Car for the wife

[CJ]

I'm after a motor for the wife, on the basis thats it gonna be her first car, this is the criteria I'm looking at:

Price: Must be cheap - <€1000
Engine: <1400cc
Model: Must be Jap
Exceptions: Micra/Starlet (I may have to drive the thing from time to time!)

My first choice is a Colt, you can pick up a decent '93 for about 900 quid.
I've also been considering the Mazda 323 and Nissan Sunny h/b's, anyone owned either?

What else would you consider my Jap motoring friends?


CJ

[kevinod]

Model: Must be Jap
Exceptions: Micra/Starlet (I may have to drive the thing from time to time!)
CJ

Heh, the car's accent do it for ya?

I had a 97 Saxo (unmodded), thought it was a fantastic little car, couldn't fault it, and while new it was 100% reliable for the 2.5 years I had her. Last I heard it was down in Tralee somewhere but thats a while back, 97 C green saxo. Might not get one for <1000 though!

Colt would be good, drove one at the time, about 93 I think it was, very solid on the road, was quite impressed. Saxo got the nod at the time though. My brother had a 90 Subaru Justy for a while, very reliable too, never let him down. Should get one well under 1000, there's some 4wd versions around and all.

No small jap cars other than that I'd fancy come to mind, although I'm struggling to think of many! Opel Corsas are nice enough, couldn't go far wrong with a Polo but get one with power steering if you do.

Kev.

[CJ]

Saxo

Not Jap, plus, its a Citroen!

Subaru Justy, Opel Corsa, Polo

Add the above to the exceptions list

I shouldn't really be picky considering I'm not looking to spend a lot of cash, in saying that, I would prefer to go Jap if possible.

CJ

[kevinod]

Saxo

Not Jap, plus, its a Citroen!

BOOOO VIVE LA CITROEN!!

Will be Citroen less in a few days, transferring ownership of my Xsara...

[Myfeckin FTO]

€1K not enough for reliable Jap box.

How bout these?:

Honda Civic '92.1.5, dual carb, saloon, white, lowered 60mm, on white, 15"" alloys, CD player & amp, running perfectly, regular service, #1400 Contact: 087-2596044.

Honda Civic '92.1.5l , great cond, just serviced, new exhaust, rear spolier, e/w, alloys, lady owner, #1,400 ono. Contact: 086-3525548.

Honda CRX 1.6 '92.#1300 ono. Contact: 067-33560

Mazda MX3 '91.1.5, black, ex cond, alloys, real eye catcher, #1500. Contact: 086-3250491

Mitsubishi Colt '94,Red, average mileage, NCT 08/05, tax 03/05, alarm, alloys, Pioneer stereo, fsh, pmo, lovely car, any test, 1st to see will buy, #1500. Contact: 0868159870049-4367069.

Mitsubishi Mirage Coupe '94.New clutch gearbox t/belt & waterpump, bucket seats, 15"" alloys, c/l e/w, a/c, open for offers.


One from outside the box - good car - nice spec on the SEI for the money (leather/sunroof/all elecs etc- good 1.4 K series engine too at 103BHP) :

Rover 214 SEI '94.Beautiful car, 68k mls, NCT till March, very clean car, beautiful car, #1,200. Contact: 086-8101597.

If I had €1k to spend it would probably go on a 89/90 3 series 2 door.

[kevinod]

I'd say be wary of the older civics, they've tended to be the boy racer car of choice up until recently and liable to have been driven pretty hard...

[Myfeckin FTO]

I'd say be wary of the older civics, they've tended to be the boy racer car of choice up until recently and liable to have been driven pretty hard...

Agreed - but you'll need to put any of the above on a ramp to check the condition of the car - but if you get a good one it won't cost much to run and will be much easier to resell than almost anything else in this price bracket.

I personally wouldn't go with a Civic due to the whole boyracer thing - but I'd love a 92 CRX.

[CJ]

MfFTO, most of the cars you've listed are out in terms of insurance costs.
I beg to differ on the 1k threshold, I bought a few cheap Jap motors in my time for buttons and in most cases, I've never had much to worry about apart from the usual suspects such as servicing, brakes, CV joints etc.

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

MfFTO, most of the cars you've listed are out in terms of insurance costs.
I beg to differ on the 1k threshold, I bought a few cheap Jap motors in my time for buttons and in most cases, I've never had much to worry about apart from the usual suspects such as servicing, brakes, CV joints etc.

CJ

It will be tight CJ - small engine Jap motors are much sought after - if you get one for under €1K then I'd say you'll have a little work to do on it.
Having said that all of the above (in the B&S) are asking prices and I'd imagine they will sell for not much more than the €1K mark - but you'll probably still need to fork out for some items such as servicing / tyres / brakes etc. I'd be interested in knowing how you get on.

Take you point re insurance though differences on 3rd party insurance on a ladydrivers policy shouldn't cost the earth on any car up to a 1.5l.

