Might be changing jobs in a months time and if this happens I would need a 2nd car as swmbo uses the vrs for her work. I don't really want to spend more than £1000 on a car and I'm not bothered if its petrol or diesel so far I've been looking at vw passat,Volvo s40 and vw polo.

Does anyone on here have any experience of the cars I've mentioned and any alternatives would be welcomed as well.

Passat will be a sound choice. But beware of water ingress (like the superb)

The model of S40 you would be looking at would be the older one, which shared a lot of parts with the Mitsubishi Charisma. Reliable but a bit dull.

I use to have a vw polo 6n2, never had a single problem with it, would always start first time even if it hadn't been driven for months.

Was great fun to drive too, felt like a little go-kart

At that price point you're going on luck as much as judgement.

Something as simple as possible would probably be best since there is less to go wrong. A non-Turbo diesel Like a Fabia or polo SDI would probably be reliable if pretty awful to drive.

Check for servicing and rot. some of the less desirable cars might be run by old uns who do everything by the book. Think nasty low mileage petrol Kia or Daewoo. can be quite cheap and much newer than a german/jap car at the same price.

Older Civics can last well as can the pre-Renault nissans like the Primera.

Factor in a big service, and break down cover or just break down cover and run it and dump it when it breaks.

Anything at a £1k would suit you, you have to go by the condition when you view a car and how it drives. I've found some goodsub £1k. cars for friends who don't have much money, they have been surprised what you can get for £1k. and sometimes a model that they were not expecting. Even a current 12mth. MOT is not much to go on as he could be over friendly tester. Happy Hunting.

106 1.5NAD

106 1.5NAD

Bought the wife one of those for her 1st. car many years ago and it was the Special Inca model, well the saleman told me it was special as it had the little smiley sun stickers on it, LOL. She drove it for 5 years without problems except the front shocker mounts had to be changed but that was mainly due to her driving up kerbs to park.

I use to have a vw polo 6n2, never had a single problem with it, would always start first time even if it hadn't been driven for months.

Was great fun to drive too, felt like a little go-kart

That was my last car, 1.0 and slower than slow but such good fun to drive!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301184973269

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301164945103

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301114882361

All pretty horrible but you can't be too choosy for £1k

I had the same issues a little over 3 years ago...

Ended up with my MR2

100% epic. 150bhp still after 20 years, never lets me down and cost me 1k!

Ironically your pretty local. This isnt a for sale ad. However im actually selling it now as bought the boring 200bhp Fabia to do the journey to work in

I looked at old beemers, old volves and old MR2 as yes you can get many a car for sub 1k but I know for sure id have got bored to death of a iccle 1.3 polo or alike.

So first RWD car, and loved it!

306 hdi / dturbo

S40/V40 is a good buy. I've had one of each - a 1.9TD and a 1.8Bi-Fuel. Both were excellent; well equipped, cheap to run, and bombproof if they've been looked after. Parts are cheap and easy to get (think full set of discs and pads for £80), they're easy to work on, comfortable (could easily do 600miles in a day without any aches and pains), they ride well, they're pretty quiet, spacious and they don't rust (my mate's got a '98 he's had since new, treats like crap apart from servicing regularly, has done 150K+ in it, and it still comes up shiny when it has its annual wash).

Can't go wrong with one really. Better than many of the French/Italian/Japanese alternatives at the same price.

thanks for the info guys its definatly given me something think about.

Sensible head suggestions

If you are doing less than 20 miles each way & its only you driving then a small car, like the size of a polo / fabia is probably more suitable., however if its a longer journey , then as suggested a volvo, they cant be all bad as the m'way police love them being solid, huge, comfortable & reliable.

Saw an ex m'way plod volvo for sale just before xmas, and based on a review by a brisky member who bought an ex m'way plod car, they seem to be a really good cheap buy. He managed to get a full & very complete history of the car from the police & was very impressed with how well looked after it had been despite being very high milage.

