Time to down size...recommendations.

[hammerman]

My Rover 400 is nearing the end of its life. I've had 3 head gaskets now and it's done 120k miles. I love the motor to bits especially with all the toys on but it's time to chop it in and get something a bit smaller.

Among the candidates are the trusty fiesta and escort as well as a Citroen saxo, peugeot 106, 206 or 306 and a nissan micra.

My brother in law is a mechanic and he's advised me to stay away from Reanault clios but has said that the Honda civic is a nice car. Quite like the fiat Punto too.

So, what are your thoughts. It must be lower than a 1.6...preferably a 1.2.

TIA

[timshadie]

Hi hammernan

Iam a mechanic like your bro in law, sound advice about french cars. I work for nissan and both the micra and almera are good buys but not the new shapes of either both the older models are so much better than the new ones, cant go wrong with a honda almost bought one myself just got a better deal on an almera tho. Hope that this helps you decide

[Slippery]

Only three head gaskets? You were lucky! Depending on what year your 400 is, you could always get another but with the Honda 1600 engine. The early shape 416 was the 4 door saloon and came in manual and auto ('89-95) and the late one was the 5dr hatch (a few 4 door ones around too) which only had the Honda engine with an auto 'box ('95-99) Yours sounds like the not so trusty K-series.
Having worked for both MGRover and now Honda, the Civic is a great car, especially the Jap built ones. Look at the chassis (vin) number of the car. If it starts with a 'J' it's Japanese build, if it's an 'S' then its a 5 dr built in the UK along-side the Rover 400 as it's basically the same car. The 1.4 and 1.5 engines are bomb-proof if looked after. 3dr Civics tend to hold their value as well. The only things we tend to get with them are brake pads and the odd exhaust section, but generally they are great.
I will agree about the Renault and other French cars - too fragile. Puntos seem ok but not much experience of them!
Sorry to ramble on!
ps Nissans solid cars too!