sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Dec 15, 2012 10:40:39 GMT
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I often see threads on - whats the best under £1000 daily, what are **** like to live with what should I buy for under £**** ect. What usualy happens is everyone just suggests the car they have just bought. So this is a thread about the low budget car you use every day its costs and points - so you are supposed to suggest your own car or one you have owned.. (i dislike the term daily, its very scene & I don't live with my parents but I think everyone knows what it means) If you could add the cost / mpg and some details that would be cool, then whan someone asks the question they can be directed to this thread. Audi 80 TDI, 90bhp, 55mpg, very cheap parts, very easy to work on (service), handles very well, has been 100% reliable. They don't seem to rust. Look out for rusty front subframes though, they don't suffer from much else aside from headlinings drop, door card material falls off. front wings can rot out but its not common. Cost of my car- £375 with T&T and another £600 to modify. Its had xmas trees on the roof furniture in the back, I have slept in it in comfort and driven it around europe, Ukrane, poland, lithuania, germany ect. Best money ive ever spent, I just couldnt afford my other cars if I didnt have this.
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Phil2600s
East Midlands
Posts: 693
Member is Online
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Dec 15, 2012 11:09:07 GMT
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I'm glad you posted this...i was just about to ask that same question. I'm in the market for a daily driver, so get posting guys...i need inspiration!
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Dec 15, 2012 11:40:25 GMT
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I bought an Audi 100E A few years ago for £100, with tax+MOT Bhp: one, maybe two mpg: Max I managed, was literally 13mpg weight: small town It was however,ridiculously comfy. Couldn't go round corners to save its life, and was bigger than most parking spaces with the towbar on the back! So... not really a recomondation, more of a warning, to not try one It sold for £250, after spending £150 on parts.....
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Last Edit: Dec 15, 2012 11:41:18 GMT by chairchild
You're like a crazy backyard genius!
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Copey
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,845
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Dec 15, 2012 12:17:18 GMT
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got my Sierra Sapphire for £500 T&T and no rust at all (can be had for less still with MOT) pinched the old banded steels and fittin full gas shocks and lowering springs for a grand total of £130, fitted a rear ARB for £14 and now it handles like its on rails, not bad on fuel, cheap on parts, easy to work on/mod and they can look pretty nice with minimal effort needs to come down a little more, but i guess as a daily it doesnt have a problem with speedbumps
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1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire GLSi with 2.0 Zetec 1985 Ford Capri 3.0 (was a 2.0 Laser originally)
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Dec 15, 2012 13:55:10 GMT
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Life's too short to drive a modern car, so: Right on budget at £1000, retro, happy to be used in all weathers, quiet, comfortable, does let a bit of water in.... oh and it likes a drink. *Supposed to be over 110hp *Oodles of torque (140 lb/ft) *about 25mpg if driven carefully *it does stand out a bit *plenty of boot space *BMX fits in the back no problemo *Rostyles. Yay. On the negative... *you can't actually buy any spare parts for it. *not as cool as my green one.....
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This is now a clicky linky!
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Dec 15, 2012 14:07:05 GMT
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I got bored of my modern Rover, so sold it and bought this for £700: ;D Rustproof (GRP body, galv chassis), simple mechanicals (Mk2 escort), good parts backup. It has a decent heater, is remarkably comfy, and has a nice big boot for carrying things. Also, it's RWD - ideal for (going sideways in) winter conditions. It's a bit thirstier than I'm used to - and it does need lead replacement additive - but it's fun, and quicker than you might expect.
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Dec 15, 2012 14:34:57 GMT
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1993 Fiat Panda Selecta 2003 Vauxhall Combo 1.7DI van 2006 Mercedes Kompressor Evolution-S AMG SportCoupé
"You think you hate it now, wait til you drive it"
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speedy88
Club Retro Rides Member
"Nice Cortina mate"
Posts: 2,296
Club RR Member Number: 118
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Cheap retro daily thread.speedy88
@speedy88
Club Retro Rides Member 118
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Dec 15, 2012 15:03:34 GMT
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Volvo 360 - bought for £200 with a blown gearbox. Spent £20 on a new box, £200 on some wheels, £180 on some suspension and she's never let me down... Apart from when I crashed it. But she's come through the other side of that too Comfy, loud and fun. Fuel isn't great but it isn't awful - I'll never get more than 30mpg but then I'll never get any less than 22.
