What car around £1,000?

Looks like we need to get a 2nd car in the house unfortunately. Unfortunately as in I’d rather not but company car and car need for my wife’s work means we need something solely for her to use for occasional business use that won’t be covered on my company car.

What would be your go to for around £1,000. Reliability and a small engine for reduced parking permit fee are the most important factors.

A petrol Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107. Cheap, simple, reliable and lots to choose from, although you will need to increase your budget to get a decent one.

Having just been looking at cars and vans around £3,000, all I can say is good luck….

We saw some absolute howlers and it would be impossible to predict which cars come up local to you with a good owner, good history and clean…I personally would search all sorts locally, do good MOT check and a google to rule out a few odd known issues (Ford 1.0 ecoBoom engines for example).
Generally I would go older, petrol, and ‘good’ reliable manufacturer, likely Asian.

I would not fuss over things like tax level or mpg.

you probably want a naturally aspirated petrol engine from japan. Then pick a car based on that.

If your milage is suitable, it may be cheaper to have an old nissan leaf or i-miev – ev – they’re out of budget but likely to have cheap permits and be more reliable than the bottom end of the petrol market.

otherwise, mx-5

Oh yeah, add ULEZ compliant to the list because we’re central Edinburgh.

Nissan Micra.

You can get a working car for £1000 ? hmm – not so sure about that unless you are buying it off a pal these days — even pistonheads upped their “Shed of the Week” target price…

2x Porsche’s

 and a small engine for reduced parking permit fee

Ah! Maybe not then.

That is a challenging price for a used car these days. Might be worth checking some car auctions though. It’s a risky way to buy to be sure but at that price everything is and those circa £3k being sold by dealers were often picked up at auction for around a grand I guess. Probably need to be prepared for some repair costs, but you might get lucky.

Sounds like you like to spoil your Mrs, £1000 for a car coming into Autumnal storms and frosty roads with a he

Heap with duff headlights and a heater that may not work, good luck

For bangernomics / bargain motoring you need to be looking at either Japanese for reliability or French for rust resistance. You can’t have both!

I sold my sister in-laws Toyota IQ for £1250 which was in great condition but had 180k miles, still going now. Fiat Pandas are good – cheap parts, fairly rust proof (apart from the sumps).

Early Berlingo’s are great, go for a petrol rather than the 1.6hdi, rust resistant, cheap parts, durable usefully little things (I have one)

Aygo’s etc are good.

Try and find one with good MOT history that’s been looked after – they are out there but take a lot of searching. Don’t dither if you do find one.

Heap with duff headlights and a heater that may not work, good luck

Or heated leather seats, steering wheel and still have  £500 change.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/porsche-500-bangernomics/

For a grand? Best you can find vaguely car shaped.

Buy on condition, recent bills and MOT history.

Absolutely what Jamesoz said.

We have had a couple of Flat Pandas and they have been surprisingly good to use (drive and cary stuff) and reliable. We got my 90 year old mum had an automatic one with 20k miles on the clock for under £2000. It outlasted her.

Here’s an illustration of what you could get.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408142873976?sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Fiat&model=Panda&page=2&postcode=MK11%201HP&price-to=2000&fromsra

At this price you’re competing with parents of 17 year olds, and dealing with 18 year olds that have been thrashing the life out of their 1ltr C1.

We managed to find a Citroen C2 for about £700 and it’s had at least that much spent on it in the last year to replace worn out bearings and bushes and To be fair it’s pretty decent now.

for occasional business use

if it is just occasional how about a car share or just hire on an ‘as needs’ basis?

a £1000 motor might not be that reliable for getting to meetings etc anyway?

One where you know the previous owner is a good starting point!

Maybe ask around before a friend trades a car in.

I’m with James. Don’t look for anything specific, look for whatever has the longest MOT and the least rust and the biggest service history

1k in a car these days you’re basically looking at something that’ll probably not make it past the next MoT without a few hundred thrown at it, or less if you know a ‘friendly’ garage.

Even at 3-4k, you’re buying a secondhand car that could have a high probability of a large garage bill on the horizon, it’s a minefield these days.

Start enjoying reading classifieds that use terms like ‘starts first time’, ‘long MoT’, ‘x, y and z doesn’t work, but doesn’t affect the driving’.

£1000 and the other savings of not having to pay to run and maintain a car covers a lot of  occasional taxi journeys, but you haven’t stated how far this car will be travelling or how frequent?

