Hi there,

Just been having a quick flick through the autotrader and it strikes me that anyone just wanting cheap transport has a huge amount of options.

For a purchase price of say GBP 1000 (i.e. cars advertised at say GBP 1100 -1200) you are spoilt for choice. You can pick up decent familt hatchbacks, saloons and superminis for a grand not to mention plenty of old luxo barges in the shape of Omegas, old BMW's and Scorpios. Even old hot hatches like to 205 GTi, astra GTE, VW golf GTi and the like seem like good value for money.

Things get even cheaper when you consider that there is no need to get machines like these serviced at the main dealer, third party fire and theft insurance is all you need.

The downside is that repairs are more likely and some may write the car off completely (financially speaking).

It makes you question if you really need to spend 10-12K on a relatively new (or indeed brand new) car.

Martin.

 

I enjoyed my 2k 205 FAR more than my 20k Impreza, for the simple reason that I wouldn't have been so poor if I'd stuffed it

(OK, so I did stuff the Impreza eventually, but that's another story )

 

Plenty of reasonable motors at £250-£400 also! Look at the slightly less desirable versions of the above, 309 gti, Jetta gti....absolute peanuts. Get one with a decent length MOT and it's straight in the dustbin if there's a problem. Lots to be said for cheap motoring.

 

There is the danger of multiple car ownership though !!

Just been having another look. Preludes, Celicas, 200SX all under 2K and with a full years MOT. Buy one run itr for a year then sell at 500-700 depreciation and a service.

I may have to be carefull and not end up with 3 cars again (said that the last time, before it inevitably happened !)

Cheers.

Martin.

 

The best stuff comes for £50 from auctions/trivial mot fails etc

Disposable cars...if it breaks, buy another

 

One of my favourite cars ever was my E-reg Peugeot 405 GTXi.

It cost me £75 I ran it for six months, thrashed the living hell out of it from cold with full throttle gear changes most of the time with no clutch! Never checked the oil or water and only filled up when the light came on.

It never cost me a penny

Didn't worry bout it getting nicked, broken into, or torched.

When the clutch finally went (one week before the tax was due, RESULT!!!) just gave it away to a mate who needed a runaround. He did the work for about £100

There is a lot to say about cheap crappy cars!!

Now I have the paranoia and empty bank account associated with Scooby ownership!!!

 

Agree with all of the above... Bought a Honda Civic as a run-around nearly three years ago for £4k and now realise I need not have spent even that much...

Live and learn!

 

I bought an Escort 1.8D Est M Reg for £500. It had just passed the MOT and it had £500 spent on servicing it by the owner I’ve run it for a year @ 50MPG and only spent £10 on some wheel trims and £18 for a quickfit oil change!!! The great thing is you can park (abandon) it anywhere without worry, drive it really hard (and it still does better than 48mpg) and never need to wash it. I chuck all my crap in the back as well. I reckon I’ll still get £500 all day long as long as the rusty wheel arch doesn’t get any worse. You can drive a little more aggressively too No more curbing wheels when Mrs Miggins wants to drive down the centre of the road because she can’t judge the width of her car – just drive straight at her, what fun!

I’ve even grown quite found of the car because it is so honest – it starts, stops, turns, all the electrics work and there are no niggly problems. It even has less rattles than the Scoob (not hard, I know). I may even trade up to a TD with power steering

F

 

Its also really stress free motoring when you're driving around in a car you dont care about. Supermarket trips are worry free now that I have the second car. Another dent here or there wont make much difference

 

you never see a faster car than a rental/ old ****ter!

 

I find myself strangely attracted to an old Vauxhall Omega 2.5 V6. You can get a good one for GBOP 700. RWD, V6 power and loads of toys inside. Even the insurance is cheap !!

 

That used to be the way I ran all my cars - £50-£100 from an auction, throw it away when it broke - however, I went to Brotherton auctions in N.Yorks on tuesday night and even piles of **** were fetching stupid money.

A clearly rattly 1993 Rover 820 saloon - £1275
A piece of **** 1990 Ford Fiesta (rusty) - £350
A 190,000 mile 1997/8 citroen zx diesel boggo - £1700

I was flabberghasted and no mistake!

 

The fastest, bestest handling and latest braking car Ive ever driven was a one day hire.....


Simon

 

The auctions I've been to lately still had £30-£50 cars that were running and didnt look like they would fall apart when you got outside the gate. It can still be done.

You can get a pretty decent car for £500-£750 if you're willing to take the risk.

 

Spotted a 1987 E-reg BMW 750 the other week for £500, 300bhp - mind you, at over 2 tonnes it probably needs it!

 

oooft. been tempted to one of those a few times. 5 litre v12 and electric headrests. what more do you need?

 

The looks of the 850i?

 

Top of the range veccy 2.5 v6's really cheap
now with full history @ around £1000-1500

 

yeah but its a Vectra

 

I wanted one of these but couldn't find one!
In the end I bought a decent condition Omega V6 for £1200, full years mot, all it needs is a new rocker cover gasket (cost £90 + vat) and it should run for a good few years at least, has 90k on the clock. A decent car until I can afford another scooby, and a lot of car for the money.

 

850i beemer ,drive it around untill the mot goes, then drop the lump into an e30 2.5 shell lol ,lots of fun very quick

 

I picked one up Saturday. Not an SRi/GSi/ST unfortunately but a well specced Veccy GLS 2.5 V6. 37,000 miles, one owner from new with service history. No dings or rust but a few tiny stone chips on the plastic valance.

£1495

Took it directly from the garage in Wakefield to Southampton and back and it was as good as gold and no more juicy than the VTS just less noisy!

 

All yery good, but these things don't always go to plan..... i've had a Rover 218sld.. DON@T LAUGH!!! for just about a year now, but it's a bit rough around the edges..... so, i found another better one on ebay, bought it for 600notes, it had had one fastideous owner from new, oil/filter every 3k, etc etc etc.... veyr good bodywork... drove fine....... drove it home on saturday.... didn't drive it again til yesterday..... after 20 miles the cambelt snapped, and destroyed the engine.... camshaft in 2 bits eek!!!

So, now in the process of swapping the engine from the older one into the newer one...... but that means that i can't sell the old one...!! DOH!!

 

Ron, you've only lost £600 though and if you break it or scrap it it could be a lot less. Just think if you'd bought a £10k car privately and 20 miles down the road the cam belt went...

I get the point though

F

 

Flipping heck ...must have been a surge of clueless private buyers

Although the best buys I've had was just keeping an ear out amongst friends and contacts.

Best one is MOT fails/breaks downs, where the owner is fed up of fixing, has had enough and just wants shot. Where usually a few hours messing and nothing more than £20 or a trip to the breakers doesn't cure

 

Floyd, i haven't even lost that mate, cos the car i had was the same as the newer one i bought, so i'm in the process of swapping the running gear, and scraping the older car, i wa sselling that for £75 with 2 months tax, so, cashed that in, now only 347ish to find.... wheels will go on ebay, as will the half leather interior..... and a few other goodies.... so all in all, it's not worked out as bad as it could have really....... didn't need the aggro though!!