Your Bangernomics successes

worried_jim · 19 February 2012 at 2:34PM

Hello my fellow cheapskates. After spending nearly three years running a car for as cheap as possible, mainly as I ran it throughout all but he darkest depths of winter on WVO/UVO (waste or used vegetable oil), in a Vauxhall Astra I have had to say good bye to the old girl as it is no longer economical to repair to get it through it’s MOT (which has now expired yesterday).

Running my Vauxhall Astra on veg oil-
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1961265&highlight=worried+jim

Being of limited budget but a growing fan of “Bangernomics” (old banger cars + economics) I have decided to catalogue my experiences of running a sub £1000 car and I would like you to share your experiences if you are doing the same, weather through tight-fisted choice, i.e.-
-Why buy a new car when you can run one successfully for the equivalent of two new car finance payments.
-Or like me because you have no choice.

Now to begin with we need to agree on price constraints. I have gone in with a £1000 price limit even though I paid half this, if you disagree lets discuss reasons, I am all ears.

Here is my set up-
A Rover 600 2.0sli.
12 months MOT
No tax
£495.

4 Doors, Manual, Saloon, Petrol, Metallic Blue, MOT-02-2013. Honda engine, ABS, Alloy wheels, Folding rear seats, Lumbar support, Immobiliser, Passenger airbag, Rear armrest, Radio/Cassette, Rear headrests, Alloy wheels, 3x3 point rear seat belts, Alarm, Drivers airbag, Electric windows, Height adjustable drivers seat, Remote central locking,
The mileage was approx 118,000, Cambelt changed @79,000, loads of history (not fsh though) all the old MOT certificates.

The bad bits about the car are-

Electric aerial doesn’t retract (can’t use a carwash)
Drivers seat lumber is worn
Paint is faded on roof and boot lid.
Radio is missing a button and unable to pick up many stations
Small cigarette burn in rear passenger seat
Driver’s seat belt doesn’t retract
Not sure if Air con is fully working (suspect needs a re gas)
Wind noise at speed from top right of driver door
Both wing mirrors are tatty (held together with tape and a nylon tie)

The good bits-

Drives very well
All tyres have lots of tread
All electrics work
12 months MOT
Goes like stink
Better than the last car I had.

So in a nutshell I have bought a car with a brand new MOT for the price of getting my existing Astra through it’s MOT just to face a similar if not larger bill for the same next year.
Now there is nothing to suggest that in a years time I face the prospect of a large MOT repair bill and may have to start again with another car, hopefully not, and this is to document how far you can go with a banger.

I have found an original Topgear review by Jeremy himself from 1993-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Lq92QTrBw

I have had a good look around ebay and it is full of Rover parts should I need any- I currently have the wining bid on a Haynes manual so I can really get to know the car should I need to.

I will be the first to admit that this is a gamble, no nice new car with no faults or warranty should any arise, hell, I’ve bought a car from a now defunct manufacture, how will this effect me? Now in my mind when I was a teenager in the early 90’s a banger was a Hillman Imp, Vauxhall Chevette or as in my case and my first car a Talbot Sunbeam. These were cars that if you wanted a radio (or a rear heated element on the rear screen) you had to fit one your self. Cold morning- fingers crossed, MOT time meant welding new sills. Now a banger today comes with power steering, ABS, electric windows, fuel injection and in some cases air con, so why spend £k’s?

Top Gear guide to Buying a Banger with Quentin Wilson- From 1997
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUVmNCdf4tI&feature=related
(You won’t be buying anything featured in this clip but it gives you the idea and you can see the difference between “old” and “modern” bangers.
So by now you should be getting the jist of how to join in. Share you car and model any feature it may have and keep updating!

The £495 beast-

Tatty rear bumper-

Poor paint condition on roof (with free seagull crap)

Poor paint condition on boot lid-

Tatty wing mirror-

Missing radio button-

Paradigm · 19 February 2012 at 2:47PM

"M" reg Audi A6 estate bought for £750 with full MOT & 120000 miles.

I ran it for 3 years & the only things I bought were 3 tyres... flew through the 2 mots.

In the end the engine management went awol & I was quoted £800 minimum to fix.... don't think so

Drove it into the local scrappy & got £260 for it! I think that's a success.

worried_jim · 19 February 2012 at 3:16PM

Paradigm wrote: »

"M" reg Audi A6 estate bought for £750 with full MOT & 120000 miles.

I ran it for 3 years & the only things I bought were 3 tyres... flew through the 2 mots.

