moped

Quote from Scrabby :

moped

For a 70 mile a day commute? Your crazy dude.

Been there, done that, no thanks.

BMW E30 or Mercedes 190E.

For that budget I'm sure you could get a really nice Beamer. Wouldn't go for that myself tho.

Howerer, what you want is a Toytota Avensis 2.0 TD.

Lada 2101
BMW 325
Toyota Corolla DX

Veyron with sick rims and a Type-R sticker.

Not really got a car choice but I'd go with myabe £1500 to £2000 on the car, use the last £1000 (or more) for insurance. I swallowed hard and paid mine off in one go and it saved me about £150.

Also think about parts, depending on the make the price could go up quite high.

p.s. don't get a BMW, you'd look a twat in it.

My insurance is paid off in full already until next August

Currently I'm driving round in a 1.4 Volvo 340, set me back all of £300 with 12 months MOT on it. Insurance would have been £640 with Tesco, I'm paying £470 on a competition car policy for it though (love the fact I get a £200 discount for modifying it and going rallying!). Great fun lively RWD car, with the 360/2.0 engine option it would be quick and cruise happily at 85mph (I got a 1.4 so it is eligible for endruance rallying). It's not going to deliver more than 30mpg but given how much you'd save on purchase cost and insurance it is somewhat offset. The other great thing about the 340 is it is so well built and tough compared to modern cars, particuarly useful given the abuse it gets!

Quote from Jakg :

Cougar - 33 MPG, but oddly alluring. Insurance also seems cheap (comparatively) - £100 more than the MG?!

Very quick car for the money and well built good interior quality and all, though you'll find a lot of them (and all the cheap ones) will have been thrashed and had very little maintenance done on them.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1382068.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1390555.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1420661.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1412739.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1422172.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1397022.htm

I danno :\

Quote from pearcy_2k7 :

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1382068.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1390555.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1420661.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1412739.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1422172.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1397022.htm

I danno :\

Like the Astra and the bmw e36.

Btw, is hard to find a good bmw e36 325i though. I own one and its almost impossible to find a good/cheap one.

citroen XM.

Corolla. Very reliable, very good fuel economy, and enough power. I've had one for 10 years and to this day it's never let me down or needed any expensive repairs. I still drive it every day.

A Mini.

id go shopping for something like this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1356514.htm
cheap seats 4 (sort of but you said you dont care about the others) and most importantly its actually good to drive

I know I say it all the time but I'm in awe of what you guys are willing to pay for sh!t cars. Jakg I can't recommend a car for you, I recommend you come to America and buy a house with what you pay in insurance every month.

Quote from piggy501 :

A Mini.

I second this. It's a tad smaller than the Merc, but it makes up for it elsewhere.

Quote :

Power: Low down pulling power, yes. Top end speed, not so much, 90 is about as high as you can safely take it before it's making worrying noise levels. Given that you'll never need to slow down for a roundabout it balances out though. 0-60 is about 10 seconds depending on the car for the 1.3. They all seem to be different, but a well set-up model should have no bother hitting 10. They're very cheap and easy to modify if you wanted more power, but the car only weighs around 600kg so it's not essential.

Running costs: ~€1k insurance, so presumably less than £1k. Not all that bad for what you get.

Fuel: Anything between 25 and 35MPG I've found, not fantastic but those include fast motorway driving (you'll suffer here, with only 4 gears). With a light foot shouldn't be hard to get above 40MPG on a properly tuned 1.3.

Fuel Type: 1.3 carb'd FTW. There's also single and multi point injection on later models, but the carbs are far better if you're looking for performance.

Transmission: Choice of manual or auto, the slushboxes aren't too bad though from what I hear, and they can be put into manual select too without any of that sequential/DCG shite you get in a modern car.

