Need to replace my current MOT failure cheap, looking at a small engine £500-650 or under, if possible trying to get a couple of years out of it so more than the next mot.

I use the bike daily for work and only need the car to get to races on the weekend, therefore I’m not that keen on a wedge of cash sat out the front of the house rusting away.

My last car was a ’96 micra brought off a mate so minimum rip-off protection was needed, I’m pretty clueless with cars on the whole.
Fair to say any car that price is going to have problems, whats the obvious stuff you look for?

I know Nissans have the front cross member rust fault.
Mayo under the oil caps?
Rust on arches / sills
Test drive to see if it steers straight

Decent quality matching tyres. Suggests to me a car has been maintained properly rather than on the cheap.

At that price I buy from classifieds, then later sell again on ebay. Maybe I had a lucky run but I was alway able to sell a year or two later with out tax or mot for the same price as I bought with tax and mot (within £10 or so)

Ta! noted,

The other thing I don’t get, this has happened 3 times this week with different people, I’ll ask ‘where’d you get the car from’ ‘well, you see, my mate has a garage and gives me first option on any part-ex’s so I buy them off him and sell them on’

Is the garage selling dodgy stuff out the back door or making more keeping it off the books?

Thanks, yeah Autotraders been the port of call so far, I’ve been looking for another Micra as I’m familiar with them, but all the one’s I’ve seen are showing the same (or worse) rust problems as mine.

i buy off my mate at the garage

my last buy was given in leiu of payment when the owner died after having alot of work done on the car.

my mates garage doesnt run on cars – he needs cash to pay the bills, i needed a car so i exchanged it for folding.

What i do know though is that he wouldnt knowingly sell me shite – my family give him alot of business. – ok i wont win every time there are things that even he wont be able to predict but so far buying from him ive come out well .

Is the garage selling dodgy stuff out the back door or making more keeping it off the books?

The seller needs a bluff story because they are a trader (buying and selling cars for profit with the responsibilities to the seller and the tax man that entails) posing as a private seller. A garage can sell to anyone they like ‘mates’ or otherwise. You’re asking where they got the car because you’re presumably expecting that they are the owner of the car rather than a dealer in cars. Traders should clearly declare themselves as traders because the deal with you (sale of goods act) is different than it is with a genuine private seller (a straight buyer beware with no comeback). Because they are trading the the log book will have someone elses name on or they will only have been the keeper for a short while so they need to give some blarney to explain that away

Thanks maccruiskeen, I’d rather go fully private but you never know till you get there.

– Well, until now I’ve not been asking till I got there…

when you phone up, just say youre phoning about the car (rather than phoning about the nissan)
if hes a trader he is then forced to say ‘which one?’
unless he only has one car for sale of course.

good tip that marty

Theres a Toyota Corrolla —-> I’d offer 590 if its good. With bangers try to testdrive for 30mins (fully heated up/settled temp guage) and without the seller distracting you with conversation.

Buy on condition.

Nice people generally have nice cars.
Best cars I have had have been from Doctors or retired people in posh areas

As above: try to buy privately; judge the person you are buying off; look at car condition; look at how much (and how nicely) the history has been kept.
I bought a beauty a few years back – we were at a dealers to look at a Fiesta, and next to it was a shiny Mazda 323. In enquired, and it was owners wifes current car, had been left by a customer who had stopped driving and car needed a service & MOT. On the passenger seat was a date ordered file of 13 years history, all in one female name at one address. Nothing, but nothing did not work on it.
We drove it for a year/6000miles it cost 1 punctured tyre and an MOT. Sold it for £50 more than we paid to first person who saw it. 8)

mazda323 by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

If the price to me is ok then I’m not too fussed wether they are a trader, but it’s usually apparent straight away anyway. Usual common sense approach, do the docs match up etc. Mechanically, it’s not the minefield it was in the 70’s/80’s, with big ends, piston rings, rotten chassis etc. These days it’s big bills your looking to avoid, injectors / DMF’s on TDCi Mondeo’s for example. Just look up the usual faults on Honest John etc.

Oooh, cars…the tip about tyres is bang on.

Sold it for £50 more than we paid to first person who saw it

In 2004 I bought an E30 325i SE for £825. A year later I sold it for £1800.

2 months later the head cracked.

The some lunatic bought it and put a 2.7 Alpina engine in it.

Another 2 months later and it was wrapped around a tree.

Doesn’t help you, but cars are odd. Buy according to the seller, not the car, would be my advice.

