Best 10-12yr old car

Shakti

I've been lurking these boards for a long time and now I'd like the collective wisdom on this question, I need a car and its going to be an oldish car 99,00,01 also its going to be 1-1.2 litre. Country driving pot holes etc. whats my best bet Yaris, Polo or something else?

2qk4u

Yaris, or if you wanted a bit more space try the Corolla but its 1.3/1.4

Shakti

Thats what I'm thinking, is there likely to be an issue with the power steering motor when they get to that age though? whats the best test for the condition of the PS motor? anything else to watch out for?

sean1141

fiesta 1.25

For Forks Sake

Shakti wrote: »

Thats what I'm thinking, is there likely to be an issue with the power steering motor when they get to that age though? whats the best test for the condition of the PS motor? anything else to watch out for?

Power steering motor is the least of your worries on a 12-13 year old car.

Shakti

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Power steering motor is the least of your worries on a 12-13 year old car.

that doesn't sound good,

For Forks Sake

Shakti wrote: »

that doesn't sound good,

I meant in terms of things to be looking for. Servicing, belts, rust, clocking other stuff more likely to occur first ....

Matt Simis

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Power steering motor is the least of your worries on a 12-13 year old car.

Yeah, "automobiles" as they were then known as in the year 2000 were like hand cranked engines and steam power werent they?
:pac:

coco_lola

Yaris definitely. Great car, had one for 2 years, never let me down. Absolute miser on petrol, cheap to tax and insure, easy to get parts and can take a beating (I drove it like it was a 2 litre ). Surprisingly roomy too, and has good resale value. For a 993cc engine it's nippy, and really holds its own on the motorway, just slow down and hang on if there's crosswinds

Oh, and it has a timing chain, which doesn't have to be changed (just get it checked regularly, sometimes they have to be tightened). That's one less belt to change!

Shakti

For Forks Sake wrote: »

I meant in terms of things to be looking for. Servicing, belts, rust, clocking other stuff more likely to occur first ....

I see okay,
clocking other than wear and tear any other tell tale sign?

Shakti

sean1141 wrote: »

fiesta 1.25

thanks Sean are they prone to head gasket failure around this age?

BostonB

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Power steering motor is the least of your worries on a 12-13 year old car.

Cars of that era are arguably more reliable that current cars, little electronics and fancy sensors.

For Forks Sake

BostonB wrote: »

Cars of that era are arguably more reliable that current cars, little electronics and fancy sensors.

That was my (badly phrased point)... that there were plenty of other things more likely to be wrong on a car that age before a power steering motor.

Shakti

coco_lola wrote: »

Oh, and it has a timing chain, which doesn't have to be changed (just get it checked regularly, sometimes they have to be tightened). That's one less belt to change!

thanks coco,
so a noisy chain would be an adjustment rather than a replacement fix?
also if you don't mind me asking what would you expect to pay for 00,01,02 prices vary quite a bit on DD.

shawnee

Corollas , Almeras , Starlets of that era all have power steering and were bombroof and mainly trouble free. Much more reliable and simple than those made a few years later. Plenty well kept ones still around and change hands for a little more than the service price of a modern yoke

theoneeyedman

Old style micras are pretty indestructible in my experience.

meoklmrk91

I have a 00 Polo, most of my driving is done on back roads, plenty of pot holes, and it's fecking bullet proof, NCT is coming up in November and I know all I'll have to do is throw some new tires on it. The seats are comfy and the cabin is nice. They are all low spec though, rarely enough you might get electric windows, they all come with electric mirrior though . Its a grand run around, cheap to run, tax and insure. The Yaris is a grand run around as well, you would probably get even better spec on them with most of the same benefits, I just hate the look of them!

gyppo

coco_lola wrote: »

Yaris definitely. Great car, had one for 2 years, never let me down. Absolute miser on petrol, cheap to tax and insure, easy to get parts and can take a beating (I drove it like it was a 2 litre ). Surprisingly roomy too, and has good resale value. For a 993cc engine it's nippy, and really holds its own on the motorway, just slow down and hang on if there's crosswinds

Oh, and it has a timing chain, which doesn't have to be changed (just get it checked regularly, sometimes they have to be tightened). That's one less belt to change!

Or buy one of these - Yaris in a different frock, and save yourself the price of a week in the sun:D

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3097980

TPM

If you are worried about power steering problems, keep away from the Fiat Puntos with the electric power steering, they can be troublesome and are expensive to fix.

The Yaris, Micra are generally good (as most Japanese cars that age are) but all 10/12 year old cars will have there problems.

Shakti

TPM wrote: »

If you are worried about power steering problems, keep away from the Fiat Puntos with the electric power steering, they can be troublesome and are expensive to fix.

The Yaris, Micra are generally good (as most Japanese cars that age are) but all 10/12 year old cars will have there problems.

thanks will do, I'm worried about all of it to TBH,

T-Maxx

Have a look at Seat automobiles as well.

