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Jan 28, 2014 22:12:13 GMT
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Hi all,
My first post here, but have been browsing for a long time, hopefully someone will be able to help me.
So after endless electrical and other problems with my current car, a Peugeot 307 HDI, I have decided I might try going back in time and back to basics with my next car. I'm talking no power steering, no abs, no masses of sensors and electrics that seem to be all over modern cars and that have all gone wrong on my last 2 cars. Just something simple that will be cheap to run and hopefully easy to fix if anything does go wrong.
It will be my only car and I do a 40 mile round trip to work everyday, so I'm looking for something that will have a reasonable MPG. Something that takes me back to my early driving experiences would be a bonus too, so anything from the 80s-early 90s. I really like the hot hatches of those days like the xr2, nova gte, renault 5 gt turbo, 205 gti etc etc. But I realise it will probably need to be a base model to be affordable!
Any suggestions please on what I could get? And is it even realistic to be able to run a 30 year old car every day?
Thanks for your help.
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Jan 28, 2014 22:17:51 GMT
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Ford sierra/ Vauxhall cavalier could be an idea? either the 2.0l dohc for the ford or the 2.0l ecotec for the cav. Nice and spacious, easy to fix if they go wrong, parts are pretty cheap, not bad on fuel, cheap enough to buy still. I run my sierra daily and commute about 40 miles in it and its fine.
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Jan 28, 2014 22:20:07 GMT
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Excellent thanks. Can I ask what sort of MPG do you get? Also whats the availability like on parts these days?
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
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Jan 28, 2014 22:22:40 GMT
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And is it even realistic to be able to run a 30 year old car every day? It is perfectly realistic to run a 50+ year old car every day let alone something much younger that was designed and built when driving conditions and expectations of reliability were much the same as they are now.
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Last Edit: Jan 28, 2014 22:23:25 GMT by Seth
Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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Jan 28, 2014 22:23:23 GMT
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I recently bought myself a MK2 fiesta as a Retro Runaround ..... Cheap to buy, panels are still cheap and readily avaliable if it gets pranged (unlike the mk1 fiesta, where panels are commanding big money at the moment) .... electronic ignition as standard, so fairly maintainence free. And plenty parts crossover in the ford range so upgrading can be cheap and easy if you feel like it at some point Certainly food for thought anyway
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Don't Fool with the OLD Skool
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Jan 28, 2014 22:27:25 GMT
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As mentioned,cavalier/sierra or any repmobile from the era. A bit left field try a Saab or a Volvo 244.
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1965 Morris Minor 1000 soon to be 1380 1997 MK1 MX-5 1.8 (sold) 2009 MK3 MX-5 2.0 (sold) 2008 Mini Cooper (sold) 2003 Mini Cooper S (sold) Fixed wheel Raleigh Clubman (sold) 1982 Yamaha RS125DX (sold)
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Jan 28, 2014 22:33:47 GMT
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MK2 Sciroccos are usable and good value. Certainly cheaper than a comparable MK2 Golf GTi
Or any 1.6i CVH Ford, like XR2i, Orion Ghia etc
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Specialist Bodyshop & Fabrication Classic, Retro, Prestige & Custom Small Repairs to Concours Restorations Mechanical Work Vintage to Modern
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Jan 28, 2014 22:43:36 GMT
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I would say you're on the right track with something 80s. They were built with motorway use in mind, had good heating and ventilation, usually electronic ignition and/or fuel injection.
Any of the suggestions above seem totally fine. German cars of the era were built exceptionally well. BMW/Merc - even stuff like 924/944 Porsches are now beer money.
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Jan 28, 2014 22:49:12 GMT
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And is it even realistic to be able to run a 30 year old car every day? It is perfectly realistic to run a 50+ year old car every day let alone something much younger that was designed and built when driving conditions and expectations of reliability were much the same as they are now. after I have broken my corsa b (an option for the OP possibly-corsa b's...?) I'm using my 1964 corsair daily now for work.. needs must! still on points and condenser just takes some getting used to, to not flood the carburettor ! anything can be run daily it just depends how much enthusiasm you have or how much you've buried yourself in the sand after realising to take a lot more care on clutches in corsa b engine conversions ..
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German cars of the era were built exceptionally well. BMW/Merc - even stuff like 924/944 Porsches are now beer money. You can say that again. I'm daily-driving two W124s at the moment, bought a year ago for the same money I was paying just to insure two modern Benzes. And is it even realistic to be able to run a 30 year old car every day? After the experience I had with the two modern Benzes, I'm not sure it's realistic to rely on anything so poorly built as a modern car.
