Which car?

[Dogsauce]

My dad bought a Morris 1000 off someone at his work in 1976 for a fiver. It'd failed it's MOT but a friend on the street we lived on welded up the floor for a fiver. We got a good few years more out of it, it was always less rusty than the 'K' reg cortina despite being way older, dad claimed it was better, thicker steel. After a gearbox failure it sat in the garage for ten years, had I passed my test at 17 rather than 34 I could have taken it on and had it as my first car. Think my dad sold it for about £300 to someone who got it road worthy again, spotted it a couple of times after. Black with a cool old plate (XHY 7) that's now on a different car, so it probably didn't survive. The plate was supposedly worth about £600 but you had to have some sort of documentation which my dad didn't have because the rule/paperwork was brought in while it was off road.

 

[Roadkill]

Problem with Moggies these days is that the older they become, the rarer they become and the greater prices they fetch.

Tbf they're still pretty common and numbers aren't declining fast these days. I've just looked at How Many Left and there are something like 12,000 Minor 1000s still registered with the DVLA, down from about 16k in the early 90s. Thirty years ago they were being scrapped nine to the dozen as tatty old examples ere worthless, but I doubt many are heading to the breakers yard these days, except for very rusty or damaged ones that have been broken for parts. You can still pick up serviceable - if slightly tatty - saloons for £2,000, although really good ones are worth several times that and cabriolets and travellers even more. As classic cars go, though, they're still pretty cheap and very easy to keep going thanks to simple mechanicals and abundant spare parts.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Problem with Moggies these days is that the older they become, the rarer they become and the greater prices they fetch.
They would certainly make a very interesting project. Anyone remember Nic Mann's Minor, complete with turbo charged Rover V8
with added nitrous oxide for that little bit extra?
Not Nick's minor, but a cool job all the same

I'm not really a fan of 'rodded cars.There's something a bit try-hard about them. Also, I hate the thought of someone chopping a classic, even one as "everyday" as a Moggie.

Amazing how many cars Rover 3.5 V8s ended up in. Buick must have been proud!

 

[Mogden]

Well I've booked my first driving lesson for tomorrow so fingers crossed I'll be making a purchase sooner rather than later.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Well I've booked my first driving lesson for tomorrow so fingers crossed I'll be making a purchase sooner rather than later.

Well done!

 

[Mogden]

Hooray! No stalls. No smashs. Found the biting point okay. No tooting from other drivers. It's best mate Mogden's hubby teaching me. 2 hours down, several more to go.

 

[Tankus]

Rented out a modus a few years back while on holidays in Majorca......not bad , feels more roomy than a fiesta

Not quick , but an easy drive

 

[weepiper]

Has anyone got anything bad to say about a Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 estate? Because there's a 2004 one with 98k miles on Autotrader 2 miles from me for £800 with a full year's MOT, FSH, just had new pads/discs/rear tyres/cambelt and I'm wondering if I should buy it seeing as my car probably needs about £5-600 spent on it to get it through its MOT which is due at the end of the month.

This one was gone by the time I phoned about it but I've just bought a '51 reg Skoda Fabia estate with 41k miles and MOT'd til September for £750. He wanted £900 but the brake discs and pads need doing. Otherwise everything seems sound. Fingers crossed for another couple of years of relatively cheap motoring!

 

[ChrisFilter]

That's a serious bargain. Nice one!

 

[weepiper]

That's a serious bargain. Nice one!

Hope so. He'd been trying to shift it for a month with no interest so I hope there's nothing expensive I haven't spotted vehicle check came up clear, suspension's good, wee bit of rust under one door sill which I'll need to get looked at but otherwise bodywork's great, gearbox/steering etc all feels good. I guess I'll have to drive it for a bit and see.

 

[ChrisFilter]

I got a 05 Peugeot 206 in October. High mileage but for £500 I wasn't bothered. Nice model, sports seats, air con, CD player, nice speakers, etc. Turns out that in heavy rain the driver's footwell fills with water. No a massive problem, tbh. I only use it for getting to the station and back. I just scoop it out with a kid's tumbler, but it explains why it was cheap!

 

[stuff_it]

I loved my 306 estate - need to be careful to get the 2.0l diesel rather than the 1.9l for economy round town and reliability. Look for a Meridian for the early 00's equivalent of "luxury" and spank the rest on stuff like badboy recovery and a phat sound system.

 

[weepiper]

I got a 05 Peugeot 206 in October. High mileage but for £500 I wasn't bothered. Nice model, sports seats, air con, CD player, nice speakers, etc. Turns out that in heavy rain the driver's footwell fills with water. No a massive problem, tbh. I only use it for getting to the station and back. I just scoop it out with a kid's tumbler, but it explains why it was cheap!

 

[mauvais]

I got a 05 Peugeot 206 in October. High mileage but for £500 I wasn't bothered. Nice model, sports seats, air con, CD player, nice speakers, etc. Turns out that in heavy rain the driver's footwell fills with water. No a massive problem, tbh. I only use it for getting to the station and back. I just scoop it out with a kid's tumbler, but it explains why it was cheap!

Probably not hard to fix - e.g. clean out the scuttle panel and water drains; don't need any real mechanical skills, just patience & time.

If you don't, the floor will eventually rust through.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Probably not hard to fix - e.g. clean out the scuttle panel and water drains; don't need any real mechanical skills, just patience & time.

If you don't, the floor will eventually rust through.

The carpet is plastic backed so should be ok. I replaced the door seal and the membrane behind the door card but no joy. Googled all sorts of solutions but none of it has worked. Never mind!

It's done 113k miles so probably not got that long left anyway. Peugeots are shit.

 

[not-bono-ever]

ingress can be a bastard to find if you can be bothered. or bang a six inch nail through the floorpan to allow it to drain out...

