Take no notice of them daz, you and gary have exactly the right idea!. Bangernomics, that is the way to go, buy a cheap car, or van, use it till it dies, then throw it away, and get another. Simples!.
A brand new mid range mondeo or insignia will loose over £300 per month on depreciation, a brand new audi a5 will loose even more (although it is a smaller percentage of its value).
The most i have ever paid for a car was £1300 for a saab 99 and i didnt like it half as much as the first 99 i had, which only cost £350!. Cheapest car i ever bought was a lada 1600 saloon for £25, absolutely loved it!.
My current van, a transit connect, cost £6k and i cant see myself spending much more than that on its replacement. The iveco daily i had before that cost £1500. But a long time ago i did own a suzuki st90 (predecessor to the supercarry), paid £800 for that and loved it.
I have not bought a car for a long time though, as my wife gets a motability car.