Can anybody recommend a good reliable car for DIY maintenance?

Get the oil leak fixed?

It's highly unlikely to cost you more than the cost of changing the car.

Puntos are mechanically simple and reliable. Electrics can be a problem on higher specification models, but other than that, they're pretty damned reliable.

Where is it leaking from, anyway?

It's always gonna be a compromise, but if all you want is ease of access to the engine bay, a 1.3l Capri would fit the bill ;)

Probably, but it's got 85K on the clock and it's probably all downhill from here. I had the clutch changed about 10K miles ago and just changed the rear drum and shoes. I'm guessing I could still get £1,000 trade in against another car (high miles and a scrape over a wheel arch where it was driven around a post).

I would agree with the simple, not so sure about the reliable. But then again my previous cars were £100-200 drive into the ground without a service cars. I used to get 20-30K miles and only spend a couple of hundred on repairs. This is the only car I've taken an interest in, but that's probably because it cost me £3.5K at the time.

Tim

Would you recommend getting an ex-police Capri at that? ;) (Probably not 1.3l).

Tim

Look at it this way.... you've replaced the clutch (75k, what does your wife do, ride it everywhere?) and the rear brakes. That's a lot of jobs that won't need doing for ages.

Surely that's all the more reason not to bin it now?

I thought that was the case, wasn't sure how much life a 1.3l engine had in it at 85k. Still does 45 mpg and still has plenty of life in it.

Got another identical in every way Punto (except it's Blue). Changed the clutch at 65k miles as the wife reported changing gear was getting bad unreliable. After changing there was an improvement, but it still doesn't always go cleanly into 1st/2nd and reverse. A tad concerning as this may be symptoms of a known transmission issue with Punto's. Now I'm guessing that'll be expensive.

Tim

No, it's not. I've only ever changed one clutch - on my 75 with 120k on it. Our 156 is still on the original at 120+, my last Passat was on

I think you wife needs clutch control lessons ;-)

More seriously, the Fiat gearbox is a bit iffy in 1st and 2nd anyway. It's a known issue with most Italian boxes ;-)

Not a ZX or 306...

I'll probably leave out anything French and Italian this time round. I know these nations haven't performed to well in the JD Power survey in recent year. Fiat and Alfa being at the bottom. Still strange thing is, the Top Gear guys seem to personally opt for an Alfa over other makes, just wouldn't recommend one. Something about you're not a petrol head until you've owned an Alfa.

Regards,

Tim

Yeah. Some people also have a fetish for feet. Go figure!

I don't think SteveH is on Top Gear.

Tim wrote in news:B2sXh.6$H% snipped-for-privacy@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net:

Volvo 740

That I can understand. Feet don't go rusty, or breakdown. (Well, mine haven't so far!)

Chris

Ha! Stress fracture in one last year and plantar fasciitis in the other this year! Half a mind to chop them off and replace them with those really cool springs that paralympians use.

Are you Italian by any chance?

Chris

Could be a tad old, probably mostly high miler and will have similar ware and tare to my current car.

Tim

But the first two aren't particularly relevant.

I'm guessing it's a fairly new model. I can't really comment for newer Colts, but getting parts for my 20-year-old model is a b*tch. List (inc fitting) 180 quid for a front exhaust section, frex. So far I've been ebaying, which cuts costs a fair bit but they're still not wonderful. Nowhere near the same league as popular Ford parts, for example.

Obviously this quite possibly irrelevant to your friend's newer model, but I only see a few newer Colts around. So it'd be worth checking what the parts situation is.

In news:B2sXh.6$H% snipped-for-privacy@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net, Tim typed: | Can anybody recommend a good reliable car for DIY maintenance? My | Punto (Mk II) is looking worse for ware. It's developed a | significant oil leak and it's probably time to get shot. | | I'm looking for something with a low TCO (i.e. high MPG), reliable and | something that is easy to perform simple maintenance on myself e.g. | getting to the oil filter doesn't require a double jointed circus | performer. Something along the super mini lines is fine, bigger would | be nicer but I guess that just makes everything that bit more complex | and expensive. | | A guy a work has just bought a Mitsubishi Colt. It has a nice small 3 | cylinder engine with space to work around it. It is set back a little | in the engine bay, but looks workable. | | Any suggestions? | | Tim

The Nissan Micra or similar are the easiest and most reliable cars on the road.