 

[ChrisFilter]

ingress can be a bastard to find if you can be bothered. or bang a six inch nail through the floorpan to allow it to drain out...

Yeah - that's probably what I'll do. Although, touch wood, it seems to have stopped. Fingers crossed.

 

[mauvais]

The carpet is plastic backed so should be ok. I replaced the door seal and the membrane behind the door card but no joy. Googled all sorts of solutions but none of it has worked. Never mind!

It's done 113k miles so probably not got that long left anyway. Peugeots are shit.

I get what you're saying, especially since it only cost £500 - but on the other hand, getting your hands on a car where most things work like you describe for £500 isn't trivial. Mileage isn't a big issue and depending on the engine, it could go almost on forever without much more than basic maintenance.

I would have started with what you've done, to be fair; a quick Google reckoned water through the door card and speakers, but I'd also have a look at under or around the windscreen, as in general that where cars get full of crud. Failing that just piss about with a hosepipe for a while and see where it comes in.

 

[SikhWarrioR]

I'm not really a fan of 'rodded cars.There's something a bit try-hard about them. Also, I hate the thought of someone chopping a classic, even one as "everyday" as a Moggie.

Amazing how many cars Rover 3.5 V8s ended up in. Buick must have been proud!

That has to be one of the best decisions BLMC/Rover ever made buying that V8 lump

 

[Dogsauce]

If you don't, the floor will eventually rust through.

I've memories of various cars owned by friends back when I was a teenager (usually minis) where you could see the road through holes in the passenger footwell. The smartass thing to do was to strike a match against the road as it was going along and use it to light a cigarette.

 

[mauvais]

I've memories of various cars owned by friends back when I was a teenager (usually minis) where you could see the road through holes in the passenger footwell. The smartass thing to do was to strike a match against the road as it was going along and use it to light a cigarette.

They used to rust from the outside in, but now galvanisation & proper undersealing has mostly got rid of that, and so much later, they rust from the inside out due to problems like the above.

 

[ViolentPanda]

That has to be one of the best decisions BLMC/Rover ever made buying that V8 lump

Agreed. They were a dream of simplicity to work on, too. I had a mate who serially built kit-cars around the rover V8. The Cobra replica he built was as scary-fast as the real thing, even with a slightly-smaller engine!

 

[SikhWarrioR]

Agreed. They were a dream of simplicity to work on, too. I had a mate who serially built kit-cars around the rover V8. The Cobra replica he built was as scary-fast as the real thing, even with a slightly-smaller engine!

Probably why you very rarely Rover SD1 V8s around the documentation/reg plates and the V8 for kit/custom cars

 

[Mogden]

So as my driving improves, my theory test looms and I'm getting to quite like the idea I think I want to buy a car. I would dearly love my much lusted after Nissan Figaro or a Moggie but I'm realistic and need a scrappy wagon so a few just passed dings and scratches won't make me cry.

I hate Kias cos I'm still traumatised by being squashed in the back of a Picanto in Cyprus and having near concussion from a repeated speed bump/low roof interaction.

So being a girl I do have aesthetic preferences. I don't like big bums on cars, see Clios. I like graceful curves but not heavily so like a Ka. Best mate suggested VWs but I think they've probably got a bit too much rev for a beginner like me.

Budget of a grand roughly speaking I think from what I've seen but that's not an aim, just a suggestion. I'd like a few mod cons but weird stuff like seat warmers is just too weird for me. I don't know where to start. Ford, Citroën, Renault, Fiat....help please

 

[Red Cat]

Update: I got a Honda fr-v. It's just lovely

 

[rubbershoes]

Sold my newish Audi A6 and bought a ....53 reg Cityrover.

From this

hard drive, heated seats, surround sound, all the toys etc etc

to this

It's an absolute disgrace - baggy brakes, noisy, poor fuel economy, shitty handling, intermittently working stereo

It would be ok for someone who had never driven a car before

I'm going to hang on to it for a couple of months and then buy something decent

 

[not-bono-ever]

Update: I got a Honda fr-v. It's just lovely

we tested thos a few year ago- they are nice and solid0 the gearstick was a novelty, as was the 3 seater front.

look after it and it will go on forever

 

[Roadkill]

I hesitate to quote Top Gear, especially this week, but I do remember James May commenting that the publicity shot of the Honda FR-V made it look as if they were driving about with a small girl's severed head stuck on the dashboard:

 

[sovereignb]

Sold my newish Audi A6 and bought a ....53 reg Cityrover.

From this

/QUOTE]

You forgot the most important detail - WHY?

 

[sovereignb]

So as my driving improves, my theory test looms and I'm getting to quite like the idea I think I want to buy a car. I would dearly love my much lusted after Nissan Figaro or a Moggie but I'm realistic and need a scrappy wagon so a few just passed dings and scratches won't make me cry.

I hate Kias cos I'm still traumatised by being squashed in the back of a Picanto in Cyprus and having near concussion from a repeated speed bump/low roof interaction.

So being a girl I do have aesthetic preferences. I don't like big bums on cars, see Clios. I like graceful curves but not heavily so like a Ka. Best mate suggested VWs but I think they've probably got a bit too much rev for a beginner like me.

Budget of a grand roughly speaking I think from what I've seen but that's not an aim, just a suggestion. I'd like a few mod cons but weird stuff like seat warmers is just too weird for me. I don't know where to start. Ford, Citroën, Renault, Fiat....help please

I think it depends how much your gonna drive and if your planning to keep it for long? I personally wouldnt invest in a Fiat/Renault/Citreon with high mileage. Renaults (from my experience) can be very technical, at least the new ones.

Stick with Ford, a small engine VW shouldnt be too much aggro as well a Vauxhall (e.g Corsa)