Depends on the sort of person you are too. I've just got rid of my beater, it was doing about 9K a year and my Fiat Coupe only 3K It was all too easy for me to drive the old Pug 205TD for any reason i.e. rain or visiting a client in a crap area. It will make you S feel unbelievable once you get back in it though

 

I do 37 miles each way, almost all M-way. So I've a Focus TDCi, which is quick enough to dice with the reps, comfy enough to make the journey bearable, and agile/fun enough not to be boring when I'm in the mood to drive, not just travel.

My advice would be:-

Mostly M-way - get an ex-repmobile - anything TDi from 306-size up to Mondeo-size, buy well and it'll cost you peanuts. (S isn't at it's best in rush-hour M-way traffic - feel too vulnerable to aggressive reps)

Mostly A-road, no real need for overtaking, just follow the traffic - get whatever you fancy and fits your budget, it's not going to matter - comfort and stereo will matter most.

Mostly B-road, or A-road with overtaking points and free-flowing stretches - keep the S on it's own initially, see how you get on, THEN later in the year maybe get a beater for when the weather starts to turn.

Regardless, take your time if looking for an older car - condition is everything!

 

[QUOTE=havoc UK,Mar 28 2006, 08:08 PM]Mostly M-way - get an ex-repmobile - anything TDi from 306-size up to Mondeo-size, buy well and it'll cost you peanuts.

 

Wouldn't toucha Vauxhall, so sorry Dembo. Unless it was a VX and that's not really a beater...

going to give the Ka a drive (never actually driven it) before I choose.

The problem with choosing something I've always lusted after, I think the cheapest car I've lusted after starts at about

 

i do 5 miles each way u think i need a second car?

im thinking about a corolla GT AE86 but so expensive

 

My 'commute' would be a 20 minute walk if I was prepared to get my lazy arse out of bed a bit earlier. I can still justify having a beater.

If you'll use it, get it.

 

Focus.

Jazz.

...will have a think for others that spring to mind.

 

I see the point of "beaters"

But there's beaters-and there's beaters.

I spent the first 13 years of my driving life driving around in metal wank-3 cars cost me < 50 quid. Don't think I could do that again-maybe I'm becoming soft.

Out of a beater now I'd ideally want soething that was nice to drive-and had poke.

Havok makes a good point on type of roads.

I might be inclined to turn it on it's head. Why have the S as a weekend car?-possibly a bit too soft only to be brought out every other saturday.

 

I think in the same circumstance, I'd use a beater, but just for the winter.
Buy it in October, sell it in March. Be picky about what you buy, and you can probably sell it for almost as much as you buy it.

You get to try a new car each year that way.

For the upcoming summer though, I'd stick in the S.

 

I'm thinking about getting a beater for local trips only - the Elise needs 10 mins warming up before I can drive it (won't idle from cold, yes, this is normal for the engine I have in it), won't go over speedbumps higher than 8cm (like the one's into Kate's work) and is impractical for shopping (most of the 'boot' is taken up with a great big airbox. We have the CR-V for long trips and to take the dogs out, so this is simply a local trip car.

So I've been looking for non-gay options (although it will be driven by Kate a lot, I will still have to go out in it regularly). It will have to live outside, be cheap to buy and insure (this is a utility car, it shouldn't cost the earth), be simple enough for me to service, with cheap parts (so big luxo-barges are out for now, I have a Lotus to run) which are easy to source.

Ka has been suggested by several people as being a hoot to drive (wheel in each corner, similar to the old Mini), cheap, plentiful, low insurance, Ford parts....

Quite like the idea of a Cinquecento/Seiciento Sporting - funky, I have a soft spot for Italian cars, cheap parts and insurance but I'm not sure about keeping it outside or reliability.

Old Mini - like the idea, but they're a bit long in the tooth now, tend to rust around the A pillar and aren't cheap to buy anyway.

Anything Japanese is out, they don't make 'fun' small cars as far as I can tell (I had a Jazz as a loaner once, if ever there was a car for old ladies, that's it....).

Lupo - Kate likes them, reliable and funky, if a little dull, and VW put too many electronic gizmos in their engines to make them easy to service.

Polo - old ones are sub