Spec me a car for under £1500

Sirrel Squirrel

Sirrel Squirrel

Sirrel Squirrel

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Joined
5 Aug 2003
Posts
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Location
Essex
Sadly I have to reluctantly put up for sale my ZS as I have a baby on the way, I figure I'll get about £3.5k for it and I'd like to save about £2k from the sale so I'll have £1500 to spend on a new car.

It needs to have 4/5 doors, cheap on parts/servicing, not too bothered about engine size but 35mpg+ would be nice. The woman will be driving the car too so it needs to be easy to drive and have a smooth ride.

So far a 1.8/2.0 petrol or 2.0 diesel Mondeo seems to be the best choice. Anything else I can look for?
 
You could... keep the ZS?

It's hardly an expensive or particularly valuable car. It's not exotic or particularly expensive to run. It also has a large boot, 4 doors, 5 seats and is very practical.

You know it well, you presumably like it and you are not buying into somebody elses problems. IMHO most £1500 cars are complete crap.
 
A £1500 mk3 Mondeo might be a bit ropey, but would buy a nice Mk2, if you wanted the diesel you'd have to get the terrible 1.8TD, so get the 2.0 petrol instead, prefereably a Ghia X
 
[TW]Fox;15373570 said:
You could... keep the ZS?

It's hardly an expensive or particularly valuable car. It's not exotic or particularly expensive to run. It also has a large boot, 4 doors, 5 seats and is very practical.

You know it well, you presumably like it and you are not buying into somebody elses problems. IMHO most £1500 cars are complete crap.
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All very true but its also pretty crap in the event of an accident too, being a pretty old design. I've seen the crash test vids! :eek:
 
bobert50 said:
All very true but its also pretty crap in the event of an accident too, being a pretty old design. I've seen the crash test vids! :eek:
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Can't be any worse than the 156 :eek:


Anyway, I dont think he's going to get anything thats any safer - I assume the OP's reasons for change are financial
 
[TW]Fox;15373570 said:
You could... keep the ZS?

It's hardly an expensive or particularly valuable car. It's not exotic or particularly expensive to run. It also has a large boot, 4 doors, 5 seats and is very practical.

You know it well, you presumably like it and you are not buying into somebody elses problems. IMHO most £1500 cars are complete crap.
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I could do with the cash, it can be quite juicy and cambelt change is coming up next year, which is an expense I could do without. Don't get me wrong I love the car and yes it is very practical although the ride can be incredibly uncomfortable on certain roads but at the end of the day is all comes down to needing the cash :(

edit/ I'm prepared to stetch my budget to £2k at most.
 
Your saving will be swallowed up getting whatever you buy up to scratch IMHO.

Most cars I've seen at this money last week for example have had random 'Triangle' and 'Wan Li' tyres on opposite corners. You want to carry a newborn in that? No, so theres £300 already...
 
Don't fall into the trap of only looking at whatever Euro NCAP rating a car has - you'll end up with a bland, rubbish car because of it.

Fox is right - keep the MG - it works, you know it, it's practical, and the cheapest car is often the car you currently own.
 
[TW]Fox;15373641 said:
Your saving will be swallowed up getting whatever you buy up to scratch IMHO.

Most cars I've seen at this money last week for example have had random 'Triangle' and 'Wan Li' tyres on opposite corners. You want to carry a newborn in that? No, so theres £300 already...
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That's because you live in the arse end of nowhere though. When I was looking for a mk3 Mondeo near Leeds I had plenty of choice, though it depends how picky you want to be for a relatively cheap car. I was happy to have an occasional exterior mark as long as it had history, less than 120k and at least ghia spec. 2 new Vredstiens for mine have cost me £120 fitted.
 
How about a BMW 5 series, an older one (say '92-95). Get a real good one for that price, with all the kit (cruise, climate, total closure, remote central locking, airbags, ABS, PAS, trip computers etc..). Quite frugal too - preferably a 525i or a 520i if you're really worried about economy.

Get a sport if you want a firm, yet comfortable ride - or a standard SE if you want a really soft ride.

No nasty timing belt or awkward engineering, just give it fluids and filters when required (barring age/mileage related consumables) :) Real cheap to keep moving.
 
Lashout_UK said:
Quite frugal too - preferably a 525i or a 520i if you're really worried about economy.
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An M50 engined anything is anything but frugal, infact the M50 seems to be the ultimate engine for using fuel but not actually providing the performance you'd expect from the consumption.
 
My 325 could be quite economical on long trips, but I used to do at least £30 a week on my then 3 mile each way commute.
 
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