Buying a banger, what should I be looking at?

barbiedoll

Evening all.

I need a cheapy car as a runaround for work. Mostly town driving, mostly in traffic, will probably do between 20-30 miles each day. I've only been driving for a year, insurance costs aren't too bad as I'm a middle-aged woman but I'm looking for something for around £500 that I can drive for a year or so, then scrap if it falls to bits.

I've been looking at Micras, Corsas and so on, for this price range they are around 12-15 years old. I want a small engine for economy and don't need more than 3 doors.

I've seen a few promising ones on Gumtree, ebay etc but what should I look for if I go to see one and if I have a test drive? What sort of things are likely to break/drop off/explode within 5 minutes of me driving it away? Is it worth getting an AA inspection on a car this cheap? We don't know anyone mechanically-minded although we know to check tyres, seals, and to ensure that steering is true and clutch, brakes and handbrake work etc etc.

Any and all advice will be very gratefully received!

s_b

most £500 cars are hand grenades with the pin removed
personally for what you are wanting the car to do and be you wont do it for £500 obviously someone will come along later and show lots of suitable cars in catmandoo
i would up the anti to £1000 and widen your net to a 10 mile radius of your home via something like autotrader
you need something like a micra because its basically a bomb proof engine or the old shape 8 valve corsa or the old engined fiesta (the rattly one) or a ka with the old engine but with power steering

corrosion is your biggest problem
then worn out components
then reliability

a £500 car is one step from the crusher so you have to ask yourself why is it for sale and the usual answer is because it has major concerns somewhere in it

if you picked say a mondeo then you might find something decent because most housholds are downsizing to save money on fuel ,tax and insurance


e money and want to get rid of their big cars

barbiedoll

Thanks s b.....you're confirming what I thought

I know the Micras go on forever, there's loads of old regs still running around, my friend has one, as does her stepdaughter and they both love them.

When you say a fiesta with the rattly engine or the ka with the old engine, how old are you talking about ? (P reg or older?)

Thanks again!

B.

mikey72

You can get sub £500 cars that are reliable.
ebay for our last couple, but I search anything ithin 75 to 100 miles.

You need to know what to look for really, otherwise it's very easy to get a bad one.

As to that it's better to go for 12 months mot, rather than 1 month, then you know most bits shouldn't drop off too quickly, and the rust holes shouldn't be too big.

I wouldn't worry too much what car it is, for that price it'll be anything that has managed to survive that long.

(My last one was £350, with 2 months mot, but it took £150 to get through the next one, so £500 in all for the year. But it could easily have been a lemon - 1989 Renault)

forgotmyname

The insurance on a £500 car can still be £1000 - £2000 depending on your postcode.

At that price range its pot luck. You may get years out of it or you maybe fixing something on a weekly basis.

Poosmate

I have a 1.3l KA, "S" reg, power steering, which I bought 18 months ago with a full MOT for £400 off Ebay. Its nippy and very light (scared the bejesus out of me when I first drove it - felt like I was bouncing all over the place in it). Its a cheap insurance bracket too and tax is £135 pa.

Problems with it, corrosion around the petrol cap, heater doesn't work (common problem apparently), starter motor giving up (though it does actually always start and hasn't let me down). Burns oil (top up 1 litre every other month - least I don't have to "do" oil changes! lol. Tyres deflate (someone said its due to alloy wheels - they need scrubbing or something). It now has over 115k miles on the clock.

Looked fab on Ebay and with 17 other bidders felt lucky to have won it. Turned out to be a bit of a nail upon collection and I'm pretty sure I could have won a case of mis-selling. It was in much worse condition than stated and I'm certain the photos had been touched up. There was literally NO oil in it, 1 tyre was destroyed with a very bad plug/fix, a couple of the other tyres kept deflating. It cost £200 to put it through its MOT plus I had 2 new tyres and one of the wheels scrubbed (only one tyre keeps deflating now).

I can live with the defects as I plan on scrapping it in about 3 to 4 months time (if it lasts that long).

I would buy another KA I think. Just a bit worried about the newer engines, someone warned me about them but can't remember what that warning was, something like, if it's got the Zetec engine and it rattles walk away from it (I think). Mines got the old engine and its got a death rattle that would make you cry! But like I say, it goes, hasn't let me down, is nippy and cheap on tax and insurance.

