€1k car

businessdit

Is there such a thing as a car for about €1k that will last me for 4-5 years?

Or am I dreaming...?

If there is can you advise me where I would find such

ShadowHearth

Got a ford Mondeo for 500 quid. I'll tell you how I am doing in 5 years bud.

"keep an eye on this spot"

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1992965

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1973225

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1989278

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1887712

etc etc etc

andyseadog

something with a "4E-FE inside", or failing that, something with "2E inside". toyotas

*2E cars may be a bit less comfortable.

Mr Benevolent

andyseadog wrote: »

something with a "4E-FE inside", or failing that, something with "2E inside". toyotas

*2E cars may be a bit less comfortable.

Pfft

-Corkie-

Honda would be my preference. Them old Corollas are slavery to drive.

argosy2006

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1970827

get something modern with airbags and crumble zones :P
not a 1995 toyota

ShadowHearth

Op, now seriuosly.

1k can buy you a good car. I dunno about 5 years, but if you find a good one, which you can, it will last long enought without trouble. 5 years is a big period, 100% something can go wrong, it just depends: how costly and which cOmponent will give up.

The older car, the better it is. Older cars have less dreaded electronics, so waaaaaaay less things to go wrong.

For example. I got 98 ford Mondeo 1.6 - 500eu. Valve gasket, front bushings, full service including filters and sparkplugs. 120eu. It's cheap... Let's see how I will get On with it

P.s. My mechanic just bought ford Mondeo 01 1.8 700eu. Clutch is slipping. Car has nct and tax too. Good deal?

kermitpwee

I would go for a carina e if you can handle 1.6 tax. The corolla is more in demand and such that it can be harder to source a clean one at 1000 euro. For the nct with the carina the following things will pop up but not all at the one time hopefully

Corroded break lines around the petrol tank, first place the tester will look.

Drop links and bushes in the back, cheap fix.

Back brakes are a drum set up and usually there will be an imbalance at the test due to cylinders and corrosion in the shoes etc. Not a bank breaker.

If the ecu light is on its the lambda sensor which doesnt need to be replaced for the test due to the ecu going back to factory settings so dont worry. If you buy one with the light on and you want to turn it off then pm me, and no its not the disconnect the battery job that only lasts a few days!

A rough intermittent idle and lack of power intermittantly with running on 3 cylinders is the fuel injectors, eventually it will run on 3 cylinders all the time but can take up to 2 years to go fully. Some mechanics can mis diagnose and say if it was the injectors it would go fully straight away, this is not the case as the problem is with the electrical connectors on the injector that loses ressistance intermittantly under different heat conditions. Usually its injector number three that goes.

The above may never happen to you. When they are up to operating temp they should idle at below 1000revs.

I wouldnt buy a lancer or colt as they are rusting a lot now, lot have to be welded for the test, if your looking for five years i would go for a starlet carina corolla dependent on condition, as they were good sellers there is loads of 2nd hand parts around and you have a very good chance of getting 5 years out of one. What type of mileage you doing?

andyseadog

argosy2006 wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1970827

get something modern with airbags and crumble zones :P
not a 1995 toyota

thats not much good, they want a car that will last :rolleyes:

my uncle has one of these in the 1.6 petrol as his commuter-mobile and its a skip, countless expensive faults.

EPM

argosy2006 wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1970827

get something modern with airbags and crumble zones :P
not a 1995 toyota

Yes, but they will be useless when it catches fire and the central locking won't allow you get out of the car:p

If you want easy it's gotta be mid 90s Toyota. Sold a very tidy and solid starlet last year for just under 800 and bought it for a lot less than that too. Even had tax and test.

The Pontiac

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1972372

That one is sold, but keep an eye out for others 99's around the €1k mark. Parts are easily available and cheap too. Every mechanic can work on them. Nice driver too, especially the 1.6 engine. Hatchbacks look better though, IMO.

Max_Damage

I paid €750 for my Ford Escort in 2008 and its still going strong, giving nearly no trouble at all.

David09

Max_Damage wrote: »

I paid €750 for my Ford Escort in 2008 and its still going strong, giving nearly no trouble at all.

+1.

Simple is efficient and cheap need not be nasty.

