Banger buying gone wrong - any stories?
Discussion
I Bought a tatty saab 95 aero estate for £300 quid a few months ago with a short mot. Baby arrived unexpectedly a few days later and it's been sat on the drive ever since. The mot's now lapsed and I just don't have the time to sort out the stuff it needs. One day I'll stick it on ebay and reclaim the drive.
my first car at 17 was a hand me down volvo 244 saloon. pretty decent car, good spec. cerainly far better than friends minis, metros and all that 80's junk.
roll forward to 18- I decide I want a beetle- having been encouraged to customise cars by reading old issues of custom car and street machine.
I buy the 1st one I see, at night time. on my own, seeking no advice from anyone.
I buy a 1303- so a late model round screen one--------- failing to understand I want a flat screen, earlier one if I want to re-create a Cal look bug.
plus I failed to spot the battery (under the back seat) hanging through the floor, didn't understand they didn't have heaters like a normal car............
cue- lots of welding ...........
had lots of fun with it though.
roll forward to 18- I decide I want a beetle- having been encouraged to customise cars by reading old issues of custom car and street machine.
I buy the 1st one I see, at night time. on my own, seeking no advice from anyone.
I buy a 1303- so a late model round screen one--------- failing to understand I want a flat screen, earlier one if I want to re-create a Cal look bug.
plus I failed to spot the battery (under the back seat) hanging through the floor, didn't understand they didn't have heaters like a normal car............
cue- lots of welding ...........
had lots of fun with it though.
Another one from me...
When I was teaching my ex to drive, we had a couple of cars that were cheap to insure and run (allegedly)...I bought a Skoda 120 with low miles in extremely clean condition...only the crank thrust bearings disintegrated leaving the engine to make a horrible noise until it finally seized and the car (only £100 to start with) was sold for scrap for the same amount.
When I was teaching my ex to drive, we had a couple of cars that were cheap to insure and run (allegedly)...I bought a Skoda 120 with low miles in extremely clean condition...only the crank thrust bearings disintegrated leaving the engine to make a horrible noise until it finally seized and the car (only £100 to start with) was sold for scrap for the same amount.
littlebasher said:
cjs racing. said:
MorganP104 said:
Many years ago, I purchased a MkII Escort estate for about £150. On the way home, the engine seized in spectacular fashion, locking the front wheels up
Why would a MK2 lock the front wheels?Haha he must have been.
But remember this is PH and not everyone is a driving god - see below
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
IanCress said:
Not the cars fault but when I was young and naïve (and there was no PH to consult) I took my Peugeot 205 to a chain of fast fit dealers to have a tyre replaced. They managed to sign me up to a credit agreement and replaced the front brake discs, pads and all brake lines as apparently they were rusty. Think it cost me about £500, well over 50% of what I paid for the car.
Haven't set foot in one of their shops since.
Haven't set foot in one of their shops since.
Seriously though you'd be suprised how many cads and wideboys there are out there ready to fleece you.
Not banger money at 2.5k so sorry op, But the first time i went to buy a car on my own it was an e38 from a ''specialist dealer''
in bolton, These days id ive run a mile on seeing the gravel sales area for hiding the oil leaks,Pre warmed up car and scrapyard bits under the bonnet.Cue short test drive ''yeah yeah your on my insurance mate'' says fat rigger boot wearing dealer, But i was an idiot and had to have an e38.. So shook on two and a half.
Came back the next weekend with my old man, Dealer hops into grubby mk3 mondeo with chubby wife asks if im happy.. Yeah says i, Start up e38 my old boy tells me it sounds a bit iffy starting from cold (warmed up for a reason).
So i got into the car and drove out of the dealers yard to BP, filled it up to slightly fuelly smell?!
Paid anyway and off we went down the m62 dad behind me, Stopped off at the service had some chowder etc.
I put the boot in down the m62 and think my old man got bored tbf so home he went, I Clearly remember laughing as i flew past a stricken renault scenic on the hard shoulder
Bursting for a piss so i pulled into doncaster M18 Services and karma dealt its hand, Went in had a tinkle came back.. Whats that small puddle under the car?! Crouched under it dipped in a finger and had a sniff.. f
k me! Its unleaded 
And we aint talking a weep here, Its steady drip and the patch is growing.Balls, So i rang the RAC and my old man, Decision was to get it recovered to the dealer and get the cash back (or try).
