What car - Fun, Reliable, ~3k

[caelite]

Hey Folks.

Just had 2 broken motors in a row so I'm dying to get something reliable & pretty cheap to run next as repairs have really sucked my budget dry.

So yeah:
Fun - I commute along b-roads in the North of Scotland, need something that wont be a bore and is quick enough to pass tractors and Honda Jazz's
Reliable - Student budget for running costs!
Pretty Common - I live in the North of Scotland, finding ANYTHING is difficult and I am really put off distance buying.
Reasonable running costs -
25+MPGish
Cheap to repair if it cocks up (This kind of removes ropey BMW 328i's and Audi TTs etc etc from my budget)
Preferable something simple-ish, I'm handy enough to rebuild a fuel injector, not handy enough to yank half a boxer engine out to do basic maintainence(fking scoobies)

Im REALLY wanting to pull the trigger on a mid 00s MX5 but I pretty often use my backseats so it would be a little bit of a pain to own a 2 seater. Also all the MX5s near me are rusted to blithery.

[caelite]

Thanks for the suggestions guys

Octavia VRS is nice, Although my last good car was a Fabia VRS and to be honest Id rather not step right into its big brother
Clio 182, Keeping an eye out for a good one of these, although I am really not a fan of the looks of the older clios EVERYONE on here loves them so they must be pretty good
Civic/Accord Type R, never thought of an accord actually, although their are none nearby, and all the civics nearby in my price range look ropey as fk
Puma/FTO, I LOVE the FTO but im looking for something a bit newer.
Punto, I said reliable, not italian! Besides if I was going for the Fiat 1.4T it would be in an Alfa
MR2, Eh, I prefer the MX5 if I was going for a wee 2 seater

Im going to take a look at a last gen Fiesta ST on Tuesday, Also currently eyeing up a Toyota Auris SR180 its about a grand over my budget but I'm a bit of a diesel nerd & they get a good write up . The place that has the ST also has a clean looking MX5, MUST show self constraint or the GF will murder me!

[caelite]

BigTom85 said:

If you want reliable stay well clear of the 2.2 diesel in the Toyota. If you think they are reliable then you clearly haven't done your research. I say Suzuki Swift Sport. You'll get a belter for your budget and they are huge fun.

Oh really? I was running on the assumption that it was basicly the same as the 2.0 D4D which I have known to be extremely reliable (My pal runs one in his avensis taxi). Aye SSwiftS looks alright, not a huge fan of the styling mind, looks like it was designed by hotwheels lol.

Edited by caelite on Sunday 21st February 18:24

[caelite]

Ooft, my experience with older BMWs is that they are massive money pits. My friend has a 328I and my uncle runs a 530D and both cost a fortune to keep on the road, wouldnt touch one personally unless I had money to upkeep it properly.

[caelite]

mark.c said:

That's a shame, all cars can do that but if you buy right in my experience of running BMW's both old and older for over twenty years is that they stack up very well against the competition.

Its not so much the reliability and more the price of parts, My uncles was killed by a gearbox failure with the replacement costing somewhere to the tune of £2k. My friends isnt the best example (15 year old, 100+k miles) but it just seems like he has CONSTANT issues with electronics, patches of rust and it seams to eat consumables (rear tyres, oil, petrol etc etc)

[caelite]

Bradley1500 said:

Second all of this.

Clio Sport's seem to be hit and miss, there's stories of faultless reliability but equally as many horror stories. Friend's of mine who've owned them have loved them but they needed a lot of up keep. Plus the driving position is crap if you're tall.

Japanese cars are generally far more reliable, Civic Type R as already recommended. I absolutely loved mine and your budget would easily get a good one.

If you can stretch your budget a little check out Integra Type R's, they're going up in value so if you buy right and hold onto it you may even make some money.

I know you've ruled out BMW's, but my E36 328 has been brilliantly reliable and friends with E36's have always found them reliable. Mine's on 156,000 miles now but still runs perfectly.

Aye im shelfing that Fiesta ST, aparently that dealers definition of FSH was "Oh aye its been service right up to 40k then NO receipts for the 35k miles after that". Looked in alright nick but I hate giving people like that my money purely out of spite.

Out of curiosity how many miles are Civic T-Rs good for usually? There is a few of them nearby <3k but they are all getting a bit north of 100k, I wouldve though a high revving engine might suffer a bit at high miles but Id happily be proven wrong.