Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

[Challo]

Dont forget at under £500 your getting close to cars that are being sold as spares/repair. There will always be exceptions and often you can get bargins but can you not up your budget by a few hundred? Plenty more options.

I'll be looking for a shed come feb/mar and i checked last night and under £1000 there seemed to be tons of options.

[V8RX7]

The Spruce goose said:

all bases are covered, Facebook..

How do you find cars on Facebook ?

[Hoofy]

V8RX7 said:

The Spruce goose said:

all bases are covered, Facebook..

How do you find cars on Facebook ?

Local (car) sales groups.

[Hoofy]

The Spruce goose said:

Hoofy said:

Get on Gumtree.

all bases are covered, Facebook, Gumtree, Ebay, forums etc, but seems a dearth of suitable cars presently.

Widen your area or simply wait. The gems do come along. Depends how desperate you are to get hold of one at that price.

[V8RX7]

Hoofy said:

V8RX7 said:

The Spruce goose said:

all bases are covered, Facebook..

How do you find cars on Facebook ?

Local (car) sales groups.

But how do you find them ?

If I type in "cars for sale" it starts with groups in Iowa

Is there a "directory" or a way of grouping / sorting them ?

[MikeT66]

Slow said:

Done some internet stalking on my Mercedes which I wont see untill the new year.

Found its Vin by using its numberplate to enquire about a service with mercedes themselves.

Then used this to find its spec list. Anyone know what the bits in bold are?

- PARKTRONIC SYSTEM (PTS)
- INSIDE AND OUTSIDE MIRROR AUTOMATIC DIMMING
- MEMORY PACKAGE (DRIVER SEAT, STRG. COL., MIRROR)
- COMAND
- DELUXE FRONT SEATS WITH VENTILATION AND HEATING CO
- MULTI-CONTOUR SEAT, FRONT LEFT
- ELECTRIC TILT/SLIDE SUNROOF IN GLASS VERSION
- INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND
- ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM
- HEAT INSULATING+IR REFLECTG.SAFETY GLASS ALL-ROUND
- HEADLAMPS - CLEANING EQUIPMENT
- XENON HEADLAMPS, LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC
- LIGHT ALLOY 5-HOLE SPOKED WHEEL 8X18
- PACKAGING FOR SHIPPING VEHICLES W/ TIE-DOWN HOOKS
- HIGH-CAPACITY BATTERY
- WOOD TRIM BURRED WALNUT ROOT
- [113.9] - 19970516 - AEJ 06/1/M/X
- [220] - 19961211 -
- [722.6] - 19980310 -
- CD CHANGER
- INVALID/GREAT BRITAIN,ADDITIONAL PARTS
- HEATED SCREEN WASH SYSTEM
- INTERIOR SAFEGUARD
- POWER CLOSING SYSTEM
- KEYLESS - GO
- COC DOC., DELETION OF VEHICLE REGISTRATION DOC.
- LEATHER
- BRILLIANT SILVER METALLIC
- LEATHER BLACK
- V8-GASOLINE ENGINE M113

Eitherway I seem to have xenons, heated + cooled seats, double glazing, a v8 and keyless go for £750. I love the uk car market.

- [113.9] - 19970516 - AEJ 06/1/M/X is the Engine Type/part of Serial Number
and
- [722.6] - 19980310 - is the Transmission type and part of the Serial Number.

[Hugo a Gogo]

coc doc sounds interesting

[Hoofy]

V8RX7 said:

But how do you find them ?

If I type in "cars for sale" it starts with groups in Iowa

Is there a "directory" or a way of grouping / sorting them ?

Try "car sale London" and see how you get on.

[PoleDriver]

Hoofy said:

ChemicalChaos said:

Given the rep of elderly Binis for trouble, anyone feeling brave with this "doesn't turn over after battery swap" job? :P

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172479013335

What might be wrong with it then?

I've had cars with dead batteries before which wouldn't allow enough voltage/current from a jump start but when a new battery was fitted started and ran perfectly well!

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Challo said:

Dont forget at under £500 your getting close to cars that are being sold as spares/repair. There will always be exceptions and often you can get bargins but can you not up your budget by a few hundred? Plenty more options.

I'll be looking for a shed come feb/mar and i checked last night and under £1000 there seemed to be tons of options.

You can buy a very nice Rover 200/400 for that sort of money. Often been driven by a older gentleman, so not ragged and reasonably well serviced.