So i went back and sat about 3 spaces away from the hazardous old e38
Stopped people from parking/sparking up a fag near it.
During this time an old boy and friend rolled up with a very clean porsche 928 on a trailer, The lad viewing offered the seller 3k of the 5k asking!!!
Anyway told them not to come near the stricken fuel pissing 7.
Recovery lads turned up and had a look at the leak, It had split on the rusty seam (achilles heel of the e38)
Car got loaded on the wagon i rang the dealer said i was sending it back, So it went back up the m62 to bolton,Dealer was OK'ish And i got my cash back.
Oh and the bloke with the scenic got a minor issue fixed at the same service station and drove off
But lesson learned when PH'ers tell you not to buy a car from a bombsite dealer in bolton or bradford.. It would serve you well to listen to that wealth of experience.
Cheers
Edited by DegsyE39 on Friday 21st October 14:33
I'm terrible at buying bangers. I'm not going to do it any more.
1st car was a drunk eBay purchase. £74 for a 220,000 mile Y reg Rover SD1 2000. What wasn't filler was rust - you could put your fingers through the suspension turrets. The interior was utterly destroyed. The seller drove it to me, I drove it to a mate's garage. It wouldn't fit and I scraped the front wing trying to make it. Then I parked it in a council parking bay, and phoned up to surrender the car to the council. so they would scrap it.
Then there was the Daewoo Matiz I bought sight unseen for my late wife so that she could learn to drive. I spent about £700 and another £700 in insurance for her. It turned out to be a Cat C write off and she drove it only once or twice. I'm sure it had further life in it, but sadly my wife became terminally ill, spent the next 4 years in and out of hospital and never bothered about driving again. It got given to a charity scrappage scheme in the end.
The absolute worst was also one of my favourite cars. I bought my Mercedes 300TE-24 for £800 and had it for two years. The car was utterly lovely but in that time it cost me at least £6000 in repairs and servicing. Not very good bangerage at all.
When I sold it I paid a premium for the very best Porsche 986 Boxster I could find. I have learned my lesson.
1st car was a drunk eBay purchase. £74 for a 220,000 mile Y reg Rover SD1 2000. What wasn't filler was rust - you could put your fingers through the suspension turrets. The interior was utterly destroyed. The seller drove it to me, I drove it to a mate's garage. It wouldn't fit and I scraped the front wing trying to make it. Then I parked it in a council parking bay, and phoned up to surrender the car to the council. so they would scrap it.
Then there was the Daewoo Matiz I bought sight unseen for my late wife so that she could learn to drive. I spent about £700 and another £700 in insurance for her. It turned out to be a Cat C write off and she drove it only once or twice. I'm sure it had further life in it, but sadly my wife became terminally ill, spent the next 4 years in and out of hospital and never bothered about driving again. It got given to a charity scrappage scheme in the end.
The absolute worst was also one of my favourite cars. I bought my Mercedes 300TE-24 for £800 and had it for two years. The car was utterly lovely but in that time it cost me at least £6000 in repairs and servicing. Not very good bangerage at all.
When I sold it I paid a premium for the very best Porsche 986 Boxster I could find. I have learned my lesson.
Gold VW Scirocco. Cost me £50 although this was many, many years ago. Found the gasket between the carb and engine had split. Found two windows smashed and could not get one back in. Then going down a steep hill the brakes failed and the bloody thing would not go back in gear.
Scrapped it after a week.
Scrapped it after a week.
Sometime in the noughties I bought a 230,000 mile SAAB 900classic as a inbetween proper cars buy.
It was good for a short while but started misfiring and died later.
Sold it to an old ex colleague who only wanted it to cut off one of the rear 1/4 panels for another car
he was repairing/bodging.
Sold it ?...I might have given it away...
It was good for a short while but started misfiring and died later.
Sold it to an old ex colleague who only wanted it to cut off one of the rear 1/4 panels for another car
he was repairing/bodging.
Sold it ?...I might have given it away...
MG Maestro turbo from a scrap dealer's car lot. Paid bit over £100, on the 6 mile drive back thought the windscreen was misting up only to realise it was smoke once the smell got strong enough. Stopped and by the time we got out and walked to the front of it there were flames licking out the vents on the bonnet and shortly after we were warming ourselves to the massive blaze. Chalked it up to experience and the guy I bought it off picked up the burnt shell. I checked absolutely nothing before handing over the cash.
