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Cheap reliable car ideas?

58 posts & 24 voices | Started 2 years ago by Toasty | Latest reply from molgrips

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Toasty - Member

That garage is hoping that they can buy the car with the very expensive engine fault off you cheaply, they will then just drop in a second hand engine and sell the car on for a rather handsome profit.

Funny you mentioned that, they did say £5-6k, we said no. We spoke to the previous garage which had serviced it, to moan about them not replacing the cam belt. They said it was JUST under needing a new belt (62k on the clock at that point, 5 years old), but they said they might know someone who'd buy it off us for cheap.

Posted 2 years ago #
neilb67 - Member

Are you and Mrs Toast at the launch on Saturday? If you are I'll try and find you if not PM me on the Chasetrails forum. I may have a man that can help you....

Posted 2 years ago #
Mrs Toast - Member

Any idea what we should be looking to pay for getting an engine fitted? Don't really trust mechanics at the moment, independent or dealership. :/

Posted 2 years ago #
Toasty - Member

Are you and Mrs Toast at the launch on Saturday? If you are I'll try and find you if not PM me on the Chasetrails forum. I may have a man that can help you....

Ooh, curious. Help in which department? Yeah, we were planning to go along, not sure quite how though. Hiring a car with a tow bar for the day is the current plan I think.

Posted 2 years ago #
Mrs Toast - Member

Gah,got quotes from seven different places about 2nd hand Micra engines, ranges from £600 - £900 - not including VAT or delivery.

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

£1,000 just to look into the engine/car?

Sorry, you need to stay well away from that particular garage. Well away.

NO marque is reliable. None. Use your head, investigate and go in with your eyes wide open.

Posted 2 years ago #
molgrips - Member

Some marques are more reliable than others tho hora. At the lower end of the market that can be either more important or less, depending on how you look at it.

EG if it's made it 15 years, it's a goodun.. or you could say that any make could have been thrashed and not serviced etc...

I've had really good luck banking on VW for 10-15 year old cars FWIW.

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

molgrips maybe on electrics however you get down to the 5yr old+ route and making sweeping generalisations like

"Japanese are reliable"
"VW have a reputation for being bombproof"

is tosh IMO.

Posted 2 years ago #
sambob - Member

old audi A6 or passat if you can find one. Our A6 has done 249500 miles and has never missed a beat tows better than our land rover discovery, and pulls better from cold as well. really easy to do big miles in, and cheap for any journey any way hora wants it

Posted 2 years ago #
trail_rat - Member

ignorance is bliss - till your engine blows up

do people not RTFM these days ?

btw pugs = cheap to fix - just had pads / disks / filters/fluids and timing belt done at a garage for 280quid !

mines wasnt due till next service in november. 5 year limit on the belt - well under the milage. had one changed a couple years back that was coming up to the limit on milage and time - and the mechanic showed me the belt - lets just say im careful about these things now !

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

Your Dad mentioned it has has a couple of niggles but I'd leave with them. A car with a bit of providence is always better than a complete unknown.

OP. If you could find a 1 or 2 owner Toyota Carina you are laughing. The pre1.8VVTI engine is supposed to be good (but slow).

How about a V70 estate? You'd need a full mechanical check on any car IMO.

Posted 2 years ago #
molgrips - Member

It's not tosh hora - they are statistical trends. Just look at how many of certain cars are on the roads 15 years later. We used to have an old shape Rover 214 when I was a kid - it was G reg. The saloon kind with the weird high boot. We got shot at 80k miles because the gearbox was going. I haven't seen one of those on the road for a good 6 or 7 years, and that one reminded me before that that I hadn't seen one in forever.

However my first car was a VW Polo MK2, also G reg, and I still see a few of those here and there. One a month maybe. I bought it at a time when the Rovers had all but disappeared.

Just look at all the cars say pre-M reg that you see driving around, and see what make they are. That will give you as good a statistical trend as any, but it will of course NOT guarantee that any car of that make will be fine (clearly).

Posted 2 years ago #
sambob - Member

ahh your right hora, it went into "nanny mode" above 3000rpm for a while, lost all power so had to stop and switch off and on again, but nothing major. great in snow too

Posted 2 years ago #
finishthat - Member

ebay search for 2004 micra engine £250-£350

Beware of scrap dealer web sites that promise to get anything for you
there are some bogus dealers out there .

Is there a Micra owners club? Nissan forum where you can get garage reccomendations from for your area?

you do need a decent small garage that will source and fit the engine.

should be able to get this done for around 6-800 quid then sell/PX the car.

They will also sort out collecting the from where it is now if they are worth dealing with.

Posted 2 years ago #
boobs - Member

If it has snapped a cambelt the first thing to do would be to replace it. See what the damage is and go from there, where are you? Some engines are "safe" and the valves won't hit the pistons. I'm off to have a look to see what the books reckon. Back in a mo

Posted 2 years ago #
molgrips - Member

Although - why sell the car if it's just got a new engine?

Posted 2 years ago #
BigButSlimmerBloke - Member

£6k for a cheap car? £600 is cheap for me
I had a P reg BMW316i, bought at 70k run for 2 years to 98K. Never any serious problems with it. Comfy, cheap to run. Only got shot of it because it was saloon and I need an estate/hatchback. Cost £1300. Petrolheads on here slagged it off for being "gutless", but it cruised happily at 80, so that may have just been BMW ego-syndrome.
Also, I had a Saab 9something "EcoDrive" - it had a green area on the rev counter between 2000 and 3000 rpm, which I suspect was the "ecozone" Bought for £1100 at 70K, ran to 110k, no serious problems, other than being seriously thirsty in town. But dead cheap on motorway. One bike in back with rear seats up, 3 in with rear seats down and wheels off.

Posted 2 years ago #
boobs - Member

The engine is an "interference" type (as the only one I can see with a cambelt is the diesel) You are probably right and it is borked. If you are near Reading I'm willing to have a look if you wish and can get it moved. Mail me if you wish.

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

molgrips yeah your right. You dont see many of these around do you..

Posted 2 years ago #
molgrips - Member

Not saying what you do and don't see specifically. Just look for yourself next time you are out.

Posted 2 years ago #
hora - Member

Or...these..

ALL cars need regular oil changes, attention to small niggles etc etc. The difference is people (probably) think 'if I fix this VW it will sell quickly/its in demand/it'll give me something back'..

IMO the car approaching 'bombproof' is probably this, the very simple MX5

Posted 2 years ago #
Mrs Toast - Member

The engine is an "interference" type (as the only one I can see with a cambelt is the diesel) You are probably right and it is borked. If you are near Reading I'm willing to have a look if you wish and can get it moved. Mail me if you wish.

Alas, in Leamington Spa! Thanks for the offer though!

Current plan is to cut the bottom out of it and get Mr Toast to power it Flinstones' style...

Posted 2 years ago #
molgrips - Member

I think this is more bomb proof:

Posted 2 years ago #