Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2
Discussion
320touring said:
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 effortI'll fill in other details tomorrow if anyone is interested?
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!
phil_cardiff said:
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.
I thought the site took care of the resizing if you use the Upload an image (beta) option - how long has that been beta for?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.
phil_cardiff said:
How do I do this? I probably won't as I'm already quids in but it'd be good to know.
Thread for my octavia is here- should be able to root out what is neededhttp://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
320touring said:
Thread for my octavia is here- should be able to root out what is needed
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Ah. I thought you meant biodiesel. If I was caught evading fuel duty then I'd probably lose my job. Tesco's finest diesel it is then. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Emeye said:
I thought the site took care of the resizing if you use the Upload an image (beta) option - how long has that been beta for?
Sadly that doesn't work for me. Just says image is too big to upload.Anyway, anyone know how much the Passat is worth with a new MOT?
Tomorrow I shall be cleaning the interior thoroughly so that I don't catch SARS.
phil_cardiff said:
Ah. I thought you meant biodiesel. If I was caught evading fuel duty then I'd probably lose my job. Tesco's finest diesel it is then.
rules changed in 2007- allowed up to 2500L per year before requiring to pay fuel duty!more details here
http://www.vegoilmotoring.com/eng/legal-stuff
phil_cardiff said:
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.
Thanks, I take my hat off to you, this is wonderfulI 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.
I arrived early for my optician appointment today so went browsing in a wonderful boutique called Poundland.
Knowing I was going to clean the interior tomorrow and that I couldn't borrow a wet vax like I normally do I purchased something called 'instant valet' in a can. For a pound, funnily enough.
Apparently you spray it on the interior, wipe it with a damp cloth and hoover off when dry. I have my doubts of its effectiveness but it wasn't worth spending any more on the £50 jalopy.
Knowing I was going to clean the interior tomorrow and that I couldn't borrow a wet vax like I normally do I purchased something called 'instant valet' in a can. For a pound, funnily enough.
Apparently you spray it on the interior, wipe it with a damp cloth and hoover off when dry. I have my doubts of its effectiveness but it wasn't worth spending any more on the £50 jalopy.
Also just looked at the tyres. The offside has 2 bridgestones. This is good. The nearside has a chinese no name and a Verdestein winter tyre! I think it's fair to say that I won't be exploring the handling limits on this car!
Unfortunately the 2 tyres close to the limit are the Bridgestones. I should replace all 4 and tackle the rusty tailgate but that's probably not in the interest of shedding is it?
Unfortunately the 2 tyres close to the limit are the Bridgestones. I should replace all 4 and tackle the rusty tailgate but that's probably not in the interest of shedding is it?
phil_cardiff said:
Also just looked at the tyres. The offside has 2 bridgestones. This is good. The nearside has a chinese no name and a Verdestein winter tyre! I think it's fair to say that I won't be exploring the handling limits on this car!
Unfortunately the 2 tyres close to the limit are the Bridgestones. I should replace all 4 and tackle the rusty tailgate but that's probably not in the interest of shedding is it?
Buy 4 wheels with tyres from a facebook page for sub £100 as a cheap way to get tyres for a shed.Unfortunately the 2 tyres close to the limit are the Bridgestones. I should replace all 4 and tackle the rusty tailgate but that's probably not in the interest of shedding is it?
stevesuk said:
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.You may be able to prevent the drain by turning the fan control fully off (keep pressing the fan speed down button until the lights go out) each time you park.
In the meantime, as BigTom says, the wires in the rubber bit between boot and body will need looking at to sort out (possibly pre-emptively) all the weird and wonderful lights/central locking issues.
stevesuk said:
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.
h to change!It's actually pretty easy once you've got the right tool 
If you're in South Wales, you're welcome to borrow mine
T20 torx driver from Halfrods, cut off just above the 3 green blobs on the handle (maybe double check it IS a T20, with the bottom bolt, before getting the hacksaw working!)
If you're in South Wales, you're welcome to borrow mine
T20 torx driver from Halfrods, cut off just above the 3 green blobs on the handle (maybe double check it IS a T20, with the bottom bolt, before getting the hacksaw working!)
Edited by defblade on Saturday 7th May 16:11
defblade said:
It's actually pretty easy once you've got the right tool
If you're in South Wales, you're welcome to borrow mine
If you're in South Wales, you're welcome to borrow mine
Thanks, but we're in Central Scotland
We've ordered up the part plus a new idle control valve as that's faulty too. Apart from that it seems OK. A good wash and polish has it looking good. Pics tomorrow!
Sales pitch:
Watch this... (and no, I don't care if you don't use FB)
https://www.facebook.com/turboandstance/videos/165...
And then buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301948377602
Watch this... (and no, I don't care if you don't use FB)
https://www.facebook.com/turboandstance/videos/165...
And then buy this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301948377602
matchmaker said:
Thanks, but we're in Central Scotland
We've ordered up the part plus a new idle control valve as that's faulty too. Apart from that it seems OK. A good wash and polish has it looking good. Pics tomorrow!
Here's an article from a UK BMW magazine showing how to change it:We've ordered up the part plus a new idle control valve as that's faulty too. Apart from that it seems OK. A good wash and polish has it looking good. Pics tomorrow!
http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk/pdfs/e46-hedgehog.pdf
Good luck, and do expect a bit of contortion and swearing
looks clean, need more info thou.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-SAAB-9-5-AERO-BLUE-...
2002 SAAB 9-5 AERO BLUE
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-SAAB-9-5-AERO-BLUE-...
2002 SAAB 9-5 AERO BLUE
stevesuk said:
matchmaker said:
Thanks, but we're in Central Scotland
We've ordered up the part plus a new idle control valve as that's faulty too. Apart from that it seems OK. A good wash and polish has it looking good. Pics tomorrow!
Here's an article from a UK BMW magazine showing how to change it:We've ordered up the part plus a new idle control valve as that's faulty too. Apart from that it seems OK. A good wash and polish has it looking good. Pics tomorrow!
http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk/pdfs/e46-hedgehog.pdf
Good luck, and do expect a bit of contortion and swearing
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