Go for a 1.3 fiesta 99 or 00.

john.west

kermitpwee wrote: »

I would go for a carina e if you can handle 1.6 tax. The corolla is more in demand and such that it can be harder to source a clean one at 1000 euro. For the nct with the carina the following things will pop up but not all at the one time hopefully

Corroded break lines around the petrol tank, first place the tester will look.

Drop links and bushes in the back, cheap fix.

Back brakes are a drum set up and usually there will be an imbalance at the test due to cylinders and corrosion in the shoes etc. Not a bank breaker.

If the ecu light is on its the lambda sensor which doesnt need to be replaced for the test due to the ecu going back to factory settings so dont worry. If you buy one with the light on and you want to turn it off then pm me, and no its not the disconnect the battery job that only lasts a few days!

A rough intermittent idle and lack of power intermittantly with running on 3 cylinders is the fuel injectors, eventually it will run on 3 cylinders all the time but can take up to 2 years to go fully. Some mechanics can mis diagnose and say if it was the injectors it would go fully straight away, this is not the case as the problem is with the electrical connectors on the injector that loses ressistance intermittantly under different heat conditions. Usually its injector number three that goes.

The above may never happen to you. When they are up to operating temp they should idle at below 1000revs.

OP I apologise in advance for pretty much hijacking your thread and derailing it.

Kermitpwee you pretty much described my Carina E to a T! Failed the NCT towards the end of November last year on the corroded brake line. For retest I got under the car with some wire wool, emery cloth, a dremel and an old tooth brush with brasso. Low and behold it came up like new. To be fair it wasn't even corroded so much as it was tarnished more than anything. It was still very solid underneath the light tarnish on the surface. Another poster also spoted a piece I wrote on the same some time back and pm'd as he had failed on the exact same brake line. I told him what I did and he fixed up his in a similar fashion. He also passed second time round. And there was me thinking that people who complained about the NCT were only looking for something to complain about. Funny thing is there was a fuel line underneath my Carina that looks like its about to crumple away with the rust on it. If you are going to the trouble of replacing the afore mentioned brake line its not so small a job. The fuel tank would have to be dropped and flaring the brake line and bending it correctly requires a wee bit of skill. Not every garage would have the flaring tools for that matter. Moreover every second time the job is done it would seem as if its likely to leak and need to be redone so many seem to be hesitant to take the job on.

Also failed on brake imbalance on rear axle. Changed the brake shoes, messed around with the adjusters and other than that hoped for the best. Low and behold passed on that eventually too.

Changed my drop links before the test as a precautionary measure also as they were well passed their best. Mind you though I dont think they would have being good enough to pass the test as they were begining to split and were somewhat perished.

Other than that have just had to replace the rad on my Carina since I bought it about 9 months ago as it was begining to corrode and crumple away badly and loosing a lot of coolant. I picked one up in a breakers yard for handy money. Oil and filter change and spark plugs are all I've done besides. I am pretty confident I will get quite a few years out of the car as it stands with no very serious expense. I guess time will tell. That woudn't be bad going as it cost me less than €600 with a few months tax and NCT on it at the time. There are plenty on donedeal for less than €800 with plenty of NCT left on them that look to be in good shape. Last of the good Toyotas many would agree!

I do have the intermittent power problem which you mention though. Sometimes the car can loose power for no apparent reason and become very very dead. It would then pick up all of a sudden again. Car does sometimes have an erratic idle also, when the engines at operating temperature it could settle down to 3-400rpm at traffic lights or anything in between up to 1,000 rpm. If I blipped the pedal again it may settle down to a different rpm. It also seems to rev too high when cold (sometimes over 2,000 rpm). I thought after changing the spark plugs to no avail that I should source an ignition coil but now that you mention the problem with the injectors Kermitpwee and as you certainly seem to know what your talking about I might have a bash at sorting them first. Might I be as bold to ask would you mind if I pm'd you to pick your brain and ask how I might go about fixing the problem.

john.west

argosy2006 wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1970827

get something modern with airbags and crumble zones :P
not a 1995 toyota

Nice looking car and being a Renault I could second guess its pretty comfortable but if like the OP you looking for 5 years of relatively hassle free motoring you woud be best advised to steer well clear.

In addition to my long piece endorsing the Carina above I would also recommend a circa 1997 to 2002 Nissan Primera. They can be had for very handy money and are a pretty solid car that will take a bit of abuse. Timing chain cuts down on maintenance costs also. Would not generally recommend the succeeding model from 2002 onwards though as reports I've heard on them are by no means fantastic

kermitpwee

john.west wrote: »

OP I apologise in advance for pretty much hijacking your thread and derailing it.

