Be Excellent To Each Other

My Dad's 20 year old Micra just surprised us all by failing it's MOT.

It's probably going to cost more than the value of the car to get it fixed up, so he's thinking of getting a new car. Budget of around £2000.

Suggestions for models/where to get one from/what to do with a broken Micra please folks.

I was thinking probably something like a Focus/Golf. Although I don't really know the best place to get a car from.

Dbsnappa has a slightly larger Nissan for sale for £220.
Other than that: autotrader.com, put in you location and £2000 max and pick one.
Then ask us if it's rubbish and well give you anecdotal, biassed opinions

Do not buy a mk4 Golf unless it's made after 2001 when they fixed all the electrical problems. mk3's are fine.

It depends. Does he want something the same size? Bigger? What does he use it for? How many miles does he do a year? What is he looking for in a car? Comfort? Fuel economy? Performance?

Golfs are all right, but expensive to buy and maintain. Ford Focuses are cheaper, but will probably break down more often (but the flipside is that the parts are generally quite a bit cheaper).

For Golf alternatives, try something like the Skoda Octavia or Seat Leon.

/holds himself back from starting a rather familiar conversation

Modern Fords are much better (as are most marques), but if we're talking about ones you can get for sub £2000 then perhaps not so much.

Why not get another Micra? My ex-wife's 98 Micra is still going strong from what I can gather and we paid £3500 for that back in 2003.

I love how Bruno Senna comes across as more self assured and verbally competent than both our champions put together

Older (<04) Focuses can have rust issues, and Ford don't seem to like fixing them without FSH. Or sometimes even with, depending on the dealer. Guess which ones are under £2k on Autotrader?

Wrong thread, dude

I know there's been costcutting in F1, but that's ridiculous.

Also: obligatory "what's actually wrong with it, you can probably fix that with £50 worth of spares and an afternoon".