I just Love my banger..

[kurwa]

Mine's a 2004 jazz with a scruffy rear bumper for £500 (hence the price) with fresh mot, quite some time ago.

-still returns 50mpg from a petrol engine that just needs some cheapest oil I can get £12 (4litres) every now and than, I'm not sure if it needs it actually but It makes me feel better about doing something to it.
-have never visited a service with it since I have had it in 4years, have changed few consumables on it however (brakes pads on driveway in a couple of minutes which cost me £16 to do) has passed all it's MOT's first time with 0 advisories for it's lifetime.
-cheap tax/insurance

-I left it 3weeks in a busy parking lot while I was on holiday a month ago, somehow when I returned I realized I hadn't locked it, it wasn't touched..
-when I park it somewhere I don't even bother closing the sunroof as I know no1 will probably touch it, if someone does, oh well..
-it's GREAT for converting in a van in just instant, can cary loads of stuff in it,and has loads of passanger space for a small car.

-You can just get in that thing, and you are in instant comfort (or at least out of the rain) , with great visibility all around and it's sooo easy to drive, no fancy designs,no fancy systems anywhere which can go wrong.
-People think you are poor, and cut you some slack all the time because they see you are driving such a car. Can't really overcharge someone driving an old jazz, When I take my company car/wifes car it's totally the opposite.
-if anything happens to it, it's a car that is worth 1-2months of lease payment on a new car.

I have been lured in to showrooms to go check some new cars, but when I look at all the brand new cars that will cost me £4-£5k a year in deprecation, or £3k a year lease costs and will need £200 dealer oil changes and I will need to watch how many miles I can do with it and worry everytime when I leave it in carpark I'm just happy I have it!

[Oilchange]

Motoring doesn't have to be financially crippling, some might sneer as they drive by having spent £x000's on a dealer service but who's the clever one?

[benjijames28]

If anything went wrong with my Audi, say the timing chain failed and suddenly it needs a new engine, I think I would end up with something like an old banger Honda of some sort, maybe a jazz. Just to get me by reliably for a few years.

I can see why you would enjoy driving something u don't need to care about.

Get a good runner for 600 quid, wack on a set of winter tyres and you got a brilliant little winter car or tip run car, with cheap tax and insurance.

I can defo see the appeal.

[Jaguar steve]

Mine's a battered and scratched 14 year old Berlingo diesel with 125k on the clock. I love it to bits as it fits perfectly with the philosophy of cars making excellent servants but terrible masters and proves once again how incredibly liberating owning a car you don't really care about and just using it as a tool to do a job with really is.

[vikingaero]

When I drive my £495 Daihatsu Charade Shed I feel the same. It's a sense of getting maximum use out of a vehicle rather than the constant churn of leasing a new car. I wonder how many leasers work for green/eco companies or claim they are green with their blueecotecactivefficient cars? I like driving the Shed as fast as I drive the MINI/520 but have the added bonus of 40mpg minimum.

With the MINI/520 I park defensively to preserve the paintwork. With the Shed it fits anywhere, even if someone has parked badly it will still fit in as it is so narrow. On one of my commutes it's the fastest car on the country roads as you never have to stop - fat RRS, Cayenenes and Qashqais probably stop 20-30 times along my route yet I can safely pass all oncoming traffic.

[cjs racing.]

Mine is an 04 Octavia estate, that cost £300 a few months ago.

She looks rough, but that's how I like it, as I'm not bothered when it's used for tip runs, parked in supermarket car parks, etc...

[SpeedMattersNot]

2002 Honda Civic 1.6. Surprisingly rewarding to drive and around 10 seconds 0-60, so down the b-roads it's plenty. Not caring about the bodywork is a joy...

[FN2TypeR]

Jaguar steve said:

Mine's a battered and scratched 14 year old Berlingo diesel with 125k on the clock. I love it to bits as it fits perfectly with the philosophy of cars making excellent servants but terrible masters and proves once again how incredibly liberating owning a car you don't really care about and just using it as a tool to do a job with really is.

I had a Citroen Saxo in my yoof days, a 1.0 or a 1.1, I can't remember, either way it was cheap, it looked a bit rough around the edges, truly slow and it had zero luxuries - wind down windows mercy me, and yet it was totally brilliant, you could load it up to the knackers, treat it like dirt, park it anywhere without fear of it being dinged or keyed and it never once caused me an ounce of trouble.

There is a lot to be said for cheap, crap cars IMO.

Edited by FN2TypeR on Sunday 2nd October 07:35

[SidewaysSi]

And I would say simpler, older, lighter cars are more fun to drive than the moseen stuff too..

[Jaguar steve]

FN2TypeR said:

Jaguar steve said:

Mine's a battered and scratched 14 year old Berlingo diesel with 125k on the clock. I love it to bits as it fits perfectly with the philosophy of cars making excellent servants but terrible masters and proves once again how incredibly liberating owning a car you don't really care about and just using it as a tool to do a job with really is.

I had a Citroen Saxo in my yoof days, a 1.0 or a 1.1, I can't remember, either way it was cheap, it looked a bit rough around the edges, truly slow and it had zero luxuries - wind down windows mercy me, and yet it was totally brilliant, you could load it up to the knackers, treat it like dirt, park it anywhere without fear of it being dinged or keyed and it never once caused me an ounce of trouble.

There is a lot to be said for cheap, crap cars IMO.

Edited by FN2TypeR on Sunday 2nd October 07:35

I wouldn't call mine a crap car though - far from it - it's actually a bloody brilliant car. Quite apart from the not giving a toss aspect in many day to day relevant ways my Berlingo is actually a much better car than my XJ8. It's more comfortable, will go at least twice twice the distance on a litre of fuel and carry four times as much stuff in the back. Most of the time that's all I need.

[wiliferus]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[eltax91]

I have to do 30k+ miles a year for work, so I've gone for 'semi-shed' territory.

I've an 08 plate 2.4 accord at the minute sat on 130k miles. I'm a total convert to jap cars having been in cheap German metal (skoda!) for a while, I swapped when the Germans got complicated with their dpf's etc.

This thing is just brilliant, comfy, poke when I need it and massively reliable. I managed to reverse the Honda into a pillar in a multi story last week and I'm just 'meh' about it. I'll replace the chipped light cluster as don't want it letting water in, but the scratch will stay, it's patina.

This one is getting kept to 200k plus unless work complain the car allowance dictates an upgrade!!

[w00tman]

Mine's an 08 Skoda Fabia - just ticked over to 19,000 miles - two previous owners, 1 a chap who used it to do the supermarket shop once a week, and then my dad who unfortunately died without really getting much use out of it. He gave it to me before he died at c.14,000 miles, and it's had a nice life a second car as I had a leased golf.

Golf has gone now. Also gone is the paranoia around where it was parked, was it locked, what if someone key's the bloody thing (happened twice sadly in train station car parks) etc etc. Replaced is a sense of "who cares". Someone has scratched it? who cares. Someone parked too close for my liking? who cares.

I'm treating it to 4 new premium tyres today, plus teaching my eldest daughter (16 soon, so soon approaching lesson-age) about checking tyre depth, pressure, and consumables/fluids - on the basis that this will be her car when she is old enough. At a mighty 60ish BHP, it's probably not going cause her death too, which is an added bonus.

I will over the next 12 months add a weekend-car to the household, but for day to day needs? brilliant little thing.

[skinnyman]

I used to have a £150 VW Polo. I ran it for a year, then my uncle ran it for a year, then I had it back for 6mths. Never failed an MOT in that time. It was however the old 1.3 carb model, which weren't set up properly, so it did around 25 mpg, and regularly dropped a cylinder on cold mornings, bit that was all part of the fun.

[daemon]

A lot of these posts are all very well, but why such dull cars and yet be on a motoring enthusiasts forum?

i've played around with some cheapie cars and / or cars that shouldnt depreciate

This past year i've had :-

A 1998 VW Caddy van, fitted with a 2.8 VR6 Golf engine
A track modded but road legal Clio 172
Clio 197
Jag X Type
Mercedes C350 coupe
Mercedes C320 saloon
And current an MG ZT 2.5 V6

And before that various Jag v6 petrols, petrol BMWs, etc.

£500 car buy you something like a Ford Puma 1.7 which are a hoot and with a £1,000 in your pocket, the worlds your lobster.

[TurboHatchback]

This is my banger, I rather like it. 3.0l 210bhp V6, manual box, comfy leather interior, cruise control, all for £600.



There is a joy to not caring if it gets dented or whether it's perfect, takes much of the stress out of keeping a car.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

kurwa said:

-People think you are poor, and cut you some slack all the time because they see you are driving such a car.

This is the best thing. There's a major trend in the modern world to want to show everybody how well you're doing. I'm the exact opposite. I've spend years convincing everyone I'm much worse off than I am.

[anonymous-user]

benjijames28 said:

If anything went wrong with my Audi, say the timing chain failed and suddenly it needs a new engine, I think I would end up with something like an old banger Honda of some sort, maybe a jazz. Just to get me by reliably for a few years.

I can see why you would enjoy driving something u don't need to care about.

Get a good runner for 600 quid, wack on a set of winter tyres and you got a brilliant little winter car or tip run car, with cheap tax and insurance.

I can defo see the appeal.

My timing chain went on my A6 and I've been driving around in an E240 for 2 months now while it's stuck in the main dealer

[anonymous-user]

daemon said:

A lot of these posts are all very well, but why such dull cars and yet be on a motoring enthusiasts forum?

i've played around with some cheapie cars and / or cars that shouldnt depreciate

This past year i've had :-

A 1998 VW Caddy van, fitted with a 2.8 VR6 Golf engine
A track modded but road legal Clio 172
Clio 197
Jag X Type
Mercedes C350 coupe
Mercedes C320 saloon
And current an MG ZT 2.5 V6

And before that various Jag v6 petrols, petrol BMWs, etc.

£500 car buy you something like a Ford Puma 1.7 which are a hoot and with a £1,000 in your pocket, the worlds your lobster.

I stopped having sheds last year.. I spent $$$ on some of them.


I too had a Jaguar X Type, bargain! Along with
- BMW 330i M Sport (£4000 in February 09)
- Volvo S70 (£400 in August 2006)
- BMW 535i (£4000 in September 2007), came with all sorts of goodies like genuine AC Schnitzer wheels, boot spoiler, Hella facelift lights front and back, gearbox gone so rotting away in my drive
- Saab 93 Turbo (£350 in May 2014) I didnt like it

Etc etc..

[Hoofy]

TurboHatchback said:

This is my banger, I rather like it. 3.0l 210bhp V6, manual box, comfy leather interior, cruise control, all for £600.



There is a joy to not caring if it gets dented or whether it's perfect, takes much of the stress out of keeping a car.

Nice! And I agree with your sentiment. When you come back to your car to find another small dink or scrape from an inconsiderate tt you sigh in relief that you didn't buy something expensive and worth cherishing.