Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 1.8

I stopped playing the manufacturers new car games many years ago as it is just not worth it. Depreciation and cost of main dealer services are just too high. So I got a 2nd hand cavalier 1.8gli auto for £1500 in 1997. I used to use it daily for work and you can fit anything in the boot. The balance in perfect so it corners lovely. It's reliable and economical. I've done over 100,000 miles with no major problems. Auto gearbox repair cost me £200 a few years ago, and note this you manual drivers, that's a lot less than you pay for clutches I'll bet. I have it serviced by a back street mechanic, the kind that the media would have you believe are all crooks, and he charged me £200 this year for an MOT and a full service which he does properly and included some new brakes. He has nicknamed it "The Terminator". Last year he said it failed the MOT on a sidelight bulb. He kicked the wing and the light came on so they passed it. It only cost £180 to insure this year (cheapest quote was £134). Why would I want anything else?

In the past I have often made the mistake of buying cars on the basis that they are pretty or fast, or trendy even and bought with my heart rather than my head, then one day I had a moment of clarity, a day where I was focussed and thinking straight. Sick of suffering the depreciation and high running costs of 'fancy 'cars I started to think in terms of something cheaper yet reliable, doesn ' t matter what it looks like as long as it gets me from A to B, a car that if it were ever stolen or vandalised it wouldn ' t matter, I wouldn ' t even bother to claim on the insurance. Soon I ' d sold myself on the idea; it seemed perfect " especially since I was broke too! Just forget about what it looks like as long as it ' s cheap and it goes. Luckily a family friend was selling his 1995 Vauxhall cavalier, he wanted £300 for it and it was a 1.8 injection model in LS trim finished in Silver " pretty basic but it looked nice enough for the year. He took me out on a quick spin and I was sold. The day after I took delivery of the aged cavalier which had 85k on the clock and no service history, but to drive it you would never guess it had so many miles under it ' s belt. Later I found some owners who had double that mileage on their Cavaliers and they were still going strong. I figured that if I got six months out of it I was laughing. Two years later I was still driving it and it was still going strong; I eventually sold it simply because I wanted a change " incidentally I sold it back to the guy I ' d bought it from for £200! My experience during the two years of ownership has left me believing in miracles to be quite frank. My old Cavalier was simply the best car I have ever owned and I have had a Jaguar, BMW, Rovers, Fords, and Volkswagen etc etc. It never once let me down in two years and twenty thousand miles,100% reliable it always started first time every time whether it had been laid up for a month or was buried beneath a foot of snow. It would never win any races but the 1.8 engine was torquey and smooth and more than adequate for relaxed motorway cruising, it returned decent MPG too which averaged out at around 35. The interior was bland but very comfortable, roomy and reasonably quiet even at high speeds. All the controls are simple to operate and switches are big and clunky and reassuring. Handling was not the best I have to admit, the Cavalier was no hot-hatch, it leaned and wallowed around some bends like a tea trolley carrying a Pig on it but this car was originally marketed for the long distance high mileage motorway user and this is where it feels most at home. The hatch boot is cavernous and will take an enormous amount of whatever you want to throw in it, fold the split rear seats down and it ' s as good as an estate car " I got a fridge freezer in mine! It cost me nothing to service as I did it myself using Halfords parts and always using semi synthetic oil " the lot never costing more than £50 and very simple to carry out, taking no more than half an hour with a few basic skills and the necessary tools. So in two years of ownership, above the usual running costs, all it cost me was £100 in 'depreciation ' , and believe it or not, just 87 pence in new parts (a bulb) to get it through two MOT ' s. I don ' t think I could have had a cheaper way of getting from A to B even if I had walked! I know these cars, especially with reasonably low mileage are getting difficult to find now but if you do find one " buy it " you can ' t go wrong, I genuinely miss mine and will always have a soft spot for the old bullet proof workhorse " I wonder if the present owner wants to sell it back to me again?

I have owned my Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 1.8 convertible for 14 years and it has never let me down come rain or shine. Parts are cheap and still easy to find. Price has bottomed out and the car will start to become a modern day classic.

Still great fun to drive in the summer! And a quicker car than my 2.0 Renault Laguna RTI

The convertible Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 1.8 is a brilliant car of it's time with classic looks that still cut it in the style department.

Because it's a Vauxhall it won't cost loads to repair.