but not those kind of bangers

After much trawling that there Autotrader looking for a second car for work (too far to cycle and I work odd shifts) but also big enough for the dog, daughter and assorted gubbons. 1000 to 1500 quid is the absolute limit.

So, my choices are:

A 2003 VW golf or a 2003 Ford Mondeo

The golf I’d 1.6 petrol, the mondeo, 2.0 diesel. Mileage for both are around the 110,000 mark. The golf is a grand and the mondeo 1400

Any ideas would be welcome (I had a VW before and couldn’t fault it, just not sure I want the same car again)

Are they estate’s. If so I like a golf estate, it’s a nice size and there is a marked improvement in build quality in a VW over a Ford IMO.

Its a lottery, you could buy one and do almost nothing for the next 5 mots or they could blow up next week.
There’s less to go (expensively) wrong on a 1.6 petrol.

I’d base my choice entirely on condition and which I thought would go the longest with least trouble.

I’d go for the Golf if only that as long as it runs and MOTs it’ll probably sell for 800 minimum in the future.

I’d also look at something like an Almera, you’ll get a lot more for your money, and at least equal reliability. Mine only let me (and my wife before, I ‘inherited’ it from her) down once in about 17 years, and the RAC fixed it at the roadside (vacuum pipe fell off apparently – new jubilee clip from his pocket, and never happened again).

at that price range condition is everything… I’d widen the range of choices and include some Japanese cars

If choosing between the two, golf for fun and mondeo for economy. Otherwise, widen your search for other japanese cars.

there is a marked improvement in build quality in a VW over a Ford IMO.

Not in my experience.

My parents have a golf and I had a mondeo.

At that money I’d have the mondeo, as spares/repairs on it were a lot cheaper than the golf.

Also, especially if it’s the estate (but also hatchback), you could fit Belgium in the boot of a mondeo.

I’d go for the golf. Petrol should be cheaper to service.
Check for service history and cambelt service

disagree about vw being much better than a ford. not in my experience. t4 v transit, transit absolutely better to drive and more reliable. focus v golf, focus much much better drive, and golf had lots of little annoying issues. i think the vw reliability thing is a myth, perpetuated by an extremely good marketing department

I’ve got a 1.6 petrol golf estate, mk4. Bought as a stopgap when my Accord type R ate it’s clutch/g’box.
Handing is soggy, especially compared to my Accord and 205 GTi. Does 40mpg and keeps chugging on reliably. Quiet, spacious and practical but a really dull drive.

I keep admiring Focus ST170’s…

1000 to 1500 quid is the absolute limit.

Per month, per year or forever?

tbh based on many years of bangers, company cars and nearly new cars the most “financial-safe” approach is 3-5 y/o low-ish mileage cars with warranties. A £5k car costs about £1500 per year to finance.

It depends on your mileage and what work the mondeo has had. At that age I’d assume it’ll be a tdci and they do have some potentially expensive problems. Some could have well been done by now turbo, clutch/flywheel etc but that still leaves injectors etc.
I’d probably go for the golf unless mileage is huge.

Are those really the only available options? 😯 If you’re happy with something Golf sized, then a Focus instead – a better car without the badge premium. The only negative for the Mondeo though is the potential for higher servicing costs with a diesel.

1000 to 1500 quid is the absolute limit.

Per month, per year or forever?

Obviously the price for buying the car.

I think the OP has £1500 total and that is the whole point of Bangernomics. You spend a fixed sum, maybe to include a couple of small repairs, get 2 or 3 years out of it and move on. MOT time is make or break time. I mean that literally, it eiither passes with a couple of small jobs or you break it for spares.
You don’t give a flying foodoodah if someone parks a shopping trolley in the door or you kerb a wheel as it is simply a tool to get from a 2 b. It is a complete minefield but can be route to very cheap motoring if you can twirl a spanner and get lucky/do you home work when buying.
OP I would look a the other versions of a Golf ie the Seat and Skoda versions. You can usually get something a couple of years newer and the parts, often the same part in a different box, are cheaper.
This Skoda Octavia Vrs is a tad over budget and a bit Barry but a 2002 with 95,000 miles and 180bhp! Piston Heads tens to attract enthusiast sellers rather than the cut and shut brigade on other sites.

