Sub £1,000 motoring

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Mon 14 Oct 2019 01:30
Sub £1,000 motoring - SLO76
Sub £1,000 motoring is the bottom end of the market, where funds are tight and good pickings slim. It can however be very rewarding though for the extreme Bangernomics devotee. Best if you’ve a bit of motoring knowledge but doable for those without.

Buying worthy cars for a few hundred quid means removing fashion or prestige from your mindset, your money will go further with cars that are unfashionable and unwanted. Forget anything flash or high performance, it’ll be a total money pit that much you can almost guarantee.

Stick with simple mass market models and be prepared to be flexible. A tidy Honda Accord could cost less to run than a tatty Fiesta despite being dearer to tax and fuel because it never costs you in repairs. Don’t go in with a fixed make, model or size of car in mind if you can, you need to be flexible.

I’m not going to break down a list of cars based on size as again you need more flexibility to get ultra cheap motoring right but here’s a wee list of cars I’ve sold and run at this end of the spectrum that’ve proven cost effective and reliable.

Ford Fiesta Mk V 1.25/1.4 petrol
Ford Focus Mk I 1.6 petrol
Ford Mondeo Mk III 1.8/2.0 petrol
Honda Jazz Mk I
Honda Civic 01-05
Honda Accord petrol
Kia Picanto
Mitsubishi Colt
Mitsubishi Carisma (avoid the GDi)
Mazda 3 petrol
Mazda 6 petrol
Toyota Yaris
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Avensis
Volvo S40/V40
Nissan Micra 1.0/1.2/1.4 petrol
Nissan Note petrol
Vauxhall Astra 1.4/1.6 petrol


It’s quite possible in fact to run a car for free or very near, well if you don’t include the fuel and road tax but the actual cost of the car itself. I’ve done it many times in the past.

Thinking of a good example I came up with an old family friend who comes to me for cars when required. She hates spending money on them and doesn’t go very far in it.

99-V Toyota Avensis 1.8 SE I bought myself for £1250 and sold after 3yrs to her for £850 then she ran it for just over a further 3yrs before scrapping. 6yrs reliable use and no major failures until it finally popped a head gasket, not bad for £1250. Total depreciation cost per year £208

2002-52 VW Passat 1.9 TDi SE Bought for £400 to replace above and intended to be a temporary measure until I found something better but it went on to last for over 2yrs until rot got the better of it. Cost per year less than £200

99-V Toyota Corolla 1.3 S 5dr bought as another stopgap replacement for the above. Paid £360 with 3mths Mot and almost 2yrs later it’s still going. Depreciation cost to date £180 per year.

1999-T VW Polo 1.4 CL 5dr bought for new driver daughter for £1,700. Ran for approximately 4yrs before being scrapped due to an accumulation of minor Mot failures. Scrapped for £100, depreciation cost £400 a year.

2006- 56 Chevrolet Kalos 1.2S 3dr bought for £1,000 to replace above. Bit tatty but went well. Lasted 3yrs before someone ran into it and she got £1,200 for it! £200 profit after 3yrs.

2005-55 Nissan Micra 1.2 SE 3dr bought for £1200 to replace above. Been faultless and still looks good over 3yrs later. Cost to date approximately £133 a year as I figure it’s still worth £800 all day.

Try to think on how much money this family have saved over the years compared to a new or newer car on finance, PCP or lease and they’ve never been left stranded anywhere. They don’t worry about where they park and instead of paying a constant monthly payment they enjoy their regular foreign holidays instead. I don’t profit from them, it’s almost a hobby to see just how cheaply I can keep them on the road. I’m looking forward to a call to go looking again but that old Corolla just won’t die.






Edited by SLO76 on 14/10/2019 at 01:33

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 08:54
Sub £1,000 motoring - Trilogy.

Great advice - as always. Just wondering why you don't include the 1.8 and 2.0 engines for the Focus when you suggest them for a Mondeo. I had 1.8 Focus, which used virtually no oil at 100,000 miles and was trouble free.

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 09:26
Sub £1,000 motoring - paul 1963

Another great topic, in the past I've done this several times, once bought a immaculate Austin Maxi from a very well to do chap for a whole £20. He sold it because it was running rough, turned out to be a dirty air filter, ran it for 2 years before selling it on ( can't for the life of me remember how much though).

fast forward 20 years and I bought bmw 323se for 500, fresh mot and everything worked, sold it back to the owner ten months later ( he missed it!) for £500.

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 10:06
Sub £1,000 motoring - pd

There is another approach to Bangernomics and that is to buy the silliest car you can for a grand and hope you get away with it driving something more interesting and luxurious for a song. It can be done buy obviously there is a risk factor. Ones I can think of, some of which I have owned:

Lexus LS400. The ultimate cheap buy. Mk 4s now appreciating though.

Peugeot 607. Ideally later 2.0 HDI 136. Not unreliable and a cheap sofa on wheels.

2004-2008 Honda Accord 2.4 Type-S. Bargain if you can find one under £1k. 2.4 way better to drive than 2.0. Watch for rust, noisy clutch cylinder, aircon failures.

Volvo S60/S80 D5 2002-2006. Volvo saloons much cheaper than estates. Watch for dodgy autos, oil leaks, suspension wear.

Citroen C5 2008-2016. Early examples of these are approach bangernomics prices. Vastly underrated car. Look for steering rack leaks.

Renault Laguna 2008-2012. As above. Lots of toys, generally reliable.

