Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000

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
Thu 14 Jul 2011 22:14
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

I fancy a cheap car for going to the shops, local runs etc. Now, it must be fun to drive but doesn't have to be a sporty car but just handle well. I'm not bothered abour reliabilty record as I know at this price anything could go wrong. One other thing, economy could do with being about 40 plus to the gallon.

I nearly bought a Citroen ZX Turbo Diesel a few years back ,for it's fluent handling but went for a car with air. I still quite fancy one. Also, I like a Punto Mk1 60SX having been impressed by a hire car, ditto Ford Ka. Any ideas welcome.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 22:30
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

PSA has got to be top of the list. How about a 306? Just about scrape a diesel for a grand!

motoring.friday-ad.co.uk/birmingham/used-cars-for-...D

Edited by unthrottled on 14/07/2011 at 22:31

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 22:44
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

unthrottled, excellent suggestion, a fine looking car, too. I'd forgotten about these. Better looking than a ZX on the outside, not so keen on the dashboard design. Anyway, it's added to the list, for due consideration.

btw, cheers for the link, the write ups for the car are very informative. I've never seen this site before. I don't always agree with your posts but you've come up trumps this time. :)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:02
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - jamie745

40mpg may be ambitious in a car at this price given they'll be a bit older, and fun + economy in equal measure is difficult to find.

What about the finest small car ever made? The Mk4 Ford Fiesta? Get a good zetec one in Ghia trim preferably, fun, good handling, well made, economical and now going quite cheap. I dont know where you live so i used Wimbledons postcode for AT LOL!

Here is an example. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201128401936944/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/1000/model/fiesta/make/ford/keywords/ghia/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/sw195ae?logcode=p

The 1.4 is also quite peppy and theres a few around for this sort of price. Ive seen at least 8 on autotrader in various locations worth a look.

The 306 is a nice car on the outside but its dashboard layout is very dated and haphazard and theres some nasty high milers about now on them, specifically on the diesels.

Ford Mondeo Ghia X may not meet the economy request but if you get the 2.5 V6 it is good fun to drive, and going quite cheap now, lots of car for not much money.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201122389455592/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/1000/model/mondeo/make/ford/postcode/sw195ae/page/3/keywords/ghia%20x/radius/1500?logcode=p

Renault Clio RSi 1.6, i drove one of these a while ago and it was quicker than its figures would suggest. Not many about though for that sort of money.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201107379914587/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/1000/model/clio/make/renault/keywords/sport%201.6/postcode/sw195ae/page/1/radius/1500

What about a Red Sports Car?!? Peugeot 406 Coupe, i bought and sold a 3litre model which went like hell, the 2.0 doesnt have enough grunt considering the cars weight but definatley falls into the fun category and isnt a million miles off your economy requirement. But again, not a tremendous amount of them around.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201126395697149/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/1000/make/peugeot/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/sw195ae/keywords/se?logcode=p

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:09
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

Yeah, jamie, mundano too thirsty, ditto 406, but the latter is indeed a fine car. Clio has a saggy bottom, sorry not really like them. Fiesta has reminded me of one of Henry's finest, a Puma! btw some good cars here will have dated dashs, however, the 306 has fuency and one of the most beautiful exterior's, which reminds me of the convertible, superb looking, indeed!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:11
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

A Puma!!!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:16
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - jamie745

But a Puma is essentially a go faster Fiesta and even now still commands a premium for being such.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:20
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

:-P

Yeah but they're fun and they do go faster than a Fiesta...

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:21
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - jamie745

But the flip side is its a baby Ford Cougar, put it beside the Cougar and it looks like its little friend.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:23
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

Ok well you can get the 2.5L V6 Cougar for under a grand. Just got really high mileage.

Everybody needs a little friend, J.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 14 Jul 2011 23:46
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Avant

Out of interest I looked on Autotrader and there are still a few 205s around. A good GTI or CTI will be more than £1,000 but there's a nice 5-door GRD just like the one SWMBO had in 1988 which was a hoot to drive. She also had a 1.8 turbodiesel Sceptre in 1994 which was even better. The 206 was a big disappointment but I agree with you about the 306.

