Small car high mileage

[robert.saunders]

Its just occurd to me.

Fords are cheap to fix and anyone can fix them! The reasoning behind this as an excuse to buy one, is you expect to have lots of problems needing fixing and keeps the cost of your motoring down.

VW tends to be dearer to fix, anyone can fix them too, they are common, but they tend not to go broke quite as often. This keeps the cost of your motoring down.

Same result, just too different ways to get to it!

That's the point I was trying to make in post 59 But you explained better than I did in my short tome, whereas your post here makes better, if somewhat lengthy, reading

 

[scumbag]

That's the point I was trying to make in post 59 But you explained better than I did in my short tome, whereas your post here makes better, if somewhat lengthy, reading

thats me, short and straight to the point.

In a roundabout way that is.

 

[Will]

Its just occurd to me.

Fords are cheap to fix and anyone can fix them! The reasoning behind this as an excuse to buy one, is you expect to have lots of problems needing fixing and keeps the cost of your motoring down.

VW tends to be dearer to fix, anyone can fix them too, they are common, but they tend not to go broke quite as often. This keeps the cost of your motoring down.

Same result, just too different ways to get to it!

I might not be a bad idea to get the AA/RAC to do an independant inspection of the suitable car before purchase. And I am still and advocate of having it fully and comprehensively serviced as soon as you take ownership. That would include new brake pads/shoes all round. And I would seriously consider new tyres and alignment. After all, they are the only bit holding you to the road! You can tyre most cars for around £200 with decent new tyres that will last.

I like your way of thinking

This is what the last chap did with one of the 190s. Full open-chequebook service at Mercedes-Benz, 5 new tyres, a new windscreen, new MB battery and a new alarm and immobiliser.

He obviously didn't faff about, no nonsense and to be honest it's been a great car, a joy to own and drive.

If you can afford this approach it would be nice, but I guess for general 'runabout' cars like Polos etc it might cost a large chunk of the car's value.

New tyres is a good start, and perhaps get a full MOT put on it even if there's a few months left - for £50 it's a pretty comprehensive check and you'll know where you stand with it.

Will

 

[scumbag]

There is a Baleno kicking about on this forum that I had the dubious honour of owning and caring for, for a few years before its present home.

On picking it up at vast expense (£!) it got a full service and MOT, which included new plugs, cam belt change, and all fluids (Oil, brake, coolant)except gearbox. (garage man was unable to get the nut out, but its current owner got it out, and oil in the eye as a result). Came to about £300 all in.

It got new Hankook tyres that winter for £149 for all four and alignment was checked and was ok. I bet those tyres are still on it. Prior to them it had comedy handling as standard!

At its next MOT it got new brake pads, and disks on the front and an exhaust repair as it looked like it wouldn't last much longer, and 3 brake pipes renewed as they would have corroded further and failed the next MOT. Cost was about £300 again.

Early last year it found its way to its current owner. Good car for what it was, and will go on forever. It just wasn't as good as the current clatterwagon for long distance travel, economy and peace of mind while i got settled here, north of the artic circle! It didn't have heated seats either.

And I didn't care about its bodywork, so if it got hit, and dented, so what! It was to biff about in, not care about. Doesn't stop you making it mechanically reliable though.

With the above costs, add in insurance, road tax and the fuel (I did about 5k miles a years in it) it costs was around £1000 a year. Almost similar to the clatterwagon, but thats done 14000 in a year.

I like your way of thinking

He obviously didn't faff about, no nonsense and to be honest it's been a great car, a joy to own and drive.

If you can afford this approach it would be nice, but I guess for general 'runabout' cars like Polos etc it might cost a large chunk of the car's value.

New tyres is a good start, and perhaps get a full MOT put on it even if there's a few months left - for £50 it's a pretty comprehensive check and you'll know where you stand with it.

Will

 

[mkindy]

Thats the first time I've seen a comment where someone thinks that if a car is easy to work on it's because they breakdown a lot! I suppose that's why older Mercs are popular in 3rd world countries because they are easy to work on and reliable...Perhaps easy to work on might be due to good design? As far as being seen in a VW but not a Skoda, why is that? They are 90% the same, and if reports are to go on the Skodas are very popular and well thought of.