Kermitpwee you pretty much described my Carina E to a T! Failed the NCT towards the end of November last year on the corroded brake line. For retest I got under the car with some wire wool, emery cloth, a dremel and an old tooth brush with brasso. Low and behold it came up like new. To be fair it wasn't even corroded so much as it was tarnished more than anything. It was still very solid underneath the light tarnish on the surface. Another poster also spoted a piece I wrote on the same some time back and pm'd as he had failed on the exact same brake line. I told him what I did and he fixed up his in a similar fashion. He also passed second time round. And there was me thinking that people who complained about the NCT were only looking for something to complain about. Funny thing is there was a fuel line underneath my Carina that looks like its about to crumple away with the rust on it. If you are going to the trouble of replacing the afore mentioned brake line its not so small a job. The fuel tank would have to be dropped and flaring the brake line and bending it correctly requires a wee bit of skill. Not every garage would have the flaring tools for that matter. Moreover every second time the job is done it would seem as if its likely to leak and need to be redone so many seem to be hesitant to take the job on.

Also failed on brake imbalance on rear axle. Changed the brake shoes, messed around with the adjusters and other than that hoped for the best. Low and behold passed on that eventually too.

Changed my drop links before the test as a precautionary measure also as they were well passed their best. Mind you though I dont think they would have being good enough to pass the test as they were begining to split and were somewhat perished.

Other than that have just had to replace the rad on my Carina since I bought it about 9 months ago as it was begining to corrode and crumple away badly and loosing a lot of coolant. I picked one up in a breakers yard for handy money. Oil and filter change and spark plugs are all I've done besides. I am pretty confident I will get quite a few years out of the car as it stands with no very serious expense. I guess time will tell. That woudn't be bad going as it cost me less than €600 with a few months tax and NCT on it at the time. There are plenty on donedeal for less than €800 with plenty of NCT left on them that look to be in good shape. Last of the good Toyotas many would agree!

I do have the intermittent power problem which you mention though. Sometimes the car can loose power for no apparent reason and become very very dead. It would then pick up all of a sudden again. Car does sometimes have an erratic idle also, when the engines at operating temperature it could settle down to 3-400rpm at traffic lights or anything in between up to 1,000 rpm. If I blipped the pedal again it may settle down to a different rpm. It also seems to rev too high when cold (sometimes over 2,000 rpm). I thought after changing the spark plugs to no avail that I should source an ignition coil but now that you mention the problem with the injectors Kermitpwee and as you certainly seem to know what your talking about I might have a bash at sorting them first. Might I be as bold to ask would you mind if I pm'd you to pick your brain and ask how I might go about fixing the problem.

In any other car your syptoms would be the throttle body but not the carina e! ya you have injector trouble. Unfortunately the way I diagnose injectors on the carina e is VERY Dangerous and I do not recommend you to do it. When the car runs rough at idle flick the bonnet and listen to the sound of the engine then pull of the ht lead on no 3 and see does it change the sound of the mis fire if it does NOT then you know its the injector, some people will say how do I know its not the ht lead, well you just have to trust me they rarely go. Proceed in this fashion until you find which one it is. to take off the injector rail is simple if you have a few tools. using my method there is a risk of electric shock that could kill you.

Now the right way, get a multi meter and set to 20k wait until the car idles rough and switch of the engine, pull the electrical connectors and see what reading your getting, as far as I can remember a healthy range would be 16 to 18, anything below 13 is totally fecked. This is the correct method. If your stuck have a look on youtube. One injector is 179 euro plus vat of toyota! can be got second hand. If your in the west give george simpson a shout in a small village in sligo called aclare he scraps toyotas, sound man.

lalababa

no you're not dreaming! Anything jap is good esp. the micra 00-01 is in price range and it has a timing chain. for something bigger an almera etc. also consider a 00-01 mondeo for a bigger car. RE 5 yrs, if you do the necessary services and keep on top of rust you shoul be o.k.
Where to look- donedeal in your county, local garages usually want rid of older trade ins as quickly as poss.
There is very little moving at moment so you should get a good deal either way.

barura

High milage car with full service history. having said that, why do you think you'll only have 1k to spend on a car that will last you the next 5 years? What's stopping you from spending a few k on it now? Also if you say it's cause you have a kid, jesus wept, you want something to protect your child! Don't go for a rust bucket.