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Last Edit: Dec 15, 2012 15:06:34 GMT by speedy88
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Dec 15, 2012 18:43:12 GMT
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Another Audi. 1996, 2.6 V6 A6 Avant. Cost £800 4 years ago. In the time I have had it its had 1 front spring, a water pump, couple of tyres and a second hand rear wiper motor. All good appart from a slight blow in the exhaust and a few bulbs out on the dash. Mpg. Avg 19 round town and best I ever got on a motorway run was 32. I would get a Jag but it just cant compete with boot space for bikes and not having to worry about rust (galvanised) rainy audi 3 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr rainy audi 2 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr Dave
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recarouk
Yorkshire and The Humber
Posts: 435
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Dec 15, 2012 20:34:41 GMT
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its not retro but this is my current car: cost, £925 from Auction with a full years mot and 2 months tax, its a 52 plate 1.9SDI non turbo, bought in may, spent so far just over £145 to get it to look how it does above, from standard form including a polo interior to replace the hanging beige/grey that was in it common faults are leaking rear door membranes(you can see the door card is off in above pic as it was being fixed), power steering units (electrical) and window mechanisms, all three have failed on mine but fixed the door leaks for free and the window mech (my best friend is a windscreen fitter) just need to sort the intermittent power steering problems. it regulary hauls me and my 3 children around, does around 30 miles a day, never grumbles, never struggles, never feels underpowered or slow either. its a great little car, mega MPG 48 around town and upwards of 60 on a run, its not retro or cool but I love the little ginger thing ;D
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Last Edit: Dec 15, 2012 20:36:06 GMT by recarouk
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Dec 15, 2012 21:32:24 GMT
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Those little Skodas are great. My neighbour has a 54 plate tdi. Doesnt half shift when you give it the beans and if I remember right it was showing high 30s mpg. Its on my to get lists for tootling about
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VND
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,224
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Dec 15, 2012 21:46:55 GMT
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Any Pug (or anything else) with an XUD lump in it. Mines a 309. Comfortable, impervious to rust, 53mpg, unlimited access to very cheap parts, can home service/repair, reliable, and I suppose a bit cool.
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recarouk
Yorkshire and The Humber
Posts: 435
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Dec 15, 2012 21:49:55 GMT
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Those little Skodas are great. My neighbour has a 54 plate tdi. Doesnt half shift when you give it the beans and if I remember right it was showing high 30s mpg. Its on my to get lists for tootling about they can be picked up for peanuts now as a lot of people over look them, but for what they cost they are cracking motors. the TDI's are awesome machines.
