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Best small car for £2000


Baj
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Wife will soon (fingers crossed) pass her driving test, at which point she'll take my VW Passat off my hands (theory being, if shes going to have a crash in something with the kids I'd rather it was in something sturdy!)

 

So, I'm putting £2k aside to get myself a small motor. Any suggestions? Im old enough that what every I get insurance wise will be peanuts, so really its down to you guys. Would like a *fairly* pokey engine, dont need any major boot space, dont really care about fancy things like A/C or E/W (though would be a nicety of course)

 

thoughts?

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Seriously though Baj, if you can get a non-knocked about Toyota Yaris, it'll pay you back in so little heartache you'll consider it a bargain. I really do think you should be able to get one now for £2000 or a little less. They are great little cars and their very low depreciation reflects that.

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2001 VAUXHALL ASTRA 1.6i Club 5dr Hatchback

Price: £2,000 ONO

Features:

64,000 milesManualSilverPetrolHatchback1598 cc

Full Description:

Glossary of Terms

64,000 miles, 5 Door Hatchback, Silver, Petrol, Manual, 3x3 point rear seat belts, Air conditioning, Audio Steering wheel controls, Body coloured bumpers, Drivers airbag, Folding rear seats, Trip Computer, Alloy Wheels, MOT until Feb 2010, Tax untill April 2010, CD Player, Power Steering, Height adjustable drivers seat, Front Electric Windows. £2,000 ONO.

 

Autotrader......

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FTO?

 

1995 M Reg MITSUBISHI FTO 2.0 V6-200 PS GPX

Price: £2,000

Features:

90,000 milesAutomaticRedPetrolCoupe1998 cc

Full Description:

Glossary of Terms

2 Doors, Automatic, Coupe, Petrol, 90,000 miles, Red. Log Book, Free HPI Report, MOT Certificate, Service History, Mileage Verified.

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Unchavved Saxo VTS or Pug 106 GTi if you can find one

Pug 206 GTi-6

Clio 172 (maybe for £2k)

MkII 16v Golf GTi Appreciating classic now

VW Corrado VR6

 

All of those will put a smile on your face and fit in the garage.

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yup, to remind everyone.

I have a VW Passat, that gives me the space I need.

I have a Yamaha Fazer, 0-60 in 4.1 seconds, plenty for me.

Together this is £10k spent of vehicles, hence not wanting to spend more than a couple of K on a knock around car.

 

I need a small car as a run around as my wife will mainly use the Passat.

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yup, to remind everyone.

I have a VW Passat, that gives me the space I need.

I have a Yamaha Fazer, 0-60 in 4.1 seconds, plenty for me.

Together this is £10k spent of vehicles, hence not wanting to spend more than a couple of K on a knock around car.

 

I need a small car as a run around as my wife will mainly use the Passat.

 

I don't believe it, you're kidding me Baj. If I yawn before pulling away I can get the Viffer to make that time. [only kidding, that's not bad] ;)

 

And then there's all the effort the car guys are making to get within... what 4-5 seconds at best of your time..?

 

Get a Yaris, Polo or some Honda car thingy that I can't remember but is reliable.

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If you could possibly manage to buy a Yaris you would not regret it.

They are all of what St Landrew said and you would save money in the long run because they are far less subject to problems than most other small cars. Due to their VVT Technology they drive like a car with a bigger engine, yet have the economy of a smaller one. A person I know bought one on my recommendation and said that it was the best car that they had ever had!!!

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Do you people not get small or something..? Everything you recommend is either 2.0 or extremely ballsy smaller engined. The man has a motorcycle to get his kicks on. It'll outperform anything you suggest by a mile. ;)

Sometimes it's nice to get your kicks when it's been raining too ;)

 

Besides, buying grandma's shopping car is not obligatory once you're over 30.

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i just bought a 94 discovery deisel as a runabout/workhorse kind of thing, was £1500

 

done 108k miles. probably do another 108k miles yet before ive run it into the ground

 

A few years back I had neighbour whose wife had a couple of horses and with about the same amount of money and logic as yourself bought a cheap Discovery.

