Decent cheap car?

RicardoSmith

I might have to do a long commute soon and the old banger which I only used rarely since I had no parking at my previous job is not up to a long commute. Whats a good cheap car that would be comfy, decent to drive, and reliable. I've seem Rover 400s going cheap. Was thinking that would be ok. Budget would 1-3k max. Saw a older prelude too, that would be nicer to drive but the insurance would be huuuge. Basically a heap thats cheap but not too nasty at the same time.

KoNiT

Rover would be ok definately cheap to buy & light in pocket to run.
My bro had a R 214 & that was OK

Have a look at the R 620, I test drove one, & found it comfy, very smooth on the road but a bit of a boat as regards handling on tight corners, its not designed for mondello as it has soft shocks.

pclancy

Rovers arent reliable! Where the hell did u get that idea? Get yourself and old Japenese car for a grand or two. Theres plenty of them in the buy and sell. An old Mazda 323, Honda Civic, Toyota Corrola or Nissan Sunny would last forever and be cheap to buy and get serviced. Those old japenese engines go till the end of the world and you might be lucky and get some extras like elec windows, sunroof, aircon etc which isnt as standard on european cars but for reliability you cannot beat a jap car.

Discovering

I am selling my college car.

Here is the link for details:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=113309&highlight=ibiza

This car is cheap and a great car doing long miles.

It is comfortable and cheap to run.

Let me know if interested.

KoNiT

R 414 & 416 - both are honda engines AFAIK...... & he asked for cheap... & they are as reliable as most cars of an age. Rover have a terrible image from previous models such as the 213, which was a reliable rust bucket... I had two.

Below are examples taken from Autotrader.ie
_______________________
e.g.
Rover 400 416 I 16V 66000 miles, Electric Windows, Central Locking, Remote Central Locking, Alarm, Immobiliser, Drivers Air Bag, Passenger Air Bag, Radio-Cassette, Adjustable Steering Wheel NCT 05 SALE NOW ON €2,500
Kilmainham Motors
Dublin
_______________________________
Honda Civic (T) 59000, 1997 5 Door 1.4, Dark Blue Metallic, Cloth/Wood, Airbag - Driver, Airbag - Passenger, >>> € 4,000
Cranley Cars Ltd.
Dublin

Quigs Snr

Plenty of Rovers have the K-Series engine in 1.1, 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 variants. Its not a good engine, the 1.8 variant is in the MGF and I had to replace my whole engine after 29k. Due to their material composition (i.e. the head and the block being made of different metals) they are more prone to head gasket failure than most, and boy is it expensive when they go pop.

Other parts in those cars are outdated in the extreme, that said I look the look of rover cars.

The best advice you will ever get is this...buy jap. My dad is a cabbie and has always driven Toyota's and Mazda's with up to 350,000 miles on them and they are brilliant. I have had Honda's, also brilliant, I have had renault, whoch were ok, I have had, ford which were not so good, and Rover/MG which were plain awful.

RicardoSmith

I would go jap but many of the cheap jap cars seem to be very expensive for an old car or they are trashed. I used to have a Honda CRX and I really miss it. But the price of parts was horrendeous. That and insurance was sky high. So it was too much money for an old car. That said an old accord or prelude would be nice. Theres a few of them in the papers. Insurance would still be a problem. Yeah I have a problem with the Rovers. My experiences of their dealers hasn't been great either. But they are cheap. The insurance on the Ibiza 1.9 would be as high as a petrol and its a bit too leggy in the miles.

BrianD3

I'd go for something like a Toyota Carina E or the original Nissan Primera. They're both available with 1.6 litre engines which have plenty of poke for their size and aren't too bad for insurance or fuel consumption. There are plenty of them still on the roads and they won't really have attracted the baseball cap brigade so less likely to have been thrashed/crashed than something like a Prelude or Accord. They're fairly modern, comfortable, a decent size for long journeys and should be reliable. I've heard of Carina E's doing huge mileages with very little trouble and I imagine that the Primera is also pretty good. Also, the Primera is a very underrated driver's car. Very nice to drive - better handling than the equivalent Accord and just about any other car in its class when new.

BrianD3

RicardoSmith

I have my eye out for a primera. Something lilke either of those would be ideal.

ButcherOfNog

u mention preludes, yer they're great cars and unless they've been thrashed, rarely go wrong. i know, i'm on my 2nd 4th gen prelude. they also offer good crash protection ... i'm typing this as proof

only warning for you is that parts are pricey, at some point you'll need to replace parts of the exhaust for instance, price a back box for one, that'll give you a good idea of part prices. and of course insurance & car tax, smallest engine size is the 2.0i 16v, and for the weight of the car thats not really powerfull enough.

RicardoSmith

A prelude isn't cheap to run unfortunately.

Discovering

RicardoSmith, you said the insurance would be high for the Ibiza.

I thought the same but it was actually pretty decent.

Try ring a few and see.

Mythago

Try an Audi 80, cheap to run & generally pretty solid. Mines a 90 1.8 petrol with 500,000+ miles on it & still going! Pretty economical too, 40'ish mpg.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by Discovering
RicardoSmith, you said the insurance would be high for the Ibiza.

I thought the same but it was actually pretty decent.

Try ring a few and see.

I'd say the same as a 1.9D Vento thats in the family. Your insuring it from the country which makes a hugggge difference.

unkel

Originally posted by BrianD3
the Primera is also pretty good. Also, the Primera is a very underrated driver's car. Very nice to drive - better handling than the equivalent Accord and just about any other car in its class when new.

I can confirm that - it is a very good drivers car even with 1.6 engine. Twas my last car (1.6 SLX hatchback) and I was quite happy with it. Very happy with performance, handling, luxury (all electrics - UK import) and economy (30MPG city, 40-50MPG country, low tax and insurance), not so happy with reliability.

This model Primera was built in the UK so I would not be confident at all it is as reliable as a Carina or any other Japanese built car

Originally posted by KoNiT
Have a look at the R 620, I test drove one, & found it comfy, very smooth on the road but a bit of a boat as regards handling on tight corners, its not designed for mondello as it has soft shocks.

These can be had for very little money. You run a slight risk as Rover pretty much is no more (despite their current effort). Then again the 620 is just a honda accord in British disguise. The father in law has had a few of them and must say it is a very nice and comfortable car. Only one other drawback about this car: depreciation. But hehe that is in your advantage. I'd say you could pick up a well maintained reasonable mileage 95 one for about €2k

Go for one!

Originally posted by Mythago
Try an Audi 80, cheap to run & generally pretty solid. Mines a 90 1.8 petrol with 500,000+ miles on it & still going! Pretty economical too, 40'ish mpg.

Wow, that is an awesome mileage My dad has that car (1991 1.6 first owner) and has only about 55k miles on it. Suppose it should last until 2066

Guy:Incognito

ive a 92 civic saloon gathering dust thats n the market for €500 if ur interested