Need to buy and insure a dirt cheap banger in the next month...

[Rave]

...otherwise I lose 6 years of NCB. Now that I'm finally in a position where I might be able to afford a half decent car in the next year or two, 6 years NCB could save me a pretty penny I reckon.

So, I want to buy a serviceable car with 6+ months of MOT left for £500 (or not much more). If it's small and frugal OR fast and fun to drive so much the better. I'm a bit gutted because on Monday I saw an E36 325i Coupe with some (corroded but still tasty) 17" two piece alloys on it for £690 at a local banger dealership. Went back the next day with a view to doing a deal and it had gone. It needed a couple of hundred quid's worth of headlight glass and tyres to be fair, and the insurance would have been £400, so I suppose I'm better off not raiding the overdraft to that extent. Still would have been a pretty sweet ride for 6 months tho.

So anyway, I need to buy a cheapo car. Where's the best place to look nowadays? I haven't bought a car since 2001, and even back then I pretty much got ripped off. All suggestions greatly appreciated.

I'm not that fussed if I end up with a boring old ****heap, but I'll probably be driving this car for 6 months so if I can find something interesting or very cheap to run that would be great. What I mean is that something that does 50-60mpg like a Citroen AX or Peugeot 105 would be bearable because it'll cost me buttons to run; conversely something RWD with a powerful engine would be bearable because it's fun, despite costing me 2-3x as much in juice. I don't particularly want an old petrol Mondeo (or equivalent) which would seem to be the worst of both worlds.

[Betty_Swallocks]

You can't go far wrong with a Peugeot 106 for that kind of money. We paid 600 for ours with about 50k on the clock.

It's the 1200 and it does about 45-50 to the gallon.

Not exciting by any stretch of the imagination but it's cheap and ours has been reliable.

I'd have thought anything fun like that BMW in your price range would be a whole heap of expensive problems just waiting to happen.

[hitman67]

106 Derv would give you 45-60mpg and can be had for £500. The 1.5 Derv is pretty perky too.

If it wasn't for the distance you could have had mine soon.

[Zak33]

/cough

Suzuki Swift



just in case the mastery of the Japanese had escaped you my dear chap

If not that....then I'd suggest a Nova 1.4 SR

[tiggerai]

Nissan Micra. K11

Cheap as chips, will keep you going and really cheap to insure.

[Agent]

What's the length of time you have to off the rod for this loss to kick in?

When if your bike insurance due mate? You could go with one of the insurers that will insure both on the same policy which will probably save you a few quid.

[SilentDeath]

phone up your local dealerships. If I wasnt so desperate for a car monday night I ould have done this myself. Dont know if it works but its how they done it on top gear (wouldnt imagine its too good as the price for cars has doubled at the local breakers)

Theres some ****ty cheap dealers near me. I had choice of rover 400 2L for £400, with horrible pealing paint. Honda of the same model for £700, 1.6 astra for £500... infact I found a nice road tonight that had a few cars for sale. Ive marked it on my satnav so I can have a look tomorrow... Also I want to stop at the caterham factory sometime as I have been going past it quite a few times..

if youve got 6 years ncb to use up then it doesnt really matter how fast you go. You can find quite a lot of CHEAP saab 900 TURBOS for ~£200.. they are old but should last a good while. Theres a 9000 for £120 locally for me

[Rave]

Thanks for the car suggestions guys. What I need now are more suggestions like SilentDeath's of where to actually find the really cheap bangers. Ebay doesn't seem to be all that great thanks to the listings fees; ditto Autotrader. So where's good to look? Local papers? Newsagents windows? For Sale signs on the street?

[joshwa]

Gumtree.com: UK's No. 1 in classifieds - jobs, property, cars and more ?

[Rave]

Good call Josh, thanks.

[Betty_Swallocks]

As Silentdeath says, have a word with some of your local dealerships. They often take cars in px which they really cba to send to auction so you can pick them up for a song.

I remember Jeremy Clarkson got a car for a quid from a dealership to use in one of their challenges. It would have cost the dealer money to sell it at auction for a few hundred quid and they were happy fior him to take it off their hands.

[Rave]

I might give that a try if I'm desperate, but I daresay you'd look like a bit of a cheap bastard doing it.

I certainly am a cheap bastard of course, I'm just a bit ashamed of the fact

[shelley bda]

What about a Clio? cheap and cheerful and buckets of fun Mine is a complete banger but it goes well and is reliable. I need to think about a newer Car now I have a job that involves driving, but i'm gutted at the thought of getting rid

[Konan555]

What's the shame in being cheap?

£500... years MOT on it. Not actually be serviced in about 2 1/2 years and it's still running hassle free. Had to change a valve on the ABS and, of course, replace the front prop

2L version, so not fast (actually, about as slow as a 2L mk1 mondeo ) but enough traction to make you grin and a rear bias to kick the back out if you dare. AND... 35mpg back with a very heavy right foot.

V6 is a hoot but my word do they drink fuel.



Not a suggestion as such Just a pride in being cheap!

[Rave]

I'd love a Sierra, but there aren't many of them left TBH. Where do you find your cars then Konan?

I drive a Clio at the moment Shelley, it's my Mum's but she rarely needs it so I have it on loan. I agree it's a great car, but I would like something a little quicker.

[Konan555]

Ear to the ground, normally. That one was taken as a trade at a second hand car dealer. ebay is still a good place to browse, but always be prepared to give any purchase a good going over to check the condition. You CAN go and kick the tyres if you win.... because if the wheels bounce back and fourth in the arch they failed to mention that the compliance bushes are shot

They're not so cheap to run now since they hardly turn up in scrap yards any more. Sometimes, you end up paying through the nose from a 'specialist' breaker. I'm looking to retire my two from active service now in order to keep the condition After 16 and 19 years, they've probably been abused daily enough now and I don't want the rot to set in.

Sadly for ford, the mondeo occupies the slot of the £250 runaround now and it's not even half the car IMO (till you get to MK3).