Biggest Loss/Best gain on a car
Discussion
Ok, whats the worst you have been burned on a car and whats the best gain you have made, or even lowest loss over an extended period ?
Mine was a Mondeo 1.8 LX, pretty decent if slow car, bought of a chap at work, few scuffs, smelt of fags but he was giving it away for a couple of grand for quick sale, ran it a while and had itchy feet and bought a Fiat Coupe Turbo which was a turd of a car, made nearly two grand on selling the Mondeo, lost it again when I sold the Fiat as a "going concern" needing a turbo to a lad handy with the spanners, fully upfront about it but in the event it needed a full rebuild.
And my other question is, say I was to spend between 10 and 12 grand, maybe 15 on something that wont depreciate like a stone, doesnt have to be recent but has to be quickish, fairly robust, not that bothered about fuel economy really as do few miles, It cant live in a garage, it cant be an ancient classic, am thinking "Neo Classic" but preferably ones that arent guaranteed money pits
RS2/RS4
1st gen TTS ?
Focus RS
E30 M3, in fact will the subsequent ones stop plumetting ?
Integrale
Escort Cosworth
Audi Quattro
Supra TT (standard original, not the Dogs Dinner variety)
944 Turbo
Mustang GT
928
Lotus Carlton (can you get one for 15 Grand ?)
Mine was a Mondeo 1.8 LX, pretty decent if slow car, bought of a chap at work, few scuffs, smelt of fags but he was giving it away for a couple of grand for quick sale, ran it a while and had itchy feet and bought a Fiat Coupe Turbo which was a turd of a car, made nearly two grand on selling the Mondeo, lost it again when I sold the Fiat as a "going concern" needing a turbo to a lad handy with the spanners, fully upfront about it but in the event it needed a full rebuild.
And my other question is, say I was to spend between 10 and 12 grand, maybe 15 on something that wont depreciate like a stone, doesnt have to be recent but has to be quickish, fairly robust, not that bothered about fuel economy really as do few miles, It cant live in a garage, it cant be an ancient classic, am thinking "Neo Classic" but preferably ones that arent guaranteed money pits
RS2/RS4
1st gen TTS ?
Focus RS
E30 M3, in fact will the subsequent ones stop plumetting ?
Integrale
Escort Cosworth
Audi Quattro
Supra TT (standard original, not the Dogs Dinner variety)
944 Turbo
Mustang GT
928
Lotus Carlton (can you get one for 15 Grand ?)
had a couple...
1978 Jag XJ12 bought on ebay for £250 with smokey engine, turned out to be a duff injector, sold for £4000.
1988 Mk1 Mr2, bought for £1100 with flat paint, weekend of T-cut and sold 3 weeks later for £2250
1996 Laguna, bought at Blackbushe Auctions for £1100 (god knows why), oil filter split 1 week later on dual carriageway and dumped all the oil and siezed the engine - sold for £500
1978 Jag XJ12 bought on ebay for £250 with smokey engine, turned out to be a duff injector, sold for £4000.
1988 Mk1 Mr2, bought for £1100 with flat paint, weekend of T-cut and sold 3 weeks later for £2250
1996 Laguna, bought at Blackbushe Auctions for £1100 (god knows why), oil filter split 1 week later on dual carriageway and dumped all the oil and siezed the engine - sold for £500
Bought my CRX for £400, then sold it 6months later after having used it through the winter for £800.
Only gain I've ever made. Some people I know are just ridiculously lucky and manage to make money on cars even though they've owned them for ages, christ knows how they manage it, not as if they're rare cars either.
Only gain I've ever made. Some people I know are just ridiculously lucky and manage to make money on cars even though they've owned them for ages, christ knows how they manage it, not as if they're rare cars either.
Cant remember the last time I lost money on a car I bought for private ownership. One of the benefits of being involved in the trade I guess! Its not a full time thing for me, so I havent made many spectacular gains over the years, but have been given plenty of cars over the years and sold them for a profit.
Dragged an old Rover out of a garage once that had been there for a year or so, and sold it for £500, having had to spend the price of an MOT on it.
You dont get given cars these days though - price of scrap is too high, and too many people still riding on the back of the last price boom.
Dragged an old Rover out of a garage once that had been there for a year or so, and sold it for £500, having had to spend the price of an MOT on it.
You dont get given cars these days though - price of scrap is too high, and too many people still riding on the back of the last price boom.
I try to not think about this, but I bought my (lovely) B6 Passat for £12800 @35k - Put another 35k on it, then spent £3800 in fuel, another £2k running it (servicing, insurance, etc) and sold it for £5600 (needing brakes, service and cambelt). All in 18 months.
So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
It all depends on how you finance the car and pay the running costs.
My current Vaux Omega. Mostly do business mileage in it. Had it nearly 3 years now and due to the way my expenses work I record every penny spent (even down to screenwash at 99p a bottle!), depreciation etc etc.
2.5 years after buying I am currently £980 in profit. in 6 months it will have depreciated down to £0 so assuming it keeps going after that point (141k miles to date) that profit should start to climb.
Of course I do get 40p per mile for ~25k bus miles pa and £6k pa from the company towards the car which helps
Remove the £6k car allowance and its a bit of a loss.......
