Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

[Sammo123]

I've been keeping an eye out for another E36 Touring after getting rid of mine about 18 months ago. They all seem to be going for good money and I had figured I wasn't going to find one within my budget. Then this popped up on an eBay search.

1996 318i SE Touring. 134,000 miles and needs a water pump (the bearings hanging out of the old one!) I did my usual thing of watching it until the last few seconds and then putting in my max bid and once again it worked I paid a whole £225 for this. I've already got a replacement pump for it and I'll sort it this weekend. I have other plans for the car in a few months but it will just be my daily until then. Excuse the crappy pics. They're the ones from the eBay advert.

[Emeye]

Sammo123 said:

I've been keeping an eye out for another E36 Touring after getting rid of mine about 18 months ago. They all seem to be going for good money and I had figured I wasn't going to find one within my budget. Then this popped up on an eBay search.

1996 318i SE Touring. 134,000 miles and needs a water pump (the bearings hanging out of the old one!) I did my usual thing of watching it until the last few seconds and then putting in my max bid and once again it worked I paid a whole £225 for this. I've already got a replacement pump for it and I'll sort it this weekend. I have other plans for the car in a few months but it will just be my daily until then. Excuse the crappy pics. They're the ones from the eBay advert.

Always wanted a 325 or 328 E36 but can never find one within thread budget that isn't full of holes or completely fubar.

[Sammo123]

Emeye said:

Always wanted a 325 or 328 E36 but can never find one within thread budget that isn't full of holes or completely fubar.

I had a 328i Coupe for a couple of months last year. Lovely car to drive and brilliant engine! It was a bit crusty though so ended up getting broken for spares. This Touring is nice and solid plus I needed it to be a 318i because of my previously mentioned plans for the car.

[SimonTheSailor]

Couple of dents but could be a cheap load lugger for somebody -

http://www.friday-ad.co.uk/pulborough/cars/volvo-v...

[V8mate]

Sammo123 said:

I've been keeping an eye out for another E36 Touring after getting rid of mine about 18 months ago. They all seem to be going for good money and I had figured I wasn't going to find one within my budget. Then this popped up on an eBay search.

1996 318i SE Touring. 134,000 miles and needs a water pump (the bearings hanging out of the old one!)

I hope it doesn't need a new head gasket too.

[SimonTheSailor]

This would be a comfy car to cruise around in I think with lots of toys.......

https://www.gumtree.com/p/honda/honda-accord-exec-...

Not too sure what the 'drive-by' photos are all about though !!

[NR91]

Hi, was wondering what thoughts barge experts have on this car? I'm currently running a Honda S2000 but have a 55 mile daily commute which I'd prefer to have a comfy polar-opposite car to load the miles on to. I went to see it today, seemed a bit tatty but drove smoothly with no obvious problems. It has been serviced annually with all the receipts - what concerns me is some of the services cost its previous owner over £600 (one was for over £1000!). It also seems to pick up a fair few advisories (although most are light related) on the MOT and has bald front tyres. Is this just a massive bill waiting to happen? The seats were so unbelievably comfortable, it was hard to not be swayed!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[Hoofy]

NR91 said:

Hi, was wondering what thoughts barge experts have on this car? I'm currently running a Honda S2000 but have a 55 mile daily commute which I'd prefer to have a comfy polar-opposite car to load the miles on to. I went to see it today, seemed a bit tatty but drove smoothly with no obvious problems. It has been serviced annually with all the receipts - what concerns me is some of the services cost its previous owner over £600 (one was for over £1000!). It also seems to pick up a fair few advisories (although most are light related) on the MOT and has bald front tyres. Is this just a massive bill waiting to happen? The seats were so unbelievably comfortable, it was hard to not be swayed!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

£200 admin charge? fkers.

Did it change smoothly between gears? Auto Volvos of that age had problematic gearboxes. That said, mine's been like this for over a year now and I'm not that bothered. Requires a bit of a change in driving style but otherwise it's fine/safe.

[Toaster Pilot]

£200 admin charge on a £995 car from a back street dealer?

fk off!

Just doesn't want to pay the higher listing fee on autotrader to put it up at £1195 obviously

[NR91]

Hoofy said:

£200 admin charge? fkers.

Did it change smoothly between gears? Auto Volvos of that age had problematic gearboxes. That said, mine's been like this for over a year now and I'm not that bothered. Requires a bit of a change in driving style but otherwise it's fine/safe.

