I just Love my banger..

[Swanny87]

It's bliss isn't it? I've bought a 300,000 k, 800 quid, MY2000 Mitsubishi Magna out here in Oz (yes cars are ridiculously expensive out here) that I just don't give a st about. We went camping at the weekend and just cooked with the gas stove on the bonnet...

3.5 V6, cruise control, 'air conditioning' and an awesome stereo. Although it's got wind up windows which is funny seeing as it's in 'executive' trim.

[Speed addicted]

I have a Berlingo for the nasty jobs that I won't use my BMW 645 for, like dump runs and taking the dog places.
As its been said before it's very liberating having a car you don't really care about. I can park the Berlingo anywhere and not worry when it's array of parking dents becomes ever larger.

I'm currently thinking about upgrading it to a Honda CR-V, mainly because I'd like a bit more comfort and winter grip. And I've had it a while...

[Hoofy]

Swanny87 said:

It's bliss isn't it? I've bought a 300,000 k, 800 quid, MY2000 Mitsubishi Magna out here in Oz (yes cars are ridiculously expensive out here) that I just don't give a st about. We went camping at the weekend and just cooked with the gas stove on the bonnet...

And I thought my using my bumper to stop my trolley going too far was bad.

[M1C]

I love bangernomics too!

My last one, the £350 Picasso was written off by a HGV a couple of weeks ago, so i now drive a 2002 Megane 1.4 16v Expression, 75k miles - It's absolutely the cleanest car out there.....for £200! Right place, right time.

It's not true that people with cheap and/or dull cars can't be car enthusiasts.

I absolutely am, always have been and have been lucky enough to drive (if not own) Audi R8's and V8 Vantages etc...but i just love a banger!

Something hugely satisfying driving around in a car that cost probably less than the average monthly car payment.

It's more fun than the Picasso, too, it has that French floaty and soft feeling that i think has gone missing from more recent French cars. Fun! Engine's a bit wheezy though.

I've had...i think....23 cars...and 19 of them have been under £1,000....and of those 19...i reckon...10 have been £500 or less....

[Blakewater]

Swanny87 said:

It's bliss isn't it? I've bought a 300,000 k, 800 quid, MY2000 Mitsubishi Magna out here in Oz (yes cars are ridiculously expensive out here) that I just don't give a st about. We went camping at the weekend and just cooked with the gas stove on the bonnet...

3.5 V6, cruise control, 'air conditioning' and an awesome stereo. Although it's got wind up windows which is funny seeing as it's in 'executive' trim.

The thought of that still makes me cringe. You wouldn't do it with an £800.00 dining table.

[s p a c e m a n]

£1500 to complement the chimaera, had engines and random car parts in the back. Cleared two garages, done many tip runs and moved house with it in the past year, made half its money back in van rentals. Had the front seats pushed all the way forward and two of us pushing on the boot it was so full of rubbish a couple of times. Park it anywhere, even make my own spaces in the trees what with it being a 4x4. Makes me giggle at how everyone gives an old suv with a wonky numberplate and scuffs on every corner a wide berth

[kurwa]

Treated my £500 Jazz today to,
-new rear brake discs
-rear brake pads
-front brake pads

came to just £41 to do it, I'm not sure what the dealer would do for £41 to a car? Change wiper blades perhaps?

[Matt Harper]

This is my ol' clunker - '92 F-150 Flare-Side. It has 143,000 on it - 302W motor and 4x4. It's a beater, but everything works, drives great and I don't care if it picks up the odd scrape or ding. I'll never part with it, while it still runs.

[battered]

kurwa said:

Treated my £500 Jazz today to,
-new rear brake discs
-rear brake pads
-front brake pads

came to just £41 to do it, I'm not sure what the dealer would do for £41 to a car? Change wiper blades perhaps?

Depends on the dealer, or indy mechanic. I recently had my Mondeo MoT'd y a guy local to where I'm working. He collected from the factory, tested it, did the work, retested, drove it back, handed me the bill. The work done was a new front spring, a new front strut top bearing (other side) and an exchange caliper. Parts at cost, and labour was £65. Go on then. That would have taken me most of a day, by the time I'd got all the bits. Add in the joys of strut compressors and bleeding the brakes and he's welcome to that lot for £65.

2 sets of pads and a pair of discs for £41 is a bloody good deal!

