Banger buying gone wrong - any stories?
Discussion
Ahbefive said:
cjs racing. said:
Ahbefive said:
Except the 1987 Escort was not a mk2.
Which was exactly my point.I know cut and shuts and bodges were common in the old days but...
had some rough cheapies but none have gone rogue on me. i tend to buy the same stuff for my dailies so i guess i know what i'm looking at or listening to.
i did kill a 156 parts car on the drive home. managed not to notice that the wiper motor was seized and left the wipers straining for about 60 miles. when i stopped for coffee the battery gave up. just before the smoke started. recovered home and pulled the veloce bits of it, on it's way to the crusher the next day. i may still have the skirts and a wheel or two. can't complain too much - i bought it for breaking, just didn't mean to pull it apart on day 1
biggest fail was myself. bought a Saab 9-3 Aero coupe for just a few hundred. with it's new MoT, this was the "back-up" vehicle for when the "main" 9-3 failed. except, it didn't, so the back-up just sat on the drive until the mot ran out when it got shunted to off road hardstanding. i start it up from time to time and all seems well still. it's done 140 miles since it's last MoT pass, just over 2 years ago.
paul
i did kill a 156 parts car on the drive home. managed not to notice that the wiper motor was seized and left the wipers straining for about 60 miles. when i stopped for coffee the battery gave up. just before the smoke started. recovered home and pulled the veloce bits of it, on it's way to the crusher the next day. i may still have the skirts and a wheel or two. can't complain too much - i bought it for breaking, just didn't mean to pull it apart on day 1
biggest fail was myself. bought a Saab 9-3 Aero coupe for just a few hundred. with it's new MoT, this was the "back-up" vehicle for when the "main" 9-3 failed. except, it didn't, so the back-up just sat on the drive until the mot ran out when it got shunted to off road hardstanding. i start it up from time to time and all seems well still. it's done 140 miles since it's last MoT pass, just over 2 years ago.
paul
I bought 2 cars ,not in the same year,from the rubbish trade in section of the local big Renault dealer,in the 90s.
In 94 I bought a 7 year old 205 GTI 1.9, rather tired already,broke down in Ripspeed's car park in Edmonton.
Straight swapped it for a mess of a RS turbo S1, that I ended up selling to 2 lads from Carlisle,who used AA Relay to get it there,from Surrey....
In 97 I was now working next door to said Renault dealer and went in to buy an appalling Escort 1.3 MK 4 for about £4-500.
After another job change it got traded in for a rubbish ex BT Escort MK 5 van resprayed white over the grey for work as a courier.
After 21,000 miles in about 5 months and 2 different transmission problems,that was sold and I bought a brand new Caddy van.
In 94 I bought a 7 year old 205 GTI 1.9, rather tired already,broke down in Ripspeed's car park in Edmonton.
Straight swapped it for a mess of a RS turbo S1, that I ended up selling to 2 lads from Carlisle,who used AA Relay to get it there,from Surrey....
In 97 I was now working next door to said Renault dealer and went in to buy an appalling Escort 1.3 MK 4 for about £4-500.
After another job change it got traded in for a rubbish ex BT Escort MK 5 van resprayed white over the grey for work as a courier.
After 21,000 miles in about 5 months and 2 different transmission problems,that was sold and I bought a brand new Caddy van.
I needed a van pronto and paid £800 for it with 12 month MOT.
Not too bad until I tried to get some heat in the cabin. Heater had been bypassed. As you may be aware, the heater matrix is one of the first parts to be fitted to any car, so it means stripping the whole of the dash to replace. Only cost £19 to replace, but three days of skinned knuckles.
It has so far passed another three MOTs, with £100+ welding required each time.
I've added 150,000 miles to it, but I can honestly save that any normal person would have scrapped it the day they bought it. It's a shed, but every time I break it, it costs peanuts to fix.
Not too bad until I tried to get some heat in the cabin. Heater had been bypassed. As you may be aware, the heater matrix is one of the first parts to be fitted to any car, so it means stripping the whole of the dash to replace. Only cost £19 to replace, but three days of skinned knuckles.
It has so far passed another three MOTs, with £100+ welding required each time.
I've added 150,000 miles to it, but I can honestly save that any normal person would have scrapped it the day they bought it. It's a shed, but every time I break it, it costs peanuts to fix.
Ford SportKa.
The day after purchase, the clutch went. £150 tow to a garage near my house, then £300 on a new clutch.
