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Just had my second "nice" car die on me in eight months, and am well and truly out of money and patience with fiddly cars. By fiddly, I mean you need a computer to plug in and figure out what's wrong because the car's so complex it could be just about anything..
Recommend me a cheap banger that's easy to bodge fixes on when it goes wrong- the idea is to keep it running cheaply till it dies, then scrap it which means I've not lost much money at all.
Considered an old Clio, a Suzuki Alto/Wagon R, old Fiesta.. Could go for a bigger car so long as the VED isn't ridiculous and it doesn't gobble too much fuel.
Must be large enough for a 6'4 bloke.
Go!
This will last you the rest of your daysSaw this car on Auto Trader’s Android App. Thought you might be interested. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201603021554940
Save £500 and buy a £50 fault code reader and Google?
Or buy a pre 1980s car that has no ECU to speak of.
Not even £50. Between ebay for a bluetooth ELM327 OBD2 reader and Torque Pro from the Google Play Store you'll be out less than a tenner.
Alternatively: my Peugeot 406 HDi 110.
130k miles. Very minor damage to bonnet where a deer met a recent untimely end and a bit of surface rust around the aerial mount. Engine is good, 6 months MOT remaining, decent tread on tyres, clean inside, everything works (although radio reception is a bit naff). 50mpg all day long and £130/year tax.
As above, code reader, I got one off ebay for a tenner and it worked, reset everything. Failing that, for £500 buy an old grandad's Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Corolla
That ^^^^^^^
How many miles a day and how handy are you?
A Nissan primera p11 or p10 would be good
If you're only spending £500, something local with an MOT would be my recommendation.
Buy on condition, which should rule out most French cars, but just in case it doesn't, don't get anything French.
To add - one of my kids bought this late 90' Civic for £400 off gumtree a while back, has never let him down and just passed the MOT again with no advisories, was an old blokes one with FSH and 65k miles. I drive it sometimes and it's still really tight and goes well for nearly 20 years old. If you want cheap, stick to reliable Jap stuff I reckon.
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buy an old grandad's Honda Civic/Accord
Steady on I bought a new Accord when I was 27 😳
OP as above first things first get your own view of the fault code. We had a Toyota Rav4 dealer kept changing the cat under the extended warranty (ie 2 new ones and wanted to do a third) as that's what the fault code was. i did some Googling amd found that a dud battery could be a source of false readings. One new battery and all sorted. Had similar issues with an Audi too. These fault codes are a dodgy dealer/mechanics dream.
This will last you the rest of your daysSaw this car on Auto Trader’s Android App. Thought you might be interested. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201603021554940
We had one of those Almeras for 8 years from almost new. Needed one bulb and a section of exhaust in all that time. Only sold it because we got bored. Surprisingly nice to drive and plenty of space.
Where are you? I know of a Clio 1.2 in Sheffield that's probably up for sale soon, would be around that cash I reckon.
for £500 quid you want to be buying local on condition and history with a years MOT alone rather than searching out a model which has a perceived reliability.
That said, I'd be sticking to Japanese mainstream stuff, Corollas, Almera, etc... but making sure I got a decent one and not worrying too much about the cars perception.
EDIT - and +1 on the ELM bluetooth readers and the Android Torque app. Helped me and mates out numerous times.
Condition, length of MOT and quality of the Tyres are all on my list before makes and models for that price.
spend more than £500 would be my advice, that sort of money will more than likely buy you someone else's 'cba to fix this, so bodge an mot and sell it on.'
Loads of local FB groups for cars at 500 and under and 1000 and under, usually local. Try ebay as well and autotrader of course. Ask all family and work friends.
I'm sure you could pick up something older that's nice and reliable for £500, but I'd also look at spending more like £800 on something well-looked after but not too popular.
I really liked my 2002 Mondeo so I'd look for a slightly newer one of those, especially given your height. But as others have said, its worth just seeing what's about locally.
I've always had cheap Fiestas - Mk5 & earlier. They've been easy to fix up to keep running but it's usually rust that eventually kills them. So I'd say +1 to the Japanese suggestions above.
ELM bluetooth readers and the Android Torque app
Whilst this is a good idea, it's not the total solution people preach. It only allows access to some of the cars systems, not all of them e.g. airbag and abs aren't accessible from memory.
Find the best thing within x miles radius. Don't go looking for a particular car. But having said that, old Honda's, or Corollas, Primeras, Almeras as mentioned are a good bet or an old school Peugeot diesel.