I wouldn’t want to do the occasional 200 mile journey in a C1, but I would probably do it in a 20 year old 5 series given I currently drive a 17 year old 3 series

How occasional is the business use, and can’t the company pay? Paying £100 a month for a taxi might even work out cheaper? (Factor in VED, insurance, fuel, MOT, etc)

As above, Edinburgh Enterprise car club?

A grand plus Mot, tax, service and insurance costs (not to mention edinburgh parking woes/permits) must make car club costs look very attractive. Plus you’ll be getting a modern, ULEZ compliant vehicle that someone else has to worry about maintaining.

You can get an ok vehicle for that money, but it would have to be pretty old and you need to be picky.

I got a 2003 vauxhall Corsa for my ex under £1k last year when her old car packed up suddenly. It’s been very reliable.

She’s looking to upgrade now, so message me if you’d be interested.

How occasional is the business use, and can’t the company pay?

Probably couple of times a month. Council employed social worker getting a car paid for, nae chance.

City car club is a possibility but the availability round us is pretty crap, and the risk of missing scheduled meetings because you end up trekking round looking for one seems pretty high.

Mazda 2. Headlights and heater both about as useful as a candle….other than that my bangernomics one did me proud for a year.

OK I think you have to accept some less than stylish cars but they are out there.

I searched Autotrader which TBH isn’t the best place for bargain stuff but found a few

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertising-location=at_cars&fuel-type=Petrol&postcode=EH12%206TS&price-from=500&price-to=1000&sort=distance

Sounds like you like to spoil your Mrs, £1000 for a car coming into Autumnal storms and frosty roads

Not everyone can afford to tackle the Singletrack Audi or BMW quandary.

A petrol Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107. Cheap, simple, reliable and lots to choose from, although you will need to increase your budget to get a decent one.

That would have been my first suggestion, followed by a Micra, see the other thread and my comment about my friends 1999 Micra.

A Toyota iQ would also be worth checking out, or maybe even a Smart fourtwo.

Why a small engine? A parking fee? how does that work? Doesn’t seem like the best primary consideration for buying a car

Seeing as insurance probably isn’t a problem ( unless she’s accumulated 9 points by tear-arsing around) then why go for a dinky 1 litre thing. Go for a Mk 1,Octavia vRS. That way you’re not competing with 17 year olds who’ve just passed their tests because they can’t afford to insure them.

There are still some well-maintained unmolested examples out there that can be had for not much more than a grand and at least driving them isn’t a horrendous experience

Just had a quick look and heres one that’s just gone for a grand

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/SeFw7Pmt1ZDZP3oc/?mibextid=K35XfP

Why a small engine? A parking fee? how does that work? Doesn’t seem like the best primary consideration for buying a car

There’s a city centre parking permit where we are, the permit cost is based on engine size & CO2 output and ramps up quite rapidly as engine size increases.

To give you an idea, that Octavia would be £300 a year for a permit, a small 1l Aygo would be about £40.

Why a small engine? A parking fee? how does that work? Doesn’t seem like the best primary consideration for buying a car

Wot Tenacious_D says.

Also, more and more local authorities are starting to introduce engine size limits in the name of efficiency. Mrs_oab is expected to have an under 1400cc car, or the mileage payment drops.

Then again, she is also expected to not drive direct to a rural place of work to start at 8am in her own car, but to drive the wrong direction 5 miles, wait for the council to open the car pool at 9am, then drive back the way to the school she was meant to be at and hour and a half earlier, then finish work at the school by 4:30 so that she can return the car to the pool which closes at 5pm, and then drive home past where she just drove in the pool car. All so the council can say she used a) council car and b) an efficient car….

OK I think you have to accept some less than stylish cars but they are out there.

I searched Autotrader which TBH isn’t the best place for bargain stuff but found a few

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertising-location=at_cars&fuel-type=Petrol&postcode=EH12%206TS&price-from=500&price-to=1000&sort=distance

If she is only ever in the city then the KA and Corsa on the first page of those results are worth a look – plus factor in a service and look over from your own garage.

Nearly 500 cars on AT under a grand with a <1.2 petrol engine. Loads of Pandas, C1/Aygo things and Corsas – one of them with as clean an MOT history as possible and maybe spend whatever it is on an AA/RAC check to make sure there are no hidden nasties on the horizon.