Don't you just love brand loyalty, stick the right badge on something and you can sell whatever you like at whatever price. Makes me laugh when I see people buy over priced watches from that well known watch maker Addidas, when the same watch is £15 from Argos with anyother name on it.

 

[scumbag]

vauxhalls are designed to be serviced quickly. They say as much in the brochures. Keeps the cost of motoring down!

Skoda's are very good and people keep them a while. Some people do think that the car they are seen in says a lot about them. But Ka's were designed with a market segment in mind. Some cars are also marketed like that.

SEAT was marketed to go after the youth, and Skoda to go after the people who are careful with money, (Which tends to be the older and more wiser of society). VW market to pick up the people who have brand allgiencies!

If you fall for marketing twaddle, you will buy a car in your segment.

If you reaseach about cars, you will find cars that suit your budget. There is no getting away from the facts that the VW stable of cars, are generally better put together and more reliable than the competition.

FORDS may do the job equally as well as the others, but when you have a choice, they are not always the winners for a number of reasons.

One of which is how you feel about the way people see you in it!

Something a new female driver will be quite conscious of I should think.

I like to buy a car out of character, it seems to annoy others for some reason! I have never understood why people spend more time thinking about why i should drive something different to suit my personality when they should really be more concerned about more important things!

And FORDs are built to a budget and it shows. All other cars are too, but most of the european types manage to make it feel better than its price would show.

 

[Howard]

I'm not suggesting that you should buy one ....

But i have to just say thay the Ka we have , has never let us down , is nippy ( ish ) around town , has nice responsive steering , is like a little go-kart to drive.

I drove it to Devon last year , and it was fine on the motorway , sat at 75-80 no probs , got out of it feeling ok ( more than i can say for my old CRX after a 250 mile drive ) .... never missed a beat.

Angela has owned it since it had 15k on the clock , it now has 51k on the clock , and it has never ever gone wrong ( bar the TPS , that was a DIY fix ) ..

Surprisingly roomy inside ( had a 5 drawer chest in it the other day ) ...

I would never have bought a Ford , until i drove the Ka , i don't know , maybe we have a special one , but it seems nice enough , is inoffensive , and as far as i am concerned is a good car.

Designed for the younger driver , which is why all the bumpers ( at least on the early models ) were detachable in segments and not colour coded like everything is nowadays , which meant that if you had a bump you could go and buy a new bit , don't worry about having it painted and just bolt it on.

Ours is a 1.3 with an engine that first saw service as Noahs outboard on his tender to the Ark. The more modern ones have sweeter engines with a bit more power ( my only real gripe about the Ka )

Just my 2p

 

[Vickster]

I've had 6 Fiats over the last 11 years - 4 Mk1 puntos and 2 non-turbo coupes. Never had a major issue with any - just regular servicing and wear and tear like tyres and brakes. I wouldn't discount a Mk2 punto or a Stilo if you want bigger

Saxos are meant to be appalling for safety and Ibizas pretty good. On the VW front, a friend of mine had a Polo (something like a P reg) and she had nothing but trouble with it.

Another pal had a Ka - thanks to some idiot not seeing her when he pulled out on an M'way, she lost control avoiding him and ended up hitting the central reservation at high speed and walked away without a scratch

If the buyer is going to be spending a lot of time on m'ways, go for a bigger car like Golf or Focus (although for me, they both have shockingly hard and uncomfortable seats). If it is an urban runaround, go for a supermini like a Ka, Punto, Ibiza as it'll be far easier to drive and park

 

[C43AMG]

I like your way of thinking

This is what the last chap did with one of the 190s. Full open-chequebook service at Mercedes-Benz, 5 new tyres, a new windscreen, new MB battery and a new alarm and immobiliser.

He obviously didn't faff about, no nonsense and to be honest it's been a great car, a joy to own and drive.

If you can afford this approach it would be nice, but I guess for general 'runabout' cars like Polos etc it might cost a large chunk of the car's value.

New tyres is a good start, and perhaps get a full MOT put on it even if there's a few months left - for £50 it's a pretty comprehensive check and you'll know where you stand with it.

