Small & reliable £5k car suggestions

[Brackish]

I have a Citroen C1 1.2 2015. It's been mostly reliable apart from the AC blows the resister on the fan and it drinks nearly a litre of oil every 4 weeks. Citroen wanted £185 each time for the resistor but I cheaped out and went for a £13 copy and fitted it myself.
Then the timing belt was due and Citroen wanted £1200 for that plus another £400 for the major service and they said this is to be done every 50k miles.
Going chain driven may be a better shout, wet belts are an expensive option.

 

[Nasher]

I have a Citroen C1 1.2 2015. It's been mostly reliable apart from the AC blows the resister on the fan and it drinks nearly a litre of oil every 4 weeks. Citroen wanted £185 each time for the resistor but I cheaped out and went for a £13 copy and fitted it myself.
Then the timing belt was due and Citroen wanted £1200 for that plus another £400 for the major service and they said this is to be done every 50k miles.
Going chain driven may be a better shout, wet belts are an expensive option.

The previous gen C1 was much better. When they still used a Toyota engine, which has a chain and generally less Stellantis parts

 

[Brackish]

The previous gen C1 was much better. When they still used a Toyota engine, which has a chain and generally less Stellantis parts

Ah I thought the previous gen was wet belt too. Now I know and definitely would consider one over the mark 2.

 

[Nasher]

Ah I thought the previous gen was wet belt too. Now I know and definitely would consider one over the mark 2.

Yep, it's the old 1.0 petrol which has a chain. It has proven to be pretty durable. The later Aygo is a continuation of it and still has a chain. The C1/108 branched off and became more...French.

The diesels are a belt though. Probably a Citroen/peugeot engine in those.