 

Probably the worse decision he ever made and god knows how much they spent on it or in it parked on roadside verges. Anyway turned out it was an ex UN vehicle and done most of it's life in Bosnia but not in it's metallic(ish) green.

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A few years back I had neighbour whose wife had a couple of horses and with about the same amount of money and logic as yourself bought a cheap Discovery.

 

Probably the worse decision he ever made and god knows how much they spent on it or in it parked on roadside verges. Anyway turned out it was an ex UN vehicle and done most of it's life in Bosnia but not in it's metallic(ish) green.

 

lol! anything i get out of this disco will be amillion miles better than the life of misery ive had with the cayenne the last 3 years

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Would the age of the yaris matter, or are they all good? Seem to be a few around for £2k. At what point should the cam belt be changed? Anything else I should be aware of?

 

Got a sneaky feeling it's a timing chain, so the usual 60,000 miles doesn't apply. Probably 120,000 miles, but that's just a guess. Wait for more informed opinion.

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Got a sneaky feeling it's a timing chain, so the usual 60,000 miles doesn't apply. Probably 120,000 miles, but that's just a guess. Wait for more informed opinion.

Consensus seems to be 90,000. So worth asking any that I look at around 60 to 80k if its been done as it's £300 ish job im assuming...

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Would the age of the yaris matter, or are they all good? Seem to be a few around for £2k. At what point should the cam belt be changed? Anything else I should be aware of?

 

Obviously as with any vehicle, get the lowest mileage car that you can afford with less regard to age. I don't care what anyone may say to the contrary, mileage (or lack of it ) is everything. Having said that, you don't want one that has sustained major damage and been repaired.

Edited by Handyman
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Would the age of the yaris matter, or are they all good? Seem to be a few around for £2k. At what point should the cam belt be changed? Anything else I should be aware of?

 

Baj, buy a Yaris estate, you could start a trend. Seriously for your budget I would avoid anything Asian, French or Italian. Leaves you with a Corsa, Fiesta, Fabia or Polo I reckon. For your money you will be spolit for choice and will come down to age/mileage combination and levels of kit but you will be guaranteed to get a really decent car for your money without any major worries. Its sold now but i know someone who was selling a Fiesta on an 02 plate with less than 20k on the clock for £3,500. Obviously outside your budget but there will be older examples that fit your budget/criteria. A Yaris that has done near to 100k miles may as well have been driven to the moon in 3rd.

 

You want a low price and presumable low running costs and I don't think you'll get that with a Yaris costing £2k. Image is awful if you are under 60 and there will be plenty of under 20 year olds looking to snap up your car when you come to sell it if you stick to the more traditional options in this bracket.

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Yaris is a good call. They've always been well rated in the motoring press.

 

True, when they are brand new, so are most Citreons. At £2k or under age, mileage and condition is all important far more than make and if I was Baj I would even consider a bigger car. You could pick up a mint Mondeo 2.5V6 on a S or a T plate for buttons - he says insurance isn't a problem but don't know about parking or access to an oil well.

 

If his daily mileage is small why not go for a larger car. Will make major savings on price and probably longer term running costs as the engine will be more robust for starters provided you stick with popular makes and don't decide you have no friends and buy a BMW or Audi.

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I would also recommend a Yaris or possibly a Corolla. I bought a 99 Corolla about five years ago and literally nothing has gone wrong with it in that time despite constant abuse. I also know a mechanic who used to work at a main Toyota dealer who has set up on his own and is dirt cheap. A service and MOT has just cost me £110 and I can't see me needing to fork out again until next MOT time. He is local and I can give you his number if you want. For a drink or two, I'm sure he would be happy to have a look at any Toyota you are thinking of buying as well.

