Best of this bunch? 56k=hell

The 200 was never released to critcal acclaim, if you believe its a good car you are smoking crack :p

None of them, totally overpriced unless you are getting a super duper warranty.

As an aside, the almera maybe dull to look at, but its by far the best drivers car, and the 1.5 engine isnt bad for what it is.

But you can pick up 52 plate alemeras for 3.5k ffs, most nissans depreciate like lead baloons.

My choice wouyld be:

1. Focus (you will get a good 2001 plate model for 3200)
2. 306 still a cracking motor today imo, again 3k will get you a decent HDI.
3. Almera
4. Megane
5. Rover (if your happy with a 15 year old design dressed up)
 
I have the same model as that green clio (mine is green too), excellent cars.

Rover 25's are very nice too although the interiors are abit dated. I would also check how many miles its done, cause they are renouned for having head gaskets go around 40-60K miles! Very nice cards though, sweet to drive!
 
lupo or almera for me.

The punto WILL break down some poeple get good ones and will attest to that, but most I have know have gon badly wrong very prematurely and I have known a few friends have them.
Either clio wouldent be a horrific choice but lupo or almera for me, two very different cars so the choice is yours!

The rovers are ok at best. A mechanic friend of mine has one, has had it for a while, he has broke a gearbox, but other than that its done ok for him. Gash interior though!

For that budget though, Focus 1.6 wins every time!
 
Almera all the way but be slightly careful if it is a 1.5 model. 1.5 can suffer premature cam chain wear if servicing is neglected. Can cost upto £1000 to repair.

Second choice would be the Fiat. Why? purely because I do not like French cars to drive or their reliability (yes I know Puntos are very erratic).

As for the VW it just looks like a giant frozen bogey in that colour. Truly disgusting.

The Rover is for 70 year olds and wearing a caps.
 
out of that lot - would be the almera.

but it would need to be low mileage for that price. we have recently bought some for work and they were all around £2500- £3000 and were either slightly newer / 1.8 sport model / or low mileage (25k). :)
 
Thanks for the imput folks.

They arn't all basic spec, most have all the extras, lecy windows, power steering, air con etc.

I've not seen a nice focus in the area.

We don't have time to shop around. (7th Jan)
 
Tumbletop said:
Lupo. Get some nice alloys, put the GTi bodykit on and they become awesome little superminis, even in vomit green :D


It's got nice alloys :)

DSC00040.jpg


And yes that is a focus in the corner, i'll have a look :p


DSC00039.jpg
 
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I'll say the punto, they are not offensive to the eye like the others. Often see hot girls driving these too, and I think they have that girly steering button in some kind of attempt to help women park :p
 
Of whats there? The Almera but for that sort of money I wouldn't have any of them. I know you say you need one quick, but trust me if you have the cash ready you could get any number of cars from a few different places in that time.

I can only go from personal experience and say do not get the 206. Build quality is poor and it had loads of corrosion (not the bodywork), so much so that in less than 4 years the dealer said it needed at least £1Ks worth of work doing to it (I had it dealer serviced from new). The list of work needed for the car was endless ( I could easily see the corrosion myself) so I got the bare minimum done and got shot of it as fast as I could.
 
For 2k I'd get the Rover. Wouldn't want to pay more than that. Plus from a garage you're going to get a warranty.

Its strange. I feel completely differently about the Rover 25 and the Focus to most of you. For me the 25 is a nippy, fun, enjoyable car to drive. I has great gripping seats, with a sporty feel to it. Even though the 1.4 is small for my liking, its happy to rev and good fun around town. The gearbox is also very nice, with a short stubby gearstick. Great steering wheel too.

The focus on the other hand feels like a grown up car. It is just so dull and boring to drive. The 1.6 engine is slow to rev, the visibility out the back is dire. You sit up high in the car, and it just feels like a MPV to me. Everything is just so targeted at 'quality' instead of fun.

Perhaps the difference is because I have and often drive both a Rover 25 and a Focus instead of making their opinions based on what others say.
 
The_blue said:
They arn't all basic spec, most have all the extras, lecy windows, power steering, air con etc.

In 1996, 'all the extras' may have constituted air con and electric windows.

This is 2006. Air Conditioning and Electric Windows are bog standard must-haves, not extras in this day and age. A 206 LX is not 'loaded with kit' just becuase it has AC and electric windows :p
 
merlin said:
The Almera 1st choice.

Then the Lupo.

Then a bus pass.

I agree. You know the almera will probably be one of the more reliable cars.

Other than these as has already said -look at a focus. Get a nice zetec 1.6 for 3500 similar age to some of those shown above.
 
[TW]Fox said:
This is 2006. Air Conditioning and Electric Windows are bog standard must-haves, not extras in this day and age. A 206 LX is not 'loaded with kit' just becuase it has AC and electric windows :p

I dont want to stir things up but it is 2006 but he aint buying a new 2006 car - these go back to 1999 and they are city cars not BMWs which do have AC and EW as standard. And you can still buy a brand new KA with windy windows.

So with the comment of 'loaded with kit' which was 'with all the extras...' and with this level of and age of cars Air con and (not so much) EW can be considered extras.
 
tonyyeb said:
But make sure you get breakdown cover with it. My mate has an 04 and the clutch went after 14k miles :eek:

Luckily its still under warranty.
That probably says more about your mates driving than the punto. :p
 
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