Must be under £500, smaller than a Xsara / Mondeo etc. Preferably Diesel or smallish petrol - at least capable of 35mpg but able to go on the motorway fairly happily. Height adjustable driver's seat and adjustable steering wheel a bonus. No Vauxhalls, no Fords...
MOT to Jan '08 and sailed through, Honda engine, not the Rover one,
1 previous owner plus supplying garage, June '95 model on an M-reg, I've owned the car since '98 - 8 years+, Full service history including all services and MOT's, HPI clear, All sills re-undersealed last year, Alloys, with 3 good tyres (2 almost new). Spare's not been used by me, from memory. Electric sunroof works fine and doesn't leak. Taxed to end of May '07, New clutch at about 125k miles, Suspension has been partly replaced recently (broke it on my work's speed bumps) as have the brakes.
Bad:
It will need a radiator at some point (sealant in at present) as it started leaking a bit last month. Power steering pump was leaking (reviver put in) but doesn't seem to leak any more. It's had a new power steering rack at some point in the last couple of years. There's a rattle from the exhaust at 2500 rpm (? the heat shield) It had a new front bumper in 2001 when an idiot hit my Merc and pushed it into the Rover, scratching the bumper. It's had 2 young children inside - so there's toast crumbs on the floor. And water marks on the sunroof slide. But I'm planning to get a valet done for these. There are some rust bubbles; front drivers side wing and behind drivers side passenger door. That's my 'Good Friday' job. There's a scratch (not broken through paint) on the driver's side from one of my ex-students (thanks Nigel) and a number of car park dings from the uni car park (thanks Leeds Met students). It could do with the tracking doing at some point in the near future. The stereo works, but sometimes plays tapes at different speeds. Oh, and the aeriel's a stick-in one thanks to an ex-student (Nigel again!).
The car's in Leeds during the day (Headingley Campus) and Dewsbury evenings/weekends. I've had it for a long time and it's about time I changed.
It's white, and the mileage is 139,500 - I bought it in '98 at 70K. It had an bottom-end engine re-build when I bought it (full details available) and has generally been faultless in terms of the engine. That's apart from the air sensor which fails on these cars - and mine's been replaced.
That's it - good and bad. I'm picking up the Samba (hopefully) on Saturday and I've also got a Kawata scooter for commuting so will need to reduce the number of vehicles in order to alleviate potential hassle.
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