Not mine so no idea if it’s any good

High miles but a year MOT. Much ,much nicer place to sit than an Aygo!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266959762248?_nkw=volvo&itmmeta=01J5WHSMM8P7AP3GZVY98JP1DR&hash=item3e280ab348%3Ag%3A%7Ez8AAOSwoZlmqSGy&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmbs1EnB7lpqB2F9tOOoaOIk%2Bkr9VrRzVKn2rdzlxJEcrvNlTbN2CTi7RA%2FSnSlVUTIdth3QU%2BEYLR2d0%2BBYbhnsk%2F2N8RsjizObwjLhO7caSsdHz7nO%2BfUK5u28–RP4pPVpafnet3nhcS%2BdV2qA%2B3zL%2FmpAz5hncIkZyoOZh%2BwLlVeEDmR5%2Bq4ExQB3GqrFwxO6kDAIezJgynFg3Y%2FBXUvE7KA8JcY4LiJfVp7cqrtFRsumxlNMtRXEFU3kbcM2QqDHvkO1mltaDo0vsAf8G0%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5zK5pGvZA&LH_BIN=1

Sensible miles, but only four months MOT,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204946659698?_nkw=Peugeot+307&itmmeta=01J5WJ8DN15386FRMXE0KDB5CB&hash=item2fb7c5d972%3Ag%3A498AAOSwDuBmwOlT&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKncDp5UAWxbmNFPBgywv00gurK9XkGQRMyZwLQf4kZt3Z4EYh2ZxpQMlPK1JmmbZ4msTSo76tWM7h62V2PyO00oU4fE1w0kiAZ2WRQ6zE7RCERXUTQ2uv1z731B6T%2Fn7S8ImW2UdX%2BlXh9G3MdcWZBtV%2F26EMECW0x8pwGKkJIaBIuSJgdysKcjF0%2FvvJdX36s89sR19zUXALNjUGDbyYbnDMxgdCZS8hIzZmjYSZn1lV1k%2FnJaSSeieQsmYT3zaiQUFApB%2Fei%2Bzw55oLH%2BSG2MXxMipoDyJhlZZt0H5lnKBQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8jaoZKvZA&LH_BIN=1

There’s still some cheap half decent stuff about.

Cheap, half decent cars can be found, but you’ve got to sift out the crap. You may find a C1/Aygo for £1000 but it might be pretty rough. We got one for daughter 3 years ago – cost £2000 for a 11 year old one. Pretty good condition, but it hadn’t been serviced much. New pads, tyres, exhaust, water leaks fixed (around glass boot), then a fair few other bits and bobs over that first year. I’ve undersealed it too.

Son’s just picked up a ‘second car’ as his daily (main car is now mainly for track). 57 BMW 320d Estate, for £500. It’s got 230k miles on it, was a bit scruffy, but a good hoover and wash brought it up. He’s spent about £500 servicing it, sorting out broken electrics in boot, replacing broken headlights, oh and fitting a new Linux head unit. Used parts seem very cheap for older 3 series. Engine light came on, but we’ve a reader and he’s fixed those issues. He’s done 2-3k in it in the last couple of months without bother.

Presumably she’s getting expenses as it’s “business”, most employers will allow folk to expense other means of transport (non-drivers for example), at the cost of that transport AKA use public transport (and you’re in Edinburgh, there’s loads of it).

If it’s just a second car it presumably doesn’t have to be that practical. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235681139396?_nkw=Peugeot+306&itmmeta=01J5X6K8NJY3EADAB11BR7FESP&hash=item36dfb0cac4:g:8DMAAOSwETdmrkH2&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKlWAqohSDmvV%2F0npOnWXTEELs5x60X48%2BKvlzWknwfUzTXeWaJInO6Fp1HOfdEKRbJg9a2xmYTNgtKT%2FJY3wOrknCArPwkf94i9fbBVEAecT%2FM7pOZzgJ9WA4OKiJ%2FyIqOxbb8QoAGU8adTgK5SmNpigR39ric%2Fwii3IkSHGsbnlEabu9uj9jGFrfVwbcaExbJ5wzzB%2Fi6lzxoc6KBWF0AQC5StfUadYF61vtxmLGPnLirDsoS3MZD7FdZ8CprOLlY%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-yKzaavZA

But more interesting than most without being daft

How does the parking permit work for a car from 1976?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405189839744

Have you tried searching the west coast? I’m thinking Argyll in particular, an easy hop over on the ferry from Gourock but anyone checking Google maps will see an hour and a half by road. Stuff over there sells for buttons if you can be bothered going for it.

Downside is it’s wet and probably been living next to the sea air. But heading off the beaten trail whatever direction you head would probably be worth a look.

But more interesting than most without being daft

Have you ever been to Edinburgh? It’s cold and windy, when is that ever a good combo for a soft top?