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I'm due to trade down from a 2 car household to a single car one.  But then the thought occurred that perhaps I could get a decent "Banger" and then a plaything?

Thoughts?

e.g. i was thinking of getting a Mk1 Focus for me and the wife as a sensible Bangernomic car and then an Elise for weekend thrills and trackdays :)

 My default reply these days is anything Japanese. Crummy Corollas, Awful Almeras, any old Mazda really, previous generation Astras are super cheap these days and cheap to own...I won't go on...Focus is fine though, good luck with whatever you get and like the side order of Elise...J

Mk1 Focus as a 'banger'? The oldest are barely 10 years old, though the cheapest are down to 1500 quid or so. Still, 'banger' means a couple of hundred quid to me!

If you do buy one, get a 1.8 or 2.0. High-mileage 1.6 is asking for trouble.

James is right about the Japanese stuff, would be ideal as a reliable runner, but I get the feeling you want something a little more interesting to drive.

From that perspective the Focus will be fine, but it is a little spendy to buy.  Alternatives could be a Peugeot 306 (which would be cheaper, probably less reliable but just as fun) or a Honda Civic (more reliable but a lot less fun).

Personally though, the fun with bangernomics is not the driving experience (although if you get that its a bonus), its the satisfaction that you have only paid a couple of hundred quid and you are getting the same end result (getting from A to B) as if you had spent ten times the amount.

Or may be I'm just strange!!

There's a lot to be said or any 10year old plus Ford or Vauxhall. Cheaper than Japanese makes to repair and usually pretty reliable to boot, assuming they were reasonably maintained. Saw in my local Autotrader a week before last a Rover 214Sei with 33k miles, one owner for £550 and a 1992 BMW 520 with 58k for £875........mmmmmmm.

I think this is an excellent idea. I actually have some experience of this; have always had one car but my wife wanted to learn to drive and the insurance was too high on anything I wanted to drive. So I bought an 8 year old Micra for her to learn on, and for when we needed some boot space, then I got myself a Vauxhall VX220. Just over a grand got me a tidy hatchback with all the toys I'd ever need (other than Sat-Nav) that you'd never guess was more than a few years old. If I didn't need to teach someone to drive I'd have gone for an early focus, and I'm sure I'd be just as impressed.

It's an excellent solution, I have a comfortable, frugal, reliable car for when needed, and a lightweight sports car for the nice days. Of course if you are anything like me you'll struggle to find reasons to use the sensible car - I use the VX220 at least twice as much as the other one!

So I say go for it, just don't be surprised when if you use the "toy" more than the sensible car.