Happy hunting & hope you find something

I've had 3 s40's in past and not really had to much bother with any of them altho i had 2 2.0T's and diesel, they do rust but only usually round rear archs and they also rust brake pipes for fun especially front to rears up round n/s where they run round fuel tank,

As said they are about bomb proof aslong as they have been looked after service wise, just avoid the one with mitsubishi GDi engines in as they are nothing but trouble,

Not had much to do with polo's but i help g/f friend find a 1k car a few years back and she ended up with a lupo and had 4 years out of it and it got nothing but abused but kept motoring on until a month ago when hadbrake decieded to release itself on her steep drive and had a meeting with side of a transit at bottom altho suprisingly the transit actually came off worst

When I've needed a cheap reliable car I've (twice) got a Felicia with the 1.3 68 bhp engine. I reckon somewhere in the region of 42 mpg in the estate or 43 mpg in the hatchback.

Another vote of the 6n2. I've had my GTi for about 3 years, and apart from a battery/alternator, it's not no money spent on non-servicing items.

Can beat 40mpg and be great fun when the mood takes. Not very refined or comfy though for longer runs.

Parting with it now, but only as I want something older and RWD, otherwise it still puts a smile on my face. Slightly leggy ones are nearing the £1k mark too now, although a decent one (like mine ) are a fair bit more than that.

There are some very nice cheap motors around but depends what you want from it.

The passats are very good and do have water ingress problems but it is down not being looked after. They have drain tubes near the battery that get blocked with leaves and debris all they need is cleaning out.

I saw a very nice 130 TDi for sale last week for a £1000 so some ggod prices around.

Or how about a Volvo V70 as there are some cracking ones around.

I sold a very nice 1998 V70 T5 SE Manual last year for £750 with low miles and loads of history.

You can pick up T5s very cheap because most people think the are expensive to run. Mine would do 34-36 mpg on a steady rund and around 25 around town which is very good for a 240bhp car. And the best bit they are cheap to insure if you go through Volvo insurance.

When I bought mine I was looking at a Passat 1.8T estate which only had 150bhp and the volvo was almost a third cheaper to insure.

Well worth a look.

There are some very nice cheap motors around but depends what you want from it.

The passats are very good and do have water ingress problems but it is down not being looked after. They have drain tubes near the battery that get blocked with leaves and debris all they need is cleaning out.

I saw a very nice 130 TDi for sale last week for a £1000 so some ggod prices around.

Water ingress problems on the Passat, Superb, A6 are much more attributable to poor design and cheap materials in the pollen filter housing seal than crud in the plenum drains, although they do play a part. Even with clear drains the things still let water into the cabin thanks to crap design.

Even an ostensibly well looked after example with FSH may have water ingress issues... So beware.

Peugot 306 or Citroen ZX/Xsara with a XUD diesel engine (Not HDI)

Cheap to run, Cheap enough to insure and on the non turbo versions of the XUD almost nothing to go wrong.

Water ingress problems on the Passat, Superb, A6 are much more attributable to poor design and cheap materials in the pollen filter housing seal than crud in the plenum drains, although they do play a part. Even with clear drains the things still let water into the cabin thanks to crap design.

Even an ostensibly well looked after example with FSH may have water ingress issues... So beware.

Maybe on the later ones but the B5 passat was normally just the drains. and for under a grand you wont get much later.

Again some interesting comments thanks guys, my trip to work will be around 30mile a day so I'm assuming a diesel wouldn't really benefit me much but I shall carry on with the search and see what takes my fancy.

Not exactly exciting but if I was buying for cheapness and reliability, my money would go on a corolla, avensis, civic or an accord.

^^ Which is why I didnt, but for the same cheapness and reliability without being boring as hell my MR2 has done well

Ebay will see it go for maybe £800 I guess... lol.

Again some interesting comments thanks guys, my trip to work will be around 30mile a day so I'm assuming a diesel wouldn't really benefit me much but I shall carry on with the search and see what takes my fancy.

At the age of car you're looking at, remember the petrol motors will be NOWHERE near as efficient as modern ones, so the gap between diesel and petrol will be wider than today's models. Additionally, remember that old diesels without a DPF are tolerant of short trips to a greater extent, and are therefore much less likely to be problematic with that kind of use.

I'm pretty sure a diesel will be cheaper to run (and insure, most likely) at that age than a petrol model of the same vehicle.