[white_goodman]

I've only tried shed motoring once, a V-plate Mercedes C250TD Estate with 12 months MOT and 218k purchased for 700 pounds and it was a positive experience, as I became quite fond of it. It was a 6 week stopgap after selling my WRX Wagon prior to moving abroad to work for a period of time. An old Mercedes/BMW makes a nice shed, it probably cost around 30k new, so you still had the luxury and refinement of a Mercedes but at the fraction of a cost of a new one. Either that or something really basic like a 1.0 Polo that you really have to drive to maintain momentum. Anything else in between is just a s*** old car. in my experience The problem is though, most of you are talking about a "shed/banger" as a complement to something more special tucked up in the garage. If cars are your passion, I'm not sure if a 500 pound banger as your only vehicle really cuts it. As much as I liked my Mercedes and would have liked to have kept it and tried to get it to 300k, I couldn't help thinking that it would be nice if it was a little lest rusty and more presentable, the heated rear window didn't interfere with the radio, the rear wiper worked and the door mirror didn't keep falling off! If I had something else in the garage for fun, then none of this would have mattered but as my only vehicle, these things bothered me, as I didn't have a vehicle that I could take pride in! Sure, if I had a really tidy car for fun then I would happily drive a shed but as I don't and can't really justify parking/tax/insurance etc for two cars, my car tends to be a compromise between what I want, what I need and what I can afford. I tend to get bored with new/nearly new cars very quickly, so I typically find that something 6-10 years old, up to around 60k and still presentable best fits my needs/wants/budget.

[Digby]

You need to visit the 'Snotter' thread

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=101...


I must go through about five or ten sheds a year.

[Mr Tidy]

Love this thread!

It really is liberating driving a banger!

I bought a Z4 Coupe, a car I had always wanted. But with elderly parent ferrying duties I knew I would need something else so I found a 1996 Mazda 323F with only 2 previous owners and 62K miles for £675. Mind you, having had elderly owners it had scuffs in many places but that just meant I could park 6 inches from the car next to me in supermarkets (time to get my own back) and just not care! The 1500cc engine meant it had cheap road tax, and being a non-interference engine no need to worry about the cam-belt until it snapped!

Sadly I got fed up with the gutless performance and wallowy handling so replaced it with an E46 325ti which was double shed budget, but that's cheap enough not to be precious about it and it's a much better place to spend my time in. I've had it 2 years now and it's definitely a keeper!

[thiscocks]

Barchettaman said:

'End-of-life'* cars are so unbelievably cheap in the UK it makes massive sense to run one, compared to continental Europe.

Some top shedding here.

WRT the comment about this being an enthusiast's forum and not for the 'boring' stuff, I love a good mundane shed thread over on Reader's Cars and, going by the comments they accrue, many others feel likewise.

• by end-of-life I mean 7+years/100k miles

End of life if its made in 2009? A banger for me is 1990s manufactured at the latest. Most diesels built around 2009 with 100k miles on are just run in!

[Barchettaman]

thiscocks said:

End of life if its made in 2009? A banger for me is 1990s manufactured at the latest. Most diesels built around 2009 with 100k miles on are just run in!

Mate, I agree. But the *market* seems to think that 7+years/100k miles is 'end of life'.

My 2007 E90 320d is currently on 183k and I am hoping to take it thru 300k.

[Hoofy]

Some silly bint used my rear passenger door as a door rest while she strapped her spawn in the back of her car. I was glad I bought a shed.

[battered]

You should worry. I was in Warwick services when some fat bd backed into the space next to me and then levered his arris out of the car using mine for support. As he did so his door was going "thud thud thud" against mine. Had my car been any more presentable I think I'd have ended up throttling him. His car was a pretty new Insignia, it must have looked a good deal more used after that particular episode.

[rxe]

2001 Alfa 156 V6 here. Worth buttons, problem is that I love it too much for it to be treated as a proper shed - I'd be gutted if someone bashed it in a car park. Just ticked over 100K miles, zero advisories at the last MOT. In the last year, I've spent £50 on servicing it, that is all. (5 litres of ester 10W-40 + filters)

I'm considering getting a 156 2.4 SW for proper shed duties. I just missed out on one yesterday - I was willing to pay £250, it went for £350. Had a snapped cambelt, which is actually an easy fix on the Alfa diesels.

[funkyrobot]

Where do you people find these cars?

I'm currently looking for something very cheap as an evening and weekend runabout. I would like to spend £1000 absolute tops.

I guess location comes into it. I'm in Lincolnshire and seem to be surrounded by naff cars. I guess I need to look further afield and be willing to travel.

[battered]

Lincolnshire is great for bangers!

No bugger knows where it is, so any older cars sit around for ever. Honestly, cars you can't give away in Louth have people queueing up in Nottingham or Leeds.

Louth Standard
Louth Leader
Grimsby Telegraph
Gumtree

Ebay and "30 miles from LN-whatever" and you are in.

[cbmotorsport]

1995 Rav4 here. Bought for £300 from a family friend, that's what the dealer offered them in Part Ex. It has done 58,000 miles and has full Toyota Dealer history, serviced every year, without consideration of mileage.

It's now our general run around, thirsty as hell, but great to leave anywhere you like, and it's now got a set of AT tyres on it, so goes anywhere pretty much. Winning.