Rover 400 saloon diesel; cheep, reliable, ideal bangernomics choice.

Honda Accord 1.8 iVTEC saloon/hatch, probably better in every way appart form being a bit more dosh and not as econimical

Red Alfa Romeo 156 saloon, vitesse bodykit, sport model, cloverleaf wheels, this I know will probaby cripple me financialy every time the electrics blink, drink petrol, cost almost double to insure, and probably not any better to drive after 10 years on the road. But my god it’s prety!

Whichever one I get it’s going to be regretted as either boring and shit, a bad comprimise or Italian, what would you buy?

A Skoda.

Octavia VRS to be precise.

German or Japanese for me. Honda wins. I’d never buy a rover

How much money do you have to keep the car running? If it’s not a lot, you know which one is the right choice….

The issue with the Alfa is that it’s not just the electrics, cause you could (just about) live with that. It’s all the other stuff too, like the engine breaking, and costing as much as the residual value of the car to fix; it’s the clutch cable going at 70 on a dual carriageway; it’s the brakes stopping functioning.
Obviously all these things do happen to other cars, it’s just that they seem to happen more often (and more expensively?) on Alfas than Hondas, for example…

Having said that, if you can afford to keep it going (or bin it if it really breaks), go for it. You only live once, and life’s too short to be driving something you hate just because it’s sensible!

German and Diesel

Go with your heart. For years I’ve driven boring diesels (Lagunas, Octavias, Mondeos, Civics). Both the Civic and Mondeo had expensive repairs required of them, so you never really know what you’re getting. I now have a Lotus and by God it is fun 😀

The Alfa 156’s are pretty reliable. Go look on Pistonheads. It’s just people still spout Alfa rubbish.

If it’s bangernomics you’re after though…has to be the Honda out of that list.

(Although I’d be tempted with the Alfa myself)

. I now have a Lotus and by God it is fun

But doesn’t (officially) take even one forward facing child seat 🙁 hence the passing of mine.
My Elise was actually one of the more reliable cars I’ve owned, K Series tciked along nicely and wasn’t really stressed by 800Kg of mass to push about. The drivers window fell into the slot once, I caught it, puled it out and a bit of Araldite sorted it out 🙂

Alfas though .. like a high maintenance girlfriend .. I’d steer well clear. I know around 4 people who fell under their spell, everyone has a 4 figure bill story. Still can’t help but want a Spider though.

Pretty and sporty do not fit into the bangernomics principles, pick one or the other. Or, as I do, pick both and spend most of your time driving a low cost, low failure, low fuel use car and use the sporty fun one at the weekend.

has to be the Honda out of that list, although I’d be tempted with the Alfa myself

nail —-> head

But doesn’t (officially) take even one forward facing child seat hence the passing of mine

Who needs a car seat?

There are quite a lot of things that can go wrong with any car at that age. There are loads of cheap 156’s available, so do your research here, keep an eye on the fluids, and drive the one you know you really want.

PS 1.8 Accords are dull, and the only reason to buy a 400 is if it’s a diesel (they were designed by Honda).

Option D. Golf mk4.

Honda Accord gets my vote. How much is it?

If it is true bangernomics anything you fancy is worth a punt at the right price. Used to base mine on getting around a month of use for each £20 spent.
Make sure the 156 is a 2.0 at least, otherwise it’ll just be a sluggish car and haze your hopes of it.
Honda will have the more expensive parts, and if its old, no matter what it is, it’ll be needing some. 1x Honda part @£100ea. or 5x Ford parts at £20ea.

Diesel 400 would be the cheapest of that bunch I reckon for driving on the cheap, if it’s a 2.0 diesel it should be the Perkins engine, which will certainly outlast the rest of the vehicle. Pretty popular with farmers round here because of that diesel engine and cheapness.

Honda for sure. Had a 98 Civic VTi, other than the clutch going around 120,000 it never went wrong, even the original exhaust.
I miss that car, I really enjoyed thrashing that every day.
Hondas of late 90’s ilk are regarded as some of the most reliable cars they ever made.

You might be able to run that Rover on chip fat too actually.

I had 4 alfa bangers and I never learned my lesson.

Alfas get you like that. I have killed a 33 Greencloverleaf, a Sud Sprint Green Cloverleaf, a GTV2000 (120mph, threw a conrod) and a 75 Veloce, which might as well have been a clown car the way it fell apart.

But you make a lot of new friends with an old Alfa. Especially in the AA. Both of them.

it’s the clutch cable going at 70 on a dual carriageway

two points:
1) why would a clutch cable “go” when under no strain?
2) my 156 had a hydraulic clutch

go for the Alfa. an early 156 would be pretty close to bangernomics now anyway. Just make sure the cambelt has been changed every 36k miles and that the oil is kept topped up

Make sure the 156 is a 2.0 at least, otherwise it’ll just be a sluggish car and haze your hopes of it

mine was a 1.6 t-spark & it was as quick as the 2.0d BMW and 1.9TiD Saab I’ve had since