Bangernomics - How hard can it be!! Help

Bangernomics - How hard can it be!! Help

Author
Discussion

giggity

Original Poster:

865 posts

168 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
Hi all,

Right I keep reading about decent cars that can be had for SOTW money. However I want to budget £500.

Car needs to be in running order. 4/5 Seats. (So no MX5's!!)

Dont fancy travelling too far outside of London. So say 50-100 Miles from London.

Looking at Focus (impossible), Audi, Merc, BMW, Saab, Volvo, etc etc etc...

No french garbage, no puntos, no rovers!

Needs to just be a cheap run around to and from the shops!!

I've also looked at carsunder500...

Any ideas...?

W00DY

15,762 posts

233 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
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boredofmyoldname

22,655 posts

206 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
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giggity

Original Poster:

865 posts

168 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
OK. I would prefer something 1995 onwards...

No KA's!

Anything that gives 30MPG plus or a diesel.

hairykrishna

13,569 posts

210 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
Merc 190E, 11months MOT in Dunstable. He wants 599 but I bet he'd take 500 with some haggling.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

boredofmyoldname

22,655 posts

206 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
Far too many criteria for cheap motoring, I went shopping with a £1000 limit and ended up with a Berlingo and a Volvo.

Others I looked at were a very good micra, an Avensis, a smart car (Yes for £995), a few Rover 25s and lots of vectras and rusty fords.

hairykrishna

13,569 posts

210 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
giggity said:
OK. I would prefer something 1995 onwards...

No KA's!

Anything that gives 30MPG plus or a diesel.
Just get on autotrader then, there's millions.

giggity

Original Poster:

865 posts

168 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
The difficult part is all the non-runners, all the un-roadworthy sheds.

I was thinking of a 2001 shape mondeo but don't think it can be done... (not running anyway)

Or an early Focus...

Reliable but cheap!

Can E36's be had (that look tidy and unmolested)

Thanks all...

hairykrishna

13,569 posts

210 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
You're too fussy at that price point. If you're bangernomics shopping with 500 quid whether it has 4 good tyres and a long ticket is far, far more important than who made it or what year. Why 2000 onwards model Mondeo? Autotrader seems to be full of pre 2000, fully functional Mondeos for 500 quid.

davepoth

29,395 posts

206 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
Don't look at what the car is at all. That's pointless in bangeromics. If it's done 100,000 miles or more anything that was going to break early will have broken.

What you are looking for is

Long MOT
Decent Tyres
Recent Service

And other than that everything else is just window dressing.

Ask yourself why are you discounting Rovers? The HG issue. That's just silly. For a car you're going to scrap if it develops such a problem it's neither here nor there whether it's going to blow up because once you've cashed in the tax, sold off a couple of choice bits (front wings, bonnets, bumpers especially) on ebay and scrapped the rest you've made all of your money back anyway.

Cars with a bad reputation make good bangers, because the ones that have survived are the good ones.

jsg612

571 posts

175 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
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I got an E36 Coupe, 2.5 6cyl, 120k miles, good condition, no rust - £500. It can be done!

BarnatosGhost

31,608 posts

260 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
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The market at £500 is disproportionately sensitive to fuel costs, in comparison to everything else.

Thus you get a much better car, and probably in better condition, if you can stomach 25mpg instead of 30mpg.

Only a small difference, but it turns off 80% of the market, and prices reflect that.

Dimski

2,099 posts

206 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
hairykrishna said:
You're too fussy at that price point. If you're bangernomics shopping with 500 quid whether it has 4 good tyres and a long ticket is far, far more important than who made it or what year. Why 2000 onwards model Mondeo? Autotrader seems to be full of pre 2000, fully functional Mondeos for 500 quid.
+ 1

I went looking for winter shed, and went for a £1100 Subaru (not shed money at all!) because it had extensive service history including recent disks, pads, cambelt, full service and 4 brand new Pirelli P6000.

I figured with all those jobs on a £500 car could easily add up to £600.

With a £500 budget, anything that runs/drives well, with decent ticket and good tread on the tires is as much as you can ask for.

Don't laugh, a mate had one. Good enough run around!

Edited by Dimski on Sunday 30th January 14:01

giggity

Original Poster:

865 posts

168 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
Sorry I am new to the Bangernomics idea, so still getting to grips with it.

OK so good tyres, Tax, MOT etc....

I could go to the lowest of 25MPG.

I just have a pref for certain makes and models.... but then that's not bangernomics I guess.


davepoth

29,395 posts

206 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
giggity said:
Sorry I am new to the Bangernomics idea, so still getting to grips with it.

OK so good tyres, Tax, MOT etc....

I could go to the lowest of 25MPG.

I just have a pref for certain makes and models.... but then that's not bangernomics I guess.
In a choice between two otherwise equally banger-tastic motors, stuff like brand comes into it. But if a mint 50,000 mile rover 420d turns up for £500 with FSH (and they will) you should be biting the man with the flat cap's hand off.

-edit-

Part of the joy of Bangeromics is smoking around in something you'd never normally choose. It's quite good fun really.

Edited by davepoth on Sunday 30th January 15:50

Rawwr

22,722 posts

241 months

boredofmyoldname

22,655 posts

206 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
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anonymous-user

61 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2380739.htm

£400
12 months MOT
Just been serviced
New brakes
3 new tyres (4th is good)
Just needs tax

grimfandango

372 posts

192 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
quotequote all
davepoth said:
Ask yourself why are you discounting Rovers? The HG issue. That's just silly. For a car you're going to scrap if it develops such a problem it's neither here nor there whether it's going to blow up because once you've cashed in the tax, sold off a couple of choice bits (front wings, bonnets, bumpers especially) on ebay and scrapped the rest you've made all of your money back anyway.

Cars with a bad reputation make good bangers, because the ones that have survived are the good ones.
Rovers make great bangernomics cars. I bought a rover 416 for £100 with 6 months tax and test. It wasnt a bad car by any means. It was nice and comfy, the 1.6 K series was faster than I expected it to be. It was a shame to scrap it, but it needed some new bushes and it looked like a right pain in the arse to fit, and I got £200 for the engine, and another £50 for various other parts. If I could have been bothered to take the shell to the scrapyard I would have had another £100 to!! biggrin

magpie215

4,586 posts

196 months

Sunday 30th January 2011
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http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2436527.htm

great bangernomics car its mine

I would take £375