Not true in my experience,
A generic British/French/Korean car of the same age and mileage as a German/Japanese car is a hell of a lot cheaper. I need a bigger car for carrying all my tools and something that does reasonable mpg so I dont get crucified on fuel, e.g. I loved my Corsa, but it was just not practical.

Although for the record:
The standard rovers were shit, only the 600s and 800s with the T-Series Honda engines avoided the problems of eating head gaskets. On the other hand, my 414 did 40mpg and was 100bhp. It was fantastic unitl the sodding gear box went. Then the replacement one went after two weeks.
The first Laguna I had was the next best car after my BMW - it was reliable, did 50 mpg, had air con and extremely comfortable on long drives. My second Laguna was the same, okay the drive shaft wore out, but hey, she'd done 215,000 miles, I was hardly surprised.
Volvos are ultra reliable and built like tanks, I agree, but also like tanks, they drink fuel like they're going out of fashion. I'm not talking about the new ones, I mean the old 240s and their ilk - the same goes with BMW and Mercs.
Honda and Volkswagen are good safety and economy wise, but they have the price tag to go with it - honest-to-god, they cost a good £500 to £1k more.

Unless of course you know where to get such a car cheap, I am all up for ideas.
( VandenPlas can't think of anything clever - no change there!, Wed 28 Apr 2010, 18:57, 2 replies)

Can't comment on the UK car market as I emmigrated six years ago
but the rate at which Poles are bringing back heaps does suggest there's a hell of a lot of 500-quid sheds out there that can still do many more miles yet. And you don't see them bringing back French rustbuckets.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Wed 28 Apr 2010, 20:58, closed)

I bought a Volvo 440 GLT fairly recently - short mot, month of tax, all for the princely sum of £120, nice stereo thrown in because the vendor couldnt be bothered taking it out. For that price I was expecting it to clap out soon. Took it down for an mot when that ran out - the tester was impressed, said it was solid underneath, engine was sweet and the bodywork was very good. Failed the mot though - needs new brakes all round, wiper blades and an engine mount (not part of the mot, but not wise to leave it) - definitely worth getting those minor problems fixed I feel.
(Freakmandu, Wed 28 Apr 2010, 22:45, closed)