Buying a cheap car

[Piemaster]

No don't get a FIAT! It will either dissolve before your eyes or be dead when you turn the key as the electrics are awful. I know I had one for a few years well almost 10 years. It ended up costing a fortune to run and I do my own servicing and repairs! F I A T = Fix It Again Tomorrow.

I'm confused. Is that irony, an endorsement or some sort of odd perversion?

(I could understand it if it was an Alfa though. They do odd things to people)

 

[Reynard]

(I could understand it if it was an Alfa though. They do odd things to people)

Or a Lancia...

 

[Julia9054]

Or a Lancia...

Ooh, my dad had one of those back in the 1980s.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Ooh, my dad had one of those back in the 1980s.

Must have been summer

 

[Deleted member 26715]

(I could understand it if it was an Alfa though. They do odd things to people)

I love their styling, but even I have not been brave enough to own one

 

[Nigeyy]

Oh, that is so my kind of car....

My best buy was a car with 32K miles on it driven by a little old lady (sadly deceased) in Texas for $2500. It was originally advertized for $2800 but I haggled even though it was an absolute bargain at $2800!! (old habits die hard). Her relative got it and moved to Boston, Massachusetts as a student where I found it when he was selling it and keeping his VW Passat.

I know which one of the vehicles had lower running costs and was more reliable, but hey, his loss, and at least he looked cool in the Passat But 31K on a car for 600 quid beats that one! Well done sir.

I kept seeing old Peugeot 106s in pretty good condition, little or no rust on them and going for next to nothing second hand, so I looked for one and got lucky on Ebay finding a mint, lowish mileage one, 1999, 31k, very clean almost new inside, service history and MOTs all check out, £600.

 

[screenman]

1,000 ..... ???!!!! Were you the importer for Fiat in the UK?

No but I was a busy car dealer selling a lot of Fiats.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I love their styling, but even I have not been brave enough to own one

I so wanted an Alfasud Sprint Veloce.
GTV and the Gulietta.
Beautiful cars compared to the UK offerings...but I too was too scared to actually pay and see if luck was on my side

 

[Drago]

Oh, that is so my kind of car....

My best buy was a car with 32K miles on it driven by a little old lady...

Ma Barker?

 

[mjr]

So when I decided enough was enough I looked around for a cheap run around. I kept seeing old Peugeot 106s in pretty good condition, little or no rust on them and going for next to nothing second hand, so I looked for one and got lucky on Ebay finding a mint, lowish mileage one, 1999, 31k, very clean almost new inside, service history and MOTs all check out, £600. [...]

Ah, Peugeot! The cars so underpowered for their weight that I used to be able to leave them when pulling away from junctions in my very old half-the-engine-replaced-after-seizure electrically-dysfunctional Seat Malaga - and that car itself bordered on incapable of accelerating enough to merge safely into traffic if the slip road was uphill.

Peugeot = PErfectly Useless: GEt Other Transport.

Have been looking at getting some thing bigger like a Berlingo Multispace or Partner Teepee so I can get bikes in with ease. Not interested in fast flash cars. Waste of money. Would rather spend on bicycles or motor bikes.

Is going from a Peugeot to a "sits too long" really an upgrade?

 

[Smokin Joe]

Peugeot = PErfectly Useless: GEt Other Transport.

Fix It Again Tomorrow, Lots of Trouble Usually Serious, Another Useless Deutsche Invention, Fix or Repair Daily, Had One Never Did Again, Made After Zero Design Analysis, Needs Imminent Salvage So Abandon Now, The One You Ought To Avoid, and many more of a similar nature.

All very clever, but all basically bollox.

 

[mjr]

All very clever, but all basically bollox.

Sure but let's not only post the one for one brand.

 

[Dirk]

..... I wouldn't touch a Fiat now even if it was given to me......

A mate of mine feels the same about Fords.
He wouldn't touch one with a barge pole - they are rubbish to drive, unreliable, uneconomical etc etc.......
When pressed on why he is so vehemently anti Ford; it turns out that he had a secondhand Cortina in 1977 that he used for taxiing.
It was 'rubbish'. Ergo - 'all Fords are rubbish'.
I can't argue with that sort of logic.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Amazing how man BMWs Audi's have turbo failure and DMF fails at around 30 40k usually just out of warranty too..
Always at least 2k+ repair or new engine if the DMF goes big time.
Also the new Jags like to destroy the engine ..you need to hope it's in warranty..6k fix I'm told

 

[DCLane]

Have been looking at getting some thing bigger like a Berlingo Multispace or Partner Teepee so I can get bikes in with ease. Not interested in fast flash cars. Waste of money. Would rather spend on bicycles or motor bikes.

I've done exactly this: my Saab convertible went and I bought a Peugeot Tepee. Loads of interior space and surprisingly OK. It's the very basic model so no aircon, satnav, alloys, etc. but it works fine for what I (currently) need a car to do: take my 14yo and myself training and racing. The Saab was at risk of damage from being hit by a falling/moving bike - now it doesn't matter.

By folding down the single rear seat I can slide a bike in and keep 2 x rear, or have 1 x rear and fit 2 bikes in. 3 bikes will roll in with all the rear seats down.

Bear in mind that I've usually got rollers, spare wheels, toolkits and kit bags, etc. due to racing and you've got the idea of interior space.