Looking for a car for £500

Doooford

My work car has just broken down. The head gasket has gone due to a malfunctioning radiator and the repair cost looks like being £500 minimum and then labour. My garage said the safest option would be to replace the engine as the damage was so major.
The car was barely worth £500 and now I'm looking to replace it with a reliable and cheap to run (pref diesel) for around £500.
Is the private ad way the way for best value? It's been a few years since I've done any 2nd hand car buying, so what does anyone make of ebay motors?
Apologies for all of the questions, but is it possible to scrap cars for cash these days? I had the clutch replaced for £299 about a week ago on the broken N reg Peugeot 406 Diesel saloon, the car is tidy in and out and I know a few quid could be made if the car was broken down. Do services like this exist anymore?
Any help on any of these points will be much appreciated!

Hintza

For £500 you pays your money and takes a chance. But remember most of these will have gone for scrappage so prices are up a bit just now.

Get it to a scrappy and you should get a few £.

no_more_cards_for_me

Why not fix what you have, at least you know its problems rather then buying another heap.

forgotmyname

Buying a £500 car is a minefield, A decent service and a new set of brakes all round will cost almost as much.

Sometimes its better with what you know.

somech

as a rule 12 months mot is a must service history is helpful and get an inspection done for piece of mind. ebay can be a good place to buy but be very careful

blue_haddock

when buying cars for this kind of money you buy on condition rather than spec/age. Get your cash and have a browse through the latest copy of autotrader. Best things to look out for are old nissans and daewoo's which are strong mechanically and structurally but suffer with image so usually pretty cheap

Rolandtheroadie

For £500? Service history?pay for an inspection?

Personally I'd go for anything thats got a decent MOT (6 months min or as near a year as possible) and runs ok. A quick check of the fluid levels, check underneath for signs of leaks and to ensure the bottoms not going to fall out it.
Then other things that could cost money (tyres? exhaust?). With a £500 budget you wont want to be paying out anything more if you can avoid it.
Think about the car auctions as well.

LandyAndy

scotsman4th wrote: »

For £500? Service history?pay for an inspection?

Personally I'd go for anything thats got a decent MOT (6 months min or as near a year as possible) and runs ok. A quick check of the fluid levels, check underneath for signs of leaks and to ensure the bottoms not going to fall out it.
Then other things that could cost money (tyres? exhaust?). With a £500 budget you wont want to be paying out anything more if you can avoid it.
Think about the car auctions as well.

Some evidence of recent servicing would be good.

Before I scrappaged my Pug 405 (worth a few hundred quid) I could have showed a buyer a comprehensive service history. It needed to be properly serviced as I was doing 20k a year in it.

creased-leach

Remove the clutch- you may be able to get something back selling it if you can prove it's nearly new.

Scrap the rest of the car- locally, scrap yards are paying £120ish a ton (we scrapped a car last week) for scrap metal if you can deliver it.

Look first in local papers- ours tends to be the medium of choice for occasional, genuine sellers. Also check supermarket ad boards.

somech

scotsman4th wrote: »

For £500? Service history?pay for an inspection?

Personally I'd go for anything thats got a decent MOT (6 months min or as near a year as possible) and runs ok. A quick check of the fluid levels, check underneath for signs of leaks and to ensure the bottoms not going to fall out it.
Then other things that could cost money (tyres? exhaust?). With a £500 budget you wont want to be paying out anything more if you can avoid it.
Think about the car auctions as well.

a lot of cars even sheds have service history

inspection? why not i do them for £40 not including an hpi check

Doooford

Thanks for all of your advice. Basically the garage have recommended a new engine, tehy will fit but need me to supply.
I have been on a fex salvage quote sites and they ask if I want complete or bare, not sure of the difference, what actually comes with a bare engine?
Does anyone have any advice on where to find a decent Peugeot 406 1.9td engine?