My £500 snotter challenge....a few observations.
Discussion
Having recently sold my decent car to a colleague, for a bit of a laugh i've decided to replace it (for the time being) with the finest motor that £500 can buy. Worth it alone for the look on the wifes face when confronted by a rotbox.
Trawling through all the Ebay adverts, there seems to be a few common themes when it comes to common faults and their supposed diagnosis.
EML light on - Needs new Lambda sensor for £30
ABS light on - Probably needs a wheel sensor cleaned
Airbag light on - Always caused by hoovering under the seat and just needs the light resetting
Misfire - Needs a new coil pack
Plus the myriad of Ford Focus / Mondeo TDCI's with running issues which merely require an injector recoded!
And let not forget the many adverts where dealers sell cars as 'sold as seen' as they never had time to test them ...not because they're terminally shafted!
Do people really still fall for this.....do any real bargains still exist?
Trawling through all the Ebay adverts, there seems to be a few common themes when it comes to common faults and their supposed diagnosis.
EML light on - Needs new Lambda sensor for £30
ABS light on - Probably needs a wheel sensor cleaned
Airbag light on - Always caused by hoovering under the seat and just needs the light resetting
Misfire - Needs a new coil pack
Plus the myriad of Ford Focus / Mondeo TDCI's with running issues which merely require an injector recoded!
And let not forget the many adverts where dealers sell cars as 'sold as seen' as they never had time to test them ...not because they're terminally shafted!
Do people really still fall for this.....do any real bargains still exist?
2 weeks ago on Monday I bought a diesel 306 estate for not much more than £500. 79k and everything works, bar one electric mirror. I'm amazed
There are good cheap cars out there.
eta: forgot to say, it had been MOT'd on the day I bought it and it has 10 months tax.
There are good cheap cars out there.
eta: forgot to say, it had been MOT'd on the day I bought it and it has 10 months tax.
Edited by The Nur on Saturday 12th July 21:38
I bought a shed 14 months ago for £500 as I needed something to take a load of rubbish to the tip instead of 10 skips. Ended up buying an 8 seater Citroen Synergie and taking out 6 of the seats to make it into a spacious skip car. It came with 12 months mot and had 180,000 miles on the clock. Nothing has gone wrong with it and I have spent £0 on it apart from petrol and cheap insurance and tax. 2 months ago I renewed the mot at a cost of £50.
Cheaper snotters do exist if you think outside the box a little for something no one else wants.
Cheaper snotters do exist if you think outside the box a little for something no one else wants.
littlebasher said:
Having recently sold my decent car to a colleague, for a bit of a laugh i've decided to replace it (for the time being) with the finest motor that £500 can buy. Worth it alone for the look on the wifes face when confronted by a rotbox.
Trawling through all the Ebay adverts, there seems to be a few common themes when it comes to common faults and their supposed diagnosis.
EML light on - Needs new Lambda sensor for £30
ABS light on - Probably needs a wheel sensor cleaned
Airbag light on - Always caused by hoovering under the seat and just needs the light resetting
Misfire - Needs a new coil pack
Plus the myriad of Ford Focus / Mondeo TDCI's with running issues which merely require an injector recoded!
And let not forget the many adverts where dealers sell cars as 'sold as seen' as they never had time to test them ...not because they're terminally shafted!
Do people really still fall for this.....do any real bargains still exist?
"MOT just expired but i dont think it will need much" = "mechanic checked it over and told me its a basket case"Trawling through all the Ebay adverts, there seems to be a few common themes when it comes to common faults and their supposed diagnosis.
EML light on - Needs new Lambda sensor for £30
ABS light on - Probably needs a wheel sensor cleaned
Airbag light on - Always caused by hoovering under the seat and just needs the light resetting
Misfire - Needs a new coil pack
Plus the myriad of Ford Focus / Mondeo TDCI's with running issues which merely require an injector recoded!
And let not forget the many adverts where dealers sell cars as 'sold as seen' as they never had time to test them ...not because they're terminally shafted!
Do people really still fall for this.....do any real bargains still exist?
backwoodsman said:
I bought a £200 Focus, that I was told needed a coil pack.
Guess how I fixed it, I put a coil pack on it, sometimes (just sometimes) the advert is truthfully written.
I bought a £250 Mk3 Mondeo that 'just needs a coil pack'. Turned out to only need new plugs, colour me happy.Guess how I fixed it, I put a coil pack on it, sometimes (just sometimes) the advert is truthfully written.
Seen a couple today "using water but i havent had time to look at it" = "head gasket (or worse) knackered and i've nursed it for as long as i dare".
Saw this one on a £2,850 2004 Skoda "crunches into first gear but never really bothered me" = "needs a gearbox but i'm asking full price for it anyway"
Saw this one on a £2,850 2004 Skoda "crunches into first gear but never really bothered me" = "needs a gearbox but i'm asking full price for it anyway"
C. Grimsley said:
When you buy stters you also buy there problems, hence they are £500, no?
Carl
Not necessarily.Carl
There are quite a few cars out there with no significant faults at that price point, and as has been said its the "sounds like a major problem", but played down as a "probably only needs a few pounds spent to fix"
The Spruce goose said:
having had my fair share of cheap cars i wouldn't buy one again, spend as must as you can and get one with everything done, 500 will get you 1 in 100 decent car the rest will be horse st.
Yup. The trick is to weedle out 90 of them before you start, then you'll probably still have to look at 10 to find one thats viable.Once you've read a few adverts you can spot the driveway traders masquarading as private sellers - these are the guys most likely to hid and / or doctor faults at this price. Look for a car with a full year / close to a full years MOT and being sold by the owner. Also, dont look for a specific car, buy on condition.
Good candidates at this price point are stuff like Mondeos and Laguna petrols. Mostly unloved so can be bought as cheap as chips.
Focus petrol is also a good buy but at this price point the back arches are going to be crusty.
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