Secondhand Supermini £2.5K

[Injector]

T.white wrote:

Injector wrote:

I've just bought a one owner Peugeot 106, N-reg, 32k with FSH, all old MOTsand it's a diesel! Should go on for ever. Just had a new radiator, full exhaust system and tyres. It looks and drives like a 2 year old car and all for the princely sum of £750. Belter. I've driven it for 600 miles so far with no problems whatsoever. Asit's a 1.5 litre the road tax is £110 for 12 months and it costs peanuts toinsure. The diesel engine returns 50-60 mpg. Bargains are out there so for £2.5k you should be able to bag a winner!

They ain't too bad in some ways, but there are others I'd place well in front of a 106 diesel, besides this car is for Mrs Mossie, so I can't really see her falling in love with a car with no power steering like the 106.

Too right, I'd place a stack of cars in front of the 106 but at that price there's precious little to touch it. It was just an example mate, I didn't expect you to rush out and buy one!A car that small and that light doesn't need power steering btw.

 

[Guest]

all recent citroens and peugouts are galvanized aswell so no rust problems to contend with. as i said early i love citroens they are great cars and great value. i will buy another one when the time comes no problem.

if it was me buying a 2k car i'de have a saxo 100% had loads of them without a single problem at all. and they drive nice awell.

 

[kennyk]

Suzuki Ignis?

 

[Craig]

I'll come out in the Yaris camp

However, wouldn't it have to be quite a high mileage one for 2.5k? I spose they're damn reliable (parents have got one) but maybe a Micra would give a lot better value compromise between cost and km on the clock

 

[T.white]

So where you at currently with the car search Mossie???

What's top of the leaderboard at the mo andhave you driven any yet, has Mrs Mossie got any views on the cars mentioned so far, are there any she prefers?

If she's an experienced driver, has good parking skills, does 'big shopping' also drives on quicker roads (motorways / duel carriageways) and the higher costs of insurance / tax is not a massive issue, then other slightly larger cars might be worth considering.

As has already been mentioned, the 323 is a cracking little car if you like it, though I didn't mention it as it's not strictly a Supermini. If you are considering cars of that size, then I'd definitely be looking at Jap crap, they are soooo hard to beat.

As for the Micra I spoke of earlier (and no, I'm not a Nissan dealer), they really are a great car. Earlier ones without the power steering are a little heavy on the hands and do have quite a lot of body roll in the handling, but the later ones (say 98 - 99 plate on) have power steering, central locking, power windows and much better handling.

I've owned a couple of them, and numerous other cars already spoken of, bearing in mind I'm 6ft tall, the Micra has loads of headroom and an airy, bright cabin with great all round visibility. I'd not be overly concerned either about issues surrounding reliability, I've still got one on 92,000 miles and there's fuck all that ever goes wrong with it, it's a joke really. I also drive a BMW 320d, great car, and obviously in a different league to the Micra, but I STILL enjoy driving the Micra occasionally.

Yeh it's quirky, yeh it's sort of dated. But if it's to be used solely as a town car for short journeys and you want something with decent miles for not a lot of cash, that will not cost you a lot of cash to buy and own, I wouldn't write them off your list.

I've not met ANYONE who's owned one, who's saidthey didn't love it.

Let us know the progress

 

[mosfet]

No, not driven any yet TW. I’ve pretty much got carte blanche to go out and buy a small car that’s cheap to run. The Yaris is out because there’s too few about within budget and low mileage (circa 50K). Same too for Honda Civic. The widest choice is the Ford Fiesta, with the Nissan Micra or Almera not too far behind. I think it will come down to what’s available in a few weeks time when I intend to buy.

I’m looking at all suggestions, ideally supermini size, and using Honest John and the Reliabilty Index as guides.

Of course I might come back from the dealers with a three series BMW on a ’95 plate. Not sure the excuse they were all out of small ones love would wash tho’ :dude:

 

[mosfet]

After a fair bit of hunting around AND working to a smaller budget of £1500 I’ve bought a supermini runabout for Mrs m.

So what did I get for £1500?

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Nissan Micra 1.0 Shape

3 Door Hatchback

1997 R

45000 Miles

3 Months Warranty

MOT Feb 2007

Paid £1400

Ticks all the boxes. Insurance group 2, low road tax, 48 MPG, low recorded mileage (backed up with a full set of MOT documents), piss easy to drive and widely recommended as mechanically reliable.

Downsides? No PAS. But the steering is reasonably light without.

 

[T.white]

Nice buy that Mossie,

It looks mega-clean

. They are soooo reliable. I've got one on 93,000 miles and it's failed only one M.O.T since I've had it, which cost me £170 to sort.

If you'd have got one on a slightly later plate it might have had PAS, but as you say, they ain't too tough to steer when you're moving, though parking can be a little heavy.

Good luck with it.

 

[Defiant]

Spot on, can't fault it. My Mrs has the face lifted model on a W plate, nice little car to drive, grips the road well enough, good brakes and gearbox, PAS is nice and light, engine devoid of torque but no worse than you’d expect from a 1 litre, even my 6' 1" frame can get comfortable in it.

 

[Guest]

Defiant wrote:

Spot on, can't fault it. My Mrs has the face lifted model on a W plate, nice little car to drive, grips the road well enough, good brakes and gearbox, PAS is nice and light, engine devoid of torque but no worse than you’d expect from a 1 litre, even my 6' 1" frame can get comfortable in it.

they have chain driven cams aswell so no cambelt to snap and destyroy the engine.

i had one in 1995 it was ok but not as good as the saxo imo. but should be very reliable and cheap to run so for me that would be the best reason to buy one. 1500 quid mate, you can,t go wrong you;d loose that the minute you drive a new one off the dealers forecourt.