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I would also recommend a Yaris or possibly a Corolla. I bought a 99 Corolla about five years ago and literally nothing has gone wrong with it in that time despite constant abuse. I also know a mechanic who used to work at a main Toyota dealer who has set up on his own and is dirt cheap. A service and MOT has just cost me £110 and I can't see me needing to fork out again until next MOT time. He is local and I can give you his number if you want. For a drink or two, I'm sure he would be happy to have a look at any Toyota you are thinking of buying as well.

Cheers $$$, will bear that in mind and would certainly be handy to have someone 'up to date' to look at it. My dad used to work in the factory of Rover years n YEAR ago (obviously) so he's ok with older engines and fault spotting, but not so for the more 'modern' engines.

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You want a low price and presumable low running costs and I don't think you'll get that with a Yaris costing £2k. Image is awful if you are under 60 and there will be plenty of under 20 year olds looking to snap up your car when you come to sell it if you stick to the more traditional options in this bracket.

 

 

I thought your anti-hey-look-at-me-BMW-/-Audi-driver stance meant that you were against people who buy cars for the purposes of image.

 

Now you are recommending that someone doesn't buy a car because of a poor image.

 

Not buying a car because image is poor is as bad as buying a BMW/Audi for image purposes. As I always say, look at the car, not the person driving it.

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No 19C is right, i do care more about how i look than reliability, cost to run, size etc.

 

This is my 3rd vehicle, it could look like a cow**** for all i care

 

 

In that case, don't rule out the the Yaris.

 

In terms of resale, 19C says don't go for the Yaris because you'll be more likely to sell a Fiesta to someone under 20's. Well considering there are far more drivers over the age of 60 (and the gap is increasing with an aging population), then surely you should go for the car that appeals to the widest audience?

 

If his daily mileage is small why not go for a larger car. Will make major savings on price and probably longer term running costs as the engine will be more robust for starters

 

Good, sound advice (probably the best advice from 19C on over 1,720 posts on this forum) and it's the way I would go.

 

provided you stick with popular makes and don't decide you have no friends and buy a BMW or Audi.

 

Clearly someone with 1,720 posts on an internet forum has loads of friends. Many of them can be found on the main board.........not.

 

Anyway, back on topic, I bought a BMW 520 with 130k miles on the clock, ran it for 2 years and put on 50k+ miles, not spending a penny on servicing or maintenance. Total difference between purchase and sale price was £700. Cost of ownership (excluding Fuel, insurance, tax) was 1.2p per mile. There are not many cars that will give you that return.

 

The downside is that you will have to ditch all your jeolous and envious friends (who wants friends like these anyway) and you will have to put up with green eyed monsters glaring at you in traffic.

Edited by Johnny Bognor
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I would personally go for something you aren't going to lose any money on. Something like the mk1 Golf Convertible I suggested would be ideal. I'd preferably get a GTi as the engines will run forever. (My mates Mum had one with over 300k on the clock on the original engine).I've had 2 of them and they are bomb-proof. The only money I had to spend out on either was for a CV boot! They are quick, fun to drive, solidly built, great in the sun and your kids will love going out in it with the roof down. You'll also get classic car insurance on it if you're doing limited mileage and the value will only go up (providing you look after it)

 

Although this one's not a GTi it's a good price and looks very tidy.

 

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/SALES/1121327.htm

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I would personally go for something you aren't going to lose any money on.

 

thumbsup.gif

 

Something like the mk1 Golf Convertible I suggested would be ideal. I'd preferably get a GTi as the engines will run forever. (My mates Mum had one with over 300k on the clock on the original engine).

 

thumbsup.gif

 

They are quick, fun to drive, solidly built, great in the sun and your kids will love going out in it with the roof down. You'll also get classic car insurance on it if you're doing limited mileage and the value will only go up (providing you look after it)).

 

thumbsup.gif

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Don't buy any high mileage car, If you had seen the inside of as many engines as I have you would know why!!! Ford's especially.

 

http://mr2.com/ARTICLE/Mobil1.html

 

Depends on the car and how it has been treated in terms of service history. If there are full service receipts (not just stamps in the book) then surely this would suggest the wear is minimised.

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