Elder daughter had two Ford Kas some time ago - they too are a hoot to drive, but you need to be careful in your price range as they weren't galvanised and tend to rust.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 02:35
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

I considered the 205 but dismissed it on the grounds that the chances of getting a good one for £1000 are quite small. Same goes with the Renault 5.

A big luxury car could of course easily be obtained for a grand, but does a 2.5 v6 Mondeo fall into 'fun' status? Powerful, yes, but perhaps not fun.

The key to the 'fun' factor is keeping the weight down without getting to the point of becoming spartan. The 106 probably crosses the boundary into spartan. A nippy car feels a lot quicker than the numbers suggest.

The concept itself is a superb one. An old, second car takes a lot of the headaches out of car ownership and can put the fun back into driving.

Edited by unthrottled on 15/07/2011 at 02:36

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 02:40
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - jamie745

A big luxury car could of course easily be obtained for a grand, but does a 2.5 v6 Mondeo fall into 'fun' status? Powerful, yes, but perhaps not fun.

You have clearly not blasted a Mondeo V6 with a manual gearbox (your favourite i know) round a town without speed camera's at a quiet time of the day doing many miles per hour.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 02:45
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

It's a capable car, Jamie, but perhaps a bit too capable. A big luxury car can make 90mph feel like 45-and that's not fun! In tight corners and urban work, the Mondeo cannot disguise its bulk. That's not a criticism of the car, it's a by product of the genre.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 02:51
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - jamie745

A big luxury car can make 90mph feel like 45-and that's not fun!

Says you LOL! No i know what you mean, i was cruising along the motorway in the S-Type at the weekend and doing....motorway speeds shall we say and your speed can creep up without you realising it because it keeps you so seperate from everything, when i realised i was doing...lets say a three figure speed...i slowed down. Many owners reviews i read did warn of that, advising to use the cruise control or else you'll find yourself doing 130 and not realising it.

The Mondeo im actually referring to was a car i got in on trade, 97 plate if i remember rightly, V6 model and it went like hell, but the ex-traffic cop i had in the car at the time was adament he could do better!

In fairness to the bulk of it, the new Mondeo is a far bigger car and in my view is too big. I think the size of the new one has put some people off.

Edited by jamie745 on 15/07/2011 at 02:52

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 08:55
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

Avant, 205 sounds a good idea. A mate had 1.1 Junior, bought from it's first owner at a low mileage. It's now sitting on a farm doing nothing. I'll have to investigate that one. 206 doesn't excite, drove one when my car was being serviced at an indi some years back.

Mondeo V6 doesn't fit fun and c.40 mpg. Really looking for someting smaller. Maybe an MGF with head gasket sorted. I saw one advertised last night under a grand, brg too.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 09:13
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - TeeCee

Maybe an MGF with head gasket sorted. I saw one advertised last night under a grand, brg too.

I think you'll find that's an MGF with the head gasket temporarily sorted.

I'm a big fan of the things but I am under no illusions that there's a permanent cure, as the root cause of the problem is a lack of coolant capacity in the head itself. Received wisdom says that you can get 'em to go well over 5 years between failures with a multi-layer steel gasket, but one under a thousand quid is very unlikely to have had such fitted IMHO, as a proper job with a head skim and gasket shim would have cost as much as the car's worth.

If you are prepared to take the plunge, they are as cheap as chips, just be well aware that there is a very good reason why......

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 15 Jul 2011 10:06
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - madf

Search on Autotrader for cars over 10 years old and under 60k miles (or fewer). Some unloved gems with mini miles for peanuts.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 12:37
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Trilogy

Focus - cheap, fun and plentiful.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 12:50
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

The press say they're fun-the parents had one for a couple of years. It was very unremarkable.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 13:10
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - mss1tw

I have owned a mk4 FIesta and a 306 and they are both very good suggestions. Nothing further to add to previous comments, lots of useful info here.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 13:27
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

Hyundai Coupe!