I think the OP has £1500 total and that is the whole point of Bangernomics. You spend a fixed sum, maybe to include a couple of small repairs, get 2 or 3 years out of it and move on.

Yes, but sometimes with 12-13 y/o cars they can go pop within weeks – therefore you need to understand the risks.

£1.5k is a decent price point as it gives you lots of choice. It might be an idea to keep an eye on ebay. There are lots of people who put cars up on autotrader etc for £2k – £3k – £4k only to give up after a couple of weeks and stick it on ebay for a grand. If you can go round and kick the tyres / check it out before bidding you might get a bargain. Loads at that price you just need to choose wisely.

I guess it won’t help if your budget is fixed but we are shifting a 55 plate Leon (2.0TFSI). Shade over 60k miles. Few minor battle scars from having kids in it but mechanically spot on. The OH has decided she wants a new Yeti and we have been offered 2300 trade in.

Autotrader search suggests £3500 is the cheapest of this age and model going to over £4500. It would come with a year of MOT. Can’t be arsed selling privately as don’t have the time but if you are interested let me know.

EDIT: would come with a full set of Kumho winter tyres as well

The OH has decided she wants a new Yeti

Yay! Selling car for wife’s new bike! 🙂 (I know I know..)

That’s pretty much the mileage at which my tdci mondeo started costing money. Not disastrous, but enough that I’d have been fairly peeved if I’d just paid £1400 for it- injectors, turbo, DMF and clutch are all well and truly in the firing line. (in my case, turbo and injectors over the space of 30000 miles. Nothing like as big a deal as the internet will tell you, but still about £1000 worth of big deal)

They are very good cars, vast in the back and nice to drive, but I’d be buying cautiously. Any service history?

You do seem to have picked 2 pretty different cars.

I’d go for the golf. Petrol should be cheaper to service.
Check for service history and cambelt service

Full Service (3 year) on my Mondeo diesel is around £90 using Ford filters and oil. Golf must be very, very cheap since Mondeo’s also have chain driven cams so don’t need to be replaced.

Make sure the Mondeo is the facelift version – it’s much nicer inside and has the better stereo and climate control as standard.

Also at £1400 the Mondeo better have a full MOT, be in good condition and have a decent amount of history.

I was looking recently around the same price range and ended up going for a Nissan Primera as all the Mondeos were tatty inside.

The diesel Mondeo could be fine, or it could need a new fuel system or DMF/clutch.
I personally wouldn’t touch one

Mk4 golfs are not that special and often have electrical issues and rust
Just buy on condition

Mondeo sounds over priced.

Look for a 2l petrol one for under a grand.

Neither mk4 golfs were shite and if anything does go wrong the cost of parts will cripple you.

Diesel Mondeos of that era were fussy and often lunched dmfs at about this milage.

Id look at 1.8 or 2.0petrol mondeos and focus

Br you need to get better at the game. Yes a car blowing up after a couple weeks is a risk but only if you buy the wrong car with your eyes and ears shut and go fixated on buying “that” car…….its a game it cant be rushed, .ive only spent more than 1500 quid on one car in the last 10 years , and ive driven to the alps and perhaps more crucially all over the north and north west of scotland where recovery would have taken much longer without incident. How ever i have walked away 5 or 6 cars each time ive gone to look at cars- chancers with cars that probably wouldnt last the week. When buying a banger your not so much judging the car as the owner…. Has this car already been someones banger and run into the ground or was it their cherished family car etc

paulwf – Member

The diesel Mondeo could be fine, or it could need a new fuel system or DMF/clutch.

Any of which you’ll notice instantly in the testdrive.

Any of which you’ll notice instantly in the testdrive.

If it’s about to go in the next week or so. Had to replace my DMF/clutch about 6k (9 months or so) after I bought it – fairly sure there was no way you could tell in the testdrive. Something I budgeted for when I bought (not quite into real bangernomics, planning on fixing what needs fixing and keeping for a few years, it’s still only 7yo) so it was an expected cost, but would kill the budget if you’re not planning on that.

