Barge buying
Author
Discussion

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
There must be a few of us on here what with strictly cum and now ste factor on the tv biggrin

Having sold my car I am in the market for something else and if like me you want big,luxurious & wafty are you looking at something older because of the VED cost and what the government may do to you in future.Or are you thinking feck it ?

Petrolhead_Rich

4,659 posts

221 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
feck it - in the last year I have bought a V6 Audi and my dad has bought a Caddillac, both moving from small diesels!

It's only money, you cant take it with you!!

jas xjr

11,309 posts

268 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
there was me thinking it was about buying a narrow boat smile

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
jas xjr said:
there was me thinking it was about buying a narrow boat smile
Dont be so daft that would have been 'buying a barge' biggrin

Gizmo!

18,150 posts

238 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
There's a thread on here with about eleventy million pages, about buying such cheap waftmobiles.

Big Jags, Mercs, BMWs, Lexii etc have never been cheaper. It's quite insane what you can pick up for no money at all, assuming you can stomach 20-25mpg and the potential for a large bill every now and again...

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
Gizmo! said:
There's a thread on here with about eleventy million pages, about buying such cheap waftmobiles.

Big Jags, Mercs, BMWs, Lexii etc have never been cheaper. It's quite insane what you can pick up for no money at all, assuming you can stomach 20-25mpg and the potential for a large bill every now and again...
Cheers Gizmo I have been following the thread you mention but was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.

Gizmo!

18,150 posts

238 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
macp said:
Gizmo! said:
There's a thread on here with about eleventy million pages, about buying such cheap waftmobiles.

Big Jags, Mercs, BMWs, Lexii etc have never been cheaper. It's quite insane what you can pick up for no money at all, assuming you can stomach 20-25mpg and the potential for a large bill every now and again...
Cheers Gizmo I have been following the thread you mention but was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.
Bear in mind that the true bargains are all pre-2001, so they're only £205pa VED still.

I mean, look at this: http://pistonheads.com/sales/1368370.htm - 315bhp, and huge Merc waftiness from the time they still built them properly, £4k.

Even for post-2001 stuff and even it was £400 - the difference between £200 and £400 is only three tanks of fuel...

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
Gizmo! said:
macp said:
Gizmo! said:
There's a thread on here with about eleventy million pages, about buying such cheap waftmobiles.

Big Jags, Mercs, BMWs, Lexii etc have never been cheaper. It's quite insane what you can pick up for no money at all, assuming you can stomach 20-25mpg and the potential for a large bill every now and again...
Cheers Gizmo I have been following the thread you mention but was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.
Bear in mind that the true bargains are all pre-2001, so they're only £205pa VED still.

I mean, look at this: http://pistonheads.com/sales/1368370.htm - 315bhp, and huge Merc waftiness from the time they still built them properly, £4k.

Even for post-2001 stuff and even it was £400 - the difference between £200 and £400 is only three tanks of fuel...
Good point well made and a fantastic looking uber barge.

mdowning

218 posts

235 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
I'm looking to get involved in the barge-scene soon. Can't help thinking the xjr is rudely good value in both x308 and x350 guise.

maniac0796

1,292 posts

195 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
Gizmo! said:
Even for post-2001 stuff and even it was £400 - the difference between £200 and £400 is only three tanks of fuel...
It's like what someone said to me the other day. "1p extra a litre in fuel duty sounds a lot, but it's only 60p more a tank."

True, it adds up, but that's like buying a chocolate bar with every tank of petrol you buy.

Also, that merc looks quality. Don't know if I could live with roushed leather door cards though frown

Edited by maniac0796 on Sunday 10th October 23:05

Matt UK

18,084 posts

229 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
macp said:
was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.
This is only my opinion here and please don't take it the wrong way, but if VED is a consideration, then buying barges may not be for you.

Proper barges, buy their very nature tend to be thirsty so frequent credit card bashing at your local Shell is the norm.
Also, keeping them nice can mean throwing 3 and 4 figure sums in the direction of proper consumables, good tyres, replacement items / repairs etc. They are cheap to buy because the running costs are high so you need to go in with you eyes wide open.

Running them on the cheap only makes sense to me if you are talking about 'bargain barges' ie buy as good as you can get for a couple of bags, spend nothing and run them until they die. If I was doing that then yes, VED would be a consideration, but only to the extent that I would want the full 12 month ticket when buying.

Edited by Matt UK for crap quotes


Edited by Matt UK on Sunday 10th October 23:15

Gizmo!

18,150 posts

238 months

Sunday 10th October 2010
quotequote all
Matt UK said:
macp said:
was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.
This is only my opinion here and please don't take it the wrong way, but if VED is a consideration, then buying barges may not be for you.

Proper barges, buy their very nature tend to be thirsty so frequent credit card bashing at your local Shell is the norm.
Also, keeping them nice can mean throwing 3 and 4 figure sums in the direction of proper consumables, good tyres, replacement items / repairs etc. They are cheap to buy because the running costs are high so you need to go in with you eyes wide open.