Initially, I thought they wouldn't realistically meet your budget-but the pre 2000 ones are now very cheap.

Depends whatyou want in a 'runaround'. For me-a hatch/small estate is essential, as part of the joy of a runaround is being able to throw a wet dog, muddy bike or garden rubbish in the back without worrying about the upholstery.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 13:46
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

Yes, Hyundai Coupe! Good suggestion! They didn't have many problems except the 2002 ish plates have dodgy exhausts if I recall. Don't think they'd be as low as £1000 yet though.

Focus - I have a soft spot for them, my first car :-) Handled nicely and plenty of room for passengers/shopping/luggage.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 13:52
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

unthrottled, not sure my dog would approve of being thrown in the car even if she was wet.

A mate rated her Focus very highly - another good suggestion.

Never thought of a Hyundai, I'll do a bit of research.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 14:42
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

475-I meant figuratively! My dog prefers the passnger footwell because it provides support when I'm keen to get back home after a dog walk. But if she's been swimming or has rolled in mud/fox ****, it's straight in the boot.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 14:39
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

plenty of room for passengers/shopping/luggage*.

*shoes.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 16 Jul 2011 15:19
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

plenty of room for passengers/shopping/luggage*.

*shoes.

...........<blusters>..................ohhh, I got nothing. It is shoes <hangs head in shame at comparisons with Imelda Marcos>

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 17 Jul 2011 19:50
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

unthrottled, good to see your dog supporting you when you drive home. I trust it provides plenty of encouragement!

Just seen a 2CV advertised under £1000. And, Fiat Cinquecento Sporting, tht's fun with sharp non pas steering and small enough to get through lots of gaps. Both these cars are ideal for animal lovers.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 17 Jul 2011 19:55
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

Transferred epithet 475. :P

As you well knew!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 17 Jul 2011 23:14
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

Indeed, young unthrottled, you do make me laugh. :)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 17 Jul 2011 23:25
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

Indeed, young unthrottled, you do make me laugh. :)

Young. Hmm...

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 08:52
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

Indeed Bobbin, just like you. :)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 10:39
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

What age would you put me at then Bobbin?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 11:32
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Bobbin Threadbare

Oh about 32...ancient :-P

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 16:16
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - jamie745

57

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 16:33
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - unthrottled

14

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 16:34
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - madf

A grunmpy 47:-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 18:59
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - renorti

a tidy alfa 156, 2 liter{later jts} better,lovely to drive plenty for under a £1000. be lucky to get a jts though at a £1000,but worth seeking out as they easily do 30mpg and push out 160 bhp.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 19:40
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - 475TBJ

renorti, I've always fancied a 156 ever since they came out. I know a guy who has had alfas for years and he suggested not buying one. Cambelt change every 36k. The older his got, the more it went wrong. If I went for one, I'd wait until the sportwagon is 15 years old.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 18 Jul 2011 20:00
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - SteveLee

Daihatsu Charade - light as a crisp packet so even the one litre engine feels peppy plus legendary reliability and 50+ mpg.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 19 Jul 2011 10:07
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - balleballe

ignore - double post

Edited by balleballe on 19/07/2011 at 10:10

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 19 Jul 2011 10:09
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - balleballe

I've driven my friends mazda 323 sport which I thought was quite fun indeed - perhaps worth a look?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 19 Jul 2011 10:23
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Paul G1pdc

Look on the "pistonheads" website each week they have a "shed of the week SOTW"

There rules are to be a shed, the car must have a mot, and tax, ie road legal but be under £1000. and have as much fun as possible...often old bmws and mercs etc etc.

this weeks "shed" is a very tidy puma (they did say finding a rust free one was hard)

I used to own a 2001 puma 1.7 year ago, and was a member of pumapeople club. a cracking little car. The 1.4 and 1.6 engines borrowed from the fiesta did the job...but the pick of the crop was the 1.7...(The ford racing puma of which just under 500 where built with 155hp where great, had a go round a race track in one...any colour you like as long as its imperial blue, larger wheels and wider track on that model,,,no spare wheel as the larger wheels would not fit in the recess in the boot!!!....)

paul

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 19 Jul 2011 20:00
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - richardcroft

Agree with Paul on the Puma. A lady friend has one. Every time I look at it another part is starting to rust. Despite the tin worm she loves it,

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 May 2018 20:00
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - DidierAubin87

There are many used cars with your budget and you can choose one with good mileage and not too old (under 5 - 10 years).