Volvo S40/V50 D5. D5 version feels more grown up than 4-cylinder models. Watch for water leaks, dodgy electrics. Aircon failure common.

BMW E90/E60 2.0d. Not quite in £1k bracket but getting there. M47 engine generally very good and way better than later N47. Autos can show wear above 120k miles. Watch for rust, dual mass flywheels, suspension wear.

Mazda MX-5: If it;s not rusty and hasn't got ABS light on will probably be fine.

There are loads more out there, all of varying risk and price but all quite interesting.

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 10:38
Sub £1,000 motoring - SLO76
Thinking of cars I’ve personally owned over the years in this bracket.

2000 W Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX - bought for £300 for a banger tour the Rex to Nice. It had 65,000 miles up and a full history, two owners, the last one for 12yrs. Ran great, drove perfect and served us well taking in those Alpine passes with ease and averaged just under 35mpg despite the lead right foot required on such terrain. We vinyl wrapped it and bought graphics to turn it into the General Lee and it covered just shy of 5,000 miles in our hands before being sold to another team who went to Venice in it before the Mot killed it off due to rust. A bit of welding would’ve saved it and I often wish I’d kept it.

2000 W Ford Cougar 2.5 V6 - being sold with a short Mot after the owner died. Paid £300 expecting some costs but it sailed through an Mot for the cost of the ticket only. Near immaculate, I intended on using it for another banger challenge this time done up as the Smokey and the Bandit Tramsam but we decided it was too tight for rear space and too good to ruin so I sold it to someone from Newcastle that loved Cougars and intended on preserving it for £825 6mths later. It’s still going years later.

2003-53 Mitsubishi Carisma 1.9 diesel. Bought to commute to work. Cost £700 from local elderly couple and cost £300 to service and repair over the year I had it. Averaged 46mpg and never let me down. Sold it after a year for £1,000. Total cost excluding fuel, insurance and tax nowt.

2002-52 Vauxhall Astra1.6 SXi bought for £1,000 from well to do old dear who was giving up driving, ran for a year. Spent £300 on a service, timing belt and water pump then sold it for £1,100. It’s still running years later.

99-T Mazda MX5 1.8. Bought for £1475, kept for two years and spent around £350 on repairs and servicing. Sold for £1,600 and it ran for 4yrs after with local buyer til rust killed it.

2000-W Peugeot 306 1.4 LX. Bought from a neighbour knowing it needed a clutch, paid £500 and then clutch cost £250 fitted. Great wee car to drive, ran it for nearly a year then sold it for £750. It went to London with a friends son and ran until someone rear ended it on the M25.

2003-53 Mazda 3 1.6 TS. This to be fair was a part exchange I took against an ASTRA but I kept it as a runabout for 6mths as I liked it too much. Drove fantastic, I’d sourced it for the previous owner at 3yrs old and he’d looked after it well. 117,000 miles but no issues at all aside from rust. I paid £295 and sold it for £650. It did cost £80 for a battery and £100 for rear discs and pads. But every time I drive it, it reminded me of how much of a waste of money new cars are. It’s still going years later too.

Edited by SLO76 on 14/10/2019 at 11:39

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 10:09
Sub £1,000 motoring - SLO76

Great advice - as always. Just wondering why you don't include the 1.8 and 2.0 engines for the Focus when you suggest them for a Mondeo. I had 1.8 Focus, which used virtually no oil at 100,000 miles and was trouble free.

The belt driven 1.8 motor in the Mk I is the old Ford designed Zetec twin cam from the Mk V Escort and Mk I Mondeo. It’s a gutsy engine in the relatively lightweight Focus but it’s not as sweet revving or as robust as the Yamaha designed 1.6 and it’s worse on fuel. Cam belt failures are quite common on older neglected engines too. The 1.8 in the Mk II is a completely different engine, it’s a chain driven Mazda design that’s much more robust but still I favour the 1.6. Don’t get me wrong it’s condition over any particular version at this money but all things equal id take a 1.6 over the others. I believe the Mk I Focus is on the cusp of classic status with good examples disappearing fast, all older Ford’s become classics eventually especially faster examples like the ST170 which is great investment at the moment if you can find a solid one.

Edited by SLO76 on 14/10/2019 at 10:11

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 10:55
Sub £1,000 motoring - paul 1963

Just remembered another couple of bargains.

Mk1 Ford KA, bought it from a friend of my daughter's for £50., she was desperate for some cash ( I didn't argue over the price) spent a weekend giving it a deep clean, it stank of cigarettes and sold it via gumtree on the Tuesday for 175, should have kept it as a run around as it drove lovely.

Peugeot 307 hdi, bought for £150 intending to clean it up and letting my son have it ( he just passed his test) sadly the insurance was to much for him so I sold it via gumtree again for £175 within a hour of buying it, should have asked more as the phone didn't stop and the guy that bought it practically threw the money at me, all I'd done was clean the screen.

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 11:06
Sub £1,000 motoring - gordonbennet

Just been speaking to my late neighbour's daughter, who's just driven the 250 miles in the totally reliable and still decent looking Saab Convertible they bought for £600 3 years ago off an ebay auction.

Her own Astra has just topped 190k miles, all driven by her from new, despite being totally reliable during that time the wiper mechanism is now a bit worn so didn't fancy the journey in case the wipers jammed up off the screen and chewed up.

Not paying to maintain glass palaces has helped them to move to one of the nicer parts of Devon on retirement.

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