Ideally I'd probably get a focus, eminently practical, fairly comfy, but the outlay's a bit more than i'd like.

Shame this is happening now. In about 6 months i'm probably moving house and want one with a drive and a garage which means I could sell the S, get something like an elise VX or caterham, then spend a bit more on the beater. but I love the S for the moment, so I'm not getting rid of it yet, only had it a year.

 

The Focus is a very good choice indeed.
Mine has been great. It's a T plate 99 1.8 Zetec in Silver practically invisible as it's so common. Cheap insurance, cheap to fix and run. Cost me just shy of

 

Mark,

Re: Jazz - aside from looks, what was wrong with it? The loaner I had was far more fun to drive than a cooking Civic - comparatively low grip levels and double-wishbones all-round meant you could steer with the tail more than many fwd cars, and the steering felt direct and less-artificial than the Civic. And the engine/gearbox was typical Honda.


Chilled...if you're moving in 6mths and may want to change the S then, I'd do one of three things:-
- Stick with the S for the summer, almost regardless of miles;
- Get a 'disposable' car as the beater;
- Get the 'beater' car you want for after the move, and just suck-up the extra cost over these 6 months - if/when you sell the S, you then pocket the difference you need.

 

Seems to be a bit of a no-brainer to me.

If you can get the Ka for considerably less than it's market value, which you can, then buy it. Keep it until you move house and re-evaluate after that.

You can always trade / sell it for a profit.