Your Bangernomics successes

worried_jim

Look out for an old Citroen XM D.

zenmaster

zenmaster wrote: »

2.0 V reg Volvo V40, just about 100k on the clock - £700. I immediately bought new tyres for it, so another £200.

It's not perfect - the remote packed up after a few months so I have to lock/unlock manually and one of the rear split/fold seats doesn't.

I've spent about another £500 on servicing/MOT (including £140 for one switch which, had I known, I could probably have picked up from the breakers for a fiver). Oh - and another tyre when one of mine went "pop".

I've had it for about 3 years and done 40k+ miles.

I can honestly say it's one of the best cars I've ever had. Looks like a posh motor, feels like a posh motor and drives like a posh motor.

I was intending to keep it another year but someone ran into the back of me just before Christmas and now the boot won't open. It's just one flaw too far as it's a pain to get the golf clubs in and out through the passenger door.

Still, the insurance company gave me £1000 and let me keep the car so I shall probably chop it in just before the MOT runs out or send it to the auctions.

I'll be sorry to see it go and will certainly try to find another similar.

An update to this.

The MOT ran out last month. The brakes started graunching only the week before. I thought it was a stone at first but it persisted, so likely new pads and discs required.

I bought a 2004 V70, screen price £2200 - knocked down to £1800. Outside the original remit of this thread, but

• Insurance company payout = £1000.
• 12 months MOT (no advisories) = £200 (excluding brakes).
• Brakes, probably, = £200.
• 6 months tax, = around £100.
• 2 new tyres = £160.
• Sold the old car for £100.

Cost to change = approximately £40 - and everything works .

zumba-man

Hello,

Just bought a 2nd car; 28 year old Saab for less than the price of a new washing machine, would be interested in hearing other ppls storys about running older cars. I know if it has a big repair .. its a goner..

Cheers

ZM

Rolandtheroadie

I'm currently running a 1994 Audi 80 that cost £550 (it's in this thread somewhere).

I know what I've got, come MOT time in January, I'm expecting a lot of consumables will need doing (brakes, strut tops, perhaps a drop link or 2 or ball joints).

It may cost anything from a couple of hundred to 4 or 5 hundred, but i'd pay it as it would be more of a risk to buy another cheap car.

The big saver is if you can work on them yourself.

motorguy

Ok, so i'm in the motor trade, but i bought these two privately as my own transport in the last three months.

1999 Jaguar S Type 3.0 v6 SE, 99K miles, mint, £700. Walked through its MOT with no problems at all.



Sold it on, and bought this...

2001 (Nov) Jaguar S Type 3.0 v6 SE, 117K miles FSH, full years MOT, £800.

andygb

pgilc1 wrote: »

Ok, so i'm in the motor trade, but i bought these two privately as my own transport in the last three months.

1999 Jaguar S Type 3.0 v6 SE, 99K miles, mint, £700. Walked through its MOT with no problems at all.



Sold it on, and bought this...

2001 (Nov) Jaguar S Type 3.0 v6 SE, 117K miles FSH, full years MOT, £800.

Paul, absolutely mental mate, but madness has its methods.
They are well under a grand, and they are superb.
I bought a Beemer 528i years ago, looked after by the previous owner, and it cost £900. We took it to Italy and back, and I got the old bird up to 140 on the Avignon to Lyon motorway (got a fine as well).
Bangernomics can include all sorts of cars, but they must give you a smile, and I reckon those two big cats will put a smile on Paul's face.

motorguy

andygb wrote: »

Paul, absolutely mental mate, but madness has its methods.
They are well under a grand, and they are superb.
I bought a Beemer 528i years ago, looked after by the previous owner, and it cost £900. We took it to Italy and back, and I got the old bird up to 140 on the Avignon to Lyon motorway (got a fine as well).
Bangernomics can include all sorts of cars, but they must give you a smile, and I reckon those two big cats will put a smile on Paul's face.

Oh absolutely. Loved the first one, but i was made an offer i couldnt refuse. Got the red one last week. Whilst these early S Types arent perfect (the gearbox in particular is less than intuitive) for that sort of money they're great!

528i's must be the optimum 'executive' bangernomics though - fantastic cars!

Lirin

My first car was a Ford Escort Encore...

I bought her for £400, never had much to replace, and was minimally serviced enough to get through MOT....
She did for 6 years, until there was a hole apeparing in the passenger footwell! Rust well and truly killing her. By that point, electrics were a little unique- the car acted possessed. Radio would turn on and off, headlights would randomly flash....

Knew she was gone, so sold her to a farmer who was looking a runaround on his fields chasing animals- for £450!

andygb

pgilc1 wrote: »

Oh absolutely. Loved the first one, but i was made an offer i couldnt refuse. Got the red one last week. Whilst these early S Types arent perfect (the gearbox in particular is less than intuitive) for that sort of money they're great!

528i's must be the optimum 'executive' bangernomics though - fantastic cars!

It was a bit of a wolf in executive clothing. It had a limited slip diff (which still did not tame the rear end), Getrag upside down gearbox (down for first, up and right for second, down for third) and a stainless steel exhaust, which made the sweet six cylinder engine sound great.
Smooth and powerful and deceptively fast.
I wish though, that I had bought a 635 CSi when they were going cheap, they were awesome!

LincolnshireYokel

In a recent survey by WHICH magazine, they interviewed over 47,000 car owners and discovered BMW's were top of the table for unreliability (1st and 3rd). I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole, not to mention when you drive one you you are automatically labelled by all the other motorists as a pretentious !!!!!!.......

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2186421/Which-Car-Survey-Most-unreliable-car-named-BMW-3-series-convertible-spending-average-3-5-days-year-garage-repairs.html