Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

[sim72]

littlebasher said:

No MOT but nice all the same



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volkswagen-Scirocco-Scal...

Looks nice, but really ... if you've done all that work on it, why no MOT? It'd double the price at least.

[Toaster Pilot]

radiodanno said:

Hmmph.

My 99 Avensis is still trucking along at 140k. Bought last summer with 100k for £850. Regular home servicing at £20 a time and a new windscreen is all its cost in 18 months.

But its got really sluggish of late. Can frequently feel a bit bogged down when trying to get on. Any thoughts?

Wondered if it's a throttle position sensor... but I guess it could be coil pack or fuel filter? Plugs are 12 months old and should do 40k miles.

All help appreciated.

Fuel filter would be my first port of call given how cheap they are - it's probably never been changed

[rambo19]

Toaster Pilot said:

radiodanno said:

Hmmph.

My 99 Avensis is still trucking along at 140k. Bought last summer with 100k for £850. Regular home servicing at £20 a time and a new windscreen is all its cost in 18 months.

But its got really sluggish of late. Can frequently feel a bit bogged down when trying to get on. Any thoughts?

Wondered if it's a throttle position sensor... but I guess it could be coil pack or fuel filter? Plugs are 12 months old and should do 40k miles.

All help appreciated.

Fuel filter would be my first port of call given how cheap they are - it's probably never been changed

+1. and put a bottle of forte petrol treatment in the tank.

[radiodanno]

Thanks.
Annoyingly, I have a fuel filter in the boot. Bought it last week, but not only is it a 'PitA' to fit, it didn't come with a new crush washer. So I need to get something sorted. Car came with full history and it was changed about 50k ago so well overdue.

Happy bangering, boys.

[vit4]

Topical, as I've just fired off an email about an Avensis with 250k on - looks more like 50k in the pics though and sounds very well looked after. Non-VVTi 1.8 petrol, am I right in thinking that if it has been serviced to schedule then there isn't really anything specific to go wrong?

[radiodanno]

vit4 said:

Topical, as I've just fired off an email about an Avensis with 250k on - looks more like 50k in the pics though and sounds very well looked after. Non-VVTi 1.8 petrol, am I right in thinking that if it has been serviced to schedule then there isn't really anything specific to go wrong?

If it's the Non VVTi (7AFE) engine - then, indeed, there's very little to worry about at all.

However make sure you give it a good drive, as the things that DO go wrong tend to happen to all of them.

1) Give the brakes a good hammer. Front discs are prone to warping over time as people leave the brakes on whilst stuck in traffic. The discs cool down (say at traffic lights) apart from the part in contact with the pads. Over time the disc becomes slightly out, and will give you some serious judder trying to stop from high speeds. Speaking to a guy I know who was a tech at Toyota, it was such a problem that all workshops were fitted with kit to grind the discs back. Don't let it put you off too much, I had OEM disc and pads fitted to mine last week for £165.

2) Lean burn sensor. This can be a problem on higher milers, but no biggy. It's not an expensive part, so if the car feels a bit hesitant then it's worth looking at.

3) Handbrake. These aren't great even when working 100%. One of mine failed on one side once.

That's it, I'm really struggling otherwise to find fault! One thing I would say is there's a notable power difference between the 1.8 and the 2.0, but not a massive difference in economy. I've had 2x 2.0 and they just don't stop.

Good luck.

[vit4]

radiodanno said:

vit4 said:

Topical, as I've just fired off an email about an Avensis with 250k on - looks more like 50k in the pics though and sounds very well looked after. Non-VVTi 1.8 petrol, am I right in thinking that if it has been serviced to schedule then there isn't really anything specific to go wrong?

If it's the Non VVTi (7AFE) engine - then, indeed, there's very little to worry about at all.

However make sure you give it a good drive, as the things that DO go wrong tend to happen to all of them.

1) Give the brakes a good hammer. Front discs are prone to warping over time as people leave the brakes on whilst stuck in traffic. The discs cool down (say at traffic lights) apart from the part in contact with the pads. Over time the disc becomes slightly out, and will give you some serious judder trying to stop from high speeds. Speaking to a guy I know who was a tech at Toyota, it was such a problem that all workshops were fitted with kit to grind the discs back. Don't let it put you off too much, I had OEM disc and pads fitted to mine last week for £165.

2) Lean burn sensor. This can be a problem on higher milers, but no biggy. It's not an expensive part, so if the car feels a bit hesitant then it's worth looking at.

3) Handbrake. These aren't great even when working 100%. One of mine failed on one side once.

That's it, I'm really struggling otherwise to find fault! One thing I would say is there's a notable power difference between the 1.8 and the 2.0, but not a massive difference in economy. I've had 2x 2.0 and they just don't stop.

Good luck.

Cheers for that, very informative post I'm going along to see it on Wednesday. It is indeed non-VVTI, a 1.8 with the 7AFE engine. Incidentally the seller mentioned that it had just had work on the rear brakes or handbrake assembly (I forget which!) within the last year. I'm still struggling to get my head around buying a car with such high miles (114k was my highest so far) but it does sound like it's been pretty much exclusively motorway so hopefully it's okay!

[radiodanno]

I look at it this way: if it's got this far, it'll go further.

Good luck.

[Jon999]

Well the verdicts out on the bargain basement Mondeo I bought earlier in the thread. It is epic.