Will

That's exactly what i did when i got the C43. I took it to Tony's ( TM Motors ) he went over it with a fine tooth comb. New Disc's, Pads, brake fluid etc and that's why mine has been a joy to drive.

 

[verytalldave]

A Peugeot 106 or a Renault Clio make an affordable choice - despite what's been posted earlier. Given your budget of £1500, any Polo in that price bracket will be getting very long in tooth with its attendant higher running costs. Insurance costs to be kept in mind as well. Both the 106 and Clio are cheaper to insure than a Polo. And I am 6'4" and fit into both fairly easily.
And both seem to be liked and driven by younger drivers.
Saxos dont fair well in a crash. Best avoided.

 

[MBManInKen]

I would never have bought a Ford , until i drove the Ka , i don't know , maybe we have a special one , but it seems nice enough , is inoffensive , and as far as i am concerned is a good car.

But would you want to be in one in an accident?

It's frontal score in the NCAP is only 6 , and this is what they have to say about it:

The Ka gains most of its score from side impact and was particularly poor in protecting the driver’s legs from serious injury. Although we have awarded three stars the Ka only just gets into this rating.

The same model year (2000) Polo scores 11 frontal and get 4 stars:

This is a strong small car with an all-round performance that protects the adult occupants. The structure was stable and the driver’s door could still be opened after the frontal impact.

 

[st4]

I'm not suggesting that you should buy one ....

But i have to just say thay the Ka we have , has never let us down , is nippy ( ish ) around town , has nice responsive steering , is like a little go-kart to drive.

I drove it to Devon last year , and it was fine on the motorway , sat at 75-80 no probs , got out of it feeling ok ( more than i can say for my old CRX after a 250 mile drive ) .... never missed a beat.

Angela has owned it since it had 15k on the clock , it now has 51k on the clock , and it has never ever gone wrong ( bar the TPS , that was a DIY fix ) ..

Surprisingly roomy inside ( had a 5 drawer chest in it the other day ) ...

I would never have bought a Ford , until i drove the Ka , i don't know , maybe we have a special one , but it seems nice enough , is inoffensive , and as far as i am concerned is a good car.

Designed for the younger driver , which is why all the bumpers ( at least on the early models ) were detachable in segments and not colour coded like everything is nowadays , which meant that if you had a bump you could go and buy a new bit , don't worry about having it painted and just bolt it on.

Ours is a 1.3 with an engine that first saw service as Noahs outboard on his tender to the Ark. The more modern ones have sweeter engines with a bit more power ( my only real gripe about the Ka )

Just my 2p

Its true that the 1.3 engine started life in the 1960's and hasn't seen any huge modification thru the ages.

Although its now a 12 year old design appearance wise its stood the test of time well, and hasn't dated at all IMO. Few cars have done that. Avoid looking at scenario's where someone has lived after a crash in one car and not the other type of car as in a crash sometimes your lucky (like me). No two car crashes are identical so your looking @ apples and pears when comparing safety. Hence the NCAP test to give some idea @ how a car would perform. But its not that good a test (only 40mph). I'd love to do the same test on supermini's @ 100mph vs a saloon car with 5 stars and see what the result would be then. My W211 has 5 stars NCAP, so does a Renaut modus. Which one would you rather be in @ 70mph in a crash.

I was in a double roll over when my mate decided to flip is 325i E36. Not a scratch on either of us, now that model of car hasn't a great NCAP rating, or any massive safety tech, we were just lucky the way it landed and what it hit in its path thru the air, ditch and field.

 

[Howard]

Guido , that's why i started my post with :-

' I'm not suggesting that you should buy one .... '

Angela bought it because it's what she could afford at the time , and lets face it , we all buy cars that we like, if we were to always look at the worst case scenario , and buy because of it , we'd all be driving around in whatever was the best NCAP rating ....

But because we like our cars , we drive them , and because some of us can't actually afford the latest safest model.

I'm thinking about a BM 7 series , not because it is a safer car than my w124 , just because i fancy a change. Hadn't even thought about safety to be honest.

 

[glojo]

C'mon gang let's pull together

fate has decide to through a blooming great big spanner in the works.