Of course, any car can go wrong. But that’s not the same thing.

Anycar can go wrong but you can minimize your exposure to risk by not buying cars that are renound for going wrong.

Injectors and dmfs and injection pumps in fords( regardless of the vehicle they were in) of that era were a ticking time bomb.

What sort of mileage will it do? If not doing big mileages, any new diesel just has a bunch of expensive expendable components to consider.

Tried a mk4 golf banger, no idea why so many people bought these, badge and looks carry a poor car.
Had a Mondeo, far better built than a golf and handled far better. Diesel worked for the mileage we were doing and it had the big items done just before we got it and ran it until it needed them again, some time well after 200k when we sold it as our mileage dropped.

Got an Octavia 4×4 1.8t now, risky bangernomics due to turbo and 4wd system, but also made it so cheap to buy, far less than some Fox forks.

Mmmm, I’d get a old zafira

^^^
Hence my next banger will be probably be basic French diesel
My slow non turbo dw8 van does not rust or cost much to keep working
Unlike the mk4 golf tdi we also have which is a joke mostly

Yes the golf is nicer inside but not worth the premium
Maybe an early non pd vw group tdi again but parts will still be silly

Anything has to be better than the money pit td5 taking up space outside lol

£1500 budget for a bike carrying estate

1 Passat 1.9pd 130 2001 -2005
2 Honda Accord 2.2 cdti 2002 -2005
3 MGZT-T cdti 2001 -2004
4 Audi A4 1.9 2001 -2004
5 Volvo V70 2000 -2002
6 Pug 306 Estate 1999
7 Saab 9-5 2.2 est 2003/4

All old oddball estates that, if previously looked after should do years of service. Yes , they might only last 6mths and go pop, but even broken cars sell well on Ebay. Our all welcoming policy means an influx of europeans willing to spend days either fixing or dismantling cars of acertain vintage.

All of the above have 2 or 3 very common faults that can very easily checked . Any float your boat and I can list them , just ask.

Orangeboy has it….

Im running a pair of dw8 engined blingos atm

Other than basic servicing and consumables ive done a spring a cold start wax stat and a multifunction display and a drive shaft main seal they show 200k between them 100k of them in our owner ship over 6years.

How ever im staring down the long end of 2 steering racks due to the degree angle the pinion sits at and water pools causing corrosion round the seal causing a drip. . See what the mot man says on the 8th. I reckon 240 quid exchange units and about 200 in labour( im out of country so fixing my self isnt an option)

I worked out what the van cost me over the last 65000miles and it was in the region of 26p a mile fueled insured taxed and all repairs and 100% depreciation 🙂

Out of interest is a 130 tdi Passat much different to my crappy 2004 130 tdi golf mk4

My dw8 van is an expert apart from glow plugs it’s been very easy to work on except from an air leak on the fuel filter that took a while to find

Mmmm, I’d get a old zafira

Good bangernomics call, as is a petrol Vectra. Widely reviled, but perfectly adequate.

We love our old zafira…..Had ours for 6 years and counting (paid £3600), 04 reg, owned from 69000, now on 155000 miles. Love ours, best car in the world. Don’t get a newer (05 ish onwards) as I have been told they are pants.

Brother in law ownes a garage and says it’ll keep going till 200000 at least if I don’t crash it! Aiming to beat my dads old toyota avensis’s 450000 km (when my sister crashed it).

But…. Between 100000 and 130000 miles we did have quite a few bits done to it, DMF/clutch, sensors, DPF etc. Not too bad as we only pay trade price for the parts and no labour. Been good lately, managed 2 years with just service and MOT. Parts are cheap as well.

So I’d say the diesel may give trouble, but check the service history. Maybe all these bits have recently been done and you’ll be good for years!

Perhaps an old Astra estate, same as Zafira I believe…

My car is now probably only worth about £1000, maybe a bit more.

It has got leather and heated seats (5 settings!) too. Don’t visit Asda though, you’ll never find YOUR old zafira in their car park.

Simone