A month later, the head gasket went. Yesterday, I got £60 for it off a breaker.
The suspension was also rotten, but I was so desperate to get a car, any car, that I bought the first rotbox I saw.
To top it all off, the guy I bought it from worked in a Kwik Fit.
The day after purchase, the clutch went. £150 tow to a garage near my house, then £300 on a new clutch.
A month later, the head gasket went. Yesterday, I got £60 for it off a breaker.
The suspension was also rotten, but I was so desperate to get a car, any car, that I bought the first rotbox I saw.
To top it all off, the guy I bought it from worked in a Kwik Fit.
GeordieInExile said:
Ford SportKa.
The day after purchase, the clutch went. £150 tow to a garage near my house, then £300 on a new clutch.
A month later, the head gasket went. Yesterday, I got £60 for it off a breaker.
The suspension was also rotten, but I was so desperate to get a car, any car, that I bought the first rotbox I saw.
To top it all off, the guy I bought it from worked in a Kwik Fit.
Repaired it himself then.The day after purchase, the clutch went. £150 tow to a garage near my house, then £300 on a new clutch.
A month later, the head gasket went. Yesterday, I got £60 for it off a breaker.
The suspension was also rotten, but I was so desperate to get a car, any car, that I bought the first rotbox I saw.
To top it all off, the guy I bought it from worked in a Kwik Fit.
miniman said:
I picked up an immaculate, 60k mile E36 525 from a neighbour for £800. Had been in storage for a few years, but MOTd every year. Drove lovely, sounded lovely, looked lovely.
Then I filled it up with fuel, which it promptly emptied out onto the ground. Rotten fuel tank and fuel pipes. Bugger.
Similar thing happened to me many moons ago. I went along with a family friend as I 'knew a bit about cars'to Enfield Car Auctions to buy a first car for his daughter. After choosing a few suitable Fiesta and Escorts that would fit the bill, I found to my horror he starting bidding on a Alfa Romeo GTV , the one before the GTV6 but with a 1.6 engine I think. He wins it , pays for it and I am tasked with driving it back. It had the most god awful gear box and was a real struggle to find any gear, just perfect for a first car for your daughter, I think not. But worse than that it had a big hole in the tank so nearly ran out of fuel after the 8 miles or so it took to get it back.Then I filled it up with fuel, which it promptly emptied out onto the ground. Rotten fuel tank and fuel pipes. Bugger.
He knew he had made a big mistake but was seduced by that Alfa badge and the excitement of an auction. He then promptly part exchanged it for a 1.3 Capri in beige.....not sure which one was worse.
Oh jeeze here we go.
My 1st ever car, a £600 14 year old Nissan Micra. Being a Micra it was cheap to repair however some of the faults that cropped up on its 1st MOT where pretty terrifying, 6 months after I bought it. The front seatbelts where held in by the carpet as the floor plan they where bolted on to had rusted away, front X-member was flexing due to rust, front left brake was applying ZERO force. So £200 of welding (mates rates) and a new £30 brake caliper with some wonky self-fabricated brake lines later and it was road legal. Kept it a year, shoved it in for its next MOT after the exhaust had fallen off, the brakes had stopped working again (half legal force across both fronts), front X-member rust was now to excessive for a repair & more holes had appeared in the floorplan. Sold it to a mechanic mate for £100 and he gave it to a friend after fixxing it up.
Bought an Alfa 1.6 TwinSpark after that with 116k miles for £700 with zero paperwork or history from a dodgy dealer 200miles from my house. Bar a minor immobiliser niggle it worked absolutely fine for a solid year after I bought it, then the gearbox disintigrated and I sold it at auction for £350
.
Had a couple of vaguely reliable ones after that for £2000-3000, decided I needed something cheap again:
Bought a MG ZS V6 £950, 56k miles full service history & looked minted. Again dealer was ~200miles away (I live in the Scottish highlands -.-). I got it about 70miles from the dealer when it cut out and died on the M74, managed to limp it at tickover from the shoulder up the next slip ramp. Called the dealer & was told to 'f
k off, it was sold as seen'. After some investigating it was found that the whole top of the fuel tank was rusted away and the tank was full of mud and water. The dealer had obviously cycled the fuel (he claimed to have inspected and drove it for a week when they got it in :eyeroll: ) and put a bit of black plastic over the holes in the filler neck so they couldnt be spotted. I didnt have the cash to take the to a magestrate court to try and get some kind of refund so I had to just sell it on myself, got £500 for it from a friend of a friend looking for a track car project.
Also have had 3 Subarus which all had an insatiable appetite for drivetrain components.
My 1st ever car, a £600 14 year old Nissan Micra. Being a Micra it was cheap to repair however some of the faults that cropped up on its 1st MOT where pretty terrifying, 6 months after I bought it. The front seatbelts where held in by the carpet as the floor plan they where bolted on to had rusted away, front X-member was flexing due to rust, front left brake was applying ZERO force. So £200 of welding (mates rates) and a new £30 brake caliper with some wonky self-fabricated brake lines later and it was road legal. Kept it a year, shoved it in for its next MOT after the exhaust had fallen off, the brakes had stopped working again (half legal force across both fronts), front X-member rust was now to excessive for a repair & more holes had appeared in the floorplan. Sold it to a mechanic mate for £100 and he gave it to a friend after fixxing it up.
Bought an Alfa 1.6 TwinSpark after that with 116k miles for £700 with zero paperwork or history from a dodgy dealer 200miles from my house. Bar a minor immobiliser niggle it worked absolutely fine for a solid year after I bought it, then the gearbox disintigrated and I sold it at auction for £350
.Had a couple of vaguely reliable ones after that for £2000-3000, decided I needed something cheap again:
Bought a MG ZS V6 £950, 56k miles full service history & looked minted. Again dealer was ~200miles away (I live in the Scottish highlands -.-). I got it about 70miles from the dealer when it cut out and died on the M74, managed to limp it at tickover from the shoulder up the next slip ramp. Called the dealer & was told to 'f
k off, it was sold as seen'. After some investigating it was found that the whole top of the fuel tank was rusted away and the tank was full of mud and water. The dealer had obviously cycled the fuel (he claimed to have inspected and drove it for a week when they got it in :eyeroll: ) and put a bit of black plastic over the holes in the filler neck so they couldnt be spotted. I didnt have the cash to take the to a magestrate court to try and get some kind of refund so I had to just sell it on myself, got £500 for it from a friend of a friend looking for a track car project. Also have had 3 Subarus which all had an insatiable appetite for drivetrain components.
sjabrown said:
Not quite a banger but a bit of a sad tale. Just before Christmas, and bored at work, I bid on a 1.9 205 gti. Won it for £1300. Took a train 250 miles with a view to driving it back. Wee test drive, a bit smokey but it seemed otherwise okay-ish. Reason for selling is the woman's son had died crashing his other car a few weeks before. Drove it home, and managed 6000 miles in it before a piston made a bid for freedom. The shell is still sitting on my drive, having yielded many spares for my other 205s.
Slightly related, I recall years ago (10+) on a fiesta forum there was a young lad who saved up and finally purchased another member's mk3 turbo. His dad (so the story went) took him to pick it up, and the son overtook him or another car early into the drive home, lost control on a corner and died at the scene. Sad, but probably common.I've had a lot of bangers over the years, but being brave and willing with the spanners has got me out of a few issues. Worst was probably a 206 GTi bought at auction - looked tidy, but picked it up the next day and the OSR wheel started wobbling aggressively at motorway speed and it would overheat and froth from the expansion tank when stationary. Still drove it like it was stolen, before chopping it in back at the auction for half the price.
Had more 'better' stories than bad though - bought a mk4 Astra 'sport' 3 door at auction when they were going for £1600 or so. Had the oil light on and was tapping, so I ended up getting it for around £260-280 from memory. A new oil pressure sensor (sump off and oil pump inspection too, mind) and a brand new set of 16 hydraulic tappets with an oil change and it purred like a kitten. Battery died too, but luckily I lived at the top of a hill. Took it for its MOT a week later and it passed with flying colours. Had similar with an E36 saloon - was ticking loudly at auction, again got it for <£300, cleaned out the oil spray tube, new thermostat and oil change and it went like new.
My worse experiences have come when moving on a £400 car - you end up with the dregs of society turning up on the doorstep who expect it to come with a comprehensive private warranty, and death threats when they find the cigarette lighter socket fuse has popped.
benjijames28 said:
Repaired it himself then.
Yep.Borked tracking also meant it ate through a front tyre in two weeks of my ownership.
Oh, and the steering rack was borked at low speeds.
On the plus side, that gearbox was a dream. Same as in the Puma, I think. Genuinely the nicest I've ever used.
I'm off the bangers for now, got a little Twingo GT. If and when I get a job where I don't need a car every day, I'm chopping it in and getting shedding again, mind.
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