My 19 year old daughter's car (a 1999 Corsa 1.0), free-gifted by a kind neighbour a year ago, is dying (it has needed head gasket, exhaust, cat, clutch etc doing in last 6 months and clearly won't last too much longer based on the oil its losing).
She regrets not taking us up on the offer of old 1994 Volvo 440 "tip trip" car and needs to replace the Corsa with something cheap to insure and ideally more reliable than the Corsa has been.
Any suggestions for £2000 max?
thanks
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Nissan Micra
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You are paying way too much or too little. Sub £1,000 will buy you just as good a car, and leave you with money for new tyres and servicing... and insurance.
MichaelR would say "What about a Mondeo?" Hugely cheaper for a much newer car than you will manage for a small car; you might be surprised about the insurance, and much much safer in a crash. And you can get a good example for £500.
And no need for fully comp insurance; the saving on that will pay for a new car if you prang it.
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Fiestas are good, the 1.3 engine is pretty reliable, but the 1.25 16V is a lot more fun and is equally reliable.
Failing that the usual suspects of Corsa, Micra, or Clio apply.
I agree with Mapmaker about the idea of a bigger car, perhaps an Escort or Mondeo size would be my choice, but I can't see a 19 year old girl going for that option.
£2.5K got me a low mileage 2.5 V6 Mondeo with all of the toys I could wish for, set the spec a little lower and with a more realistic engine and you'll get a very reliable solid car for not a lot of money at all.
Blue
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Bluntly a bigger car is great in theory, in practise when you are young.. it's more to park and more to break.
I suggest Japanese/Korean for reliability. Micra, Starlet, or Hyundai...
You can of course buy bigger cars cheaper.. cos no-one wants them!
madf
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Ford Ka?
Cheap to insure and cheap to maintain.
Plenty around for less than 1500.
L
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Does she need style? If not, then Nissan Almera 1.4 - group 4, but about as much sizzle as a wet flannel. Good Nissan build quality, and plenty to be had in/under the budget.
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I would agree with the Ford Ka.
Go for one that dates from 2001 or early 2002. The German car breakdown statistics produced by ADAC show that Ford Kas of this vintage are particularly reliable - even better than the Nissan Micra. (Curiously Ka reliablity went down for 2003 cars - though mine, which is 2003, has been faultless.)
Stats here if you are curious tinyurl.com/2wf2sf
By the way, does anyone else think that a Corsa dying at 8 years old seems unfortunate? Most cars will last quite a bit longer than that.
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The car was a debt left with the neighbour's firm - a recovery business - and was gifted, though its source was a good hint as to some of the problems we have had subsequently had with it as it was careworn and had clearly been neglected by previous owners.
It hasn't run smoothly from day 1 and has been a bit of a money pit and it was felt better to cut our losses with it sooner rather than later as it has left her stranded twice already.
It has served its purpose as first car but she is relied upon by others for transport so it was felt it was time for change.
I echo the sentiment about larger cars as that would be my preference for her but she isn't comfortable with anything larger than a Fiesta, though a bigger hatch like the Almera would be quite a sensible choice in terms of likely reliability and something to grow into.
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From personal experience I find that Escorts drive like a small car, mine doesn't feel any bigger than my old nova when driving. I don't know about the hatchbacks as I have only driven them occasionally but the estates are really easy for reversing, but I suspect this would be true of all estates.
Don't suppose you could borrow some thing a bit bigger for her to try out for a day? I believe that to a relatively new driver the idea of driving a bigger car is allot worse than the reality.
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Blue
Hope you have changed water pump - H/G failure if blades snap off and they are prone to at around 60k or around 6yrs as plastic impeller gets brittle -Mk 1 and 2
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Think he´s moved on to an MgF now, so he has other worries....
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Think he´s moved on to an MgF now so he has other worries....
Actually I have an MG *and* the Mondeo :-)
I haven't had any problems with either of them so far...
Blue
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Ford Ka? Cheap to insure and cheap to maintain. Plenty around for less than 1500.
Yes but most at that price will belong in a kennel. They'll also sound like a light aircraft, and be crumbling with rust.
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I agree with Mapmaker - you've just as much chance of getting a dud for £2,000 as £1,000, so best to spend less. At this sort of price it's condition rather than make which counts, and she could get a good Corsa for that much - although understandably she may not want another.
Ka, Fiesta, Yaris or Micra perhaps? There may not be many Yarises going that cheap. If it's a Ka watch out for rust and make sure you can get the sparking plugs out. Probably a Fiesta 1.25 might be a good bet as there are more of them around to choose from.
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DXP55 - did you mean the water pump impeller on the Mondeo V6, or on the 1.0 litre Corsa?
The car in question sounds like it must have been terribly neglected by its previous owner (?) - I thought the 1.0 3-cyl chain-cam in the Corsa was a Suzuki engine, and a lot less troublesome than Vauxhall's own units?
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Sadly, it has been neglected based on the condition it is was in. Several owners, the last being an elderley lady, and an incomplete history. Less than 60k and should be a sweet engine but it it has been troublesome from day 1 and the locally recommended and apparently "reputable" garages that it has been to for repairs seem to have done more harm than good, each damning the work done by the one before but the same problems re-emerging.
Job just to keep the oil topped up right now and suspect further work will just be good money thrown after bad. Thanks for the suggestions thought, shall start to look this weekend and take the point about condition.
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