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Dec 15, 2012 21:52:17 GMT
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The pugs are ultra reliable I had a 306 TD on 200k miles original engine and gearbox 2 clutches a rad and usual servicing
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,256
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Cheap retro daily thread.ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Dec 15, 2012 22:00:46 GMT
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Hmmm, I may break the rules here and list the retro(ish) cars that I reckon are worth a punt for under £1k or less that I have owned at some point : First to go are the Volvos: Car: Volvo 740 2.0i (EFi) and 2.3i Auto MPG: the 2.0 got around 30MPG, where the 2.3i managed 33-35MPG Cost: £150 (2.3i) and £260 (2.0i) Pros:: Very roomy, and comfortable. Superb cars to park especially in estate form for their size and not as horrific in handling as you would expect (don't expect Miracles though!). In Auto form they are also quite a competent cruiser on the motorway and a smooth shifter. Whilst they are shifted up in value you can still get one in good condition for less than £1k + change . Cons:: Not the fastest cars around (2.3i was adequate to be fair), the 2.0is can be thirsty (but I reckon we had a duff fuel pump on ours . The manuals IMO are not the best shifters (just a little slow an clunky) and the gearing of the 2.0i box was a little on the short side IMHO. Time for the next car: Car: 1989 Ford Escort Cabriolet MPG: 20-40MPG (depending on the right foot!) Cost: £350 Pros: They do shift along at a nice pace, they are not too awful on fuel if you drive them normally, mechanically they are rugged as long as you keep on top of servicing them (cambelt changes every 20k, oil changes every 6k). They seem to resist rust better than their hatchback counterparts too . Ford seemed to get the driving position right in these cars too I found . Cons At this kind of money with an MOT you do not get off too lightly! On ours a driveshaft CV was shot to pieces causing interesting vibrations, which in turn killed the tyres (probably from driving about on them for too long!) and the interior had seen better days. Oh and externally it was dying for a respray. To get ours OK (bar the seats and respray), it cost an additional £300-400 from memory (that money went on tyres, oil change x2, and cambelt). Basically, you most likely will be wondering into the world of bodged and ragged Fords (we also had electrical issues caused by previous bodgery). £1k may have got us a better example but at the time that may as well have been £10k! Oh, and scuttle shake comes as standard I am afraid. Car:Peugeot 205 GTi MPG:30-35MPG Cost: £650 Pros: This car is probably the best sub £1000 car I bought. Part of that was down to it being cheap but I am sure the other part was down to the mileage (it was on 167,000 miles). IMHO the mileage was irrelevant and it really should be. The car had clearly been cared for most of its life (it was a 2 owner car) although the outside could have been tidier. Inside it was very good and it always put a smile on my face when I drove it. The revvy 1.6 engine really suits the character of the car too, with it having good overall road manners too after a little work . Cons The interiors can be a little rattly inside, the gearing is a little on the short side if you plan motorway use (but still OK if a little noisy at 70-75MPH) and if I am honest to get ours to a good state (the rear beam bushes had seen better days as did the dampers) I would bargain on £80 on a new set of front dampers, and almost double that for genuine rear dampers (It seems that OE spec dampers are a false economy unless you go for Bilstein B6s (I must say they helped in transforming the rear of that car: staying playful, but not being a sideways wonderer whenever I hit a roundabout!). Car: 1998 Peugeot 106 GTi MPG: 33-39MPG Cost: £700 Pros: IMHO these will become a future classic with many being simply thrashed and modified to within an inch of their life or being broken for spares (they are worth more than way) and giving their engines to chaps with 1.4 Quiksilvers wishing to get "cheap" insurance and tax... For now however, they are quite cheap and a good way into Pug GTi ownership. Like the 205 it is a great way to end up with a swift pocket rocket for less than £1k (faster than the 205 I would have said too!). They are not too terrible on fuel and I personally think they look a little dashing too! Cons: Finding one that has been cared for is not easy (I spent around £300 on mine (a 1/3 of that went on body panels since it did not look all too clever when I bought it despite it never seeing an accident allegedly). Like the 205 addressing the suspension will go a long way, but this tends to be a pricier proposition on a 106 with the beam having the halfshafts within in making a replacement beam swap a costly excercise (Almost every GTi beam I saw was not much better than mine leaving me with the choice of a pricey secondhand beam (£200) or a recon item (£350). To top off it, the driving position can be spine twisting (offset and cramped pedals) and the dash has a strong whiff of Citroen AX about it. And for anyone who is brave: Car: BL MGs MPG: 20-33 Cost:£300-600 Pros: They do have old British charm by the Spades Cons: They also have plenty of bodges at this money (or at least the vast majority do!), and really can be a money pit unless you look out for the right car with car (oddly enough I hit gold with the final car but I still really needed around £400 spending in panels alone (secondhand!) if I wished to say the car was in good condition. The Midget (which looked the best on the body) was also the most bodged out of all of them in almost every way (polly filler rear boot floor, knackered engine, patchwork quilt beneath. For me to get a BL car than was not a complete money pit I spent around £1500+ on my later purchases which were much better and easier to fix in almost every way (and dare I say it, cheaper overall!) If anyone wishes to use the bottom format they can do so : Car:MPG:Cost:Pros:Cons
