Suggest a stop gap car?

approaching

If you are thinking Pug 306, think Citroen ZX as well, same floorpan and mechanics. Couple of ZX turbo diesels on ebay and Autotrader, non-turbos are ok too, but not exciting, excellent economy, and don't rust unless badly repaired, very good handling too. Right in your price range, reckon if you find a good td you'll want to keep it.

Not sure of the logic here - you're only having the car for a couple of weeks but it needs to be a diesel? Anyway, if it helps I bought a Polo for £200 a year ago, ran it for a year no problems, no big bills - petrol and a couple of tyres - just sold it for £250. Probably the only time I'll ever make money on a car, but I'm not complaining.

Obviously as I've nevr written offf an A6 doing that (cough)& if I had done I'd hav ereallly really appreciated the extra I'd paid for the courtaesy car cover Owt will do. You're not going to do enough mileage for the fuel consumption to make any difference so buy anything local that looks good & gets you back on the road, 2 days pay covers a lot of hunting

Ford Escort. Doesn't matter a toss whether its petrol or diesel because=20 you're only going to run it for a short while.

--=20 Conor

"Cogito Eggo Sum" - "I think, therefore I am a waffle"

Noooooooo........ It's an Escort Even if it's only for a short while, you'll suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorders for ages

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Hi Peter. I see you did to your Audi what I did to my old Carlton! Why can't you get another cheap Carlton? Hope you get it sorted. JB

Yep. D'oh! This one's repairable thankfully, though there goes 2 years of my NCB (first bloody year I say no to protecting it!).

Could do - the idea did cross my mind - the main reason I was thinking small diesel (i.e. AX / 205 / maybe even Nova/Corsa) is because they're probably going to be by far the easiest to sell on quickly and easily.

But point taken (from other people) that, diesel or petrol, the difference it'll make over a couple of weeks isn't really going to be all that much.

Peter

anything cheap! as long as its got longish mot maybe a bit of tax I do this every winter in oct 03 I got a little mini 8mths mot 4mths tax £175 no probs so far and the way the prices are going I will sell for at least £255-£275 in march 04, free motoring that's what i like!!!! regards mark.w

Well, time for you guys to take the piss - I've just gone and bought a Citroen BX 1.6 Petrol hatchback, with a genuine 29,000 on the clock (all old MOTs to prove it)! Hopefully a time-warper like this should be fairly easy to sell on, even if it is a BX!!!

Peter

A BX ???? What did you pay for it? I can't believe the 29,000 on the clock, but I do believe you. Last owner was an old bloke then? All the best, Stuart.

You must be off your gourd Peter! At that age, no matter what the mileage, the electrics, brakes and suspension are going to be 'challenging' on the maintenance front. I had one as a company car from nearly new and the bills for maintenance were

message

got

LOL, yeah, the traditional Citreon on/off button type brakes. He's only going to use it for 2 weeks or thereabouts. That car will give him a serious retraining about how to drive !!!! When the A6 is back on the road, don't hit someone up the back by just touching the brake pedal. Stuart

Is that the one off e-bay, silver colour? looked good to me if it was.

I love people like you. You keep the prices down. If maintained properly they are a reliable and economical car.

Peter, if you need advise or help, try

Imagine what a 160bhp 16v is like I have to, mine got nicked

Yep. Now you lot can take the piss out of how much I paid!! Picking it up tomorrow. Just realised one thing though, I never asked if it's had a cambelt changed in its life. Hopefully it has, if not I'll just say my prayers :-)

Peter

Looks ok......but

It only has only 2 months MOT, if I were you I would put in in for a test now, if it's bad get rid quick, if it passes then great, u can sell with a long ticket.

Also "Service history to 18000 miles", hopefully this does not mean it was last serviced 4 years ago!

When I was in this situation, I went to my local (large) auction in Wimbledon with 250 cash and decided to buy *anything* that took my fancy. It had to have a minimum of 3 months MOT *and* tax. Insurance isn't a problem for me which widened the choice somewhat - nor do I have a long drive to work etc.

What caught my eye towards the end of the auction was a Capri - MK III 2 litre auto. Direct from a main dealer with all documents. Obviously had sheds of money spend on it recently and a new ticket. New exhaust, master cylinder, calipers battery, carb, plug leads and dizzy cap. Newish front wings also by the good paint but poor colour match (green metallic) and neatly fitted plates over the strut mounts. Oh - and near new tyres all of the same make.

The interior was scruffy and had large holes where an aftermarket stereo had been removed.

Ran it constantly in the winter for almost a month until the 'new' car was found, and it never missed a beat. All I did to it was reconnect the original AM radio, and fit a couple of bulbs.

I actually liked it a lot, and if I'd had the space would have kept it, but passed it on to a relative.