[pergau]

I had a '98 323F before I bought the FTO and it was a brilliant car - looked ok, went very well and never had a moment's problem with it (actually the only gripe I'd have is that it regularly blew brake light bulbs)

The saloons were great but the hatchbacks look a lot better and can hold 4/5 people comfortably.

They're easy to service, cheap to run and there's still a lot of early '90s on the road so they last well.

[Myfeckin FTO]

I had a '98 323F before I bought the FTO and it was a brilliant car - looked ok, went very well and never had a moment's problem with it (actually the only gripe I'd have is that it regularly blew brake light bulbs)

The saloons were great but the hatchbacks look a lot better and can hold 4/5 people comfortably.

They're easy to service, cheap to run and there's still a lot of early '90s on the road so they last well.

Like the 323F's as well - my first car (in '95) was a black '89 F coupe with the 1.5 DOHC 110BHP engine - twin exhaust - recaro seats. Really enjoyed that car - I like the newer versions as well though I don't feel there was much of an improvement over the previous model.

[Speedyboy]

Defenitely stick with Jap, You know it makes sense!

Caroline used to have a 1.5 Dual carb civc and it was a lovely car, Crackled and banged coming down the gears sounded great

Have you got an insurance quote on a civic, We were thinking of buying one recently and even a quote with no NCB was still reasonable form Brittons

[Mustang]

My 2 cents worth.
Micra. too cutesy.
Starlet. just too dull. Also people looking for silly money for shagged early 90's models. Also dodgey boy racer image from GT /glanza.
Saxo. Similar problem to starlet. (+squeky, unreliable at that age/price, might even have to resort to an AX!)
Subaru justy. Crap, strictly for oap's. As top gear put it, not enough power for a performance 4wd. Not enough ground clearance for an off road 4wd. Pointless.
Early 90's modded civic. Likely on it's last legs + dodgey image.
Suggest you avoid the early 90's rover 200/400 series with rover k-series engine (especially if you are going to be driving it CJ!) They are notorious for popping their head gasket. I should know....been there done that
If you can get one with the honda engine then maybe.
Personally I would go for the early 90's civic 3dr hatch 1.3DX/1.4 one that has not been molested!
Or as you suggested yourself the mitsy colt 1.3. Not a bad motor, not as sought after as the civic, and due to it's larger engine (larger than 1L...it's all relative) does not command the same premium as, cheaper to run 1L cars.
The early '90's mazda 323 3dr hatch is very similar in appearance to the colt, i'd say they are quite cheap too!
The '92 onward shape nisssan sunny...another no image car.. cheap as chips I'm sure though. 1.4 twin cam sounds mildly impressive.....but it's not!

[Mustang]

I'm not sure that I endorse this one myself but just a suggestion.

Daihatsu Charade 1.0D '92.White, NCT 03/07, new battery & tyres, recently serviced, very reliable, #750.

Daihatsu Charade 1L '92.4 dr, 1 yrs NCT, 3 mths tax, good cond, #650 ono.

Diahatsu Charade '92.60k mls, power steering, #800 ono.

The 1L 3cylinder makes a nice raspy noise....fool you into thinking you are going faster than you actually are

MfFTO wrote

One from outside the box

Suzuki Cappuccino
http://www.cappuccinosport.com/
Jap small engine, etc

Or perhaps a Nissan Figaro
Although not likely to get one for under €1k

[pergau]

How about a Mini. not one of the new ones but a real one. I have had a few and loved each of them. They may not be as fast as you'd like but they're great fun to drive, reliable and east to repair.

If I had the space I'd have one just for fun.

[adrian]

if you are not going for a Civic, I'd go with the Starlet. Very reliable from what I hear

[CJ]

if you are not going for a Civic, I'd go with the Starlet.

See exceptions list in first post

CJ

[steelroe]

I would go for either one3 of the following

Colt
Or
1.5 Dual Carb Civic. I had one of these and was very sorry to see it go.

[CJ]

Against my better judgement, I ended up buying a 96 Ford Fiesta 1.3 at auction, the price was hard to turn down - €900. I originally went to look at a colt but it was falling to bits and the Fiesta was a reasonable alternative given the fact that I was in a hurry to pick up a motor. There are two issues with it however, the temp sensor and the fan don't work (not things I've paid a lot of attention when buying others cars TBH!). Would anyone happen to know where I should be looking for the temp sender on a Fiesta? On the fan front, I'll try hooking it directly up to live to see if it springs to life, hopefully its just the fan that needs replacing.

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

Against my better judgement, I ended up buying a 96 Ford Fiesta 1.3 at auction, the price was hard to turn down - €900. I originally went to look at a colt but it was falling to bits ...CJ

I did tell you earlier in the post it wouldn't be easy to find a reliable Jap Box for under €1K.

Oh Ye of little faith!

[CJ]

I did tell you earlier in the post it wouldn't be easy to find a reliable Jap Box for under €1K.

Oh Ye of little faith!

I could have picked up a half-decent Micra\Starlet\Justy\Charade for less than €1k, I was just being picky is all!

CJ