OK I NEED A CAR...

[stickyj]

Dh's car is dead, an ex-car, really dead. He needs to travel for work and also meetings. I need a car to get to my work, only 10 mins away in a car, could walk it in about an hour but down country lanes, no bus service there and a train once an hour. I work funny times, am self employed and sometimes only need to be there for an hour, sometimes all day.

We have no money, business is really bad and I need recommendations. DH will have my car, as kids are all big enough now to get to school/college and back on their own and I don't need a 7 seater so I need a banger. Any good sites, please or recommendations. We know NOTHING about cars and don't want to get "done". It needs to go and go, be clean inside and not green...{grin]. Cheaper the better as bank may lend us a few hundred, tops a grand but that'll mean toast for evermore and no beans either for us tea!!

Need one by Jan 4th, help!!!

If you want somehting that goes forever get German or Japanese. You will probably get an older model than if you got a Ford or Vauxhall, but it will be a better car and will last.

Do you know anyone who can go with you to look at cars?

Have a look at the Auto Trader website and look out for old blokes who have had the car since new. If it's old but immaculate, that's often a good sign of it being looked after.

Good luck

What about the auctions? I got a 51 plate ex-police Mondeo for £1200. It had been safety checked by the police and came with full MOT so we knew we werent getting something that would break down on the way home.

Phone round the auction houses and they will tell you when the police auctions are.

Two options really.

For the money, you could either get a japanese car, which is likely to be the most reliable, or a Ford which is almost as reliable but probably cheaper to fix/maintain WHEN* it needs it.

Going for german at that price may get you an absolute jackpot, the old Mercs of legend that have done 250k and more with a sip of oil every year, but it'll be much older than the ford/toyota etc, and much more likely to go bang in a terminal/financially terminal fashion.

*any car costing this amount will need money spent on it at some point, likely soon. Possibly not, but you'd be gambling to assume so.

DP had an L reg fiesta for £50 but he is a mechanic so able to fix it himself. It lasted 2 years before anything went horribly wrong. He replaced it with a peugeot diesel 306 (I think!). The advantage with the fiesta was cheap parts, with the peugeot it has quite low mileage and an everlasting engine according to dp. I'll ask him when he gets back but he always goes for cars with minimal electrics as there's less to go wrong!

I had a old K reg ('92) suzuki vitara, it has no computer, i even had the Hayes manual as you could literally take it apart to componates and rebuild, it is still running (with another owner).

Buying a second hand car is a bit hit and miss. I once bought a car from a dealer that was only 12 months old and it broke down with a horrible burning smell on my home from picking it up. On the other hand have had no problems at all with my Mondeo which is a good bit older and cheaper.

You can pay an AA guy who will come out and inspect any car you are thinking of buying and he will highlight any defects/problems.

DP recommends 93 shape escort, apparently you should check the cam belt has been changed. Apparently 97 shape fiestas rot so best to avoid, go for 93 shape. BTW, he is a Ford mechanic which may explain the theme behind the recommendations

Before our current car we had an L reg Toyota Corolla that we got for £1400 (about 4/5 years ago) -- it did really well for us (we got a lot of miles out of it as did a lot of camping pre-DC), in fact our local MOT guy offered to buy it from us for his mum as apparently they are v reliable.

We just bought it from local used-car lot so I guess we got lucky!

Or can you not cycle to work?