Best cheap car you've ever owned?

[Cowley]

Following on from Kermits thread on worst cars. Has anyone bought an old car for peanuts and then found it to be a bit of a gem?
I've had a couple. An old silver mk1 VW Passat hatchback, I think it was a 1.8 petrol and was already nearly twenty years old when I got it. Bought for a hundred quid off a mate and incredibly ugly with one different coloured door too, the thing just went on and on and on.
Also a red Nissan Serena, again pretty ugly, but with 8 seats and loads of room it was very useful. We paid about £650 for it and took it to Nottingham, Wales, London, France (twice), we used it as a camper and for carting logs around. Had it for about four years and it barely cost us a penny.
Still got £300 for it when we sold it too.
Any others?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

My car was free - it came from my father in law about 14 years ago... Still runs very nicely.

 

[Cowley]

My car was free - it came from my father in law about 14 years ago... Still runs very nicely.

Well that definitely fits the criteria

 

[Bromley boy]

Following on from Kermits thread on worst cars. Has anyone bought an old car for peanuts and then found it to be a bit of a gem?
I've had a couple. An old silver mk1 VW Passat hatchback, I think it was a 1.8 petrol and was already nearly twenty years old when I got it. Bought for a hundred quid off a mate and incredibly ugly with one different coloured door too, the thing just went on and on and on.
Also a red Nissan Serena, again pretty ugly, but with 8 seats and loads of room it was very useful. We paid about £650 for it and took it to Nottingham, Wales, London, France (twice), we used it as a camper and for carting logs around. Had it for about four years and it barely cost us a penny.
Still got £300 for it when we sold it too.
Any others?

Focus mark 1. 1.616v zetec. With 135000 miles on the clock. Bought for £700 a few years back after I'd had a long break from driving due to living in central London and needed a cheapy to restart my no claims.

Ran like a Swiss watch for 18 months and 15000 miles - I took it to over 150k. Sailed through service and MOT. Handled like a peach, better than some much more serious and expensive "performance" cars I've owned in my time. Sold on for £500. Brilliant!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

My very first car, a 1994 Renault 5 Campus which I bought for £425 in 2007. It had two previous owners, the first being a little old lady who lived in Dunster and only used it to go to Taunton twice a month. The second owner was slightly boy-racer-ish but only had it for 3 months so didn't have chance to wreck it. He did however fit some very nice speakers, which was nice of him. It had only 36,000 miles on the clock when I got it, it ran like new and was ridiculously cheap to run, while not being slow by any stretch. The only downside was that it had the same 1.4l engine as found in the GT Turbo version of the R5- but without the turbo intercooler- so it did have a tendency to overheat on long motorway journeys!

 

[gg1]

The 9 year old Rover 400 diesel I bought for £650 in 2003 turned out to be something of a bargain. It covered 30,000 miles in the 4 years I owned it, never failed to start, never broke down and the most expensive work it needed was a new exhaust back box which was less than £100 IIRC.

 

[GusB]

I've acquired 3 of my cars via my dad, free of charge. Two of them were Mk1 Ford Fiestas (keep a hammer in the boot for starter issues) and the third was a Citroen Xsara.

The only car I've ever bought was an L-plate Nissan Micra which cost me £350. A friend of mine was upgrading and getting rid of her old car. It was only on the journey home that I noticed that the clutch was slipping... £250 to fix! I can't really complain too much, though. Up until then I'd been spending £35 a week having to catch two buses to get to and from work. The Micra only cost me about £25-30 a month in fuel and the direct journey home took less than quarter of the time. I'd have another one in a heartbeat if I knew it was rust-free.

 

[richw]

I've had a few, best was a 12 year old Xsara 1.9d, non turbo, £200 off a mate who was going to scrap in. I ran it for 18 months, 25000 miles without fault. I still don't understand why mate was scrapping it!

I've currently got a 2007 BMW 118d which was given to us by father in law when he had to give up driving. Passed mot yesterday with no advisories. Our other car is also a fit in theory, although I paid £8000 for it, it was the cheapest on auto trader in the country at the time. When purchased it was 18 months old, Vauxhall Zafira Tourer which would fade been around £23k new so unbelievable depreciation for the first owner!

