Best sub £1000 car

[Mito Man]

Looking for my dad. Anything with a decent MOT is acceptable, as long as it’s in Kent or near London.

Autotrader seems to have a vastly better selection of cars compared to eBay but are there any crusty gems within the turds? I notice you can get a relatively clean boring car like an Astra or you can get an old S Class but then that probably wouldn’t even survive the journey home. Any ideas?

[Rich B]

As always, trying to find a good example of a specific car (that’s within a reasonable distance) for this sort of budget is a waste of time. So be flexible on everything. But:

Stick with private sales only, and you have to be quick to beat the traders looking to flip good ones.

[NotoriousREV]

Get on Gumtree. People don't like paying to advertise their shitters.

[Jobbo]

How much is a 6-series with broken headlights worth?

[JLv3.0]

As always, trying to find a good example of a specific car (that’s within a reasonable distance) for this sort of budget is a waste of time. So be flexible on everything. But:

Stick with private sales only, and you have to be quick to beat the traders looking to flip good ones.

Yes OK whatever, but which sub-1k car is best and what common faults does the Internet say to check?

[Beany]

As always, trying to find a good example of a specific car (that’s within a reasonable distance) for this sort of budget is a waste of time. So be flexible on everything. But:

Stick with private sales only, and you have to be quick to beat the traders looking to flip good ones.

Yes OK whatever, but which sub-1k car is best and what common faults does the Internet say to check?

Crazy talk.

[JLv3.0]

WELL, RICHARD?

WELL?!!

[JonMad]

LS400 (though anything less than £1500 when I looked was a shed).
S Type.
A8 (I paid £1100)

[GG.]

What does he want it for? Bit difficult to give any kind of recommendation if you don't know whether he's going to sit in traffic/on the motorway in it or strip it and go grass track racing...

[Mito Man]

What does he want it for? Bit difficult to give any kind of recommendation if you don't know whether he's going to sit in traffic/on the motorway in it or strip it and go grass track racing...

The latter. And when it’s not in use it will be parked up on a remote bit of his land to block access which is currently being used by doggers, fly tippers and the local yoof to conduct drug deals.

[ste]

Has he considered a gate? Crazy talk but they have previous for this kind of use.

[Rich B]

WELL, RICHARD?

WELL?!!

Ste seems to have answered this!

[JLv3.0]

Ok so there it is sorted.

The best sub-1k car is a gate.

Done, done, onto the next one.

[GG.]

What does he want it for? Bit difficult to give any kind of recommendation if you don't know whether he's going to sit in traffic/on the motorway in it or strip it and go grass track racing...

The latter. And when it’s not in use it will be parked up on a remote bit of his land to block access which is currently being used by doggers, fly tippers and the local yoof to conduct drug deals.

Ok then clearly the correct answer is a BMW e36 328i with a welded diff.

[JLv3.0]

You just said it was a gate.

What common issues should I be aware of when buying a gate?

[Jobbo]

Check the hinges, and whether a cow has wiped its arse on the bars.

[JLv3.0]

Finally we're drilling down into this issue

[Mito Man]

Have a security gate but someone keeps taking a grinder to it hence thinking of obstructing it from behind and also making the place look more ‘populated’.
Already removed all the thinner trees and shrubs so it’s really exposed to the road. Put up a wildlife camera to see how busy it was and over the 5 days of filming it caught 3-7 different people every day.

[JLv3.0]

Ah! Then 2005 seven-seater Suzuki Sharan Swift.

[JonMad]

5 days of filming it caught 3-7 different people every day.

dogging?