Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

[With these feet]

scdan4 said:

TheJelley said:

Anyone got thoughts on in-budget Honda CRVs? Bombproof or moneypit?

UK ones better - the imports like to rust fast.

Dad's got a mk1. He loves it, faultlessly reliable, does everything that's asked of it. He gets a shade over 30mpg up and down the hills of devon where it rarely sees a motorway of has a constant cruise. He does drive slow though!

What about the HRV as an option?
Early ones are sub £1k and share similar 4wd though only 1600. Mines been a money pit but think I've got to the bottom of its issues! See lots of HRV's running around so should be a good sign. Watch out for clicking rear diff as its hydraulic and only works when a front wheel slips. Sometimes a fluid change sorts it otherwise its £350 second hand or £2500 new....

[forsure]

egor110 said:

I think i'm going to get shot of my shed c5.

Plus points are its has years mot/6 months tax, stops and starts and the engines nice and quiet despite having done 200k.

Minus points are the clutch judders when you pull away, has no service history so needs a cam belt, needs 2 new tyres now and the other 2 aren't too much better, wiper wash isn't pumping water, oil temp gauge doesn't work, there's a crack in the window and there's no radio.

My head says getting the above sorted isn't worth it bearing in mind i only paid £500 for the car so would get half back if it scrapped it plus i don't need it as i have a works van, my jeep and our camper.

Any thoughts from impartial parties?

I think you've answered your own question; get shot while it's got plenty of MoT.

[TheJelley]

With these feet said:

scdan4 said:

TheJelley said:

Anyone got thoughts on in-budget Honda CRVs? Bombproof or moneypit?

UK ones better - the imports like to rust fast.

Dad's got a mk1. He loves it, faultlessly reliable, does everything that's asked of it. He gets a shade over 30mpg up and down the hills of devon where it rarely sees a motorway of has a constant cruise. He does drive slow though!

What about the HRV as an option?
Early ones are sub £1k and share similar 4wd though only 1600. Mines been a money pit but think I've got to the bottom of its issues! See lots of HRV's running around so should be a good sign. Watch out for clicking rear diff as its hydraulic and only works when a front wheel slips. Sometimes a fluid change sorts it otherwise its £350 second hand or £2500 new....

Is the HRV much smaller inside? Need somthing to lug loads, assumed it was due to 3 doors only?

[warp9]

Thoughts on this? Looks tidy.
2004 Alfa 156 2.0JTS. 90K miles, FSH, £970.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[Toaster Pilot]

warp9 said:

Thoughts on this? Looks tidy.
2004 Alfa 156 2.0JTS. 90K miles, FSH, £970.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Looks very tidy, can't believe how little these go for now

[nagsheadwarrior]

Such a lot of stunning looking car for the cash.

Remember cambelts are every 4 years, cost £400 and they do snap at 4 years and 1 day!

[Liquid Tuna]

TheJelley said:

With these feet said:

scdan4 said:

TheJelley said:

Anyone got thoughts on in-budget Honda CRVs? Bombproof or moneypit?

UK ones better - the imports like to rust fast.

Dad's got a mk1. He loves it, faultlessly reliable, does everything that's asked of it. He gets a shade over 30mpg up and down the hills of devon where it rarely sees a motorway of has a constant cruise. He does drive slow though!

What about the HRV as an option?
Early ones are sub £1k and share similar 4wd though only 1600. Mines been a money pit but think I've got to the bottom of its issues! See lots of HRV's running around so should be a good sign. Watch out for clicking rear diff as its hydraulic and only works when a front wheel slips. Sometimes a fluid change sorts it otherwise its £350 second hand or £2500 new....

Is the HRV much smaller inside? Need somthing to lug loads, assumed it was due to 3 doors only?

The later ones were a 5 door. I have an early 3 door, but even then, with the back seats down you can get quite a lot in the back. Just don't expect Volvo load lugging capabilities.

[TonyRPH]

Toaster Pilot said:

warp9 said:

Thoughts on this? Looks tidy.
2004 Alfa 156 2.0JTS. 90K miles, FSH, £970.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Looks very tidy, can't believe how little these go for now

I had one of these for about 3 months.

It was the biggest pile of crap I ever bought!!!

FSH, but yet knocks and squeaks from the suspension (on cold days!) and various other problems, including electrical issues (inevitable with an Alfa).

But I do have a brand new cam belt / pump / tensioner and tools to lock the cams in place for the JTS engine if you buy the car and find you need a belt

[ImpossiblyDaft]

warp9 said:

Thoughts on this? Looks tidy.
2004 Alfa 156 2.0JTS. 90K miles, FSH, £970.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Looks decent. Key things are service history (someone's mentioned the cambelt already - they last longer on the JTS than the TS but still need keeping an eye on), wishbones will probably be worn around around the 80-100k mark so worth looking for in the service history (should get a little change from a couple of hundred quid from a specialist, if they need doing). Also, check underneath the front floor for rust; the panels have excellent rustproofing so by the time anything shows up around the arches it's pretty severe underneath.

