decent ish car for 500?

zetec452

zetec452

zetec452

Soldato
Joined
15 Sep 2003
Posts
9,454
Hey,

Finally sold my car tonight but could do with a run around for a couple of months.

Been looking at some older fiestas like this one

Could I get any better for the dosh? Maybe an older escort? Would like something under a 1.4 to keep the tax low. :).

Cheers,

Jon
 
MrWhippy said:
damn, and i was gonna suggest a volvo 740 battlecruiser :)
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Bang goes my suggestion too :D

But a volvo 340/440 would be ok, or 240/740 in the saloon would also suffice for under £500, and VERY reliable they are too.

/Edit from Autotrader

VOLVO 340, 'E' REG,SUPERB,LONG MOT,DRIVES AS NEW, RECENT SERVICE,NEW TYRES...SPECIAL, ALLOYS...WHAT AN EXAMPLE!
4 Doors, Manual 5 speed, Saloon, Petrol, Metallic Blue, 2 Owners. Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Alloy wheels, Anti theft system, Central locking, Child locks, Colour coding - Interior, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Full service history, Head restraints, Heated screen, Immobiliser, Metallic paintwork, Power assisted steering, Radio/Cassette, Rear headrests, Tinted glass. SUPERB...LONG MOT...NEW TYRES...AMAZING DRIVE... £347.

media
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Mate, I'd go for a bubble shape rover 200 rather than an old fiesta. For £500 you could pick up an R-reg with pretty low mileage(60,000 or around there) Just try to find one which has already had the head gasket done as they are prone for failing. You get central locking, alarm,immobiliser,possibly air con, power steering,airbag, I've had a few now, I bought one cheap with the head gasket gone,(£200) It was an S-reg with 40,000 on the clock. I replaced the gasket, had the head skimmed,new valves, new water pump, 2 oil changes and a service later I had a belting little car which I got good mpg out of(it was an 8 valve 214si) The parts for these are really cheap and they are easy to work on. Bang per buck I don't think they can be beat. I'd still have mine if I didn't get such a good deal on a bmw :)
 
This going to sound a bit repetative. But Rover 214 8v. The 8v model is marginally slower, but not prone to HGF like the 16v model.

Bought one for the other half for £300. Its done 10,000 miles now with no work needed. It looks ok, it costs bugger all to insure, and bugger all to tax.

Excellent car for the money :)
 
I have looked at rover 214's. Will have another scout around tomorrow on auto trader. I'd rather a rover as its probably a bit bigger and the engine isn't going to die trying to get to 30.

That volvo 340 looks wicked. :D
 
Jez said:
This going to sound a bit repetative. But Rover 214 8v. The 8v model is marginally slower, but not prone to HGF like the 16v model.

Bought one for the other half for £300. Its done 10,000 miles now with no work needed. It looks ok, it costs bugger all to insure, and bugger all to tax.

Excellent car for the money :)
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I wouldn't say the 16v are prone to HGF as I can't recal mine ever having one in the 81,000 miles and 9 years we've had it.

They are very good cars for the money though.
 
JonRohan said:
That volvo 340 looks wicked. :D
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You knows it, buy a 340, we had two from new both did over 120k with 0 problems, no dealer fixes and both still on the original clutch and one even on the original front disks, but second set of pads iirc.
 
Have a look at the older shape Rover 200's.

This shape

Slighty different engine design than those in the bubbles, so less prone to HGF (neither of mine had it) and IMO, better looking.

Build quality is also consierably better and there are more trim options to chose from.

£500 should get you a nice example (the one in the pictures was £530 almost 2 years ago and was MINT) with half leather interior, electric windows and alloy wheels. Look out for the SEi variants.
 
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Originally Posted by Jez
This going to sound a bit repetative. But Rover 214 8v. The 8v model is marginally slower, but not prone to HGF like the 16v model.

Bought one for the other half for £300. Its done 10,000 miles now with no work needed. It looks ok, it costs bugger all to insure, and bugger all to tax.

Excellent car for the money

Originally posted by Creature

I wouldn't say the 16v are prone to HGF as I can't recal mine ever having one in the 81,000 miles and 9 years we've had it.

They are very good cars for the money though.

I don't think it mattered if it was the 8 valve or the 16 valve. I think it affected the K-series engines as a whole.
 
The 8v engines very rarely suffer HGF. The early 16v engines are also less likely to suffer it than the later 16v engines in the bubbles.
 
Get an astra, got mine n reg 1.4 spi for £500. Fair enough its had two engines, 2(maybe 3) front arms replaced, brakes replaced loads. Unless you buy f1 tyres they don't handle worth a crap. But maybe thats just my driving :D

Really though cheap parts, engine cost me about £120 including all parts to fit with. Cheapish petrol, nice to drive (for a cheap car) and they look better than any ford :p Quite nippy for a 1.4 well after changing engine, had a few folk shocked after ive told them its a 1.4 8v :D
 
Managed to pick of a MK3 Golf Driver (1.8) for £590, on an M with 100K on the clock.

Alloy Wheels, CD Player, Electric windows, Electric Sunroof mint bodywork. Only thing that doesn't work is the sunroof, but that is supposed to be an easy fix.
 
I've managed to purchase an M reg Rover 416Si for £500 with 9 months MOT, 80k miles and is clean as a whistle.

Hopefully should do me for a year or so until I can afford something better. :D.

Cheers for your help chaps.
 
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