



  • : Hi, where are you based ? might help determine the best answer although general answers are good too – user2808054 Jan 2 '15 at 17:06
  • @user2808054 I'm in Australia. – Eugene S Jan 3 '15 at 1:51


  • The parts are widely available and cheap.
  • Agreed! I learned most of the engine, suspension, and electrical basics on a '97 Civic HB. Plus they are great little drivers cars. – MooseLucifer Feb 24 '16 at 23:24


  • I'm a couple years late, but in the states the Mazda B-series and Toyota Tacoma are all over the place. They held their value extremely well though, so if you find one for cheap it'll already have a few projects needed to make it road worthy! – MooseLucifer Feb 24 '16 at 23:29



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  • The 2CV was the cheapest convertible you could own. But it was awful in the cold and damp/wet. In Australia that won't bother you! – Magnus Smith Nov 6 '15 at 9:29




Vauxhall/Opel Corsa B-Type (MkII) would be the best car to learn servicing and repairs. Over in the UK, I could get one for about £200. They are ridiculously easy; For example, a Cylinder gasket replacement involves removing a couple of bolts, the timing and Aux' belt, a few bolts, take off a few hoses and wires and then pull the whole thing out of the engine bay. One of the easiest cars to work on for big engine jobs.

Plus, with the amount of rust these suffer with, it'll get you prepared for that side of auto-mechanics, too! ;) Plus, the filters are right in sight; You can see the air filter right there (though, it usually looks like a black box rather than this terrible, short-sighted POD filter) and the oil filter is right on the front of the engine, though I do despise these sideways-mounted filters. Fuel filter, they're usually along the frame line under the car near the fuel tank, except in the earlier models where it was on the top of the fuel tank.

And if you mess something up, who cares? It was £200, you could probably buy whatever you broke for 20 pence, lol. There are a few things to note with these vehicles, however..... enter image description here

If you're COMPLETELY new to anything to do with working on cars, there are tips you need to learn with how to use your tools (quote on quote) properly, as things like not positioning your wrench or sockets properly on the bolts can easily cause permanent damage if you've not got replacements handy, simply because of the amount of rust. Also, make sure that you're fully loaded with Torx and those vile six-point sockets, or worse yet, those cursed triple-squares that you never seem to have the right size of.

If you're wanting a car that you can actually still drive, another good car would be pretty much any old 4x4 or 4x4-sized vehicle. They are remarkably easy to work on because of the amount of space, plus they don't tend to have massively complex systems. (Old is being about 1990s to early 2000s.) They are great, and if you get a Ford Ranger or Mazda B3000 like ChrisFix on YouTube, you can watch his videos and learn from him with the same vehicle he usually shows!!!! :P

Just make sure if you buy a car, you have the right tools to work on it. It's great having a massive tool set, but if you're missing a couple of little bits for things like gearbox fill and empty ports, you're a bit stuck, aintcha? Good luck on your journey with servicing experimentationings! ;)

(Yes, disregard the spelling mistakes, it's a bit of fun on my part!)

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