Whats the most reliable car for a poor student ???

Buy yourself a nice shiny £300 Fiesta or Nova then. Do keep us updated when it goes for its MOT, eh? ;)

Si

Never been near a Clio. Kas rot, and the 1.3 engine is rubbish, not very economical (manage better in my Golf GTi) steering is fantastic and they stand up well to crashing. You also won't get one for £500 that's any good. Same goes for a Fiesta - newer ones are alright (1.25l engined ones), don't seem to rust, but not available for much under £7-800. Older ones have the same engine as the Ka, and rust even more.

Seriously, ring around insurers. A 1.8 Mondeo cost me the same to insure as a 1.3 Ka did. And that was after I'd written the Ka off (retained NCB though). Escorts are rubbish, but Mondeos are big and cheap. Unless you have serious parking constraints, go for somethign bigger because you get a lot more for your money.

My Mondeo cost me £300 for an N reg 2.0 GLX(you'd prob want the 1.8...). It was via a mate but £500 wouldn't be unreasonable. 56,000 miles, absolutely spotless, one owner from new, 11 months MOT and it just passed again first time.

I've fed it tyres ('cos I'm fussy) and petrol. That's it for a year..

If it is a car you are after the proton Aeroback or MPI. Very uncool but dirt cheap and reliable japanese technology under the hood.

A van like a fiesta van or something will actually be cheap to insure for you. Plenty of room for moving stuff about too.

bigsteve wrote: