Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

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Birdster

2,529 posts

142 months

Monday 2nd May 2016
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M1C said:
Birdster said:
M1C said:
Birdster said:
I've been offered a 02 plate Ka for £200. MOT until the end of the year. I'm going to have a look the weekend.

I know to check for rust around the filler cap and sills. Anyone here have experience of them, anything else to check? I believe the engine changed some point after 2001 from the old 1.3 to a better one?
I think it will be the previous pushrod engine. The OHC engine came in early 2003, mainly on 03 plates, some snuck through on 52 plates.
Cheers that's good to know.

Mondeo sounds more of a bargain. smile
Yeah, I hit on lucky with the Mondeo, right place right time kinda thing. Unless it goes kaboom, that is!
Hopefully not. smile

Viewing the KA next weekend now, from the info it sounds good. No advisories on the MOT. History up to date etc and not failed an MOT since 2011 which was for a light adjustment. We all know this can still lead to a bag of nails, but it may be coming home with me for a cheap run around.

CX53

2,964 posts

109 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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Thinking about a diesel shed to run alongside my new p&j to keep the miles off it. I was thinking petrol, naturally aspirated and Japanese for reliability, but as it'll be shed money I quite fancy taking my chances will a diesel, in the hope it'll be reliable for a while and save some cash.

Wouldn't mind something tweakable for decent bhp. I thought about a mk4 golf remapped to 170, but my last golf wasng exactly reliable. Perhaps something like a 306 or xantia, vectra maybe? Amy suggestions?

Slow

6,973 posts

136 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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CX53 said:
Thinking about a diesel shed to run alongside my new p&j to keep the miles off it. I was thinking petrol, naturally aspirated and Japanese for reliability, but as it'll be shed money I quite fancy taking my chances will a diesel, in the hope it'll be reliable for a while and save some cash.

Wouldn't mind something tweakable for decent bhp. I thought about a mk4 golf remapped to 170, but my last golf wasng exactly reliable. Perhaps something like a 306 or xantia, vectra maybe? Amy suggestions?
Ignoring the speed.

Mk1 Ford Focus tddi.

Slow as fk with a whole 90bhp but they wont die. Had one as a learner + first car and then my brother had it for the same dutys after me. Dont recall it ever being serviced (sat for 2 years before I got it). Brother crashed it 3x into ditches, a fence, set fire to it(just the tyre and arch really). Ran it with no water, ran it on the old deep fat fryer oil, generally just abused the st out of it.

Still is on the road (well was 3 months ago with a fresh mot). Was also a ex hire car early in its life.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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I have a 2004 Octavia tdi 130 bought at 140k miles done about 11k in 10 months so far. A few things at fault when I bought it but starts everyday and remapped to 160 and a really nice car to drive on longer journeys.

CX53

2,964 posts

109 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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I've always fancied a mk1 focus, everyone I know who's had one loves them, they're meant to be properly reliable and if I got one as indestructible as yours then it would make fantastic bargain shedding. The slowness bothers me a little as I worry id get fed up of it and drive the other car more, making it basically redundant. I wonder if the 1.8 tddi can be fettled for more power...

Forgot about octavias actually - I had one, it was brilliant. The boot was absolutely huge too! Worth a look for sure. I want to get a small list together of potential cars and then when a good example of any pops up I'll have it.

Chateauneufdupape

390 posts

100 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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Might also be worth looking at the following:

S60 D5
Citroen Xsara 2.0 HDI
Pug 406
Nissan almera or Primera 2.2 dci, remaps quite well I believe
Some sort of vauxhall with the older Di engines, think they're quite a basic Izusu lump
Saabs with the older izusu 2.2 diesel are quite reliable and a nice car to commute in

littlebasher

3,767 posts

170 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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The Spruce goose said:
Buy today if still for sale.

v6 turbo action, 1k.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

Now says £2200

Must have got a lot of interest!

CharlesdeGaulle

26,088 posts

179 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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CX53 said:
Thinking about a diesel shed ... as it'll be shed money I quite fancy taking my chances will a diesel, in the hope it'll be reliable for a while and save some cash.

Wouldn't mind something tweakable for decent bhp.
If you're looking for cheap and cheerful reliability, and to save some cash, why even consider tweaking anything? Loads of perfectly respectable sheds out there that run as the manufacturer intended without adding complexity or cost.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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my 130 tdi remaps to 160bhp and loads more fun.

CX53

2,964 posts

109 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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I think it might be good fun as part of a cheap disposable car purchase, I might be pushing my luck a little, but a cheap, economical and quick car could be achievable for very little money, and if it went pop then perhaps it's worth the risk. I would keep to the spirit of shedding and only spend money on it when absolutely necessary and bin at the sight of a large bill.

I did think about just getting a 1.8 petrol avensis and being done with it, but it would be nice to have some poke to keep it interesting with the added ability to rag it a bit and still get good economy - although the S60 D5 option would be quick enough standard. One diesel problem and any savings go out the window obviously, a carefully driven reliable petrol would be the more sensible bet, but I'm feeling lucky I guess!

Good list above, lots to look out for on ebay! Like the almera option, I had the 1.5 petrol with the notorious cam chain problem as my first car, it would be nice to have one again without worrying when it's going to st itself. The 2.2 remaps quite well according to google.

SilverSixer

8,202 posts

150 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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Chateauneufdupape said:
Saabs with the older izusu 2.2 diesel are quite reliable and a nice car to commute in
Friendly (hopefully) point of order: the older 2.2TID engine in SAABs is an Opel engine. It was the 3.0 diesel which was from Isuzu, and was fitted to the Renault Vel Satis too. They are very rare and have a well documented engine liner issue.

I have a 9-5 2.2 TID, 2003 (53). Engine is fine, although my auto gearbox went pop. Chain cam and pretty robust, if a bit noisy, but a great, comfy commuter car. Which is what mine is used for.

Chateauneufdupape

390 posts

100 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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As well as the almera you could look at primera's if you do big miles, very comfy and easy to find with leather etc

Emeye

9,773 posts

222 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
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CX53 said:
I think it might be good fun as part of a cheap disposable car purchase, I might be pushing my luck a little, but a cheap, economical and quick car could be achievable for very little money, and if it went pop then perhaps it's worth the risk. I would keep to the spirit of shedding and only spend money on it when absolutely necessary and bin at the sight of a large bill.

I did think about just getting a 1.8 petrol avensis and being done with it, but it would be nice to have some poke to keep it interesting with the added ability to rag it a bit and still get good economy - although the S60 D5 option would be quick enough standard. One diesel problem and any savings go out the window obviously, a carefully driven reliable petrol would be the more sensible bet, but I'm feeling lucky I guess!

Good list above, lots to look out for on ebay! Like the almera option, I had the 1.5 petrol with the notorious cam chain problem as my first car, it would be nice to have one again without worrying when it's going to st itself. The 2.2 remaps quite well according to google.
Reminds me of hiring an Almera 2.2D when we went to the Spanish GP many years ago.

We were running late on race day - on the motorway I looked down at the speedo - "What's 200 KPH I asked?"

"Er, that's 125 miles per hour," said the very nervous looking Swedish passenger who we had offered to give a lift from our hotel.

It wasn't even breaking a sweat - I was very impressed. biggrin

phil_cardiff

7,041 posts

207 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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So, I've just purchased a w reg Passat tdi estate for £50. Cost me another £40 for a MOT and I'm on the road for £90. Happy days.

I'll fill in other details tomorrow if anyone is interested?

briang9

3,260 posts

159 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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yes please..

320touring

1,428 posts

198 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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phil_cardiff said:
So, I've just purchased a w reg Passat tdi estate foro £50. Cost me another £40 for a MOT and I'm on the road for £90. Happy days.

I'll fill in other details tomorrow if anyone is interested?
good effortsmile If you are feeling particularly mingebaggy, she'll happily run waste veg.

I had same engine in my octavia and couldn't balk at 35p/litre!

matchmaker

8,462 posts

199 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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We've just bought an E46 318Ci with 4 months MOT for £100 - keeps draining the battery. Once we've fixed that someone has already offered us £500 for it.

BigTom85

1,927 posts

170 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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There's a good change the wiring between the body and the tailgate will have work hardened and is now shorting to earth. Well worth a look.

stevesuk

1,345 posts

181 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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matchmaker said:
We've just bought an E46 318Ci with 4 months MOT for £100 - keeps draining the battery. Once we've fixed that someone has already offered us £500 for it.
Check to see if the blower motor sometimes keeps working with the ignition off. The final stage resistor can fail (behind the centre console) and cause battery drain.

phil_cardiff

7,041 posts

207 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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briang9 said:
yes please..
Ok , so here’s the story…

I had my 06 BMW E91 up for sale as doing 15,000 miles a year @30mpg was becoming a pain on the wallet.
On bank holiday Sunday, about 4pm, my ‘phone rang and a man wanted to travel down from the Wirral to view the car (in South Wales). We chat a bit about the price and agree that if he paid me a certain amount he’d drive down and take it. Then it got a little more interesting. He told me that his car (the Passat) would run out of MOT the next day and that if he bought my car he couldn’t take it back with him. He asked if I would scrap it for him and we could split the value. Being a gent, and wanting to secure a sale, I offered to give him all of the scrap value when I scrapped it.

The gentleman arrived at about 9pm and was happy with the BMW. I had seen him arrive in a Passat estate and thought it looked ok for its age. I asked the guy if it was a petrol. ‘No, diesel’ was his reply. At this point the cogs in my head started to turn…

The next day, with the benefit of daylight, I had a look at the Passat. Ok, she was no beauty but other than occluded headlights I couldn’t see any reason why she wouldn’t pass another MOT. A quick drive on private land revealed a car that drove pretty well too – unsurprisingly as it had driven from the Wirral to South Wales the previous evening. Ok it was filthy inside and out, the tailgate was rusty and the tyres mismatched, but what the hell, I needed a car as a run around – it had to be worth trying to get her through a MOT – especially as there was half a tank of diesel in her!

I text the previous owner who agreed to take the scrap value (£50 round here) and for me to keep her on the road and duly booked an MOT. The guy was such a gent that he offered to send some old paperwork he had for the car too. In return I sent him the Mersey tunnel pass he’d left in the car – one good turn deserving of another.

So to MOT day. The garage polished the headlights and she flew through with only 2 advisories for low tread on the tyres. Result!

I plan on using it until I buy a new car and then scrapping it or selling it, though I’m not sure how much a tatty Passat Tdi 110 estate will be worth, especially with 251k on the clock and probably needing a cambelt and oil change, plus the aforementioned tyres. I had made noises about keeping it for a year for some cheap motoring but Mrs Phil is refusing to let our child travel in it so I’ll have to buy something more modern soon!
If I can sort out resizing pics on here I will post some up.

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