Road legal buggy as a town car replacement?

pretzelz

New member
Hi all,

I'm considering buying something like the Kinroad 250cc road-legal buggy (about £1900 new) as an additional car, maybe in the near future. I would just want it to get me to work and back, (primary school in fact!) and running around town, nothing off road. 

My reasoning for this, was the idea of saving petrol with the small motor, and saving the wear and tear on a normal car that I would also have for longer journeys. So here's some questions about the idea so you can let me know if this idea is workable or if I'm just being daft.

Only answer the questions that you wish, many thanks.


1. How much is the petrol on something like this, roughly to get to work and back everyday on a 20 min journey? 

2. Is the road tax cheaper than a standard car?

3. Are the engine and parts on these things reliable, if just for road use? Or would the engine be likely to die after a few years use?

4. Are servicing costs cheaper than servicing a regular car?  (and hopefully i could learn to service many things myself)

5. Are insurance costs lower than a car?

6. I would plan to make light roof and door housing onto the frame (taupaulin, perspex) do you think this would add much drag, and be enough to keep the wind and rain out?

7. Bumpyness I wouldn't mind, I ride a 125cc moped quite happily, just don't like the weather and 2-wheel safety factor. Would you recommend some tyres more suited to just road use?

8. For some level of security when parked in car parks, could I install a remote-starter kit (ebay, £30) as per a regular car, to start the engine only by remote (eventually)?

9. Would it be too big a drain on the buggy's battery to include two small passive speakers inside? Or a line of LED lights? (my current small car has about 80 led lights running off the battery for interior/exterior lighting) - or could the battery on a buggy be used in similar demand to a car battery for appliances?

10. If I build a roof and doors, fully enclosed, are you required to wear a helmet whilst driving on the road?

Overall, if you wanted to save money like I do, would you consider this a worthwhile idea?  (who needs a 4 seater car to get to work and back? I'd rather this than a Smart car! Plus the customisable factor would be lots of fun)

Again, many thanks - looking forward to hearing your replies.    :)

ps. Unfortunately I don't have the mechanic know-how to build my own buggy, as i gather this site is about.
 

daz

New member
Hi

I'm new to these forums myself & I've not owned one of the buggies you described but if you look at the "roadlegal buggies " page, http://www.muddybuggies.com/road-legal- ... -sale.html , there is a selection (i think the 4th down is similar to the one your looking at?) it might be worth emailing the seller to get the info you are after.
i have heard that the build quality of some of the imported buggies can be suspect (bolts & welds) i had looked at the Joyner type buggies myself but ended up buying a road registered already built freestyle buggy, that way someone has done all the hard work you just have to fix/mod it to your taste  ;)

daz
 

pretzelz

New member
Thanks for the reply.    I guess, in essence what I'm asking is, do you think a road-legal buggy could make for a realistic economical and reliable run-around car?    The questions above were just some specifics about general buggying. For example the question about do you have to wear a helmet on the road etc?    :)
 

daz

New member
i use mine for going to work & abit of fun at weekends so yes ;D

1. small engine with a light weight frame should be economical if you're not racing around
2.I'm not sure if the new rules for tax that apply to buggy's are on engine size or emissions (12 Months road tax not over 1549cc.......  =  £110.00  12 Months road tax over 1549cc............  =  £175.00) there's also some weird tax thing about tricycle/quadtricycles or some thing like that to do with under 450kg i think thats something like £66 a year that i believe some buggys are registered as (someone correct me if i'm wrong please! :-[ )
3.as the buggies are technically cars you do not have to wear a crash helmet (i think that applies to Quads as well) but i think you'd be risking injury if you didn't have some sort of eye protection, bugs/cigarette's butts/stones hurt ALOT
4. you can probably get the buggy serviced at your local motorcycle shop (i Know my local does it) so it shouldn't be much different from your moped (don't quote me on that !!) as the engines are normally some bike variation, Honda copy for example.
5.fun value  ;D some of the the advantages of buggies is you are out in the elements, its noisy & people look   ::) its also safer than a bike & (depending on the buggy) cheaper than a normal car for parts.
6. insurance could be interesting as its not a kit car & most are technically imports so you'd have to shop around, but the people you buy it from should be able to recommend someone.

