by Richard Harley

Created on: January 28, 2009

Some people say "good cars aren't cheap and cheap cars aren't good". Those people are stupid. Actually, they are half correct - can you guess which part?

Cheap cars CAN be good. But how cheap can you go before delving into serious banger territory. I'm going to stick my neck out and say you can own a perfectly reliable and interesting car for under 1000/$1500. Where are these cars to be found and what should you look for in buying one to make sure you don't end up with a snotter? Read on.

First things first. You are going to be buying privately. If you want a cheap car, forget dealerships. For starters, most cars on sale there are going to be out of your price range and second - even if they do fall into the sub 1000 catergory, 20% of that is going straight into the dealers back pocket. And that just won't do.

Now remember if our car lasts one year of relatively trouble free motoring and is then scrapped, you've beaten the depreciation on a new car (costing 15k new) by four times. Not to be sniffed at. Chances are, it won't be scrapped either. More than likely you'll have a hard choice - sell it on for a small loss (or perhaps even a profit) or run it into the ground for several more years, saving thousands. Cutting the 'car finance' out of your salary, usually 150 to 250 a month for most people, will seriously add up.

Buying privately offers the luxury of choice. Pick any model, any car, any year, any spec and the chances are there will be one avaliable. Granted it might 300 miles away in the Outer Hebridees but thats not the point. So decide on what sort of car you'd like to buy. Personally, I thought a engine size of at least 3000cc was needed to power a car these days but apparently not. Anyway, I digress. Now remember our virtual budget of 1000. This sort of cash will get you a lot of bog standard saloon and not very much of anything else. But that's exactly what we're after. Nice and cheap motoring.

1000 will buy you a tidy 97/98 Mondeo with 80k miles. Fancy something a little smaller? You should be able to pick up a later shape 1999 Fiesta or equivalent that hasn't been to the moon and back for under a grand. If you want a better slice of car, look slightly older. BMW/Mercedes early 90s bombproof executive cars are around this sort of wedge and should come with a good service history. Don't be put off by a slightly higher mileage - most modern cars will cope with mileages in excess of 150k relatively easily if well maintained. Luxury/executive models should

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