Running them on the cheap only makes sense to me if you are talking about 'bargain barges' ie buy as good as you can get for a couple of bags, spend nothing and run them until they die. If I was doing that then yes, VED would be a consideration, but only to the extent that I would want the full 12 month ticket when buying.
My old 535 cost £700, ran for a year and 10,000 miles without a hiccup, and went through an MOT with not a single advisory.

And then it dealt me a £570 bill for a new radiator and a few other bits, I managed to have a minor accident on my own driveway, and I sold it to a breaker in Tottenham. But even including the bill £1300 is nothing for 10k miles at average 28mpg in a 19-year-old bahnstormer.

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
Matt UK said:
macp said:
was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.
This is only my opinion here and please don't take it the wrong way, but if VED is a consideration, then buying barges may not be for you.

Proper barges, buy their very nature tend to be thirsty so frequent credit card bashing at your local Shell is the norm.
Also, keeping them nice can mean throwing 3 and 4 figure sums in the direction of proper consumables, good tyres, replacement items / repairs etc. They are cheap to buy because the running costs are high so you need to go in with you eyes wide open.

Running them on the cheap only makes sense to me if you are talking about 'bargain barges' ie buy as good as you can get for a couple of bags, spend nothing and run them until they die. If I was doing that then yes, VED would be a consideration, but only to the extent that I would want the full 12 month ticket when buying.

Edited by Matt UK for crap quotes


Edited by Matt UK on Sunday 10th October 23:15
No disrespect to anyone else but this advice really rung a bell with me.I have about 4k to spend but blowing the full 4 grand on a barge just feels like the wrong thing to do.

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
Gizmo! said:
Matt UK said:
macp said:
was interested in peoples opinions on VED and the effect(if any)it has on a persons buying decision.
This is only my opinion here and please don't take it the wrong way, but if VED is a consideration, then buying barges may not be for you.

Proper barges, buy their very nature tend to be thirsty so frequent credit card bashing at your local Shell is the norm.
Also, keeping them nice can mean throwing 3 and 4 figure sums in the direction of proper consumables, good tyres, replacement items / repairs etc. They are cheap to buy because the running costs are high so you need to go in with you eyes wide open.

Running them on the cheap only makes sense to me if you are talking about 'bargain barges' ie buy as good as you can get for a couple of bags, spend nothing and run them until they die. If I was doing that then yes, VED would be a consideration, but only to the extent that I would want the full 12 month ticket when buying.
My old 535 cost £700, ran for a year and 10,000 miles without a hiccup, and went through an MOT with not a single advisory.

And then it dealt me a £570 bill for a new radiator and a few other bits, I managed to have a minor accident on my own driveway, and I sold it to a breaker in Tottenham. But even including the bill £1300 is nothing for 10k miles at average 28mpg in a 19-year-old bahnstormer.
Superb and found your car info interesting.

Gruber

6,313 posts

243 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
I've just bought a 1989 Merc 300E saloon (w124). Less than a grand. Barge-tastic. It's only done 92k miles and is incredibly comfortable, smooth and plenty quick enough. Fingers crossed it won't cost me an arm and a leg and I can do a few thousand miles in it over the winter and sell it for what I paid. And it qualifies for classic car insurance, so less than £200 to insure the old girl.

Just do it!

isee

3,713 posts

212 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
Barges are like tits, no matter how many you've seen, no matter how many you've had, no matter how imperfect some may be,- you still can't get enough of them and going from a 20 year old DD, to a 35 year old C, is not necessarily a downgrade...

Gizmo!

18,150 posts

238 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
isee said:
Barges are like tits, no matter how many you've seen, no matter how many you've had, no matter how imperfect some may be,- you still can't get enough of them and going from a 20 year old DD, to a 35 year old C, is not necessarily a downgrade...
The point is you can get a 30 year old FF for the same cost of ownership as a 20 year old C-cup...

Gizmo!

18,150 posts

238 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
isee said:
Barges are like tits, no matter how many you've seen, no matter how many you've had, no matter how imperfect some may be,- you still can't get enough of them and going from a 20 year old DD, to a 35 year old C, is not necessarily a downgrade...
The point is you can get a 30 year old FF for the same cost of ownership as a 20 year old C-cup...

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
isee said:
Barges are like tits, no matter how many you've seen, no matter how many you've had, no matter how imperfect some may be,- you still can't get enough of them and going from a 20 year old DD, to a 35 year old C, is not necessarily a downgrade...
Almost perfect analogy love it biggrin

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

212 months

Monday 11th October 2010
quotequote all
Gruber said:
I've just bought a 1989 Merc 300E saloon (w124). Less than a grand. Barge-tastic. It's only done 92k miles and is incredibly comfortable, smooth and plenty quick enough. Fingers crossed it won't cost me an arm and a leg and I can do a few thousand miles in it over the winter and sell it for what I paid. And it qualifies for classic car insurance, so less than £200 to insure the old girl.

Just do it!
Sounds superb love the W124.