12 months MOT is the key, and does it drive ok.

tbh The last thing I worry about is the size of the engine, or what mpg it’ll do – and bigger cars are on the whole usually built better plus have more equipment/safety.

Also understand what matters (MOT, brakes, tyres etc) and what doesn’t (interior, dints/marks etc).

I looked around for a Micra a while back. Searched high and low, and eventually came to the conclusion that you have to be lucky to get one at a good price. They’re like hot cakes, and the cheaper ones generally aren’t so hot… If there are any good deals, they tend to get snapped up by traders within the hour, then readvertised the same day at twice the price…really boils my….

Bigger cars go much cheaper, which might make more sense if you’re mainly using it to travel about on weekends, particularly for long jaunts. As with the Micras, 90s Japanese motors are usually pretty sturdy when looked after. Look up the common faults, but more often than not you can tell if the seller is being genuinely honest. Ask about servicing and stuff and get an idea for how they’ve treated the car.

I’ve just got really lucky on this, Renault Kangoo, 02 reg around 60k? service history says 38k in ’08 but dash says 18, so presuming it’s had issues somewhere with ECU!
Bought off my wife’s boss for £200, 3/4 of a tank of petrol and MOT ’til Dec, and the best bit… it’s a converted disability version so can easily get bikes in it, no issues with taking wheels off. £10 for a quick clean by the local ‘car cleaners’ and it’s a peach!

Go for something truly unfashionable. I’m currently driving a G reg Peugeot 205 Automatic that cost me £280. Go base model for less things to go wrong and my golden rule is be prepared to leave it at the side of the road when it breaks. That said if you want to keep it for a while have a look on eBay for availability of spares.

Just back form a run, Thanks all! Some handy stuff there.

I’ve seen a lot advertised with 12 months MOT, was a bit suspicious of how much this actually meant, i.e. can the garage just fly it through, give no advisories and if anything does happen just say ‘general wear and tear mate’ a couple of months after.

Looked at a Otavia 1.9tdi earlier, massive compared to what I’m used to, estate, handy for bikes, 140k, full service, had it up for £1400, tempted, wanted to check mpg/insurance before ringing back, only thing I noticed was the exhaust fitting was shot with rust. Bigger car / more problems mind

No real help, but it may make you smile.

Nissan Almera. Possibly the dullest car ever made. Chain cam petrol engines, usually very well serviced by middle aged owners and incredibly rugged nissan mechanicals. You will not find a more reliable cheap hatchback. A mate has a hatchback and his 26er will fit in the back with both wheels on. One lamda sensor in 5yrs. The 2.2 D is old school and bullet proof.

I’ve got a petrol focus that I’ve just put on eBay tonight. Only looking for a few hundred quid
It’s had oil changed etc every 12k since I’ve had it (4.5 yrs)

Its in Leicestershire if you’re interested, would end t he auction for a fellow STW.

Just got a golf estate tdi for 1500 , only 700 miles so far but all good
But it’s the newest vag car I’ve had 2004 and seems to be worst build for trim rattles

But bike fits with wheels on getting 48 average mpg lots of shortish trip 15 miles at most

I recommend a s-type jag. Horrendous car popular with old blokes who look after them even though its a rebadged mondeo. Search them on eBay you will be amassed how cheap they are!

YGM theking

I recommend a s-type jag.

Last year I bought a 51 plate 3.0i X-Type for £1100 with 12m MOT. It failed the MOT this year, but also needed new tyres all round. Sold for £400.

Just bought a 1998 Passat 1.8 20v with 12m MOT for £500. Spent £100 sorting out the window regs and locks.

Neither good on fuel, but both drive fine – with the Jag a far nicer place to be and AWD. I’m old enough for insurance not to be an issue.

Less to go wrong with petrols too.

Err – that Octavia wasn’t blue, was it?? Might have been my old one!

Rachel

2 litre focus estate was the best car I’ve had recently. I’d be tempted by that ^^^ 😉

How much to get your current car through the mot?

Easy £350-400, needs a lot of weld work on the front cross member which is a pain to get to (bumper/rad off) + other smaller stuff

Check the chassis for serious rust on old Japanese cars. I scrapped my ’96 Nissan Almera because you could poke a key through most of the framework under the car.

Other than that it was great! Engine was indestructible… 😀

Well 400 quid is less than you are going to get another car for. Fix this one. What your car is worth doesnt matter.