TPM

There are a lot of good old cars around, just like there are a lot of bad newer cars around.
Buying a car no matter what age isnt easy. Ive nearly always driven older cars havent really had much trouble with any of them tbh. make sure to check it out well before you buy, if you dont know much about cars bring someone with you that does.

Always allow part of your budget to do some work on the car when you buy it, all cars that age will need something done, and you so often see people spent everything on the car with nothing for "the little bits" that add up quickly

Shakti

thats good advice thanks

fando

T-Maxx wrote: »

Have a look at Seat automobiles as well.

I used to drive Seat Ibiza and it was great on B roads. Way better handling than say Almera.

coco_lola

Shakti wrote: »

thanks coco,
so a noisy chain would be an adjustment rather than a replacement fix?
also if you don't mind me asking what would you expect to pay for 00,01,02 prices vary quite a bit on DD.

Well I'm no mechanic, but I've always had older cars with chains (Corsa, Yaris, and now Fiesta) and when they were rattling, my mechanic just tightened the chain. However I know that if it is let go on, it can cause problems where the chain would need to be replaced, but if you mind your car you should have no problem

It depends on the individual car you get really when you talk about price. I sold my Yaris for 2,100 in November, but it had a long NCT, only 80,000 genuine miles (bought it off an old lady!) and the body was in great nick. Anywhere around the 1800-2100 mark for a good Yaris I would imagine. Mine was a 2000 model, it didn't have colour coded bumpers (which I preferred as it didn't scratch paintwork if I accidentally reversed into my wall, which happened a lot )

If you're looking at a Yaris, check the gears as they can be quite sticky, mine was anyway, but do expect that shifting gears will be a bit more "clunky" than cars like the Fiesta and Polo as it's set up a little differently, I test drove a few Yaris' and they were all the same, an obvious "click" when changing gears that would make you think the gearbox was off, but it's just the way it's set up. As long as the gears change fine I wouldn't worry.

TPM

coco_lola wrote: »

It depends on the individual car you get really when you talk about price. I sold my Yaris for 2,100 in November, but it had a long NCT, only 80,000 genuine miles (bought it off an old lady!) and the body was in great nick. Anywhere around the 1800-2100 mark for a good Yaris I would imagine. Mine was a 2000 model, it didn't have colour coded bumpers (which I preferred as it didn't scratch paintwork if I accidentally reversed into my wall, which happened a lot )

.

Very true, and to complicate matters a car with 60,000 miles could be 10 times worse than one with 120,000 miles if it hasnt been looked after

coco_lola wrote: »

If you're looking at a Yaris, check the gears as they can be quite sticky, mine was anyway, but do expect that shifting gears will be a bit more "clunky" than cars like the Fiesta and Polo as it's set up a little differently, I test drove a few Yaris' and they were all the same, an obvious "click" when changing gears that would make you think the gearbox was off, but it's just the way it's set up. As long as the gears change fine I wouldn't worry.

The same age corolla 99-01 has the same gearbox "feel" but both cars are pretty bullet proof, though some of the vvti engines can use oil

Shakti

your a great bunch thanks very much for all your help

coco_lola

TPM wrote: »

Very true, and to complicate matters a car with 60,000 miles could be 10 times worse than one with 120,000 miles if it hasnt been looked after

Enter Exhibit A : Bought a Fiesta recently with 90,000 miles on it, girl didn't look after the car at all, needed a new water pump, fan belt, exhaust had to be welded, and looking at possibly a new catalytic convertor. I got it for an absolute steal though as I knew work needed to be done on it, and the body and engine are good

TPM

coco_lola wrote: »

Enter Exhibit A : Bought a Fiesta recently with 90,000 miles on it, girl didn't look after the car at all, needed a new water pump, fan belt, exhaust had to be welded, and looking at possibly a new catalytic convertor. I got it for an absolute steal though as I knew work needed to be done on it, and the body and engine are good

Depends a lot on the person, I like you wouldnt mind buying cheap needing work, but others prefer to spend a bit more and have less to be done.

My thinking is parts wear out so if you get cheap needing these parts the new ones you fit will last a long time(eg shocks, clutch, exhaust) where as if they are ok when you buy chances are some of them will need to be replaced in the not too distant future.
But thats just my opinion

damo244

Shakti, check if it has a service history up to date usually a good sign the more paper work with it the better,brother picked up a 88 starlet last year for his missus €1100 1owner form new 48000mls full dealer service history garaged all its life mint body work,cars like this don"t come up often but look around you never no.happy hunting

alicante2011

Thinking about buying 2002 Opel Corsa 1.0 with 70k miles (2000 E\uros) . Any sugestions ? Is it worthy ? Or better buy 99 - 00 Toyota Yaris ?

damo244

Well alicante if it was me the Yaris i would go for, engines are fairly bulletproof once its been serviced on a regular basis,better equiped,little pocket rockets try get one with the vvti engine:eek: very nimble even on the motorways.thats just me up to you take both for test drive see what you think,happy hunting:)

fonecrusher1

alicante2011 wrote: »

Thinking about buying 2002 Opel Corsa 1.0 with 70k miles (2000 E\uros) . Any sugestions ? Is it worthy ? Or better buy 99 - 00 Toyota Yaris ?

