Is it worth having a banger.....

TrickyWicky

I got a 98 and 97 car sat on the drive and both of them use OBD2!

mikey72

TrickyWicky wrote: »

I got a 98 and 97 car sat on the drive and both of them use OBD2!

You may have. But Mkirby is right, the dates he quotes are mandatory for all cars sold in the EU, and anything before that may or may not strictly conform. Or may not have it at all.

mattyprice4004

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

Thats not a banger. 15 year old, rust on all the archs, most likely not even worth trying an mot, thats a banger..

carry on with it i say.

that's an exact description of my banger!

Mechanically sound however, shame because the bodywork is a mess.

400 quid for a diesel Rover 400, all mechanical and no fancy electrics to break. Done over 10k in 2 and a half months, to the top and bottom of the country. Won't drop a lot of cash on its replacement, probably an MG ZS of some sort for a couple of hundred quid that needs work.

fishybusiness

Plenty of advice around, I'd like to add that holding out for something that has a full service history or near as, is a good idea. You know it has been looked after at the garage, and hopefully you can trace when the important timing belt changes have been done.

Spending a little bit over the general accepted price for a good car will save you hassle and money in the future.

Cars like Mazda, Toyota, Nissan, Honda are all known reliable cars.

dodo69

Look for an older Mazda 323 or Nissan Micra with a good body. Mate bought an old 323 recently for £250 and he lent to to me recently while my car was off the road. It drove as tight as a drum and seemed ready to last at least another two or three years.

YoungBusinessman

For business types it seems a banger could be a good idea for back up van!! Or even a winter+back up van....

van in garage all of this week....thats why im thinking this!!

Limey

I have a 1995 Celica, looks like a heap, runs like a dream, can't complain for £500. :-D

The UK forum is very active and extremely friendly to all and sundry. Same with the MR2 forums I'm a member of, there are always folks happy to help out either on the forum or actually coming over and showing you how to do the job. I started off knowing next to nothing and am now happy to tackle engine changes etc.

dispossessed

wannabee_in_credit wrote: »

OK, so how do I teach myself some basic car maintenance? I am a girly girl, but have a sound knowledge of science - just need the training. Can you still get those car manuals like my dad used to have when I was a kid?

The simple answer (IMHO) is practice, over time, on different makes / models of car. This is how I learned. As things needed repairing / replacing so I tackled each job (Haynes manual in hand !) by myself.

A reasonable understanding of each system and how it should function will help. If you understand basic physics and electro-magnetism you are well on the way.

A good starting point is to start by doing your own weekly maintenance - Oil level, tyre pressures etc

Haynes manuals are still available for most cars and are worth the money if only for the wealth of technical data. They also have a system of grading a procedure (1 - 5 spanners) so that you can have a fair idea of whether or not you would feel comfortable tackling it.

What I have learned (over 35 years of D-I-Y car repairs) is :-

• "Plus Gas" releasing fluid is wonderful stuff

• Always use the correct tool for the job

• Good light is essential

• Take your time

• Frequent breaks for cups of tea

• Google can be your best friend

The rest is usually fairly straightforward.

As other posters have already mentioned - modern cars (even older ones) are far more reliable than their predecessors.

In addition to a few basic tools such as a combination spanner set and a socket set it may well be well worth investing the £30ish in a Code Reader / Reset tool. These days I buy most of my tools from either ALDI or eBay.

If you have the desire to learn then you are already on your way to becoming a competant D-I-Y mechanic.

One tip for buying any car, but even more so for older cars, take it for a good test drive first. Many of the more costly issues will show up during a test drive.

Hope this is of some assistance.

Wongsky

dispossessed wrote: »

The simple answer (IMHO) is practice, over time, on different makes / models of car. This is how I learned. As things needed repairing / replacing so I tackled each job (Haynes manual in hand !) by myself.

A reasonable understanding of each system and how it should function will help. If you understand basic physics and electro-magnetism you are well on the way.

A good starting point is to start by doing your own weekly maintenance - Oil level, tyre pressures etc

Haynes manuals are still available for most cars and are worth the money if only for the wealth of technical data. They also have a system of grading a procedure (1 - 5 spanners) so that you can have a fair idea of whether or not you would feel comfortable tackling it.

What I have learned (over 35 years of D-I-Y car repairs) is :-

• Plus Gas releasing fluid is wonderful stuff

• Always use the correct tool for the job

• Good light is essential

• Take your time

• Frequent breaks for cups of tea

• Google can be your best friend

The rest is usually fairly straightforward.

As other posters have already mentioned - modern cars (even older ones) are far more reliable than their predecessors.

In addition to a few basic tools such as a combination spanner set and a socket set it may well be well worth investing the £30ish in a Code Reader / Reset tool. These days I buy most of my tools from either ALDI or eBay.

If you have the desire to learn then you are already on your way to becoming a competant D-I-Y mechanic.

One tip for buying any car, but even more so for older cars, take it for a good test drive first. Many of the more costly issues will show up during a test drive.

Hope this is of some assistance.

Another vote for always use the correct tool - and don't scrimp on them, either.

!!!! tools sometimes damage heads on bolts, which can cause you no end of grief.

When something is stuck, brute force isn't always the way - you can end up breaking more stuff, because you hammered the hell out of it - and suddenly, a small job has turned into a big one.

A lot of the time, it can be tempting to take short-cuts and not prepare or remove things to get them out of the way. Sometimes that may make sense, but in some cases, it just makes things a whole deal more awkward, and can compromise access such that you haven't really got enough room to properly locate things, so once again you can find yourself damage heads on bolts because you didn't remove or move something out of the way, and as a consequence, couldn't get the socket on squarely or fully.

skivenov

Add onto that list - 6-sided impact sockets don't round bolts off!