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Copey
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,845
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i rock a sierra saph as a daily, 2ltr DOHC variety and seein as this thread lacks pics...my daily
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Last Edit: Jan 29, 2014 0:15:59 GMT by Copey
1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire GLSi with 2.0 Zetec 1985 Ford Capri 3.0 (was a 2.0 Laser originally)
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Tough, reliable, simple... got to be a Maestro. Of all the cars I've owned, the late 1.3 Maestro I had was absolutely faultless. Returned a frankly absurd 55mpg on a run, bearing in mind it was a petrol car, and was rarely under 40mpg even around town. Because of the VW gearbox on these very late cars (look up Ledbury Maestro for more info) it was slow as anything, but it did mean you could drive it with your foot nailed to the floor and never worry about speed cameras. Very cheap to insure, small tax, practical, big enough to have some road presence but small enough to get into sneaky parking spaces. These late ones also sit a bit higher but that's good for rubbish roads and potholes. Soundproofed moderately well, not much wind noise all things considered... I moved it on because I have issues getting comfortable in most cars and the later seats in this Maestro were murder on my back. This was probably more a fault with me than with the car. Never failed to proceed, saw me through snow and ice, got me to work and back 30 miles a day, out to the east coast and back with no bother and basically never asked anything of me. I got suspicious at how reliable it was, I had to look for things to fix. Really, I should regret moving this car on a lot more than I do because it was practically perfect and I should have just fitted better seats. More fool me because really it was probably the best car I've ever owned.
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Jan 29, 2014 11:52:43 GMT
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mk2 golf gti. Prices seem to vary hugely but still lots of sensibly priced ones around. Simple to work on, bits are cheap & you can get them on classic insurance too. Not got figures but happy with the mpg on mine
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Jan 29, 2014 11:52:57 GMT
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mk2 golf gti. Prices seem to vary hugely but still lots of sensibly priced ones around. Simple to work on, bits are cheap & you can get them on classic insurance too. Not got figures but happy with the mpg on mine. or a mk2 gtd if you can find one.
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Jan 29, 2014 13:19:25 GMT
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Jan 29, 2014 13:43:52 GMT
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...German cars of the era were built exceptionally well... I second that. I recommend a Mk2 Golf. Standard, nothing special like GTI. A diesel should give you a good MPG.
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Jan 29, 2014 14:46:35 GMT
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Older Metro and Maestro won't return quite as good figures but they won't be a long way off, I'd be surprised if you ever got less than 30mpg out of either, even the auto 1.6 Maestro that I borrowed was fairly good on fuel and was a good bit quicker too. Both can be insured as classics and if you get a Metro or Maestro with an A series engine they're very, very tunable. Only real issue with either is rust, but that's an issue with ALL older cars. Buy the best example you can afford and you should be laughing. I don't get on with Metros but I know plenty of people that do and they come in so many different varieties you're going to be spoiled for choice. Get a Metro City X and tune the nads off it for maximum sleeper potential.
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8tee8
Part of things
Posts: 288
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Jan 29, 2014 14:51:57 GMT
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I can wholeheartedly recommend a non-gti peugeot 205. I've just come back from a few days in Northumberland in my 1.4 GT and it returned 47mpg from a mixture of motorway, A and B road blasting and some city driving. On short journeys it doesn't do below 35 and does almost everything asked of it better than my mercedes 280ce. It was a drunken eBay purchase that gasser me back £500 including putting it through an MOT and a set of modern berlingo wheels and tyres to replace the rusty 13s and mismatched ditch finders. Previously had a mk2 golf GTD that was good for everyday motoring but when it was standard was not a patch on a small peugeot when it came down to driving pleasure; they really did get it spot on. Only issue is going from a broken 307 to one you'll weep for what peugeot has become
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8tee8
Part of things
Posts: 288
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Jan 29, 2014 14:52:32 GMT
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I can wholeheartedly recommend a non-gti peugeot 205. I've just come back from a few days in Northumberland in my 1.4 GT and it returned 47mpg from a mixture of motorway, A and B road blasting and some city driving. On short journeys it doesn't do below 35 and does almost everything asked of it better than my mercedes 280ce. It was a drunken eBay purchase that gasser me back £500 including putting it through an MOT and a set of modern berlingo wheels and tyres to replace the rusty 13s and mismatched ditch finders. Previously had a mk2 golf GTD that was good for everyday motoring but when it was standard was not a patch on a small peugeot when it came down to driving pleasure; they really did get it spot on. Only issue is going from a broken 307 to one you'll weep for what peugeot has become
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Jan 29, 2014 14:59:58 GMT
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Actually I'll second that too, the Puglets are fantastic little cars with buckets of retro charm. Given how easy and cheap they are for even very good examples I'm surprised I've not seen more modified ones about the place.
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