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Sadly my car failed MOT today and will cost £650 to repair so going to scrap it (only paid £350 for it 3 years ago so been an absolute bargain!).
That was a 2000 1.6 golf and had absolutely no issues with it until this year.
Thinking I might go for a golf again given VW build quality they can reach a high mileage but just thought I'd see if anyone on here had any recommendations.
We have a newer family car so this does mainly local trips and couple days going to work.
Quite like the idea of something a bit more interesting?!?
My son bought a very ancient Honda civic (probably almost as old as him tbh) and thinks it's great.
The FK/FN Honda Civic is a nice thing to sit in and drive and they are pretty bulletproof. We had a 2006 for a few years and then sold to a mate's sister and is still going strong the last I heard. 1.8 petrol engine was surprisingly economical.
£2k doesn't buy much nowadays.
Normally/previously I'd recommend MK4 Golf especially with the 1.9 PD engine, Berlingo or Peugeot partner but only with the 2.0HDI but they feel a bit dinosaur like nowadays being old school diesels with their associated dirty engines.
Toyota Yaris, Carina and Corolla are cockroach cars. I have a soft spot for Fiat Pandas and looked after my sister in law's so know they are good simple reliable cars. French stuff is good because they don't rust (but will have electrical issues)
Other than that look for larger capacity non turbo petrol engines cars - avoid smaller turbo engined cars. Check the MOT history and look especially for cars with decent branded tyres, filters, batteries etc - ie one that's been looked after.
Whatever you find locally with a good owner, great history and in good condition. Simpler the better. Older the engine tech the better.
I would avoid 'problem' models or unusual, but beyond that just buy from and owner and history you think "know what, they've looked after this"...
Second opinion on the golf? A 2k car comes with it's own problems so maybe fixing it an option. Appreciate it's a pretty old car tho
Where do you live?
Edit: something like this
Quite like the idea of something a bit more interesting?!?
Have a look at the Shed of the Week over on Piston Heads? Interesting/left-field/risky ideas for £2k or under.
I bought a 70000 mile citroen C3 a couple of years ago for £1200. I replaced the discs and pads for £350 and its not missed a beat since. No electrical, or any other, problems at all.
Older the engine tech the better.
if you are not in a ULEZ / LEZ area and not likely to visit a big city you might be able to pick up a bargain. If you are then shop carefully.
My 2013 Renault Megane Estate is up for sale soon. 150k miles, drives lovely still. I’m going to get it MOT’d then punting it out for £1k. The OH says that’s too cheap, but it cost me £3k 5 years ago, we’ve done 60k miles in it, (with virtually nothing going wrong with it), so if I get £1k, I’d be happy. It’s not ULEZ friendly, so its value will plummet soon I think, if not already.
What's it failed the MOT on? Structural rust and knackered suspension or a couple of tyres and some brakes?
Agree, if it’s a good un spend the £650 and invest the remaining £1350 in C&H
+1 on what's the MOT work for? If it's just wear and tear items then i'd spend the money and keep the car.
We inherited a car recently that nominally would sell for 4k ish. We had to spend nearly 2k on routine maintenance and replacing wear items. Buying a new to you car is far from buying a trouble free car. Your 2k car could easily have huge bills.
If you are set on a new to you car then buy on condition and how well it's been maintained rather than a particular model or manufacturer.
This is the failure reasons. Might get a few quotes from other garages
Ford Focus ST170. Still can be had under 2k easily and if you look after it you could well sell for a profit.
Can I suggest that whatever car you do get that you check your tyres for wear occasionally?
I'd get it fixed.
You need a pair of tyres = consumable
Brake system - not sure what handbrake type you have but that reads like it's a cable / caliper issue - easy problem to end up with on any replacement and top and bottom points quite possibly connected.
Coil spring - par for the course at that mileage could happen to your next car the day after you buy it (lost a number of springs around 100k on various cars)
Position lamp = side light in old speak? Possibly as simple as just a bulb or bad connector.
How's your mechanical skills?
<p style="text-align: left;">New tyres, springs and a bulb, then sort the handbrake. Keep it.</p>
That's a fix job.
Thats all standard stuff. You buy a snotter you run the risk of more
This is the detailed brake requirements from a quick Google of MOT manual.
Might cost £650, might be less if you shop around. But none of them are dealbreakers or indicative it's about to junk itself, least of all two tyres (consumables)
You'll still be £1350 up on a £2K new car and that could have very similar issues.
Just to add my mum has one of those and iirc it's done a fair few miles than yours (not 100% on that but it's a 2002) and not had the easiest of car lives. It throws up the odd bill but it will probably be here and still running after the end of days!
You can get helper springs for the rear caliper handbrake mechanism that help retract it. I put them on my snotter £400 Mk4 Golf.
Otherwise I'd get it sorted and run it for at least another year especially as rust/corrosion isn't mentioned. Cheap motoring and less hassle than buying something else.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262990043034
Ford Focus ST170. Still can be had under 2k easily and if you look after it you could well sell for a profit.
Good advice there from 2019.
At this price everything is a gamble, not many come with 12 months MOT, so you're buying and hoping they don't fail, you're at the wrong end of the bathtub curve as well with major issues arising around this time in their life.
If you can spend 650 quid and get 12 months MOT on your car, then that might be the best bet.
Not sure how you've failed the secondary and park brake ones, i thought it would only be 1.3.1 that was the major, and 1.4.2 was not applicable due to this, then again i'm not an MOT tester so just struggling to understand how you can fail both, still means you have to get it fixed though 🤣
Forgot to add, 123k miles is not a lot on that car, one thing i would check is the bodywork for any rust areas, that tends to be something that doesn't get better with age!
mx5. interesting, cheap to run, pretty much bombproof, just set aside an annual budget for welding rust.