Well that's my honest review of my old banger. Hope it helps.

Good luck

Poo

James_Nolan

s_b wrote: »

a £500 car is one step from the crusher so you have to ask yourself why is it for sale and the usual answer is because it has major concerns somewhere in it

Not really. Ive picked up numerous cars for under £500 which have been fantastic and reliable. My best purchase was a Volvo 740 estate for £100 with full leather, 6 months MOT and Tax and even got it cleaned as part of the deal

Ran it for 3 years with minimal maintainence until I crashed it. Its the best car I ever owned.

Now run a 1998 Volvo 940 and its just as good.

I wouldn't go for a corsa. Its a typical young lads car and insurance will sting. With £500 cars you have to buy on condition and with as much MOT as possible. Avoid old corsa's, clio's, and KA's (as above, they rust like mad!).

Mondeo is a good shout. Not really your typical young lads car. Plenty of go for someone younger, and will probably be much cheaper on insurance despite the bigger engine, than things like a corsa. Postcode dependant of course.
Micra is another good one. Jap and bulletproof. Thousands about so cheap parts, cheap to fix. Avoid anything french in this price range!

andygb

James_Nolan wrote: »

Not really. Ive picked up numerous cars for under £500 which have been fantastic and reliable. My best purchase was a Volvo 740 estate for £100 with full leather, 6 months MOT and Tax and even got it cleaned as part of the deal

Ran it for 3 years with minimal maintainence until I crashed it. Its the best car I ever owned.

Now run a 1998 Volvo 940 and its just as good.

I wouldn't go for a corsa. Its a typical young lads car and insurance will sting. With £500 cars you have to buy on condition and with as much MOT as possible. Avoid old corsa's, clio's, and KA's (as above, they rust like mad!).

Mondeo is a good shout. Not really your typical young lads car. Plenty of go for someone younger, and will probably be much cheaper on insurance despite the bigger engine, than things like a corsa. Postcode dependant of course.
Micra is another good one. Jap and bulletproof. Thousands about so cheap parts, cheap to fix. Avoid anything french in this price range!

Good advice re the Corsa, they are also overpriced.
There are plenty of 12 - 15 year old Mondeos out there which will go on forever, and they are comfortable and brisk, also cheap to insure and fix.
I would never, ever think of a £500 car as a banger - something to be discarded if it goes wrong.

Rolandtheroadie

I liked my Corsa b, 1.7 diesel, under £200 to TPFT it (stay rural, in my 30's)and whenever theres a "fuel crisis" you can just fire veg oil in it from the supermarket.

If you could get a 1.5 the road tax would be cheaper too.

Spares are plentiful, cheap and usually off the shelf/readily avaliable. Buy with a good MOT and you wont go wrong.

Limey

s_b wrote: »

a £500 car is one step from the crusher so you have to ask yourself why is it for sale and the usual answer is because it has major concerns somewhere in it

My ex picked up her MK2 MR2 for just over £500, it was low milage for a J reg and has needed very little doing to it for the last 4 years.

There's plenty of cars out there for the price that will still have plenty of life left in them.

Tiddlywinks

How much do you really know about how to check out a car? How to check the bodywork, clutch, spot signs of engine wear etc? Also, what to look for in checking a car's identity is correct against the documents you're given?

If the answer to that is 'not a lot' then your choice will be pot luck.

Most people only sell cars at that price when they start to see that there might be a problem on the horizon - that may only be tyres or exhaust which, to them, might force their hand or it may be something that they suspect is more serious like the car starts to drink oil, fuel or the engine sound has changed.

There are good cars out there that are more reliable because they have been well treated and serviced correctly but there are others that will have been run as cheaply as possible and may be storing up problems. I've sold a couple of old Volvos in the past for £600 and £900 simply because I could get more selling privately than I was offered as a trade-in - both cars had a full dealer service history - so,it is possible to get something nice if you look long enough and know what you're looking for.

Do you have anyone you can take with you to help you check the car out? This also helps so that you are not too distracted by the buyer moving you away from things he doesn't want you to see.