Very sad....

andygb

albionrovers wrote: »

+ another.

2nd hand 5-series is the best kept secret on the planet. I wouldn't drive anything else. I've spent 15K in 15 years on 3 different 520i SEs. No repair bills, just wear+tear/maintenance. Bomb proof.

I have owned two 5 series and they were fine, comfortable cars. We sold the last one to a mate (E34 520i SE with 140K miles) about five years ago and he still has it.
Some big name small modern cars are very frail in comparison, and fixing/maintaining them is often is often more expensive than an older car.

Hoof_Hearted

OK, it's not sad at all. Unfortunately, he does a lot of miles so the consumption is a big factor. He is going to get a diesel to reduce the huge amount he currently spend on fuel.

tberry6686

I drive a couple of old Jags. Thirsty as hell (around 20mpg) but cheap to insure, parts on ebay cost peanuts, ultra comfortable and still quicker than most things on the road making overtaking a breeze.
One is woth about 4k (was on the high side of 50k new) and the other about 7k.

Maintenance has been pretty cheap and if I get stuck there is a brilliant forum that will talk you through anything.

Can't understand why anyone would want a so called economical modern car when you can pick up things like this for the price of an old Mondeo.

TrickyWicky

Dukesy wrote: »

last time we bought a car, it ended up being a 2 litre petrol Volvo for £500. Not exactly economical, but its a great workhorse

^ This.

I've done that, they really are great workhorses that just go forever (well almost anyway - you do get the odd quirk every now and again). Generally though they just tend to carry on chugging away and despite the fuel bill you save more in maintenance as you so rarely need a mechanic to do anything with them.

Raksha

One of the best things about these old bmws is that a competent diy mechanic can still tackle most jobs without needing specific tools or a computer to diagnose.

TrickyWicky

Raksha wrote: »

can still tackle most jobs without needing specific tools or a computer to diagnose.

You're not saying it can be fixed with a hammer and chisel are you?

Seriously every car I've worked on has needed at least a set of ratchet spanners, socket set and a multitude of swappable screwdriver bits. For most jobs though the angle grinder, dremel, or some other tool is required.

SailorSam

I remember having the same conversation many years ago now to an old man i worked with, and that was when petrol was cheap. He had an old luxurious gas guzzler but he said 'cos he only did i low mileage it made more sense to keep it and travel in comfort when he did go out.

rev_henry

TradePro wrote: »

Not many of these people around, to be fair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b20648c1kc

Go to about 1 min in. Admittedly its ancient but they take an old 5 series to a car park and ask randomers how much they think its worth, they all say far more than it actually cost.

andygb

This could have been my old car, same colour, same spec - lovely motor, and I reckon a £500 offer might get it.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301315134851/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/500/body-type/saloon/transmission/manual/fuel-type/petrol/price-to/2000/model/5_series/make/bmw/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/me21dp/page/1/radius/1501?logcode=p

Lum

You could always spend a grand and a half on an LPG conversion if you want to do lots of miles in it. It's worked out well for my GF's car and if it wern't for me having a company diesel Mondeo, I'd have done the same conversion on my 22mpg 20 year old gas guzzler by now too.