First car

[oi oi]

Originally Posted by bongo

It says 9 miles from my old house in Ashbrooke so it's near.
It has L plates on so it might need the clutch changing soon (but not straight away and about £100 at most).
That's the best i can see for your budget and from my own experience.

Aye, sound cheers mate.

Been speaking to me mam and she might be topping it up to about £1,200. What would you recommend for that?

[longtimelurker]

Originally Posted by bongo

They changed the shape.
You won't get a better deal than that link i just gave.
FSH, documentation, 40k miles from new and a private seller.

Aye, the one in the link is a bug eye, but you can get a later one with facelifted bumpers etc and I assume better spec.

You will get a better deal than that imo. Although it's not bad. Autotrader is generally expensive for cars. As for the mileage, I would rather have average or just below. FSH or not, a car that has sat around a lot and made short (cold engine) trips for most of it's life is more likely to be trouble than one with double the mileage that has been used as intended.

K11 Micra prices have just took a dive in the last couple of months too iirc. As I found a yellow 'Vibe' for a mates girlfriend. An elderly neighbour of mine picked up a V plate 1.0 for £250 too.

Last of the line

[ur=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-micra-2001-84000-mils-three-doors-1000cc-MOT-and-taxed-/220993170840?pt=Automobil es_UK&hash=item3374382d98]There's loads[/url]

Granted they aren't all on the doorstep, but that's one thing to take into consideration. Widen your search and how far you are prepared to travel. When you consider that you are spending a decent chunk of money and intend to own it for a while, then what's 1/200 miles for the right car?

[oi oi]

Originally Posted by longtimelurker

Aye, the one in the link is a bug eye, but you can get a later one with facelifted bumpers etc and I assume better spec.

You will get a better deal than that imo. Although it's not bad. Autotrader is generally expensive for cars. As for the mileage, I would rather have average or just below. FSH or not, a car that has sat around a lot and made short (cold engine) trips for most of it's life is more likely to be trouble than one with double the mileage that has been used as intended.

K11 Micra prices have just took a dive in the last couple of months too iirc. As I found a yellow 'Vibe' for a mates girlfriend. An elderly neighbour of mine picked up a V plate 1.0 for £250 too.

Last of the line

[ur=http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-micra-2001-84000-mils-three-doors-1000cc-MOT-and-taxed-/220993170840?pt=Automobil es_UK&hash=item3374382d98]There's loads[/url]

Granted they aren't all on the doorstep, but that's one thing to take into consideration. Widen your search and how far you are prepared to travel. When you consider that you are spending a decent chunk of money and intend to own it for a while, then what's 1/200 miles for the right car?

Cheers for that. Where else do you advise me to look?

[longtimelurker]

Originally Posted by oi oi

Cheers for that. Where else do you advise me to look?

Pistonheads, local paper (seriously). One of those will get you a decent Micra.
As for £1200, I would still stick with a K11 Micra. Cheap to service also, but the engines don't even complain if you don't drop the oil for tens of thousands of miles. Really good little cars. Just buy the best one you can. There's a tidy late model white one on eBay I noticed.

Edit, this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Nissa...item3362d9273d

From a garage in Northumberland, 62K miles, looks nice and clean. Will come with no tax, but some form of warranty if that gives you peace of mind.

Wave £900 at them and you may get that imo/e.

Of course, if you don't want a Micra for whatever reason, I am happy to advise you as best I can on anything else mate.

[oi oi]

Originally Posted by longtimelurker

Pistonheads, local paper (seriously). One of those will get you a decent Micra.
As for £1200, I would still stick with a K11 Micra. Cheap to service also, but the engines don't even complain if you don't drop the oil for tens of thousands of miles. Really good little cars. Just buy the best one you can. There's a tidy late model white one on eBay I noticed.

Edit, this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Nissa...item3362d9273d

From a garage in Northumberland, 62K miles, looks nice and clean. Will come with no tax, but some form of warranty if that gives you peace of mind.