In the end the engine management went awol & I was quoted £800 minimum to fix.... don't think so

Drove it into the local scrappy & got £260 for it! I think that's a success.

Value for money! What did you replace it with? Would you do it again?

Paradigm · 19 February 2012 at 3:27PM

worried_jim wrote: »

Value for money! What did you replace it with? Would you do it again?

I did do it again

Replaced with "S" reg VW Polo 1.9 D.

£900 105000 miles, full mot. Had it 3-4 years now & still going

although it's starting to show some rust & the injector pump is playing up. So far it's cost 2 tyres, part exhaust + a second hand gearbox (£100).

When it dies I'll be looking for another "banger"

worried_jim · 19 February 2012 at 3:35PM

It amazing what is out there, just pop your post code into Autotrader, http://www.autotrader.co.uk/ set the distance at just 10 miles and hit search. Spoilt for choice and all of it is a bus ride away.

Paradigm · 19 February 2012 at 3:40PM

worried_jim wrote: »

It amazing what is out there, just pop your post code into Autotrader, http://www.autotrader.co.uk/ set the distance at just 10 miles and hit search. Spoilt for choice and all of it is a bus ride away.

That's where I got mine from

Real moneysaving IMO!

Paradigm · 19 February 2012 at 3:48PM

I think it's fair to add that the VW (& Audi in it's final months) were/are second cars!

The main car is still a banger (although a bit different), "W" reg bought some 4 years ago, & the Audi was passed on so to speak

Derivative · 19 February 2012 at 3:53PM

What is the fuel economy like?
That seems to me to be the biggest issue by far in these sort of 'money saving' exercises.

Say 7500 miles a year, so a 20 mile round trip daily, or a bit less plus some leisure driving:

Given £6.15 a gallon which is about the current price:

at 60mpg, about £770
at 50mpg, about £920
at 40mpg, about £1150
at 30mpg, about £1550
at 20mpg, about £2300

What sort of figures are you seeing personally?

This is my biggest worry - I don't care about driving a banger, but it seems that once you get past about 7 years, it might be better to buy a small fuel efficient car with a long warranty.

TrickyWicky · 19 February 2012 at 3:54PM

My current car cost £550, at 109k. I put another 400 miles on it bringing it home!

In that time, I've had a puncture repaired, overhauled the breather system (£200 for parts and a few hours DIY), changed the ATF and next will be the fuel filter and cat convertor. It's been with me for just shy of 2 years now and despite the odd few quirks it'll probably live another few years if I look after it. Paint is a bit tatty at the rear end, the rear seats could do with replacing but apart from that it's been a good car but just a bit expensive to insure.

It definitely helps if you can DIY when it comes to repairs and maintenance. I hate DIY on the car but when you don't have money mechanics are extremely expensive!

Rolandtheroadie · 19 February 2012 at 3:57PM

I'll add the details of my own Astra, unfortunately my replacement doesnt fall into the sub £1000 category.

Purchase cost £410, road tax £230, Insurance £200. Covered 14k miles in my year of running it.

Cant remember all the work done over the year apart from radiator (£25), 2 tyres(£35), fuel return pipes (£8) service items (approx £30) then around £100 got it another years ticket last October (including the price of the MOT).

Theres possibly more, but not too much (and probably mentioned on Jims other thread).

Thats about £19.50 a week or 7p a mile.
Since we were on the veg oil, averaging 30p a litre for fuel and getting 35MPG, including fuel means the car cost 11p a mile to run for the year.

Plus I got £145 back scrapping it.

When I was searching for a car, my budget was £50 per months MOT (6 month minimum) with tax not important. If any car had tax, I'd add that in (i.e £400 for a car with 6 months MOT and 6 months tax)

As above, diy really helps (done my first brake pipes on this one). Buy a haynes manual, a halfords socket set and have a tinker.

worried_jim · 19 February 2012 at 4:05PM

Derivative wrote: »

What is the fuel economy like?
That seems to me to be the biggest issue by far in these sort of 'money saving' exercises.

Say 7500 miles a year, so a 20 mile round trip daily, or a bit less plus some leisure driving:

Given £6.15 a gallon which is about the current price:

at 60mpg, about £770
at 50mpg, about £920
at 40mpg, about £1150
at 30mpg, about £1550
at 20mpg, about £2300

What sort of figures are you seeing personally?

This is my biggest worry - I don't care about driving a banger, but it seems that once you get past about 7 years, it might be better to buy a small fuel efficient car with a long warranty.

Great point to make. I only do 50 miles per week so mpg is not the highest priority. It is something that I shall include in my ongoing evaluation.

Your Bangernomics successes

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