Yaris any day over a corsa.

I never liked corsas personally. I drove an older yaris (test drive) many years ago & i thought it was actually a nippy funky little car. That wee vvti engine is a great little yoke, pokey as hell. I ended up getting an almera because i wanted a bit more space.

Yaris(ssessseesss) are grand little cars that hold on to their value ridiculously well because they're just a good car & i sure must people in the trade would agree.

coco_lola

alicante2011 wrote: »

Thinking about buying 2002 Opel Corsa 1.0 with 70k miles (2000 E\uros) . Any sugestions ? Is it worthy ? Or better buy 99 - 00 Toyota Yaris ?

I'll be completely honest OP, having owned two Corsas and one Yaris, the Yaris lasted longer than the two Corsas. The first one, the brakes failed on me after 6 months, the second one, the engine practically fell out of, oil leaks, fuel pump went, oil switch was irrepairable, all after three months. And the Yaris... After two years, I had to fix a window motor which I broke myself.

Shakti

Still looking for a suitable yaris , but what do you all think of this http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3045405

Leonard Hofstadter

When buying an "old" car, mileage is the least of your worries.

A car with 20,000 miles but saw a service once every six years is a far worse car to be buying than one with 150,000 miles that was serviced on time.

Buy on condition and spec, NOT on mileage or age. If it looks rough then that should be an indicator as to the kind of life it's had - most likely anything rough looking will have been abused and will give trouble. Cars that look well and feel fresh probably have been driven with some level of sympathy and been serviced etc.

Your gut instinct about the condition of a car rarely lets you down. Don't get carried away by "low mileage" - a Jap car should easily be good for 200,000 miles anyway (and I should know since I'm currently driving something with 172,000 miles and it still works absolutely perfectly, as I'd expect it to)!

Shakti

Problem I'm coming up against is a lot of sellers are saying when I put it to them say they service it themselves(friend/relative) and while I'm eager enough to believe them and don't doubt there skill as mechanics etc. there doesn't seem to be a lot of cars (yaris's anyway) out there that are coming with a verifiable FSH.

Kintarō Hattori

The missus and myself bought our first car last year OP. I was pretty certain I wanted to get a Micra as they are good value, they still look great and the fact that there are millions of them on the road seemed to be a good sign.

We settled on a 99 reg car and it's been great. It's a very reliable little piece of kit. It's surprisingly spacious and comfortable, economical and rather nippy. All in all we're rather happy with our little K11.

Shakti

thanks Kintarō

TPM

Shakti wrote: »

Problem I'm coming up against is a lot of sellers are saying when I put it to them say they service it themselves(friend/relative) and while I'm eager enough to believe them and don't doubt there skill as mechanics etc. there doesn't seem to be a lot of cars (yaris's anyway) out there that are coming with a verifiable FSH.

Realistically you are not going to find a 10-13 yrl old car with a full service history.

buying a second hand car is and always will be a risk, even knowing alot about cars.

If it looks too good to be true it probably is.
If it doesnt feel right walk away.

Mar4ix

nissan micra k11 is great little car. was workin on one.... changing engine (engine failure was caused over owner negligence )... put one from nissan march(jap import) in to nissan micra.... really straight car, and found easy to drive in city(even without power steering)... i was testing replaced engine in different loads for couple days, .. it was fantastic.

Leonard Hofstadter

Shakti wrote: »

Problem I'm coming up against is a lot of sellers are saying when I put it to them say they service it themselves(friend/relative) and while I'm eager enough to believe them and don't doubt there skill as mechanics etc. there doesn't seem to be a lot of cars (yaris's anyway) out there that are coming with a verifiable FSH.

Smaller cars are always worse when it comes to FSH. You'll have to settle for something with a fairly comprehensive recent history. If it looks well and goes well, plus has a recent NCT, then it should be fairly alright:). As a rule, the bigger the size of car, the more likely it is to have service history. I suppose it kind of makes sense in that if you can afford a BMW or Merc then you probably like cars to a certain extent so you're more likely to bother looking after it and fixing it if stuff goes wrong!

Shakti

thanks I'm gonna keep looking for a nice one

BostonB

captainspeed wrote: »

.... I suppose it kind of makes sense in that if you can afford a BMW or Merc then you probably like cars to a certain extent so you're is more likely to bother looking after it and to need fixing it if stuff goes wrong!

Fixed that for you...

Some of these small cars simply don't need much maintenance and are fairly simply mechanically, and electronically, hence they can be serviced quite easily.

Francie Barrett

I would choose the VW Polo. They don't have the premium that that the Yaris seems to have and their are plenty of sub-2000 models on the roads, which is an indicator as to how reliable they have been.

BostonB

I would say that more of an indication how how much better the Yaris is.

I like the Polo, but in general VW's aren't as reliable as the marketing would have you believe.

alicante2011

thanks for opinions, really apreciate it