but you get what you pay for & there is a reason that they don't cost as much as a car, as i said i don't own one of the type your looking at but i do own a buggy & i love it  ;D hope that helps
Daz
 

iank

New member
Since you'll be using a specialist insurer (not a worry and generally a cheaper) you'll need to be aware of exactly what the terms you're asking for and getting.  Most policies are based on a limited mileage so make sure you're going to have enough as adding more later gets expensive.  Also a lot of policies state that they are pleasure use only - i.e. you're not allowed to use them for going to work.  This is easy to get changed but easy to miss as it's not automatic like 99% of tintop policies.

You don't need a helmet but it's a good idea just for the visor to keep the bees out of your eyes.  Lidl had some for £23 last time I was in which is fine (though I wouldn't have one that cheap on a proper bike which you can fall off).

You'll need the same levels of weathergear as a biker if it's raining, but a when it's sunny a teeshirt and jeans are fine.

Servicing should be fine if you can get the parts easily, most should be ok assuming the engine is used in bikes over here.
 

esdebe

New member
Road Tax will depend on what you get, if it is a kit car buggy then the road tax will probably use the same tax system as the donor engine so it that was engine size the buggy would be engine size if it was emissions then the buggy would be emissions.

If it is a brand new buggy with brand new engine it will be taxed on emissions

Simon
 

Danny

Administrator
Dont think I could get enough bags of plaster on the front seat ofmine to take it to work hmmmm having said that some days I may as well go by push bike...lol

buy one!!
buy one!!
buy one!! 
buy one!!

Good luck

Danny
 

pretzelz

New member
wow, thanks everyone for your replies and insight : )  I'm glad in general you're all in support of the idea. And I love the fact the vehicle can be customised quicker than a car. For example painting the frame, adding some panelling etc.

Going back to a question from earlier, do you think I could put the same demand on a buggy's 12v battery as in a car? (in my car I have two lines of special LEDs which are drilled into the interior & exterior for night lighting - I was hoping to include one line of LEDs onto a buggy if the battery could hold out. Oh and passive speakers) ...or would this drain the battery too much, and the smaller engine wouldn't be able to recharge the battery fast enough?

Also, this is a weird question, but what about a light-weight side car for a third person, could that be possible?

Thanks
 

Danny

Administrator
Ok on my bugggy before the recent rebuild I had 2 neon strips behind the seats 2 neon strips in the engine bay 1 in the ally nose cone 2 und the fiberglass nose and then loads of led lights all over the buggy!! so yeah I so it was ok.

Danny
 

Asbo

New member
pretzelz":2nfvafq2 said:
Also, this is a weird question, but what about a light-weight side car for a third person, could that be possible?

i thought this was a serious post until i read that bit? it'd probably be easier to fit a 'roof-seat' with a brace of sky-hooks or follow the leaders in transporting people and make a trailing rear similar to a bendy bus?
 

pretzelz

New member
well what can I say? I'm creative. I just wondered if there were any possibilities to transport a third person for fun.
 

HolyCount

New member
pretzelz":2mujg8vk said:
well what can I say? I'm creative. I just wondered if there were any possibilities to transport a third person for fun.

Certainly creative, probably illegal and definitely suicidal  :eek: :eek:

An alternative would be a small trailer with a seat strapped in  ;D

As for everday use -- just look on the buggy as a 4 wheel bike!
 

Phaeton

Moderator
Staff member
wulliecosse":3g4mmlth said:
pretzelz":3g4mmlth said:
Also, this is a weird question, but what about a light-weight side car for a third person, could that be possible?

i thought this was a serious post until i read that bit? it'd probably be easier to fit a 'roof-seat' with a brace of sky-hooks or follow the leaders in transporting people and make a trailing rear similar to a bendy bus?
If you think putting a sidear on was dodgey idea, how about putting a motorbike at the side? PISTONHEADS why in any deities name would you want to do this, other than because you can.

Alan...
 

HolyCount

New member
Be a bit alarming seeing that coming down the road towards you, waiting for the inevitable point of contact twixt what would appear to be car and bike, and expecting one or both to take flight !!!!!!
 
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