Slow car fast

I have an 04 1.25 Fiesta that has 155K on the clock and is a better drive than my sons 15 plate Fiesta.

Can be picked up for peanuts and is a hoot to drive. On a run it sees over 40mpg easily and around town is above 35.

Bit small in the back but if it is just for you then worth a look.

P.

Good suggestions so far, keep them coming.

I'll be spending 3 months in north east France and then 3 months in either Scotland or Ireland. It'll be a mixture of around town and long distance driving. I'm from a country where we think nothing of driving for 150km to go to the beach, or just because I like driving.

At this stage I'll probably buy one car in France, sell it when I leave, then buy another in the UK. Possibly a little more trouble, but better than hiring a rental.

Agree with Golf Tdi 130 as suggested by jiminwatford - I have had a Bora with the same engine in it for 8 years as my daily. For any sort of distance work it is fabulous.

Mine is a Highline so comes with heated leather and cruise control. It's a very pleasant place to be. Plus the only thing that I have not been able to get in the boot is an oven. 1/4 ton of logs was no problem!

^ see above, a mate has had a MGF (VVC engine) for many years, good power, decent economy, great fun - even when not topless.
Similar options are MX5 and MR2.
The smaller French motors are great for economical daily drivers - Citroen Saxo/AX - Peugeot 106/206 etc (our 1.5D 106s were often getting near 70mpg !).
I looked at a couple of Saab Turbo, fun and very many have been chip'd (from 160bhp to 220 ?), topless is often an option.
Renault Megan for cheap soft-top fun.
6 cylinder BMW 325i/328i made before the electrics got too complicated (choose pre-2005 ish, E36/E39 etc, economy >35mpg if you drive gentle but it drops if you put your foot down)

Do you need carrying capacity (Hatchback / estate ?) or is it just for fun (2 seater sportscar ?)

Technicalities :
Cars in the UK need an MOT test every year, in your situation I'd buy something that had a long MOT so I could just drive it and sell / scrap it when I left, saves having to get it MOTd (this can often find difficult / expensive faults)
You will then need insurance, with MOT & Insurance you can Tax the car, all 3 are needed before you can legally drive it.
Tax varies depending on the car and it's age, some are free - others cost hundreds for the year. Check before buying !
Have you asked about insurance over here - you might find it's expensive for some of the cars you like.


Pick anything from the Forum sales forum.retro-rides.org/board/58/cars-sale and ask here for opinions.
Edit to add forum.retro-rides.org/thread/200855/1991-citroen-mot-east-sussex?page=1&scrollTo=2363597 

Other car sales websites :

www.carandclassic.co.uk/classic_cars.php?category=3&make=®ion=&country=1&era=&advert_type=&price=3&keyword=&S.x=49&S.y=11&S=Search

www.gumtree.com/search?search_category=cars&search_location=uk&max_price=1000&vehicle_registration_year=over_10

SportKas are a great shout! But I'd never recommend one due to:

-curse word MPG ; you'll be lucky to see more than 33MPG out of those ; the engines are woefully inefficient
-Rust ; Being Mk3 Fiesta based rot was never far behind the KA.

For the money they are great. I've always wondered why that generation never got Zetec engines which TBH were more powerful and more fuel efficient. You will get a great example though for £1k.

I'd recommend the Clio 172 but £1k is semi-shed money and insurance will be a problem I suspect. One of the best sub £2k cars I have owned ; it was a thrill to drive ; think modernised 205GTI without losing the spirit and fun of the original with nice toys in the mix like AC/ auto lights and wipers, leather seats etc. The 1.4s aren't too bad mind you.

(BMW) Mini Ones/Coopers are worth a shout and often overlooked. Without a supercharger they lose many reliability issues thankfully.

Alfa 147 JTDs are worth a shout too but buy carefully and preferably with some bits done like the cambelt, poly bushes in key areas like the upper arms and ARB bushes.

I would look into what insurance implications are for a short term visitor as you could find that costs as much as any car you buy.
My daughter had a Peugeot 106 which was quite a good drive, economical and parts plentiful and cheap.
In the UK vehicles are put into insurance groups ranging from 1-50 (some variations exist) smaller stuff usually sits in 1-10, once you start looking at performance cars or even better quality mid range they go much higher up the scale.

I was going to suggest a W124! But he wanted soemthing fun down back lanes! While it's not bad down them I'd be lying if I said other cars weren't better!

It's a superb motorway cruiser mind you. But you'll be lucky to get a half decent one for under £1k now.

I don't want to party poop but as duggers said I think your main concern will be short term insurance. They don't put a sticker on your car here... they take it off you😜 There's other rules in Ireland too. That aside the best bet will be to take some recommendations off here and look on Gumtree and Ebay locally and compare insurance. Enjoy our wet stuff😜

I do love a kei car rblote but I don't know how plentiful those are.

I've got a mate in Scotland keeping an eye out for me too. He recommended a tdi Golf, but I've never been a fan of VAG stuff. (it fails badly over here)