MOT passed on Saturday after a replacement rear spring (no other fail points!) and then thrashed the nuts off it round Three Sisters yesterday. Didn't miss a beat. Managed to lift the rear wheel during cornering on the comedy suspension.

Total spent as follows, wasn't going to say what I paid for it but who cares.

£300 - purchase price
£65 - recovery
£5 - oil filter
£23 - boost pipe
£30 - front wheel bearing
£0 - rear spring (MOT fail, boo!)
£30 - MOT
£37 - Sump

So I'm £490 in so far, make it £500 including bolts etc.







So much fun, best £500 I've ever spent and I'm sure I'll get more than that in profit if I decide to sell it. Didn't show itself up on track either overtaking a 300bhp Focus ST and 350bhp Skyline. Only thing that went past was a track prepped Corsa running a 2ltr Turbo Astra engine.

Little video of the day out at Three Sisters I knocked up on my phone http://youtu.be/jpM4qe-kC98

Edited by Jon999 on Monday 10th November 21:34

[Hallsy01]

Here is my recent BB purchase...

IMG_2016 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

Serving me well so far, managed a weekend driving (well crawling) in and around London.

Really pleased with it so far!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=145...

[Captain Answer]

Hallsy01 said:

Here is my recent BB purchase...

IMG_2016 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

Serving me well so far, managed a weekend driving (well crawling) in and around London.

Really pleased with it so far!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=145...

Nice motor, what did you pay for her if you don't mind me asking? I was looking for a 9-5 Aero estate earlier in the year but a 270bhp 9-3 came up at silly money so I snapped that up instead.

[Hallsy01]

Captain Answer said:

Nice motor, what did you pay for her if you don't mind me asking? I was looking for a 9-5 Aero estate earlier in the year but a 270bhp 9-3 came up at silly money so I snapped that up instead.

Thanks - it was bang on thread budget after a haggle.

98k, 11 months MOT, 3 previous owners and full history.

I had to fix a boost leak as soon as I got home, and have since replaced a failing xenon lamp - but I'm very happy with it so far!!

I did quite fancy a 9-3 estate with the turbo v6 engine, but not gonna happen at this budget - besides, it's nice to have the extra space the 9-5 offers when needed.

[Captain Answer]

Hallsy01 said:

Thanks - it was bang on thread budget after a haggle.

98k, 11 months MOT, 3 previous owners and full history.

I had to fix a boost leak as soon as I got home, and have since replaced a failing xenon lamp - but I'm very happy with it so far!!

I did quite fancy a 9-3 estate with the turbo v6 engine, but not gonna happen at this budget - besides, it's nice to have the extra space the 9-5 offers when needed.

That's a cracking price for the car if all you need to do are those little jobs.

Not sure I've ever seen a 9-3 estate, I ended up with the hatchback.

[littlebasher]

More Saab love. 250bhp for less than £600

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-9-5-2-3-AERO-HOT-TH...

[BigTom85]

Jon999 said:

Well the verdicts out on the bargain basement Mondeo I bought earlier in the thread. It is epic.

MOT passed on Saturday after a replacement rear spring (no other fail points!) and then thrashed the nuts off it round Three Sisters yesterday. Didn't miss a beat. Managed to lift the rear wheel during cornering on the comedy suspension.

Total spent as follows, wasn't going to say what I paid for it but who cares.

£300 - purchase price
£65 - recovery
£5 - oil filter
£23 - boost pipe
£30 - front wheel bearing
£0 - rear spring (MOT fail, boo!)
£30 - MOT
£37 - Sump

So I'm £490 in so far, make it £500 including bolts etc.







So much fun, best £500 I've ever spent and I'm sure I'll get more than that in profit if I decide to sell it. Didn't show itself up on track either overtaking a 300bhp Focus ST and 350bhp Skyline. Only thing that went past was a track prepped Corsa running a 2ltr Turbo Astra engine.

Little video of the day out at Three Sisters I knocked up on my phone http://youtu.be/jpM4qe-kC98

Edited by Jon999 on Monday 10th November 21:34

Astonishing!

[Hallsy01]

[quote=BigTom85]

Astonishing!
[/quote

Indeed!

Why so cheap? It would break for far more than that!!

[nagsheadwarrior]

littlebasher said:

More Saab love. 250bhp for less than £600

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-9-5-2-3-AERO-HOT-TH...

What a super thing, I'm seriously tempted to take the plunge on a local aero on Thursday, that's £795 and an estate, that saloons so cheap though.

[BorkFactor]

What are the automatic gearboxes like in these?

Manual ones seem as rare as hens teeth at sensible prices

[minimoog]

BorkFactor said:

What are the automatic gearboxes like in these?

Manual ones seem as rare as hens teeth at sensible prices

Going off the one I drove this week they're ok. A bit dumb - no adaptive behaviour or fancy downshifts on gradients frinstance as far as I know - and possibly slightly too keen to drop a cog under light acceleration, but smooth enough. You'll give away some pace to a manual obviously.

The 'sport' mode is crap though. I think it just makes the throttle pedal more sensitive, rather than changing the shift pattern. Or so I was told.

[Captain Answer]

littlebasher said:

More Saab love. 250bhp for less than £600

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-9-5-2-3-AERO-HOT-TH...

That's a rather nice motor, might be tempted if mine doesn't do so well in her MOT friday