My £500 snotter challenge....a few observations.

[littlebasher]

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?

[littlebasher]

C. Grimsley said:

When you buy stters you also buy there problems, hence they are £500, no?

Carl

Problems yes...but guessing at the cheapest or simplest fix just smells of Bullst!

[littlebasher]

Another to add (this being general, rather than applied to my £500 budget)

Any mention of service history has now been replaced with

"Full VOSA history included"


So that would be a print out of the last 3 years worth of MOT history. Now there's peace of mind

[littlebasher]

This almost fell in budget, but surprisingly the advert put me off

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-VAUXHALL-ASTRA-SXI-...

[littlebasher]

The search continues, surprising how when i actually want something, i can't find anything that catches my eye (and if it does, isn't terminally knackered).

I work nights 1 week in 5, during the most boring of moments i've seen loads of snotters in the past that would have suited me to a tee!

[littlebasher]

The hunt continues, but by christ has i seen some real stters

Anyway, another popular comment to be found in adverts at the arse end of the scale

"TESTERS AT TESTING STATION COULDN'T BELIEVE THE CONDITION OF THIS CAR"

Now, in all the MOT's i had done, i can never recall a tester in the least bit interested in the car they're testing. Certainly not enough to make any comments like that!

[littlebasher]

The search has ended.....

One cheap car sourced from Ebay..Slightly over budget, but it does have the benefit of 13 months MOT and 6 months tax - plus air con that actually works.

Also was the first car i looked at that didn't look like it was ready for the scrap yard or needed biohazard decontamination inside.

Supermini with 4WD...anyone care to hazard a guess what it is?

[littlebasher]

Think Japanese....