I didn't notice anything untoward about the gearbox although I hear the manual is more desirable. As long as the car works for a year I really don't mind!

And yes their 'admin fee' is complete and utter bks but no chance am I paying full asking price.

Edited by NR91 on Tuesday 29th March 22:42

[Xaero]

At that price, I wouldn't worry about big bills, just scrap it and buy another if the worst happens. I had an S60, it was a 2.0T petrol that I got for £790. Great seats and stereo make a great cruiser. I got rid of mine because my commute increased so didn't want a petrol one as it would get too costly in fuel. I traded it in for £500. The dashboard went (something to do with using lead free solder and it going brittle), and the battery was on its way out. But otherwise they are fine cars for bargain money.

[Sam.]

MontyC said:

CX53 said:

MontyC said:

Picked up this Mazda 323 last night with MOT until August for £40

That's very cheap! First impressions?

Tatty inside, front brake pads are low but its usable and drives ok, to be honest for the price it was I didn't really look that hard as I only brought it to park in front of a garage.

Had the V6 version of this. was a hoot to drive. The window gaps were terrible and loads of road noise.

Eventually the clutch pedal snapped off due to very thin metal being used to mount it. Drove it for about 2 months like this before it met its match and became a cube

[Hoofy]

NR91 said:

Hoofy said:

£200 admin charge? fkers.

Did it change smoothly between gears? Auto Volvos of that age had problematic gearboxes. That said, mine's been like this for over a year now and I'm not that bothered. Requires a bit of a change in driving style but otherwise it's fine/safe.

I didn't notice anything untoward about the gearbox although I hear the manual is more desirable. As long as the car works for a year I really don't mind!

And yes their 'admin fee' is complete and utter bks but no chance am I paying full asking price.

Edited by NR91 on Tuesday 29th March 22:42

Not sure if having a manual gearbox on a £1k car is more "desirable" or not! If it works and gets you from A to B without any fuss, then go for it.

[stevesuk]

This Mercedes SLK 320 with only 45k miles on the clock popped up in my Autotrader saved search this morning. Previously Cat D, and a few issues need sorting, but this appears to be a mere £100 haggle away from thread budget?



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Replacing the damaged rear lamp cluster and wing mirror seems to require a fairly cheap shopping spree on eBay. SRS light might just need resetting (but could equally be ruinous of course).

But if you could sort the issues cheaply, it's almost time for some summer cruising I'd be half tempted to go and have a look if I needed a fun car and two seats was enough.

[SimonTheSailor]

Do you know roughly where the car is located ?

[stevesuk]

SimonTheSailor said:

Do you know roughly where the car is located ?

Somewhere within 12 miles of Poole, Dorset.

Edit: dialling code suggests Ringwood in Hampshire (southern edge of the New Forest)

[Toaster Pilot]

stevesuk said:

This Mercedes SLK 320 with only 45k miles on the clock popped up in my Autotrader saved search this morning. Previously Cat D, and a few issues need sorting, but this appears to be a mere £100 haggle away from thread budget?



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Replacing the damaged rear lamp cluster and wing mirror seems to require a fairly cheap shopping spree on eBay. SRS light might just need resetting (but could equally be ruinous of course).

But if you could sort the issues cheaply, it's almost time for some summer cruising I'd be half tempted to go and have a look if I needed a fun car and two seats was enough.

Cat D - check
Excuse as to why it's being sold - check
Obvious driveway trader advert - check

The run away rating is high!!

[stevesuk]

Toaster Pilot said:

Cat D - check
Excuse as to why it's being sold - check
Obvious driveway trader advert - check

The run away rating is high!!

yes, you'd certainly have to go in with your eyes wide open, but it does look quite appealing

[Matt_N]

The Spruce goose said:

Save Ferris said:

Bought this yesterday:

Been after one for a few years now, 2001 Y-reg with virtually a full service history & one lady owner!

Had one for 5 months. The only problem is the cabin is dated as it is based on an older design maybe 10 years earlier, and felt a bit old before its time.

The car handled very good thou and the engine is a peach, mine had a proper boy racer exhaust on it. They are supposed to make great track day cars. I think I paid about 500 quid for mine, FSH 65k about 3 years ago.

I had what the Satria is based on - a 1993 Colt Gti as a track car for a few years, with decent suspension, LSD and some exhaust mods it was a real hoot, thread here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Hoofy]

Toaster Pilot said:

Obvious driveway trader advert - check

How can you tell? Apart from the all caps?