 

[CarlSilva]

BMW 528i with silly aftermarket alloy wheels. Got the factory standard wheels and tyres from a breakers yard, sold the alloys for nearly as much as I paid for the car. Result.

 

[yorksrob]

I've never driven, however, when I was a child, my parents owned a Vauxhall Chevette which went for years and years and years without problems. I remember going on holiday to Devon one summer and going past all the posher cars that had broken down.

 

[Ash Bridge]

I've never driven, however, when I was a child, my parents owned a Vauxhall Chevette which went for years and years and years without problems. I remember going on holiday to Devon one summer and going past all the posher cars that had broken down.

Blimey, not heard of one of those being mentioned for a long time, if I'm remembering correctly the Chevette was the replacement for the Viva which my dad owned three of, they were also our means of conveyance for holidays to Cornwall back in the 1970s.

 

[yorksrob]

Blimey, not heard of one of those being mentioned for a long time, if I'm remembering correctly the Chevette was the replacement for the Viva which my dad owned three of, they were also our means of conveyance for holidays to Cornwall back in the 1970s.

Yes, my dad had a green Viva before the Chevette, however I don't recall much of it's performance as I was generally preoccupied with motion sickness

 

[AlterEgo]

A Suzuki Alto. Incredibly efficient and simple to drive; I got 50mpg combined if I was careful.

It was written off after only 6 weeks of ownership though thanks to a plonker on his mobile phone (not me!).

 

[Ash Bridge]

Yes, my dad had a green Viva before the Chevette, however I don't recall much of it's performance as I was generally preoccupied with motion sickness

I can sympathise with you there as my cousin (who also suffered from car sickness) occasionally travelled with us on what was then a journey which could easily take 11 hours and more with him sometimes causing us to make an unscheduled stop before we had even managed to leave Cheshire.

 

[Cowley]

Yes, my dad had a green Viva before the Chevette, however I don't recall much of it's performance as I was generally preoccupied with motion sickness

That reminds me that we had a succession of Minis when I was a kid, we had an old one that was yellow and unbreakable, there were storage pockets either side of the rear seat and I filled one of them up with vomit after spending too much time concentrating on the Beano on a long journey.
After that we bought a brand new one, it was a white Y reg (don't ask me why Reg) and it was nothing but trouble and forever going back to the garage. A proper Friday afternoon car.

 

[yorksrob]

I can sympathise with you there as my cousin (who also suffered from car sickness) occasionally travelled with us on what was then a journey which could easily take 11 hours and more with him sometimes causing us to make an unscheduled stop before we had even managed to leave Cheshire.

Oh dear, sounds fragrant

To be fair, I don't blame the Viva. It was before I learnt to look out the window properly.

 

[meridian2]

A Skoda Superb, top trim spec, interior like a limo. Good mpg from the diesel, 5 years ownership so far. Cost £2k.

Cars I wish I'd kept - the Mini van in which I courted my wife (bought for £350, sold for same). A good one costs north of 10k today.

 

[yorksrob]

That reminds me that we had a succession of Minis when I was a kid, we had an old one that was yellow and unbreakable, there were storage pockets either side of the rear seat and I filled one of them up with vomit after spending too much time concentrating on the Beano on a long journey.
After that we bought a brand new one, it was a white Y reg (don't ask me why Reg) and it was nothing but trouble and forever going back to the garage. A proper Friday afternoon car.

Ooh dear, come to think of it, I do vaguely remember the storage pockets !

 

[D365]

Oh cool, I was actually thinking about starting a discussion about cheap cars as I'm looking at buying something for my commute to a placement job. My parents bought a Ford Fiesta ecoboost last year under my recommendation, fantastic little car and it's done 10,000 miles under our ownership already. But I've only ever driven a Fiesta and I'm not a fan of the older ones, so I want to try something different...

I keeping saying to them that an Audi A3 diesel might be nice, but do I have the money?!

 

[richw]

..

I keeping saying to them that an Audi A3 diesel might be nice, but do I have the money?!