Wave £900 at them and you may get that imo/e.

Of course, if you don't want a Micra for whatever reason, I am happy to advise you as best I can on anything else mate.

Haven't really got a chosen make/model as yet - am keeping my options open. Really just trying to get as much advice as possible so I can make an informed decision. Any other cars you think are decent in my price range?

[Paddy O'Dors]

Originally Posted by oi oi

Aye, sound cheers mate.

Been speaking to me mam and she might be topping it up to about £1,200. What would you recommend for that?

Put the extra towards the insurance cos you're probably gonna need it. Before you actually buy a car, you can get a quote for insurance before, you do realise that?

[longtimelurker]

Originally Posted by oi oi

Haven't really got a chosen make/model as yet - am keeping my options open. Really just trying to get as much advice as possible so I can make an informed decision. Any other cars you think are decent in my price range?

Avoid Fiat, shite electrics. My mate bought an 02 Punto for the 'winter' and we have had to do loads to it, as well as it doing random electrical things, buzzing etc. Just seems to come with most of them! I had a Seicento Sporting for a bit, and it was fine though, luck of the draw!

I wouldn't bother with Fiestas, as any in your price range will be mk4/5 and they like to rust. Corsa's, if you can get a 1.2 SXi Corsa 'C' (2001 onwards) they are cracking little cars,

Would avoid the older shape Corsas, rot boxes. Generally avoid anything French too. Some are ok, but I reckon low cost (running) is the aim here, which is why Jap comes out on top for me.

German stuff, VW Polo, Skoda Fabia? is second. You will tend to pay more for an older car, just because people think the VW badge makes them better.

I really can't see past a Micra tbh mate (with the possible exception of a Corsa C). They are everywhere in the breakers yards etc (crash damaged) so parts are piss easy to acquire.


Just had a very quick search on eBay mate, 2003 Corsa 1.2 SXi £1200

They will be out there for cheaper. My sister had one when they were new. Decent little cars, tidy too, in the right colour (black).

[oi oi]

Originally Posted by Paddy O'Dors

Put the extra towards the insurance cos you're probably gonna need it. Before you actually buy a car, you can get a quote for insurance before, you do realise that?

Aye, on a clio it was £1,800. Assume it will be cheaper for a micra (will obviously check before buying)

Originally Posted by longtimelurker

Avoid Fiat, shite electrics. My mate bought an 02 Punto for the 'winter' and we have had to do loads to it, as well as it doing random electrical things, buzzing etc. Just seems to come with most of them! I had a Seicento Sporting for a bit, and it was fine though, luck of the draw!

I wouldn't bother with Fiestas, as any in your price range will be mk4/5 and they like to rust. Corsa's, if you can get a 1.2 SXi Corsa 'C' (2001 onwards) they are cracking little cars,

Would avoid the older shape Corsas, rot boxes. Generally avoid anything French too. Some are ok, but I reckon low cost (running) is the aim here, which is why Jap comes out on top for me.

German stuff, VW Polo, Skoda Fabia? is second. You will tend to pay more for an older car, just because people think the VW badge makes them better.

I really can't see past a Micra tbh mate (with the possible exception of a Corsa C). They are everywhere in the breakers yards etc (crash damaged) so parts are piss easy to acquire.


Just had a very quick search on eBay mate, 2003 Corsa 1.2 SXi £1200

They will be out there for cheaper. My sister had one when they were new. Decent little cars, tidy too, in the right colour (black).

Cheers again. Just had a look on auto trader and there's a few micras, both with only one lady owner. Swaying towards a micra...

[1hardcoresuperstar1]

Originally Posted by oi oi

Really? Haven't ever heard that before.

It was for me mate bit that could be because I'm 30

[oi oi]

Originally Posted by 1hardcoresuperstar1

It was for me mate bit that could be because I'm 30

Probably. Lower the engine size the cheaper it is for me.