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Last Edit: Dec 15, 2012 22:09:18 GMT by ChasR
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aij29
Part of things
Posts: 639
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Dec 16, 2012 19:09:21 GMT
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Hi
No pictures but my daily is 1 Saxo 1.5 diesel cost £700 (Cornwalls expensive for cheap to run cars)
Leaks oil on the drive but 60+ mpg and parts are cheap as chips (just bought a new engine mount for £13)Cheap Tax £135 a year and £200 fully comp
Clunks and bangs over bumps but never missed a beat in the recent floods just don`t buy one with a sunroof as they leak so badly i`ve had to remove the carpets lol
Cheers Adrian
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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DAF 44. These make a far better daily than most people would realise. I ran one as my daily for nearly 3 years and I whole heartedly regret selling it! They will return 40+ mpg if driven carefully will cruise all day at 70mph. Interior space is brilliant with lots of leg shoulder and headroom. The engines are good strong little aircooled lumps and the transmission once you understand how it works is effective and very easy to repair and maintain. The bad side is parts availability really most parts are available if you know where to look but some parts are just impossible to get hold of or due to rarity expensive. The best thing with these is premptive maintanance and such prevent a problem from arising in the first place. Drive belts are available brand new from the club and will last 40k miles if regularly tensioned. Even if one breaks you can still continue with one belt and one wheel drive. Oh and the boots are cavernous and if you can find an estate it becomes quite a practicle car.
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44 1974 VW Beetle 1303s 1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV 1988 VW LT45 Beavertail 1998 Volvo V70 2.5 1959 Fordson Dexta
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Dec 17, 2012 12:36:59 GMT
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How do the heaters work with air cooled btw, off ambient air drawn through engine??
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bl1300
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,678
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Dec 17, 2012 14:24:05 GMT
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On the DAF there are heat exchangers on the exhaust and they are really effective. I could start the engine on mine and have air hot enough to feel uncomfortable on fingers in about 45s coming out of the windscreen vents. Unfortunatly the aircooled dafs have no booster fan for the heating, instead relying on the impellor that cools the engine to deliver air, it doesn't really run fast enough at idle speeds to feel it blowing but it is enough to demist as soon as you get on the move your lovely and toasty and have no problem keeping demisted. This is the system twin exhausts and twin exhaust heat exchangers. Aircooled VWs use a similar system but with the DAFs due to being front engined the heat source is closer and the air is already moving in the right direction. An extract from the owners manual here shows the heat exchanger.
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Current fleet.
1967 DAF 44 1974 VW Beetle 1303s 1975 Triumph Spitfire MkIV 1988 VW LT45 Beavertail 1998 Volvo V70 2.5 1959 Fordson Dexta
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Dec 17, 2012 14:37:15 GMT
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Well for me it has to be the Fiat Panda Selecta, bought in September 2002 for £350 and still going strong with only the most basic of servicing. Around town I get 40 mpg, on a run I can get that up to 58mpg . Also as its an electric CVT, the car is a little pocket rocket around town, but is also happy to cruise at 70 when needed. Parts are plentiful and cheap, the Selecta had a reputation as being costly and breaking often, but as long as you change the fluid and gearbox filter every 50000 miles its okay. Granted, my selecta is playing up, but thats done 99300 miles and I think the problem is an electrical fault. The rest of the car is typical panda, cheap cheerful and very easy to work on. Also the engine is the fabled FIRE unit that is non interference, and everything on it is a piece of urine to repair. (also, no matter how small that parking space is, you WILL fit in it ;D)
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1993 Fiat Panda Selecta 2003 Vauxhall Combo 1.7DI van 2006 Mercedes Kompressor Evolution-S AMG SportCoupé
"You think you hate it now, wait til you drive it"
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