Modern Diesels are a false economy. Unless you regularly thrash on the motorway, they suffer EGR and DPF issues which cost far more than the gained mpg.
My mates got a 1.6 petrol A3 which has been bullet proof in the 4 years he has had it and returning close to 40mpg. Petrol versions are also cheaper to buy than their diesel counterparts

 

[Kite159]

My first car cost me £100 for a 1983 VW Polo, came with a 1 litre engine. Kept it for a couple years when doing my driving lessons and as a cheap car to get me to college, sold it afterwards for £125.

Was pretty much bullet proof apart from needing a new clutch due to age.

 

[D365]

Modern Diesels are a false economy. Unless you regularly thrash on the motorway, they suffer EGR and DPF issues which cost far more than the gained mpg.
My mates got a 1.6 petrol A3 which has been bullet proof in the 4 years he has had it and returning close to 40mpg. Petrol versions are also cheaper to buy than their diesel counterparts

It's going to be a 40-50 minute drive most days, and definitely not a newer Audi. >40mpg would be ideal but I also would like a bit of performance in it.

 

[richw]

It's going to be a 40-50 minute drive most days, and definitely not a newer Audi. >40mpg would be ideal but I also would like a bit of performance in it.

The older 1.9 TDI would be good for that, but the newer 1.6 and 2.0 diesel would be asking for problems.

The 1.9 tdi will go on forever with the right care.

 

[EM2]

Probably the best was a Datsun Cherry, that I bought very cheap on Christmas Eve, in the dark and the rain.
I don't think I spent a penny on it regarding maintenance, and it never let me down at all. I only sold it because the garage I worked next door to had a really nice Mazda coupé come in as a p/x, and were flogging it cheap.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I still miss my Toyota Aygo Blue, 07 model. I bought it new, £7k it cost, and that little thing went through hell and came out the other side. We drove it from Newcastle to Munich and back once and it coped brilliantly on the Autobahnen, and it got through floodwater on Thunder Thursday that bigger and more expensive cars didn't manage. The only big thing was the exhaust fell off on the A69- covered under warranty- and by the end the starter motor was shot.

The ex kept it, and I still miss that little thing.

That said, my new missus has got herself a Fiesta Ecoboost Titanium (I get the Metro and the bus...) and that thing is wonderful.

 

[Howardh]

Loved the Cirtoen AX echo diesel, was superb until it faild it's mOTs on emissions, so bought a Saxo which lasted 10yrs+ and was brilliant, and now hopefully the brand new Hyundai i10 (1 ltr petrol) will be just as good. Ex-showroom model, 10 miles, £8495, had it a month and just lovin' it. 45 mpg too, although should be better but been driving round with three adults in, probably doubling the weight.....

 

[D365]

The older 1.9 TDI would be good for that, but the newer 1.6 and 2.0 diesel would be asking for problems.

The 1.9 tdi will go on forever with the right care.

If it gets me a 0-60 time of about 10 seconds then I'm happy

That said, my new missus has got herself a Fiesta Ecoboost Titanium (I get the Metro and the bus...) and that thing is wonderful.

Yeah the new model is fantastic... new missus and new Fiesta alike

 

[Lrd]

I had a 2003 VW Passat, 1.9 TDi which I bought for £850. Absolutely loved it, it had plenty of power and was very comfortable. Unfortunately it died due to turbo/air problems and was too expensive to fix so it was scrapped last year.

I'm now on a 2001 Mini Cooper 1.6l which is like a go cart but not very comfortable and has heavy steering and hard suspension but it is very fun to drive. Only got it for £1500 and it looks great and had a lot of work done to it.

When I move out of London at some point, I'll likely go back to a VW Passat hopefully. Can't beat that German engineering.

 

[507021]

I bought an 03-reg Renault Laguna in May 2015 for £700, and I can say hand on heart it is the best car I have ever owned. It's sailed through both MoTs I've put it through so far and it never fails to start first time. I've replaced the clutch (which it did over 100k on), brake pads and tyres, but that's it. I'm planning on keeping it for a good few years yet, that I can safely say.

 

[richw]

If it gets me a 0-60 time of about 10 seconds then I'm happy




Yeah the new model is fantastic... new missus and new Fiesta alike

Should achieve 10 seconds.

I had a 1.0 ecoboost fiesta titanium last year for a few weeks from Enterprise. Thought it was fantastic albeit too small for my day to day needs.