone for each of the two options.

Jack

PS Nice to see Polo Girl back on song, with a new budget - and a new name to follow?
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 08:44
Car for £1K - nutty_nissan
Dead easy to find a motor for 1k. I got my Nissan Primera for 160 quid off ebay and it worked a treat. Might take some time to find a good 'un, but be patient..
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 08:48
Car for £1K - local yokel
Almera - a nice looking R reg with sensible miles and 12 month MoT had the A4 window ad up the road from me - asking £1,200.
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 09:16
Car for £1K - Sprice
In 1999 I paid £110 for a D reg Passat which I kept for 30k trouble-free miles, followed by a Bluebirg, Sunny and Celica, all of which cost peanuts but were totally reliable. Next one I'm after is a Mitsubishi Colt for peanuts!

So yeah, you can get cracking cars for a grand, with air-con, leather, the lot.
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 13:22
Car for £1K - Mapmaker
I've owned about half a dozen £1,000 cars. By not having fully-comp insurance you save on insurance - particularly when you park on a London street.

There is a huge oversupply of cars, driven by advertising campaigns that convince you that you need a new car every three years, and that means that a ten year old car is probably a bargain.

If you know nothing about cars, then it's not a good idea, but if you buy from a dealer then there is some guarantee that it won't have any major faults at the time of sale. Whilst a £350 car from a dealer (look for something from a proper car dealer, not a trader) won't be perfect, you can be reasonably certainthat it will be roadworthy and not falling to pieces. You do have more rights than you might imagine, even at that price.

I'd go for a high mileage car rather than a low mileage. Cars don't wear out at 60k miles you know!

Think about hiring as others have said.
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 13:33
Car for £1K - Round The Bend
We ran a Nissan Micra until last Autumn. Looks as if one of these would meet your requirements. £1,000 should get you a nice post 1997 example privately. So long as it has the service history you should n't have any problems.
_______
IanS
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 14:02
Car for £1K - cub leader
You can get a decent car for a grand, i bought my xantia for that amount, although over the past 2 years has cost about 700 pounds in servicing and parts, 350 a year to keep a car on the road is not too bad
--
Temporarily not a student, where did the time go???
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 14:07
Car for £1K - daveyK_UK
mark 2 hyundai accent

x plate 2000 60 - 70 k mileage

easily pick one up for around 800 car


ultra reliable

just dont expect the best paint job in the world on them.

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Wed 19 Apr 2006 14:21
Car for £1K - Big Bad Dave
I normally get irritated by people who trumpet their own cars but if I were looking to spend a grand there?s a lovely shiny silver ?99 V reg 406 auto with cd, cruise, aircon and airbags for £999 on autotrader that would suit me down to the ground. 93k miles I think it had. Why go for some tatty 80s shed when you can have all that modern metal for that kind of money?
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Wed 19 Apr 2006 14:31
Car for £1K - SteVee
If you don't use a car often, you could rent when needed.
This might seem expensive - but all your costs are known and well controlled.

Your 1K car could be scrap at anytime. You have to buy insurance - and I would recommend breakdown cover also for the hiking holidays.
All this is included when it's a rental.
It might be expensive on a per-day basis, but it doesn't sound like you need a car on too many days.
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