My current Vaux Omega. Mostly do business mileage in it. Had it nearly 3 years now and due to the way my expenses work I record every penny spent (even down to screenwash at 99p a bottle!), depreciation etc etc.
2.5 years after buying I am currently £980 in profit. in 6 months it will have depreciated down to £0 so assuming it keeps going after that point (141k miles to date) that profit should start to climb.
Of course I do get 40p per mile for ~25k bus miles pa and £6k pa from the company towards the car which helps
Remove the £6k car allowance and its a bit of a loss.......
james_tigerwoods said:
I try to not think about this, but I bought my (lovely) B6 Passat for £12800 @35k - Put another 35k on it, then spent £3800 in fuel, another £2k running it (servicing, insurance, etc) and sold it for £5600 (needing brakes, service and cambelt). All in 18 months.
So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
Probably not very uncommon though.So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
2003 BMW 520i ES SE bought in 2006 for 10k off a Company Director who just wanted rid above the dealers offer. Sold a year later with no further cost to me for 11,250.
2006 Boxster S, bought in 2009 for 17k, again off a guy who wanted rid, sold six months later for 18k needing a major service and two new tyres. All up front with the buyer and to be fair she still got a decent deal.
I love cars but I hate losing money on them, I know it is inevitable but I like to minimise my costs so that I feel less pain when unexpected costs arise.
Have been looking for a new car for three months now, plenty out there but none that meet my tight wad criteria!
2006 Boxster S, bought in 2009 for 17k, again off a guy who wanted rid, sold six months later for 18k needing a major service and two new tyres. All up front with the buyer and to be fair she still got a decent deal.
I love cars but I hate losing money on them, I know it is inevitable but I like to minimise my costs so that I feel less pain when unexpected costs arise.
Have been looking for a new car for three months now, plenty out there but none that meet my tight wad criteria!
Got a Mk2 Golf for free with a busted timing belt, stuck a lump in it (£75), passed the test first time and got £600 
Megane Coupe with the 2.0 lump- another broken timing belt. £300 for the car, £200 rebuild and sold for £1k.
Had a few Renault 21 Turbo's for next to nowt as well and done them up. No massive profits though.
Losses- MASSIVE. Depressing to think about lol.
Megane Coupe with the 2.0 lump- another broken timing belt. £300 for the car, £200 rebuild and sold for £1k.
Had a few Renault 21 Turbo's for next to nowt as well and done them up. No massive profits though.
Losses- MASSIVE. Depressing to think about lol.
Edited by DaveL485 on Thursday 24th June 08:58
Elskeggso said:
james_tigerwoods said:
I try to not think about this, but I bought my (lovely) B6 Passat for £12800 @35k - Put another 35k on it, then spent £3800 in fuel, another £2k running it (servicing, insurance, etc) and sold it for £5600 (needing brakes, service and cambelt). All in 18 months.
So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
Probably not very uncommon though.So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
Plus, that still only works out at 35p a mile - not bad at all.
Edited by Hitch78 on Thursday 24th June 08:59
Hitch78 said:
Elskeggso said:
james_tigerwoods said:
I try to not think about this, but I bought my (lovely) B6 Passat for £12800 @35k - Put another 35k on it, then spent £3800 in fuel, another £2k running it (servicing, insurance, etc) and sold it for £5600 (needing brakes, service and cambelt). All in 18 months.
So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
Probably not very uncommon though.So, bought at £12800, spent £5800 and sold for £5600.
It still makes me cry now.
If I'd have just gone in to the company car scheme when I (re)joined my company - I would be far better off financially now.
My friend needed a car that would be reliable and easy to maintain, but only had about £1k to spend, tasked me with finding it.
Bought him a Daewoo Espero for £500, he used it for 3 months while he found a new job, it didnt miss a beat. I got him it for comedy value and because it was cheap.
Put it up for sale and a local guy came to buy it because he "fell in love with it at first sight"?!?!?!? HA! Freak.... Sold it to him for £1500.
Bet no one else in the world has ever made a profit on a Daewoo!
Bought him a Daewoo Espero for £500, he used it for 3 months while he found a new job, it didnt miss a beat. I got him it for comedy value and because it was cheap.
Put it up for sale and a local guy came to buy it because he "fell in love with it at first sight"?!?!?!? HA! Freak.... Sold it to him for £1500.
Bet no one else in the world has ever made a profit on a Daewoo!
I did this at uni to make some spare cash
MG Midget bought for £1000 in February, polished it and fresh MOT in June sold for £3.5k
Mg Midget bought for £250, ran for a year and sold for £750
MGB bought for £1800 ran for a summer sold for £4k
Biggest loss was an Aprilia RS250, bought it for £2500, it blew up within 500 miles, full rebuild, ran in for 500 miles then it blew up after another 200 (VERY fast) miles, one more full rebuild and sold for £1500. Bloody italians
MG Midget bought for £1000 in February, polished it and fresh MOT in June sold for £3.5k
Mg Midget bought for £250, ran for a year and sold for £750
MGB bought for £1800 ran for a summer sold for £4k
Biggest loss was an Aprilia RS250, bought it for £2500, it blew up within 500 miles, full rebuild, ran in for 500 miles then it blew up after another 200 (VERY fast) miles, one more full rebuild and sold for £1500. Bloody italians
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