As the title says, we need a cheap car in the region of £300 - £400 with a long MOT, and preferably tax if closer to £400 as we are really limited for money, doesn't matter if its tatty, as long as its reliable...

we have cash waiting, and are free Saturday!

I found a really nice "s" reg rover 200 SLi (The 1.6 honda engine, not the crappy head eating rover 1.4) MOT'd till Dec, Taxed till june for £420, but its bloody sold before we could get the time off to go down there!

anyone got an old car they want to get rid of? I would prefere to have a car I know the history of, instead of an autotrader special... GUTTED I can't afford Robs Primera GT :(

Thanks in advance.

Dave.

Are you sure an S reg will be a honda lump?

By that time i am not sure Rover still used the 1.6 honda engine, i think they were all replaced by the rover K series.

Are you sure an S reg will be a honda lump?

By that time i am not sure Rover still used the 1.6 honda engine, i think they were all replaced by the rover K series.

really? I thought all the 1.6's were honda and the 1.4 - k series rover, and the 2.0 o - series rover (nothing wrong with the o series) .... I could be wrong of course.... I know they split from honda at some point.....

if you're right, was the 1.6 k-series as unreliable as the 1.4? its the long bolts running all through the engine that cause head failures if I remember correctly.... anyway it has less than 100k too :(

found another on autotrader of p reg 1.6 petrol polo... MOT dec no tax £490 ish.... doubt we caould affort the extra to insure AND tax it though :( looks a nice little car......

but again, If you have something that fits on here feel free to pM me

Im am pretty sure it was only the old boxy 200 and 400 that used the honda engine. The bubble shaped ones used the K series, there was the 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 used in the 200.

The head gasket problems in the early k series were caused by head shuffle that rubbed the head gasket, but was made better with stronger dowels and a redesigned head gasket. We have a rover 414 crap box run around with over 100k on the clock and the thing will not die, i dread to imagine the last time it had a service as well, Its not a bad engine!

If it was me i would be looking at 400's if you want a rover. Its a bigger slightly more comfortable car and has a boot that's actually useable, they also tend to be slightly cheaper.

thanks for that... I'd rather have a 400 myself, but swmbo has an aversion to cars much bigger than my grande for some reason! lol.... I forgot there was a 1.8, thats quite nippy if I remember..

but anything would do in the end, as long as its reliable.....

On the Skoda side a Felicia could be had for that sort of cash. 1.6 felicia is the VW Polo AEE engine, but the 1.3 Skoda unit is still good

On the Skoda side a Felicia could be had for that sort of cash. 1.6 felicia is the VW Polo AEE engine, but the 1.3 Skoda unit is still good

there is also a felicia in autotrader for that money, looks good, good description, but quite short MOT... I've seen a couple of felicia's

Citroen Xsara's always go cheap, no idea what reliability or quality would be like. I was always under the impression it was a 306 with a different body, might be wrong.

Citroen Xsara's always go cheap, no idea what reliability or quality would be like. I was always under the impression it was a 306 with a different body, might be wrong.

You are correct.

A decent example would be worth a punt.

The `down side` on the xsara is less desirable (esp with the ch*vs which is good) and also a higher insurance group than the 306.

A Xsara 1.9D would be a great car as that engine runs and runs. Can't comment on the petrols in it though.

Petrol Xsara's are bad for head gaskets too...

Diesel one will go on forever though

Something Korean?

You'll be able to pick up a fugly Daewoo dirt cheap and normally they've been owned by older folks so never raced or rallied.

I know a guy who picked up an old Daewoo for £300 and he's run it for 3 years and it still gets through MOT no probs.

Don't rule out a Citroen ZX too, they are pretty durable.

Ford Escort? Not flash but there are loads of them about and they cost pennies to fix.

Agreed, as long as its not rusty.

To be honest , in this price range I'd do a search on Ebay for anything in budget and with a suitable distance and go and have a nose at what looks ok.

I really wouldn't get too hung up on trying to find a particular model.

Im am pretty sure it was only the old boxy 200 and 400 that used the honda engine. The bubble shaped ones used the K series, there was the 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 used in the 200.

The head gasket problems in the early k series were caused by head shuffle that rubbed the head gasket, but was made better with stronger dowels and a redesigned head gasket. We have a rover 414 crap box run around with over 100k on the clock and the thing will not die, i dread to imagine the last time it had a service as well, Its not a bad engine!

If it was me i would be looking at 400's if you want a rover. Its a bigger slightly more comfortable car and has a boot that's actually useable, they also tend to be slightly cheaper.

Bubbles indeed had the K-units, though the 600's still used the 1.8 honda unit but I think only in the auto's. Have to say had a few rovers all never looked after and most went on with silly mileage though its a hit and miss game!

I would do what dr Z said just sent a budget with in a loacal distance and have a look, at £300-400 your talking banger chuckable motors.

The 1.9TD in the pugs/citroens are fairly good my dad has one with 140k with no issues and my pug 306 I just sold had about 115k again engine was fine.......................shame about the rest of the car!

If your not bothered about size then a micra is very reliable - ok some cars in this price braket might have a bit of rust but the Nissan engines are stong little lumps and can go for miles.

aslong as it safe I would not worry about how it looks if its scruffy it doesn't matter as its just to get her back on the road.

thanks for all the advice, all useful now... anyone got an old car they wanna sell me? lol....

am looking at a p-reg golf gti with the low power N/A 2 litre (115bhp I think) it has 12 months MOT is quite tatty, and has 165,000 miles on...... anyone know how well these engines last? no turbo to worry about, and some service history.... I'm thinking, you can see why its cheap, big miles, tatty ect, but if it has a 12 month ticket, surely it would have working engine (emissions) working suspension and brakes... (does the ABS have to work for MOT's? I don't beleive it does......) what do you think? is that engine durable enough? i also had my eye on anice pergeot 306 deisel and a nice (very well looked after) 1.4 old sty;e seat ibiza... but both have just gone out of my price range......

also gonna get the local papers at he weekend....

How about this

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201005351606454/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/500/make/nissan/postcode/bb33et/page/1/radius/40?previous=/search/used/cars/nissan/postcode/bb33et/radius/40/price-to/500/sort/priceasc/page/1&logcode=p

thats the sort of thing... depending on how long the MOT is, I've seen loads with nov 10 - jan 11 MOTS at £400.... thing is she needs to pay the first insurance installment out of our £500 too... so we really cant go above £400.... keeping my eye on 3 on ebay

I would think a Felicia is a good bet. Any of the engines are reliable, its only some parts of the body work rusting that let them down. Having said that if it has a 12 month MOT you should be fine.

I would think a Felicia is a good bet. Any of the engines are reliable, its only some parts of the body work rusting that let them down. Having said that if it has a 12 month MOT you should be fine.

there a felicia on auto trader for about £425... private seller says its good..... only trouble is MOT is about April, and if it needed work, we wouldn't be able to fix it... however 10-12 months and shed be able to save up for MOT type costs....

How far are you willing to travel?

I've seen a Carina E for sale in Barrow for £375. Too big?