In need of some advice choosing a car

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Well i know there are quite a few people on here that know what they talking about when it comes to cars, so i am
asking for some advice.

I have had a lot of bad luck since selling my BMW 316, having bought french and korean cars that just seem to have problems and am fed up.
My parents are going to help me buy a decent car, well as decent as you can get for about £400- £600.

Now insurance and fuel economy are important, so is looks, size does not really matter and something that can hold a good audio install would be a plus :-).

I was thinking of going German again with another BMW, say maybe a 318 this time, the insurance is quite a bit but i really want a good reliable car again,
also was maybe wondering about a ford mondeo, as you can get quite a modern one in my budget. Or even a volvo s40.

Please give me some advice, i really just want some trouble free motoring on a budget like i did with my 316, that car gave me no trouble always started and even
managed to drive away after a 40 mile an hour crash into a ditch.
 
Wouldn't buy a BMW for £400-£600 as you'd be paying that out every few months on running costs.

Get the best condition car you can for the money - don't matter what it is.

Still doubt it's a good budget for any car, any small hatchbacks will be high mileage, ont the last legs and probably gone through a few owners who've barry-ed them up.

Might get an old Mondeo or whatever isn't very popular.

Not sure I'd want a £400 tbh, gonna cost more than that in repairs quite easily and then it's false economy as could have bought a much better car for £1k.
 
Isn't the problem here the budget rather then specific makes of car?

My thoughts too...buying a BMW for less than the price of a set of tyres on a lot of BMW models seems like a rather odd choice to me?

At this budget you WILL get problems with anything you buy, you need to scrap the requirement for any sort of "looks" and simply buy whatever you can find with a long test on it and in the best possible condition.

I'd be looking at old Mondeo's and Vectra's probably. Old sales rep type cars.
 
BMW's are usually very solid, back in the day they were the first European manufacturer to match Japanese levels of reliability (something the now deceased British car industry never managed) but for £400-£600 id avoid a BMW, at that price they will proberbly come with bills higher than their value.

My advice would be to look on auto trader for a late 80's early 90's Honda like a Civic or Accord (MKiii Prelude would be good too) that has had one owner from new and always kept in the garage etc. These do turn up surprisingly a lot, sometimes with the usual old person knocks in the bodywork but usually better.

The reason im advising a 15+ year old car here is because if looked after properly then those Honda's do not break they just work until the rust devours them entirely, and even when they do break its a cheap fix and usually DIY-able, if not garage bills wont be very high as everything is so damn easy (i.e I could change the radiator in my 94 Prelude in under and hour, it took BMW longer than that to get to the radiator on my mums Rover 75 when that went)
 
Okay thanks for the replies so far, i definitly cant afford more as i dont earn much as a student. Was thinking of a mondeo as you can get a fairly modern one for my price range, seen a 2001 for £600 .

Anyone owned a saab 9-3 ? they seem to be cheap as chips, low insurance and decent looks.

And buying a bmw for cheap does work out, I had mine for over a year, never had a problem, no visits to the garage and only needed a tyre and windscreen wipers for MOT, was the best car i ever owned. So you can get a prestigious car for good money, only thing is my insurance is too high for a BMW now, i dont understand how insurance goes up the older you get, more years no claim and more years on my license, seems odd.
 
Mot and Tax for a year job.

I would be happy with pretty much anything in this price range, as long as its in good nick.
 
Buying any car for cheap can work out. The odd's are though that a BMW, as has been mentioned, will potentially throw up a bigger bill than most cars in that price range.
 
If you're not fussy about keeping a car perfect, then an E36 316 probably can be had for £600 without too many issues down the road, the 318s are a little more desirable however and for that money you really probably are buying a clapper.

Bargain BMWs do work, an old colleague of mine bought an E34 525i with 170K for £300, and drove it for 3 years paying nothing more for tyres, cost of mots and a PAS pump (£30 from a breaker).

When you're spending £600 on a car, you're not going to be keeping everything mechanically perfect as most of Motors would, so if some bushes need refreshing, the electric roof goes **** up, or any other niggles/non-urgent faults, they are just going to be ignored.

On the subject of Mondeos, I'd stay away from a MK3 at that price, but you should be able to pick up a fair MK2 is its priced correctly.
 
I've probably spent £300-£400 on the car since I bought it, but that's parts only cost. Mine never has to visit a garage and only cost £400...but it does have to visit the driveway and my collection of tools. :p

I'd avoid an e36 unless you know what you're doing with cars and are prepared to get your hands dirty. At this end of the market they are all dogs.
 
It was only a flesh wound, he was back on the combat the same day, i like that, bit of dedication!
 
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