[With these feet]

Liquid Tuna said:

The later ones were a 5 door. I have an early 3 door, but even then, with the back seats down you can get quite a lot in the back. Just don't expect Volvo load lugging capabilities.

There are 11 5 door HRV's on Autotrader, around 100 - 140k. Thing that I like about them is they are a little quirky, (some say they were the first soft-roader) drive like a car rather than a 4WD and returns 30+ mpg on average.

How much room do you need? I can get my kids mountain bike in with half the back seats down while he sits in the other.
Think its 285 ltrs but not sure if thats just behind the rear seats or with them flat.

Just to balance the "all Hondas are bulletproof" theory -theyre not or the one I got was the exception to the rule!
I got caught a good one, on test the car drove really well and was nice and clean. Got it home and a few days later was just nosing underneath and though "where the fk is the rear diff?" Yup, as they are 2WD till required its not uncommon for people to whip the diff off if its causing issues. Along with the driveshafts and prop.... One phone call to the previous owner and a considerable contribution to the missing parts was recovered. Scrapyard had all the bits and in an hour or so all done. Still, I hadnt noticed the excessive oil consumption then... new rings and a set of big ends for good measure! Should do me for a while - it bloody well owes me now!

[vit4]

Thinking of having a look at this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

2001 Volvo V40 T4. I must admit that I don't know a whole heap about these. Anything I should be looking out for in particular? Are they belt or chain?

Cheers

ETA: Can't work out why some of them are rated at 200 bhp and others at 164 or so. Is there any way to actually tell the difference between the two?

Edited by vit4 on Wednesday 14th May 23:46

[Prawnboy]

Toaster Pilot said:

warp9 said:

Thoughts on this? Looks tidy.
2004 Alfa 156 2.0JTS. 90K miles, FSH, £970.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Looks very tidy, can't believe how little these go for now

I can, just out of a year in one,(V6) got it at 95K fully looked after belt changes, seemed like a bargain. after £1500 up keep in 5000 miles, 2 weeks ago it went bang, (cam belt), and now is scrap.
lovely cars but a fortune in Suspension bits at this age too.

[dooosuk]

vit4 said:

Thinking of having a look at this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

2001 Volvo V40 T4. I must admit that I don't know a whole heap about these. Anything I should be looking out for in particular? Are they belt or chain?

Cheers

ETA: Can't work out why some of them are rated at 200 bhp and others at 164 or so. Is there any way to actually tell the difference between the two?

Edited by vit4 on Wednesday 14th May 23:46

Isn't there a good engine and a bad engine in these? Seem to remember reading something months ago (probably in this thread).

[warp9]

Never been a Peugeot fan, but always liked the Pininfarina design of these 406's. This one is a bit leggy, but FSH and lots of MOT and Tax all for a starting price of £800. Heard the 3.0 was thirsty, know FA about them, any other considerations?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[Toaster Pilot]

Anyone seen any cheap convertibles about? Looking for something as cheap as possible that runs/has a little bit of T&T. Can sort most issues apart from rust.

[George7]

warp9 said:

Never been a Peugeot fan, but always liked the Pininfarina design of these 406's. This one is a bit leggy, but FSH and lots of MOT and Tax all for a starting price of £800. Heard the 3.0 was thirsty, know FA about them, any other considerations?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Great looking car IMHO, I've heard they're expensive to run, but as a bargain basement proposition, I'd love to try one.

[TonyRPH]

warp9 said:

Never been a Peugeot fan, but always liked the Pininfarina design of these 406's. This one is a bit leggy, but FSH and lots of MOT and Tax all for a starting price of £800. Heard the 3.0 was thirsty, know FA about them, any other considerations?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

I had one for a year.

They are not expensive to run, and driven sanely can be quite economical.

You don't need to thrash the V6 to make good progress, which in turn rewards with good economy.

The biggest issue with these, is that the rear bank of spark plugs are rarely replaced, because you have to remove the inlet manifold to do so.

The engine is otherwise bullet proof IMHO.

Mine had developed some rust around the base of the boot opening, but otherwise it was clean.

The other problem is bumpers - they are notoriously weak plastic, and crack if you so much as spit on them.

Apart from that - a really nice car with a comfortable ride - if a bit soft (but it's French - what can you expect!).

I really regret selling mine.

ETA: The later facelift model (D2?) could suffer from electrical issues, but had a 210bhp engine vs. the 190 or so of the older model.

Edited by TonyRPH on Thursday 15th May 15:05

[GeordieInExile]

Toaster Pilot said:

Anyone seen any cheap convertibles about? Looking for something as cheap as possible that runs/has a little bit of T&T. Can sort most issues apart from rust.

Loads of 306 convertibles out there for under a grand, always liked the way they look.

[Toaster Pilot]

Think this is a bit too ropey even for me http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171325491274?ssPageName=...

Gearbox issues are worrying, rest wouldn't take much to sort out

[andy-xr]

I think I'd rather know it's a knackered gearbox than sit there wondering how badly the head is damaged from the over heating!