Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

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marmitemania

1,571 posts

143 months

Thursday 7th May 2015
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Usget said:
W00DY said:

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


I'm the furthest from a mk4 Golf fan, but it looks clean and with the price open to offers, you can't complain.
What a ludicrous bargain, that needs to get snapped up!
I cant see anything ludicrous about it, it's a 15 year old car with 168,000 miles for £495 sounds about right. If it was a 15 year old focus with 168,000 miles on the clock surely that would be another serious bargain that should be snapped up instantly? No? Thought not.

BorkFactor

7,266 posts

159 months

Thursday 7th May 2015
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marmitemania said:
I cant see anything ludicrous about it, it's a 15 year old car with 168,000 miles for £495 sounds about right. If it was a 15 year old focus with 168,000 miles on the clock surely that would be another serious bargain that should be snapped up instantly? No? Thought not.
Bit harsh, it is a very tidy looking one owner car with a decent MOT that could probably be yours for close to 400 notes.

Looks a bargain to me.

W00DY

15,493 posts

227 months

Thursday 7th May 2015
quotequote all
marmitemania said:
I cant see anything ludicrous about it, it's a 15 year old car with 168,000 miles for £495 sounds about right. If it was a 15 year old focus with 168,000 miles on the clock surely that would be another serious bargain that should be snapped up instantly? No? Thought not.
I'd take the Focus, but the market wouldn't and theres no denying the Golf looks a bit classier and less dated.

Actually I'd take a 165k mile 9-3 turbo. wink

forzaminardi

2,290 posts

188 months

Thursday 7th May 2015
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W00DY said:

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


I'm the furthest from a mk4 Golf fan, but it looks clean and with the price open to offers, you can't complain.
It's described as "blah blah I have owned this car since it was almost new being an ex-demonstator car which I bought from VW West Hampstead" but yet...

The Ad said:
THE CAR CAN BE VIEWED IN RADLETT (not Surrey as this is my co-directors car which I am helping him to sell.
...but at least it's being sold by a Company (co) Director so therefore ought be PH-worthy.

bolide

577 posts

255 months

Thursday 7th May 2015
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S3_Graham said:
Sounds like you need a W(s)124 Mercedes. Plenty of estates around for under £1000. Giant boot, brilliant build quality, bags of character and dare I say it, you may even make some money on it in the long term?
We're in the Chinese Year of the Sheep, but it's also the W124 Year of the Suspension Sphere

Each year seems to bring a new thing to replace on W124 Wagons, and this year it's spheres. They are about £110 each from MB but suspension pipework tends to corrode and new pipes / banjo bolts & washers can add up quite quickly. So your £1000 Estate may turn rapidly into a £2000 one by the end of year one

If you're prepared for that, go for it. Just don't buy one, spend the same again on repairs then bail out complaining they're expensive to fix. If you have one for 3 years they work out fairly cheap maintenance-wise, and extremely cheap for consumables

Nick Froome

Usget

5,426 posts

212 months

Friday 8th May 2015
quotequote all
marmitemania said:
I cant see anything ludicrous about it, it's a 15 year old car with 168,000 miles for £495 sounds about right. If it was a 15 year old focus with 168,000 miles on the clock surely that would be another serious bargain that should be snapped up instantly? No? Thought not.
Tidy, low owner car, still looks smart, ticket coming out of its ears. I'd have a Focus in similar circumstances, yeah. £495 is sod all for a tidy car.

briang9

3,308 posts

161 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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forzaminardi said:
...but at least it's being sold by a Company (co) Director so therefore ought be PH-worthy.
and if its only a fuse then replace it........

TwistingMyMelon

6,385 posts

206 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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W124s lovely as they are, are not the cheapest car to run, good value yes, but its easy to run big bills

They also "hide faults well" .

Great cars if you are mechanically capable and enjoy working on cars, otherwise budget a bit for servicing

Also remember however well made a car leaves the factory age can still really take its toll

Id have another W124 in a heartbeat, but only if I could budget a fair whack in maitainence and more importantly could afford it to be off the road a few days at a time.

Hoofy

76,386 posts

283 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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Just as well I read that. I was thinking about one as my next bargain basement as I drive past one everyday.

CharlesdeGaulle

26,304 posts

181 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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Don't let that put you off Hoofy, unless you're after really cheap motoring.

The 1-5 thread has lots of afficianados and expertise (and of course Bolide - Nick Froome above - knows what he's talking about), but the 124 is popular for a reason. If you can see things in VFM terms rather than outright cost, they're hard to beat and become somewhat addictive!

Hoofy

76,386 posts

283 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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Not having a car for a few days is a worrying prospect as I have to drive as part of my business.

CharlesdeGaulle

26,304 posts

181 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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Any car can let you down at any time of course, and we all have stories of motoring disaster, but my 212k 124 estate has failed to proceed only once, when a spring collapsed.

They are generally pretty reliable, but like any 20-odd year old car they can be a leap of faith. I'm a fan and would recommend them - no depreciation, brilliant image, and engineering-led design. Give it a go!

Emeye

9,773 posts

224 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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Hoofy said:
Not having a car for a few days is a worrying prospect as I have to drive as part of my business.
Buy two bangers then - that's what I used to do. My version of bangernomics Russian Roulette consisted of a £401 Alfa 155 which had not had a cambelt change for 6 years and a £1500 1.8 Freelander.

The Freelander ended up off the road for a quarter of the time I had it, but the Alfa stepped up to the mark and was pretty much faultless.

Hoofy

76,386 posts

283 months

Friday 8th May 2015
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Having two cars seems a bit of a hassle dealing with insurance etc.

Pet Troll

1,362 posts

179 months

Saturday 9th May 2015
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Hoofy said:
Having two cars seems a bit of a hassle dealing with insurance etc.
Man up! Between SWMBO and I we have 6 cars, admittedly only 4 are on the road at the moment.

idiotgap

2,112 posts

134 months

Saturday 9th May 2015
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In 5 years I can't remember my 124 actually letting me down... sure it's needed things doing so it had to go into the garage for a few days, but I've been able to choose the timing. Any older car is going to need work as things start to wear out.

I suppose some of the time off the road actually depends if it's a keeper and you do work to improve it (invest for the future!) or a genuine shed you're going to drive until it dies. I didn't necessarily need the wing replacing, the suspension refresh or the aircon condensor replacement all of which took the car out of action for a few days here and there.

Toaster Pilot

14,621 posts

159 months

Saturday 9th May 2015
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Off to pick up a real basement bargain this morning - 1998 Skoda Felicia estate!

1.3, 118k miles, full 12 month MoT, £180!

TonyRPH

12,977 posts

169 months

Saturday 9th May 2015
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Hoofy said:
Having two cars seems a bit of a hassle dealing with insurance etc.
Admiral Multicar.

Sorted.

Hoofy

76,386 posts

283 months

Saturday 9th May 2015
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Pet Troll said:
Hoofy said:
Having two cars seems a bit of a hassle dealing with insurance etc.
Man up! Between SWMBO and I we have 6 cars, admittedly only 4 are on the road at the moment.
Screw that!! Having to arse about with 4+ insurances and taxes plus servicing every month!?

Hoofy

76,386 posts

283 months

Saturday 9th May 2015
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TonyRPH said:
Hoofy said:
Having two cars seems a bit of a hassle dealing with insurance etc.
Admiral Multicar.

Sorted.
So, if I had, for instance, two Volvo S60s (currently paying £200), how much might it cost for Multicar?
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