project shoestring/bangernomics

petrolhead69

Try limiting your mileage on the policy, adding your dad or someone older as a named driver and take a wee voluntary excess and I bet that price would go down. also try gumtree,when I was looking that had the best selection. dont be afraid to make a lowball offer, mine was advertised at £600

rictus123 wrote: »

Well after someone said get myself onto confused.com and see if i can make the dream happens it looks like iv got something to work towards!

Check this out!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/largepic.asp?i=1505969&noPics=3&make=AUDI&model=A4&imgsrv=1&current=2

That cars near me..well its only 100 or so miles. £850 for half years tax + almost a years mot, fsh. Perfect and exactly what il be looking for, a 1.8 petrol and not turbo. So checked out insurance...£1600? Thats with a years no claims which i should have come June when il actually be looking to buy a car just like that! I love it, it seems so cheap! Id happy pay the £175 deposit then 10 monthly payments of £175 for insurance that Swinton quoted me. 4 Saturdays a month should cover the yearly cost of running the car :j:j So excited! Now just putting van in for pre mot on Thursday then getting saving! Getting by on less than £500 a month just now for everything, add in the car thats still under £700 a month( when il be on £1375 net this summer, not including overtime) its really not even costing that much :T Cant wait :cool:

Rolandtheroadie

Corsa passed it's MOT today nothing needed. £40 for the test. I've only done about 20 miles in it and had checked nothing.
Its a bit of a shed but nothing a bit of wet and dry and an aerosol wont fix externally (rust spots here and there about the size of 1p's) and the interior could be changed if I get one cheap enough.
I'm also going to try some baby oil on the plastics to try and bring them up a bit.. I dont know if i read that somewhere or i'm just making it up. We'll find out soon enough lol.
The only down side is I went shopping after the MOT. The boot doesnt really hold the weekly shop.
Still, once the veg oils in and its nearly free motoring, all that'll pale into insignificance.

veggyboy

I know its not in the same league as you guys, but I just bought a 2.5 v6 kia magentis, nice big car with auto/triptonic gearbox. 52 plate with 65k on the clock I paid £1000 on the nose for it. Had a faulty gearbox, main dealer said £135 for the part alone (possibly £1500 for new gearbox), local car parts said main dealer part only. So I put the part no into google and bought it from USA for £31.75 incl postage and fitted it myself in 10 mins (only one bolt). So now I have a very nice car with 12 months mot and tax for £1031. And it was £300 cheaper than my Kia Pride 1.3 to insure

rictus123

Hey can i ask the op to tell me anything to look out for when getting an A4. Seems an N reg is withen budget....dont have alot to spend just now, maybe about £1k but i have a large disposable income, £800 a month.

petrolhead69

Bodywork rust means bodged accident repairs as they are galvanised so dont rust unless the zinc coating is taken off the steel, make sure the heater works as they can have waterpump troubles where the impeller comes of the shaft, symptoms are no heater and overheating, sump strainer can get blocked so check the oil light comes on before starting (incase someone has disconnected the sensor) then never comes on while running. listen for knocking over bumps from worn suspension arms and drop links, quite cheap diy but a useful bargaining tool. look for proof of a timing belt or budget to do one, and if you do change the waterpump at the same time they can be had for £16. if its a turbo listen for a rattle on the overrun the rivet holding the wastegate flap can come loose which is a pig to fix sometimes. early audi autoboxes can be troublesome, get a manual. poor performance especially on a diesel can often be the airflow meter at £80 for a genuine bosch dont bother with ebay crap the chinese copy ones fail in no time. if it's a petrol haggle hard you should get a deal as they are less loved despite being frugal and smooth, the TDis hold their value much better. other than that just do the usual, if your not mechanically minded you NEED to bring someone who is, bear in mind your looking at 15ish year old cars, it`s a testament to the build quality that their still going when a lot of other cars are scrapped younger than that, but pipes and cables still rust, rubber hoses still perish so chech the brake and fuel pipes for rust and the flexis and coolant hoses for perished rubber.

rictus123 wrote: »

Hey can i ask the op to tell me anything to look out for when getting an A4. Seems an N reg is withen budget....dont have alot to spend just now, maybe about £1k but i have a large disposable income, £800 a month.

Kilty_2

I'd love to get into bangernomics however I'd only do so if I could drive bigger cars with a bit of comfort in them (such as that A4 )

Insurance says no.:rotfl: (I'd rather spend the difference on a modern car than give it to an insurance company)

Flearoy

Brilliant idea for a thread. I've long been of the opinion that a car does not necessarily have to be cream crackered when it gets a bit older...

Lovely looking cars posted throughout, and properly in keeping with the real spirit of this site. I'm much more impressed with a cherished old car than with with some random new car.

If only the posters with the shiny old motors could work their magic on my motor!

petrolhead69

Nothing more than a bit of reading up and learning then actually putting in the elbow grease. Get stuck in aboot it!

petrolhead69

a wee update to project shoestring, I liked the mood lighting in my old 7 series so I`ve retrofitted it to the audi, 8 diffused amber/orange leds wired up the the dash illumination, 2 in the interior dome light pointing at the gearstick, 2 in the bottom of the dash pointing at the footwells, 2 in the c pillars pointing on to the back seats and 2 in the door cards pointing into the door pockets. They bathe the interior in a nice gentle orangey glow at night, but not very bright, just subtle. I`ll need to get some pics soon.
Total cost £1.72

goldspanners

petrolhead69 wrote: »

a wee update to project shoestring, I liked the mood lighting in my old 7 series so I`ve retrofitted it to the audi, 8 diffused amber/orange leds wired up the the dash illumination, 2 in the interior dome light pointing at the gearstick, 2 in the bottom of the dash pointing at the footwells, 2 in the c pillars pointing on to the back seats and 2 in the door cards pointing into the door pockets. They bathe the interior in a nice gentle orangey glow at night, but not very bright, just subtle. I`ll need to get some pics soon.
Total cost £1.72

ive done something similar to the front of my transit. white leds illuminating the footwells and the door steps. i don't know which mood it puts me in though?