Right... non mini poll, new daily car ideas...
Turbo Mini Forums

I would be on the lookout for an EG Civic. Nobody wants anything other than the B16 engined ones so the smaller engined ones go cheap

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

the thing with a civic is the exact reason above, i want a car i can keep and be proud of etc. the b16 is such a benchmark/ selling point i think if i get lesser versions i will be more inclined to get rid again, and i want something for the lonh haul. with other cars like a polo or a golf it seems more like an engine is an engine... i am probably making no sense whatsoever, my mind is probably on a whole nother level to normal people. haha

how naive am i

thankyou for the suggestion tho

any with experiences of polo 1.3 GT's?

Edited by Rick.SPI on 24th Mar, 2010.

got a cheap MG metro coming up soon......

ive got my mini for british unreliability

thankyou for the offer tho.

On 24th Mar, 2010 rubicon said:
got a cheap MG metro coming up soon......

Rubicon, you selling yours already? How come?

I know what you mean about getting something you want to keep. E30? I bought one for €750 and drove it into the ground for the best part of a year, never done anything to it. It has 160k miles on it and started every time. Then I spent some money to fix all the little problems it had. Now I've started toying with the idea of turboing it

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

E30... would maybe be a considered option if i had a slightly bigger budget and a bigger garage.

it has to go in the garage as parkin is limited at the new house and our house has 3 cars, dads Smax, my old focus (going to my dads missus), both of which wont fit in the garage. so mine has too, plus i bagsied the garage for my mini so have to use it in whichever car im using at the time.

Edited by Rick.SPI on 24th Mar, 2010.

Then how about this E30 haha
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2r7992o&s=4

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

thats look retro cool :) i like

£££ would be a problem...

A petrol Focus ?

I would say at 1200, you either buy reliable or you buy good looking.

Average prices are usually smart, worst cars are cheaper ...

I'd definitely go Jap as in your price range you get cars from the era they built their reputation on ...

Rusty by nature

yes my old focus was 1.8 zetec... although a good car it was rather "family" like, hence why my dad is buying it for his missus.

at 1300 i can get a reliable and good looking polo 1.3 GT, just trying to find some info on them from previous owners other than ones on the dub forums as they will obviously big them up.

i think i wanna go german now 205's are out of the picture.

i dont think im going jap as for that money there is nothing jap that takes my fancy in any way really. :S

Edited by Rick.SPI on 25th Mar, 2010.

3 of the guys at work have polo GTs and all of them so far have had little niggles but nothing major. Thing to look out for are under the arches for rust, check if it has the aftermarket rev raiser ECU fitted - 2 of the guys at work had this then took it off.
Another issue I know about is the air flow meters aren't much kop if you get a stainless exhaust and then you need to get the AFM off a 1.8 GTI golf circa £200 new from what they have told me.

Other than that they are great cars, feel fairly nippy and go round corners well enough (if they dont have the standard steels - just not wide enough)

Daewoo Matiz
Sorry, its my default answer when anyone asks what car they should get.

I'd say another focus aswell, nice 3 door one, i would say that though as i've had 3 of them :)

If you want something cheap to run then i would avoid anything performance orientated or too old that you start having to spend £££ to get it through MOT's

I don't really think it fits with what you want but when I was 19 and decided a Mini just wasn't made for motorway driving I bought an Audi 80 2.8 quattro. Really cheap to buy as everyone wants E30s, really cheap to insure, quick with loads of torque and perfect for sitting on the motorway. 2 of us once drove it 1000 miles only stopping for fuel. With the exception of the fuel costs it would have been cheap to run if I hadn't got carried away. Nothing ever went seriously wrong and they don't rust. I really wish I still had it.

I would look at a diesel lupo
this 1 is a steal at £1399 69k on the clock, had timing belt done so thats a good thing

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/adv...u63fd?logcode=p

I used a 1994 1.0L Polo everyday for a year while i was building my mini, it was fine on the motorways and it only has 4 gears !

If you wanting cheap motoring and doing a lot of motorway miles, get a diesel of some sort?

No point in spending too much cash on a daily driver which is also a "classic" car if you're trying to save money for the mini!

N. Ireland Mini Forum: http://www.mini-chat.co.uk

That Lupo above looks like a good call.

N. Ireland Mini Forum: http://www.mini-chat.co.uk

that lupo does look like a sensible bargain... definitly something to consider.

Problem solved:
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.p...2729&lastpost=1

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

as much as id love it, it dosnt have a boot and folding seats. and my runaround needs to be atleast a little practical else ill have 2 unpractical cars haha, if i didnt have a mini it would be ideal :)

Edited by Rick.SPI on 26th Mar, 2010.

just bought my bro-in-law a 04 plate clio deisel an from auction for £1200. 60mpg and its a newish car.
the corsa/clio van route is often a cheap way to get a newer car. I bought a 3 year old one when i was 17 for £1800 and it was cracking.