Best of the Bargain Basement

[chrisw666]

Rollcage said:

According to some people on here, RX8s are no more troublesome than any other car!

Yes but some of those people are the kind you wouldn't want to spend a weekend with.

[muckymotor]

Who's feeling brave/stupid/reckless





http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/merc...

[BorkFactor]

^ Brave doesn't even begin to cover that!

[Hoofy]

Not sure how to deal with that. Sure, if things go wrong, it's expensive, but what will go wrong?

Ok, so there's rust - don't take it to concours events, then. It's not like you're driving along and suddenly the body disappears if you go over 65mph.

COMAND throws a wobbly? It's not essential but could cost £3k to replace. Perhaps swap it out for a £30 Halfords unit?

Engine is basic. Auto Mercedes gearboxes are supposed to be reliable. General wiring seemed ok during my 2 years of CLK55 ownership.

Heated seats might play up - thermal pants are £3 on Amazon.

[richardxjr]

Ad said:

Body work is fair

I can hear it fizzing. How much tax & ticket? >9 months?, fair enough way to piss away a grand+ I suppose.

[kiwifraser]

Hoofy said:

Not sure how to deal with that. Sure, if things go wrong, it's expensive, but what will go wrong?

Ok, so there's rust - don't take it to concours events, then. It's not like you're driving along and suddenly the body disappears if you go over 65mph.

COMAND throws a wobbly? It's not essential but could cost £3k to replace. Perhaps swap it out for a £30 Halfords unit?

Engine is basic. Auto Mercedes gearboxes are supposed to be reliable. General wiring seemed ok during my 2 years of CLK55 ownership.

Heated seats might play up - thermal pants are £3 on Amazon.

With an E55 at this level that's got to be the best way to approach it surely.

Have some fun with the noise and power, and when it dies, get the AA to bring you home, and sell it off on ebay for parts for at least half of that value.

[BigTom85]

kiwifraser said:

With an E55 at this level that's got to be the best way to approach it surely.

Have some fun with the noise and power, and when it dies, get the AA to bring you home, and sell it off on ebay for parts for at least half of that value.

Agreed.

Just picked this up, still don't think they deserve to be so cheap. 1.8T, documented HG and replacement turbo, in genuinely cherished condition, 97k miles, 12 months MOT, OK so tax took it over thread budget, but I'm pleased!



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-03-MG-ZT-1-8-TURBO-...

[Justayellowbadge]

Score.

[Rollcage]

Hmmm.

Good job I can't really justify spending £1k+ on that AMG Merc, as it's in my neck of the woods (nearly)

LOCFTM (Even if it is over thread budget)

[S3_Graham]

Rollcage said:

Hmmm.

Good job I can't really justify spending £1k+ on that AMG Merc, as it's in my neck of the woods (nearly)

LOCFTM (Even if it is over thread budget)

Where is it? Can't see in the ad

[Hoofy]

kiwifraser said:

With an E55 at this level that's got to be the best way to approach it surely.

Have some fun with the noise and power, and when it dies, get the AA to bring you home, and sell it off on ebay for parts for at least half of that value.

Yeah - or keep the engine for a project if it's in good condition.

[Usget]

S3_Graham said:

Rollcage said:

Hmmm.

Good job I can't really justify spending £1k+ on that AMG Merc, as it's in my neck of the woods (nearly)

LOCFTM (Even if it is over thread budget)

Where is it? Can't see in the ad

Cornwall, says at the top.

It does look tired, but it'd be interesting to know how long you could smoke one of these if you concentrated on essential mechanicals and left all the peripheral bits to break (or even removed them pre-emptively...)

[kiwifraser]

S3_Graham said:

Where is it? Can't see in the ad

Hmmm... looks like the location is EVERYWHERE: http://www.gumtree.com/search?q=e55&search_loc...

[Hoofy]

kiwifraser said:

S3_Graham said:

Where is it? Can't see in the ad

Hmmm... looks like the location is EVERYWHERE: http://www.gumtree.com/search?q=e55&search_loc...

Scam alert! Anyone got time to waste?

[Hoofy]

Usget said:

It does look tired, but it'd be interesting to know how long you could smoke one of these if you concentrated on essential mechanicals and left all the peripheral bits to break (or even removed them pre-emptively...)

Interesting idea. Don't think you'd need to remove them in advance, though. Just expect things to stop working that shouldn't affect safety or ability to get to your destination. Might do the experiment next time I get a bargain car.

[31mph]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/mond...

An ST220, albeit on ste wheels...

[Luke.]

Hoofy said:

Usget said:

It does look tired, but it'd be interesting to know how long you could smoke one of these if you concentrated on essential mechanicals and left all the peripheral bits to break (or even removed them pre-emptively...)

Interesting idea. Don't think you'd need to remove them in advance, though. Just expect things to stop working that shouldn't affect safety or ability to get to your destination. Might do the experiment next time I get a bargain car.

I thought you already had a bargain car you hadn't serviced in four years..

[beko1987]

My bargain barge has been running well for the past 2 months and 1k miles



Has been great wafting around in a lovely £620 armchair!

Jobs still to do:

Full LHM change for hydraflush
Clean LHM filters
Remove, overhaul and re-fit rear height corrector
New rear tyres, then tyres swapped round so I have new fronts, ok rears then track and balance everything
New fuel filter
damn good detail
New rear washer pump
cambelt (maybe)

[RemaL]

I just wish I kept away from this thread again. The need to spend under 1k on a car I don't need just to having another toy to chuck around a track without a care in the world is very strong at the moment

[PedroB]

This seems almost too good to be true: MGZT 160



It has 7 months MOT and a month's tax. Yours for £550

Full ad: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

Edited by PedroB on Tuesday 21st May 14:52