What can we learn from twenty five £250 cars travelling the length of the UK?
It was revealed recently that it now costs over £1,000 to travel the length of the country by train in first class – over double what it cost this time last year. We are trapped in the longest recession on record, yet our fares are rocketing. Is this a symbol of the problem at the heart of the UK’s public transport?
So we turn once again to the car as our saviour. As editor of Used Car Expert magazine I have increasingly been wondering how cheaply the ‘man-in-the-street’ can safely run a car. And how far from first class travel will it be?
When asked to pitch our car buying skills against leading industry figures and drive in a convoy of cars worth no more than £250 to John O’Groats for charity it seemed like I had the chance to find out.
Legendary car columnist James Ruppert and I scoured internet sites and dealerships for about 6 weeks. With two of us working on it, we realised £250 is loads of money if you want a second hand push bike. But when it came to finding a car that met our “tricks of the trade” minimum requirements, it was laughingly shy. Interestingly just another £200 changes the game. But we couldn’t do that on this occasion.
Rule 1 when it comes to successful car buying, on any budget, is don’t be rushed. There is always another once-in-a-life-time opportunity in car buying – usually in about 3 weeks. Rule 2 is look for cars with long (over 6, ideally over 8 months) M.O.T.. Rule 3 is get a new M.O.T. as part of the deal – it’s less than half the price of paying for a RAC car inspection but if you think about it, you’ll realise it is a car inspection.
Using these rules we came perilously close to buying an old Jaguar XJ on more than one occasion. Then, one afternoon when I was starting to think about ways to cheat, I saw it. A Rover 800 Sterling on a N plate with 8 months M.O.T.
Ruppert donned his jogging shoes, and with data check results in hand and shot down to the garage to inspect the car. Looking the dealer in the eye he decided he could trust him and as it started the car from cold first time hands were shaken shortly afterwards.
Ruppert then proceeded to use the car every day for a month, clocking up around 1,000 miles. Apart from a good clean, we spent nothing on the car.
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At 9am last Monday, we met up with the 25 other lunatics who had signed up for the event. We found ourselves in the company of main dealer technicians and a few PR officers from car manufacturers. All of whom have access to endless part-exchange cars and workshops. Their respective motors were very telling.
Dotted around the competitor’s car park were a brace of Toyota Carinas, a small flock of Honda Civics, and a couple of Mondeos. So a lot of pretty uninspiring shapes and sounds – not what you expect in first class.
A Pegueot 406, acquired for free from a truly desperate seller had needed around £1,000 of work done to get through its M.O.T. . Honda had resorted to buying two Preludes for £400 and canabilised one for parts to bring the other one up to scratch. A classic move for those that love Haynes manuals and worth considering if you have strong nerves and a great local mechanic. But for most of us, this is all a bit too hard.
Clearly cars that have had that much work done stand a good chance of making it to the tip of the country. Would our Rover?
While everyone else raced up the West coast, Ruppert and I wafted up the East coast enjoying the large leather armchairs, air conditioning and cd-radio, all of which still worked. Apart form a resonance at 50 mph which made average-speed contra-flows particularly annoying, the Rover provided a quiet cruise. The automatic gearbox, which would have long-ago failed had this been a Ford Granada offered faultless smooth changes.
Along the slippery and winding highlands roads, the 800 surprised me with neutral handling and competent levels of grip. 1,500 miles in 3 days and the Rover never missed a beat. Meanwhile the Suzuki Grand Vitara’s idle control valve played up, an Avensis had brake problems, the Hyundai and Toyota heating systems failed to deliver and the Land Rover simply didn’t make it back.
So while I don’t pretend that it is easy to motor on a shoestring, indeed 25 industry professionals seemed to find it a struggle, it can certainly be done. Just stick to the 3 golden rules and you will never be held to ransom by British Rail again.