Otherwise, public transport or a van to do odd jobs in and save for an actual car. My logic is strange, go figure.

kermitpwee

barura wrote: »

High milage car with full service history. having said that, why do you think you'll only have 1k to spend on a car that will last you the next 5 years? What's stopping you from spending a few k on it now? Also if you say it's cause you have a kid, jesus wept, you want something to protect your child! Don't go for a rust bucket.

Otherwise, public transport or a van to do odd jobs in and save for an actual car. My logic is strange, go figure.

Yes your logic is strange. The op may have only 1k to spend, not everyone has money to spend on transport. Go figure.

barura

Well by that logic, the car I got for 400, nct for 50 and 172 to tax and around
40 miles per gallon/17 kilometers per liter, I could drive the rest of the grand and get about
6426km or 4k miles on it. (Strangly, thats the amount of milage I've done so far in it.)

kermitpwee

barura wrote: »

Well by that logic, the car I got for 400, nct for 50 and 172 to tax and around
40 miles per gallon/17 kilometers per liter, I could drive the rest of the grand and get about
6426km or 4k miles on it. (Strangly, thats the amount of milage I've done so far in it.)

What are you on about? You asked the op why wasn't she spending a few grand more and talked about children in rustbuckets. I said that the op may have only 1k to spend. Then you reply with the absolute nonsense above that makes no sense to either the debate or what I have said to you. What exactly is your point?

barura

Sorry man, I think I got lost a little there.

Guess what I was trying to say is, yes you can get a car for under a grand, taxed and nct'd. Though you might get lucky like I did and get a car for half that and spend very little to keep it going, is all.

I should really stay away from forums when I'm sleep deprived.

doOh

businessdit wrote: »

Is there such a thing as a car for about €1k that will last me for 4-5 years?

Or am I dreaming...?

If there is can you advise me where I would find such

seen lexus '98 LS 400 V8 for 1k interested ? xD Believe me when i say those cars do 600k miles when cared

hoarder

If you can suffer a 2.0 Petrol engine and want something big I can personally recommend the Mitsubishi Spacewagon. Fashionable they are not, but great to drive, super comfortable, refined for their age and reliable they are. Our 1996 which we have since new has 170k miles on clock, still on original suspension, shocks, brake discs, radiator, exhaust (no joke), and only engine replacements have been the fuel pump, an oxygen sensor and the timing belt (which is a frequent job on these). We did a clutch and gearbox last year on the cheap

A solid car that won't let you down provided they are looked after. We fully intend to keep ours until it stops, and I can tell you it drives like a three year old car today. Mid and late 1990's Mitsubishi's were built in Japan with premium parts and materials, and these cars were what propelled the brand to 3rd in reliability surveys in this time.

_Conrad_

Simple answer to can you get a €1k car that will last is yes, once you look after it. A useful thing to do would be to learn how to do some of the more basic items yourself such as changing oil, fluid and filters, general service stuff, and how to keep an eye on the condition of brakes, bushings, bearings and such.
There's actually plenty of stuff to choose from. You coudl easily keep the likes of a 1.9d vento going for example, or 90s hondas and toyotas, all boring and not exactly flash, but for that money you can't expect more. If pick the right one though and treat it well there's no reason why you can't do it. Just don't expect to buy something stupid like an old laguna and have it stay going. And don't neglect the car, treat it well and it should treat you well

ottostreet

Something along the lines of a late 90s Nissan Primera should be gotten for that money, a decent modern enough car.

I Was VB

Incase ya didnt know i'm a Carina E Fanboy!!

One i'm driving is a 1994 Corona (jap import) 2.0Diesel with 406K Klms.

Not bad for a car thats 17 years old, passes her test every year and still returns 39MPG.

Wetbench4

Only got rid of my 96 carina sli a few months ago. Bought it for 1k 5 yrs ago and drove it up till a couple of months ago, and only ever had to replace the water pump on it. Passed every nct, great runabouts.

Oh and it was an ex-taxi which i only found out a couple of years after buying it

Bawnmore

Just echoing some of above - bought a 97 Primera with lowish miles (<100k) and NCT until July next year for €500. Good deals can definitely be found with a bit of looking.