As above my work colleague has an 08 Golf Tdi with 200k miles, it's rusting from the inside out quite badly now on the sills
Squirt some Bilt Hamber S50 inside the sills to guard against them rusting.
mx5. interesting, cheap to run, pretty much bombproof, just set aside an annual budget for welding rust.
Have you checked the MOT history on that ^ ?? It's ****ed.
I only looked as MrsRNP had a similar arctic MX5 but the petrol blue version.
I can’t believe we’re this far in and nobody has mentioned an Octavia vRS
Standards are slipping around here
£650 seems expensive for that, get some internet prices for tyres and someone else to quote for the spring. Handbrake could be as simple as adjusting it, or as expensive as a new caliper - do some research.
But that's a fixer upper.
That’s a fix job.
Thats all standard stuff. You buy a snotter you run the risk of more
For that list of stuff it is definitely a fix it situation. With the market being so crazy (10 year old cars are worth at least £3k+ if not more) anything you buy will be something that's being punted on due to upcoming issues. Hell, my car is on 186k at 10 years old and needs £1k of work before the next MOT (two new tyres, front discs and pads, front dampers and top mounts. Will do the brakes myself though) and it'll be getting the work done without question. It would actually pass without any of it bar the tyres (at 2.5mm now so won't last until January) but I like to look after my cars subscribing to the 'Preventative Maintenance' school of thought but they are all tired and do need doing.
Two new tyres*, a parking brake adjustment, a bulb and a spring is just regular maintenance at that age and mileage!
* I would be embarrassed to present a car for MOT with knackered tyres, the bulb could have just blown but it does point to you not checking the car at all!
Get it fixed 🔧
My fabia diesel estate is 20 years old, on 170 000 miles, needed £500 spent to get through MOT (mainly worn discs), bargain.
Yes I d get it fixed, YouTube will help you understand the problems. Light bulb is a quid, may as well do both sides.
Try your local scrap yard for 2 tyres.
Just pay for the work you can't do.
Better the devil you know, and good luck, plenty of life left in the car.
Agree with fixing it. You wouldn't toss a bike out because it needed a bottom bracket - this is no different. ALL those things could easily go wrong with a £2k car as soon as you drive it away, and a whole lot more expensive stuff besides.
Cars have consumables and they have maintenance requirements - that's all you are seeing there.
Try your local scrap yard for 2 tyres.
Don't do this. Get mid range new tyres. This is not a repair, it's the cost of motoring just like fuel and oil.
If you do decide to buy at that price look for dull car driven by dull people.
Namely: Small Suzukis - Alto, Celerio, Splash. Never going to set the world on fire and stupidly reliable.
I will go one further.
You'd be bloody mental to dodge paying to fix that wear an tear and spunking 2k that will almost definitely need work within the year.
With the exception of the tyres I have DIY'd everything on the list. And had our local garage fix similar for not much.
But seriously as someone posted already don't be a dick, check your tyres for everyones sake.
Definitely fix that. It's not that bad of a failure. If handy with a spanner you could do some yourself as said.
sharkattack
Full Member
Ford Focus ST170. Still can be had under 2k easily and if you look after it you could well sell for a profit.Good advice there from 2019
Yeah, they started to climb in value a long time ago. Lovely handling car, just need a bit more power but definitely better than a golf MK4 GTi in my opinion. The only cheap ones now tend to have rust issues.
I'll give a stw answer:
Berlingo multispace with a remap. The feeling of smugness as your little van swallows kids, mountain bikes and tumble dryers....
We've an Smax, Mk7 fiesta st and a 22 year old Berlingo hdi. 9/10 times I pick to drive the old bingo.
Never bored with a ford: a fiesta st 150 can be had for 2k and under. 2.0 duratec. You'll only get about 34mpg, not the quickest compared to its peers at 0-7.9 but it has sublime handling and is a nice car to daily and doesn't seem so common these days.
Never bored with a ford: a fiesta st 150 can be had for 2k and under. 2.0 duratec. You’ll only get about 34mpg, not the quickest compared to its peers at 0-7.9 but it has sublime handling and is a nice car to daily and doesn’t seem so common these days.
Nice car to drive daily. Depending on location. Mine was grim over the setts of Edinburgh. Swear I am an inch shorter since.
Berlingo multispace with a remap
What engine is yours and who did the remap?
Only asking as I have a '04 Peugeot Partner with the 2.0Hdi
Yeah definitely repair, I'd diy most if not all. Never done a spring but there will be loads of info on the web how to do it on a golf
Re tyres, yes mid range new would be my position too. Plus get your alignment checked while your in the fitters
Even if you spend the 650 for the work, you'll have spent a grand overall and still have a car you know with 12 months mot. Not too bad a position
What engine is yours and who did the remap?
Only asking as I have a ’04 Peugeot Partner with the 2.0Hdi
It's a 2.0 hdi, I imagine the clutch will give at some point as I'm on 128k.
"Psa performance" buy an ecu with a map on it on eBay. About £100. Seems silly cheap but it works. Definitely got more poke. Same on fuel.
Also defeats the immobiliser though. Which suits me as the flashing key light is bound to rear it's head at some point:
https://sites.google.com/goingslow.co.uk/psaperformance/home
Did anyone say you should fix that yet? 😀
But yeah, get it fixed and keep it going. I spend more than that keeping my van on the road each year.