Drivetrain: Gay wheel drive all the way, but that's a good thing. Unless you regularaly plan on chewing tyres diffing roundabouts, there's more fun to be had with the power at the front. You can still drift these if you go fast enough, the back tends to step out

Equipment: Umm...No. You (may) get a stereo, and possibly a speaker or two. No power steering, and no servo brakes on anything over ~15 years old. It's more fun without them anyway It's easy to add in anything electrical you fancy though, so it's not really a problem.

Body style: Saloon will hold 4 people, not that uncomfortably either unless they're all over 6' 7". You'll suffer in boot space though, I've filled mine with a spare tyre and a sub so I'm using the back seat as my boot. You might fare better with one of the long wheelbase models.

Age: You'll be looking at pre-2001 for sure, more than likely anything over 15 years old for your budget.

But compared to the S13 above, they're too expensive and too much hassle for what they're worth. An S13 would be cheaper and more fun to drive if you can afford the insurance

Quote from dougie-lampkin :

I second this. It's a tad smaller than the Merc, but it makes up for it elsewhere.


But compared to the S13 above, they're too expensive and too much hassle for what they're worth. An S13 would be cheaper and more fun to drive if you can afford the insurance

They really are fast little things, at least if feels like that because its small. I'm am, of course, talking about the Classic Mini, not the new BMW Big.

Running costs, can't comment. Thats my dads business, but as long as you look after it and stop any problems before they become too big, you'll be fine. Rust is the tricky one, but isn't it easily treatable?

Fuel, not all that bad in the one we have.

Fuel Type, we've got the 1.6 sport model. Its fun. Petrol.

Transmission is a manual 5 speed.

It is, of course FWD, but this car gets away with it. And its good fun.

Equipment, radio slot is one of them that you can just put a stereo from Halfords into. Ours has leather seats! And one of the window winders works without falling off!

Body style: Saloon will hold 4 people, I can fit in the back of a classic Mini behind where my dad sits. I'm 5' 7" and he is 6' 3" and its not too bad. I couldn't fit in the new MINI when I was 5' 2" at most. Like Dougie says, a clubman might be a good idea.

Age: You'll be looking at pre-2001, thats when the good Minis were stopped so yeah, like Dougie says, more than likely anything over 15 years old for your budget.

Umm, Minis are fun, good cars and are definitely more respectable and cool than a Proton.

And then when you gain a bit more money, shove a Hayabusa engine in it. Or knock the dash back a few inches and throw in a Rover V8.

Quote from Jakg :

Seems ok but at the very very very top end of my budget tbh

Anything post 2001 will be as reliable as the next car, for around a grand, you can pick up a decent 2.0TS (avoid anything selespeed though), for a bit more you could get a 2.4JTD (torque monster with 45mpg).

Quote from flymike91 :

I know I say it all the time but I'm in awe of what you guys are willing to pay for sh!t cars. Jakg I can't recommend a car for you, I recommend you come to America and buy a house with what you pay in insurance every month.

Ye lol, everything in america is cheaper right?

Actually, it is.

Quote from Shotglass :

id go shopping for something like this
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1356514.htm
cheap seats 4 (sort of but you said you dont care about the others) and most importantly its actually good to drive

Surely tho I will end up getting one thats had some "mad tight driftin' mods" done to it?

Oddly enough though, the insurance is £1800 - if I get a quote myself on my car is £1,400 so thats only £400pa more...

But I cant find a 200SX which is modded to hell (import / mods WILL rape my insurance) under £3k within 150 miles so thats out.

Oddly an MX5 is £3kpa insurance so thats out.

Golf Mk2.

Quote from Kalev EST :

Golf Mk2.

That would be the obvious choice yes but remember it's Jakg we're talking about... he'd end up installing a bodykit anyway. I'd buy a Golf myself if I had those requirements (but tbh I'd probably go for an Audi if it was a car for myself :P)

Go for a car you can not end up installing a spoiler. A diesel. A spacious family wagon. A good, economical and dead reliable Toytota Avensis. Not a Corolla because it's a crapbox you can't even fit in.