Spent £250 on my first car. A black metro 1.3 HLE with a replaced wing after an altercation with something far stronger than the car was (I suspect it hit a pensioner, or an empty crisp packet)
Drove it barely half a mile when the bottom end gave out.
Put another engine in from a scrappy, it lasted a few more months before letting go again.
Put ANOTHER engine in and this was dog poo but held onto dear life by the skin of its useless piston rings. The exhaust fell off and was flattened by a passing hgv. The rear hydro suspension was held on by luck and chewing gum and surprisingly when I took it for an MOT it was so shagged the MOT bloke got bored poking holes in the sills and it nearly collapsed in half on the way to the scrappers.
I think I spent four times the initial purchase cost in under a year trying to keep it alive. That's not including the obscene amount of subwoofers and pull out Clarion steree which made it into my next car.....A Pug 309.....which lasted about as long as the metro did
Drove it barely half a mile when the bottom end gave out.
Put another engine in from a scrappy, it lasted a few more months before letting go again.
Put ANOTHER engine in and this was dog poo but held onto dear life by the skin of its useless piston rings. The exhaust fell off and was flattened by a passing hgv. The rear hydro suspension was held on by luck and chewing gum and surprisingly when I took it for an MOT it was so shagged the MOT bloke got bored poking holes in the sills and it nearly collapsed in half on the way to the scrappers.
I think I spent four times the initial purchase cost in under a year trying to keep it alive. That's not including the obscene amount of subwoofers and pull out Clarion steree which made it into my next car.....A Pug 309.....which lasted about as long as the metro did
First car - Austin Allegro, pretty reliable until a piece of one of the valves fell off into the engine, amazingly I ran it for another 6 months (mental amount of smoke on start up) before replacing the engine with a 1500cc upgrade, could only run for 5 minutes at 60+ before it overheated and started misfiring. Shortly afterwards I rolled it after crappy driving (mine) saw me on the grass verge and the front dug into a drainage gully.
Replaced with..... another Austin Allegro. Totally reliable. Until it understeered into a ditch - written off. Car reg was worth more than the car (FAT 128T).
Employer was looking to get rid of his Mums Metro so I had an utterly reliable run around for a year before replacing it with a Rover Metro "Sport" (actually a nice car) where my banger days ended.
Plenty of banger motorbikes mind but I kept (most) of those shiny side up.
Replaced with..... another Austin Allegro. Totally reliable. Until it understeered into a ditch - written off. Car reg was worth more than the car (FAT 128T).
Employer was looking to get rid of his Mums Metro so I had an utterly reliable run around for a year before replacing it with a Rover Metro "Sport" (actually a nice car) where my banger days ended.
Plenty of banger motorbikes mind but I kept (most) of those shiny side up.
Managed to weld the engine of my Ford Ka together when I ran it without oil (no oil pressure gauge and apparently the warning light was fudged) ... bought a 87 mk2 Escort estate ... looked mint but driving it home heard a loud buzzing ... then nearly st myself and drove off the road, there was a hornets nest in the boot which driving had disturbed and they were less than happy little buzzers!
t myself and drove off the road, there was a hornets nest in the boot which driving had disturbed and they were less than happy little buzzers!X5TUU said:
Managed to weld the engine of my Ford Ka together when I ran it without oil (no oil pressure gauge and apparently the warning light was fudged) ... bought a 87 mk2 Escort estate ... looked mint but driving it home heard a loud buzzing ... then nearly st myself and drove off the road, there was a hornets nest in the boot which driving had disturbed and they were less than happy little buzzers!
What did you do?t myself and drove off the road, there was a hornets nest in the boot which driving had disturbed and they were less than happy little buzzers!I hate those f
kers so much I would've torched the car to be safeNot 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.
Jimmy Recard said:
What did you do?
I hate those fkers so much I would've torched the car to be safe
Ramped up onto the verge, left all the windows open, walked the mile or so back to a DIY store and got a wasp/hornet bomb spray. Went back to the car (hornets had chilled a little by this time) closed the windows, set the bomb ... waited ... waited ... waited (couple of hrs if I remember) and then scooped the corpses and nest out (shame this was before phone cameras as it looked pretty epic!)I hate those f
kers so much I would've torched the car to be safeAs it happens it did end up torched a few weeks later when it was stolen from a friends front lawn (council I know) when he borrowed it
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.
Then I filled it up with fuel, which it promptly emptied out onto the ground. Rotten fuel tank and fuel pipes. Bugger.
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