You can buy in local but I don't think there are various cars with that cheap price, there is an option is importing cheap used cars for sale under 1000 from Japan (link deleted). As you know, Japanese cars are kindly reliable, high quality and very cheap.

Well, that's my idea, you can take a look and consider it.

Edited by Avant on 16/05/2018 at 19:07

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 May 2018 20:05
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - KB.

Someone remind me if we're encouraged to report t*** like this from pesky freeloaders hoping for bite from those daft enought to succumb ... or should we ignore it?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 15 May 2018 20:08
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - KB.

Someone remind me if we're encouraged to report tripe like this from pesky freeloaders hoping for bite from those daft enought to succumb ... or should we ignore it?

Edited - I didn't think t o s h was a rude word, but clearly it's considered so by the automatic arbiter of good taste :-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 May 2018 19:08
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Avant

Thanks KB - I look at the forum almost every day so although you don't need to report it, the link has to go.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 May 2018 21:43
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - oldroverboy.

I have a freshly mot'd PT cruiser.. 15 years of service history and invoices.. see thread..

Good for a laugh. will be using it for dog(s) shopping) and saving miles on venga...

net cost £240 inc MOT...

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 May 2018 22:02
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - SLO76
“I have a freshly mot'd PT cruiser.. 15 years of service history and invoices.. see thread..

Good for a laugh. will be using it for dog(s) shopping) and saving miles on venga...

net cost £240 inc MOT...”

Cheap motoring feels good doesn’t it? I’ve had plenty of sub £500 bargains over the years, there’s a buzz to be had from beating the system. Best of the lot was the V6 Ford Cougar I bought last year for £300. Short Mot but it passed with no advisories. The smug feeling cruising along in a V6 Coupe with leather and all the toys for less than the cost of a service on a modern equivalent was immense.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 May 2018 22:19
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Alby Back
A pal of mine lost his fairly senior job a few years ago. His rather swish company car went with it. While he was job hunting, he bought a stopgap car in the form of a then 20 year old Volvo 940 estate. Eventually, he found another job and since then, has risen through the ranks to be MD of that company.

He could of course allocate himself a company car, but has chosen not to, instead taking that benefit in some other way and continuing to run the now 25 year old Volvo which he keeps well maintained but doesn't particularly mollycoddle.

He has no short term plans to do anything else.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 17 May 2018 00:41
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Avant

Sounds like a great guy. No doubt he earned the respect of his staff by not taking that visible perk.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 17 May 2018 00:50
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - veloceman
Saxo VTR
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 17 May 2018 13:34
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Frathouse

Another vote for the Focus MK1 Facelift 1.6 best for your needs, it will do everything you want and not be far off 40mpg.

Zetec trim for the stiffer suspension over LX and Ghia.

Fun driving , practical, reliable and cheap to run...Focus should tick all your boxes !.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 13 Jun 2018 01:10
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - cord01

mgtf 1.6

bmwZ3

ford Ka street car

fiat punto mk2/3 sporting

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 13 Jun 2018 07:12
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - SLO76

mgtf 1.6

bmwZ3

ford Ka street car

fiat punto mk2/3 sporting

You forgot to add... Are four cars you should definitely not consider.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 13 Jun 2018 12:04
Any - Cheap, fun car under £1,000 - Dabooka

I know the OP is ages ago, but just for the hell of it for me I'd be looking at the Suzuki Ignis 1.5 for that kind of money.

Buttons to buy, buttons to run, easy to mantain and fix, and great fun!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link