I have to travel on a special flotation unit and we got as far as Totnes when fzzzzzzzzzzz The Fzzzz ing fuse on this unit blew. We have a spare, so fortunately I put that in, but we then had problems resetting the electronics, so home we came

I feel for my daughter as she was looking forward to seeing these cars.

I am trying to get over this journey, then I'll sort out the stretcher and then look at the time

I don't suppose we have any forum members that live in either Plympton or Plymstock? That is where we were off to look at these cars.

I take on-board all the very valid points.

I am continually looking to see if there are any new Polo's
Seat's
Skoda's
Peugeot's
or my son has also suggested Renault Megan??

I'm not fussed about size and would try to encourage my daughter to select something not too small.

I was abroad when my wife learnt to drive, she had lessons in a Mini, passed her test at midday, then that evening she jumped into a Cortina estate and drove overnight to Brize Norton to pick me up. My point being her first car was a 2ltr Cortina estate. Size of vehicle is irrelevant and I'm guided by what my daughter likes. She will not be going on any motorways, nor doing any type of high mileage. Fuel economy is also not an issue as we are talking nothing bigger than 2ltr. I also don't give a flying fig about carbon footprint, hand-print nor nasal print. I want a car my daughter likes, and I appreciate ALL the excellent information that is being offered.

I'm certain that if I asked a similar question on a Rover forum I would also receive advice that would be brand biased. I accept that and take on-board all the excellent points.

If we think back to our youth did we keep our cars for any length of time or did we change them more often? My thoughts are that this first car will probably go after a year or so, and if I can buy one with any type of warranty then that should cover the first year of motoring. I doubt I will fin d a twelve month warranty, but I would hope we could quickly detect any major faults and have them sorted in the first few weeks\months.

My daughter was adamant she wanted a Polo until she saw a Focus, now the Polo goes on the back burner. I have expressed my concerns, showed her Jay's excellent post and let her make a decision. I go along with Scumbag, and who cares what vehicle other folks drive, as long as they are happy.

Thanks to this thread I am more aware of NCAP ratings and the Focus holds it's own in that regard.

I'm a bit crook at the moment so please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes

John

 

[scumbag]

If we think back to our youth did we keep our cars for any length of time or did we change them more often? My thoughts are that this first car will probably go after a year or so, and if I can buy one with any type of warranty then that should cover the first year of motoring. I doubt I will fin d a twelve month warranty, but I would hope we could quickly detect any major faults and have them sorted in the first few weeks\months.

Well ok then.

A mini 1000, 1976 p reg. Bought Jan 1988, sold April 1998.
Second car, Vauxhall Nova SR, New March 1988. sold Aug 1990. (Was a vauxhall man right up until a SEAT Ibiza GTI came along iin 1995. All of the Novas faults were due to me crashing it. The same with the last Vauxhall I had with was a Corsa GSI!

You may have gleaned by now, that I tend to like the boy racer types of cars.

In fact 2 of the 3 mercedes, and one jeep apart, all the cars I have had have been the performance variant!

Don't know if that means anything.

I still think the Fiat 500 is the option tho!

 

[timskemp]

I also don't give a flying fig about carbon footprint, hand-print nor nasal print.

I like you even more now you said that!

 

[Vickster]

A new Fiat 500 will cost £7000+ (if you can get one), the OP's budget is £1500 The old 500, as great as it is, will not meet the OP's safety needs!

 

[Carrotchomper]

I can add to the comments about the Focus being an excellent car. The handling is very, very sharp- Particularly on the saloon, they are generally well-equipped and moreover, cheap as chips to buy and run.

They are the standard fleet car at work and rarely go wrong. Except when I, ahem, break them.

 

[scumbag]

A new Fiat 500 will cost £7000+ (if you can get one), the OP's budget is £1500 The old 500, as great as it is, will not meet the OP's safety needs!

Yes..........explaination

 

[scumbag]

I can add to the comments about the Focus being an excellent car. The handling is very, very sharp- Particularly on the saloon, they are generally well-equipped and moreover, cheap as chips to buy and run.

They are the standard fleet car at work and rarely go wrong. Except when I, ahem, break them.

and all managed without the use of ******** bad language too.

Well ******** done, ****!