Contrary to some of the blowhards on here, they are very tough and very well designed. It can be argued they are the design pinnacle of the successful Rover/Honda partnership, that initially saw Honda's rolling off the Longbridge production lines.
Find one with height adjustable drivers seat and the cockpit suits any one between 5' and 6'1". The deep windscreen and low bonnet line is especially suited to the smaller driver. The ergonomics of the cockpit are worthy of a design award on there own. I always park my wallet on the shelf in the dashboard as soon as I get in. A clear sight of all the instrumentation with everything falling readily to hand.

The Honda D16 is a beautifully willing engine with a flat torque curve. The early wet liner K Series is far more reliable engine than the later 1800 engines stuck into a Freelander. Keep the coolant fresh and every things fine.

A 1398 cc K16 MPI will return over 50 mpg at a constant 56 MPH. The later 1995 cars had a uprated gearbox.

[Hoofy]

PoleDriver said:

Hoofy said:

ChemicalChaos said:

Given the rep of elderly Binis for trouble, anyone feeling brave with this "doesn't turn over after battery swap" job? :P

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172479013335

What might be wrong with it then?

I've had cars with dead batteries before which wouldn't allow enough voltage/current from a jump start but when a new battery was fitted started and ran perfectly well!

Oh yes, very good point. Read the detail, he doesn't swap the battery, he tries a jump start. Could be a bargain?

Edited by Hoofy on Wednesday 11th January 15:50

[V8RX7]

Hoofy said:

V8RX7 said:

But how do you find them ?

If I type in "cars for sale" it starts with groups in Iowa

Is there a "directory" or a way of grouping / sorting them ?

Try "car sale London" and see how you get on.

I've stumbled onto this group

PRE 1996 RETRO CARS AND PARTS FOR SALE UK

Which has some interesting cars in it.

[Hoofy]

V8RX7 said:

Hoofy said:

V8RX7 said:

But how do you find them ?

If I type in "cars for sale" it starts with groups in Iowa

Is there a "directory" or a way of grouping / sorting them ?

Try "car sale London" and see how you get on.

I've stumbled onto this group

PRE 1996 RETRO CARS AND PARTS FOR SALE UK

Which has some interesting cars in it.

Not sure what's so difficult about finding a group. I checked your profile, then googled facebook car sales coventry.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapcarscoventry/

[n3il123]

The Spruce goose said:

looking for something for my mum, under 500 quid, cheap to run, reliable 30mpg+ and used for shorter journeys, any ideas.

Shame you're a bit further away, I've got a W plate Astra that needs going, Mot until May (no reason it wouldn't pass another) been using it for work (70 miles a day) until Decemeber when I got an A5 (tbh i'm tempted to sell the AUdi and keep the Astra!)

[V8RX7]

Hoofy said:

V8RX7 said:

Hoofy said:

V8RX7 said:

But how do you find them ?

If I type in "cars for sale" it starts with groups in Iowa

Is there a "directory" or a way of grouping / sorting them ?

Try "car sale London" and see how you get on.

I've stumbled onto this group

PRE 1996 RETRO CARS AND PARTS FOR SALE UK

Which has some interesting cars in it.

Not sure what's so difficult about finding a group. I checked your profile, then googled facebook car sales coventry.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheapcarscoventry/

Who wants cheap cars from Coventry ?

Retro, Modified, Japanese would probably cover the majority of my cars I'll happily travel 100 miles - more for a specific car.

Unlike AT, Ebay, PH I can't even find the cars, let alone search through them in any meaningful way by price, location etc

[Hoofy]

V8RX7 said:

Who wants cheap cars from Coventry ?

Retro, Modified, Japanese would probably cover the majority of my cars I'll happily travel 100 miles - more for a specific car.

Unlike AT, Ebay, PH I can't even find the cars, let alone search through them in any meaningful way by price, location etc

I thought you were after a £500 shed.

[Toaster Pilot]

I've got a mk6 Fiesta on an 04 plate I'll take £350 for if anyone's keen - 82k miles and a recent cambelt. Has an occasional misfire (suspect core plugs or leaking washer jets) and a leaking rocker cover gasket though. 1.4 petrol, May MOT

[martynr]

I now who sells Honda Accord Coupe on fleabay at a measly sum of 450 in the West Midlands

[Hoofy]

martynr said:

I now who sells Honda Accord Coupe on fleabay at a measly sum of 450 in the West Midlands

The price sounds right but I think he is looking for a 600bhp R32 GTR with a full year's MOT.

[TonyRPH]

martynr said:

I now who sells Honda Accord Coupe on fleabay at a measly sum of 450 in the West Midlands

I guess it must be one like this?

They are nice cars.