My first try at bangernomics :D - How did i do ?

My first try at bangernomics :D - How did i do ?

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UK345

Original Poster:

441 posts

158 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi there guys,

I have been reading through the bangernomics threads and there is some interesting cars in them for not alot of money. In April i found myself in need of a car after selling my old car. I wanted something cheap to get me around and preferably something which had had loads of work done on it. I was carless for 3 weeks and went to view some cheap cars over that time. While looking through gumtree i stumbled across the perfect car which had only been posted two minutes before i contacted the seller. We exchanged texts in the early hours of the morning and i went to view the car that afternoon.

The car in question was a 2004 54 plate Fiesta Finesse with 5 months MOT and 4 months tax. Upon arrival i drove past the car as you do and it looked okay. Phoned the seller and he came down to show me around it. The guy had owned the car since 2006 and over that time had used it as his daily driver. After inspecting the car we went a test drive and it performed very well. I was also greeted with a shoebox full of receipts for work carried out which included a clutch replacement and many other things. Every 6 months the car was serviced and the brakes were all stripped and cleaned. I even have the original sales invoice for when he bought it out Arnold Clark in 2006. The only real issues were that the cd player was broken and liked to turn itself on full blast while driving, the front bumper had a bad scuff, dent on the front wing and the steering wheel was a bit of a mess.

The car was priced at £900 ono so i got him down to £750 and we shook hands. I drove the car the 50 miles home and had no complaints at all. The following day the car fired up right up so i took it to the local scrappy for a new cd player and steering wheel (the yard had a clean car in with good condition parts so that was a win). I also had to get it a new tyre as it was on the legal limit.

So the costs associated with this car:
Car - £750
Steering wheel and cd player - £40
Part worn tyre balanced up etc - £15
Exhaust silencer and middle section - £80 fitted
Total spend: £885







Edited by UK345 on Sunday 17th August 15:10


Edited by UK345 on Sunday 17th August 15:40

Motorrad

6,811 posts

187 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
Good luck. If you get 6 months motoring out of it then it's a success. Look forward to the updates!

Always amazes me just how cheap usable transport is in the UK.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
Motorrad said:
Always amazes me just how cheap usable transport is in the UK.
£900 for a 10yo Fester...?

UK345

Original Poster:

441 posts

158 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
I have had it for a couple of months now and there has been no real issues with it. Its MOT is due next month but i am confident that it will pass. I got it on the ramps and inspected it underneath etc and all looks to be in good order. The car was bought on 97k and it now has 100k on it.

tannhauser

1,773 posts

215 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
Motorrad said:
Always amazes me just how cheap usable transport is in the UK.
£900 for a 10yo Fester...?
Yes, cheap.

rallycross

12,790 posts

237 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
tannhauser said:
Yes, cheap.
Not just cheap that was half price !

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

246 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
£900 for a 10yo Fester...?
Agreed. That's not bangernomics.

magpie215

4,396 posts

189 months

Sunday 17th August 2014
quotequote all
Ozzie Osmond said:
Agreed. That's not bangernomics.
But if he runs it for 3 years its 300 pa so well inside bangernomics budget....there are various ways of doing it. :-)

UK345

Original Poster:

441 posts

158 months

Friday 9th October 2015
quotequote all
Just stumbled across this thread again. I sold this car back in April for £100 less than i paid for it. I sold it with the abs light on and on further investigation it turned out the car needed a new abs pump (financial write off). It also needed new front discs and two front track rod ends. 4 months after selling it i seen it for sale again after the owner had crashed it. At least i had my fun and got some cheap motoring. RIP little motor.

aw51 121565

4,771 posts

233 months

Friday 9th October 2015
quotequote all
In reply to the thread title, you did well thumbup .

Perhaps the value was on the high side for "Bangernomics" in its pure form (other posters have alluded to this) - but the basic principles worked just fine for you. Well done!

bearman68

4,652 posts

132 months

Friday 9th October 2015
quotequote all
That's not even trying.

Pug 406, 20HDI, 269k miles, but just had, new clutch, lower engine mount, cam belt and diesel pump, fresh oil, 3/4 tyres, and nearly half a tank of fuel.



£80!!

Unfortunately,I was on the receiving end of the £80. I just seen the bloke I 'sold' it to, and he's just driven it over 300miles this week, and just put fuel in it. He could scrap it now, and still win.

Ho Hum

Ghost91

2,971 posts

110 months

Friday 9th October 2015
quotequote all
bearman68 said:
That's not even trying.

Pug 406, 20HDI, 269k miles, but just had, new clutch, lower engine mount, cam belt and diesel pump, fresh oil, 3/4 tyres, and nearly half a tank of fuel.



£80!!

Unfortunately,I was on the receiving end of the £80. I just seen the bloke I 'sold' it to, and he's just driven it over 300miles this week, and just put fuel in it. He could scrap it now, and still win.

Ho Hum
I can never seem to find a bargain banger like that! Excellent.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
I'm seven years and about 30,000 miles into a £100 205...

DervVW

2,223 posts

139 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
Lucky! £80, or £100 never see anything that cheap!

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
DervVW said:
Lucky! £80, or £100 never see anything that cheap!
I didn't intend to buy the 205 - I walked up the road to post a letter, and it had a For Sale sign in the window. Knocked on the door, took it round the block, and stopped off at the cashpoint on the way back.

DervVW

2,223 posts

139 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
DervVW said:
Lucky! £80, or £100 never see anything that cheap!
I didn't intend to buy the 205 - I walked up the road to post a letter, and it had a For Sale sign in the window. Knocked on the door, took it round the block, and stopped off at the cashpoint on the way back.
It was clearly meant to be!

UK345

Original Poster:

441 posts

158 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies. £80 for a 406 with all that work done ? Bargain of the century they are good cars. I would run and maintain it until i got bored or it went pop. I enjoyed bangernomics and after this car bought a 2007 Fiesta Zetec in February for £1500. I have just started a new job and now have a 15 plate company car that can be used for personal use so the wee fiesta is going. Not quite bangernomics but i should be able to get my £1500 back from the right buyer.

mobile chicane22

308 posts

188 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
£30 for a 1000cc fiat uno about 15 years ago, had 6 months tax and mot and a leaky sun roof (5 mins with a mastic gun and it leaked no more).

Bought it for a now ex girlfriend, we parted on good terms ( lived to far apart ) and 5 yes 5 years later she tells me its finally dead.

Some cockwomble had broken into it to steal the broken stereo with the missing clip on front and her insurers had written it off and gave her a cheque for £550.

in those 5 years it broke down once IIRC and that was a flat battery due to me leaving the interior light on for 2 weeks in airport parking.

Wifey is about to start her 4th year of ownership of her y plate auto civic, cost £900 and so far apart from servicing ( bare minimum ) 1 lambda sensor £140 fix and 1 ABS sensor £210 fix (including diagnosis parts etc)

everything still works and it starts first time everytime

SuperHangOn

3,486 posts

153 months

Saturday 10th October 2015
quotequote all
I give the OP's attempt a C+.

To get a higher grade, the car should be have been purchased following one visit to a cashpoint. You could have also bought an unseen V8 7 series at the other end of the country or ripped off a nice old lady off to nab a low mileage, one owner minter. A respectable effort nonetheless.