Buying back your first car
Discussion
Not as an amazing story as I'm only 22, but browsing auto trader for a cheap runabout and I found my very first car up for sale again! Doesn't say how many owners since I sold it 3 years ago, luckily the seller has been honest and said it is a Cat D (someone crashed into it when I owned it), it's only done 6000 miles since I let it go, and its £695 on auto trader. The paint on the rear bumper has cracked (was beginning to go when I sold it, probably just typical Fiat under-engineering) and the cover for the tow hook screwing in bit on the front bumper has gone (we lost it too but bought a new one and it was there when we sold it). The only thing that bugs me is 'part service history'. When we got rid, it had a complete service history, receipts for everything, and as we bought it back from the insurance company, photos of the repairs (was two panels needed replacing, got from eBay and did ourselves), obviously the next owner(s) haven't bothered with keeping up the servicing, or have just failed to get it documented.
What does PH think; is it worth a shot?
What does PH think; is it worth a shot?
Rubin215 said:
I bought back a bike last year that I sold in 1996.
It's not exactly been kept in good condition either, but when I saw it again I just wanted to get it as good or even better than it was before.
That's one of the reasons I want my car back, when we bought it back from the insurance company, me and my dad spent nearly a month fixing it up (not too much cash as it's a Fiat Seicento!) and I really enjoyed doing that, think we probably sold it in a better condition than it left the Fiat factory in, knowing what they were like back then! Thing is I'm now at uni, and there's no point in having a car here as I'm within 10 minutes walk of uni and work. But when I go home and see everyone, having no car is like having a leg cut off, and more often than not I'm stuck in the house all day while my folks are at work (we really do live in the middle of buttfIt's not exactly been kept in good condition either, but when I saw it again I just wanted to get it as good or even better than it was before.
k nowhere!) so having it back for such a small amount (less than half for what we sold it) is tempting, plus my insurance has come down from the first time I owned it (£300 a year vs £1200 at 17)HustleRussell said:
I always guessed it wouldn't quite be the same second time round... Spend your £700 on something else IMO. The memories are fond at the moment.
That's the thing, I know it won't be as good as it used to be, the pictures, although few and relatively grainy, show a lot. Tow hook cover missing (again), and looks like the bumper's taken a good whack, and from the best picture on there it looks like the rear tyres are still the same ones from when I sold it 3 years ago, and the fronts appear to be nangjangwangkangs or some cheap and nasty £10 specials, rather than the Pirellis I had on it (which were quite dear at £60 a corner but well worth it). Part of me wants it back so I can put everything right on it again, it was an interesting challenge doing it the first time round after it was Cat D'd (again, it was very minor damage, just 2 panels which we bought off eBay and resprayed ourselves, but insurance co's garage wanted £2000 to do it!), and I would love to give it another go.Life is too short IMO, get a different experience. I can fully sympathise with you wanting your first car back, but I think:
-it won't be as good as rose tinted spectacles
-the car will be in physically worse condition, years older etc
-you can probably afford to buy and insure something more interesting.
-it won't be as good as rose tinted spectacles
-the car will be in physically worse condition, years older etc
-you can probably afford to buy and insure something more interesting.
Don't do it.
I didn't buy back my first car, but my second, about 2 years after I sold it. It was a fairly modified car when I sold it. Engine swap, alloys, other tuning etc. The buyer went on to do more cosmetic stuff as well as a bit more tuning. I followed what he was doing to it through an owners forum.
When it came up for sale, I decided that I regretted selling it that much that I had to buy it back at any cost. All the time and effort I put into it and I had just let it go...
When I picked it up, I instantly regretted being such a retard.
All the reasons I sold it in the first place were still there. It was still too slow, too small and a bit st. It bugged me a fair bit in the end and the car was worth more in parts than as a whole so I broke it on my drive a few months later.
Ah well.
I didn't buy back my first car, but my second, about 2 years after I sold it. It was a fairly modified car when I sold it. Engine swap, alloys, other tuning etc. The buyer went on to do more cosmetic stuff as well as a bit more tuning. I followed what he was doing to it through an owners forum.
When it came up for sale, I decided that I regretted selling it that much that I had to buy it back at any cost. All the time and effort I put into it and I had just let it go...
When I picked it up, I instantly regretted being such a retard.
All the reasons I sold it in the first place were still there. It was still too slow, too small and a bit s
t. It bugged me a fair bit in the end and the car was worth more in parts than as a whole so I broke it on my drive a few months later.Ah well.
Edited by Deluded on Thursday 8th March 19:59
I've only ever owned one car which was still road worthy after I was finished with it:-
Austin Metro 1.3: written off
Austin Metro 1.3: gearbox failure, not economical to repair
Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf: written off
Alfa Romeo 33 1.7IE: broken for race car parts
Alfa Romeo 75 2.0TS: broken for race car parts
Alfa Romeo 147 Selespeed: engine failure, not economical to repair
Subaru Impreza WRX Sportwagon: sold in mint condition
I contacted the buyer of the WRX and almost did a deal recently. Still thinking about it...
I wonder why I have a reputation of being a car breaker
Austin Metro 1.3: written off
Austin Metro 1.3: gearbox failure, not economical to repair
Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf: written off
Alfa Romeo 33 1.7IE: broken for race car parts
Alfa Romeo 75 2.0TS: broken for race car parts
Alfa Romeo 147 Selespeed: engine failure, not economical to repair
Subaru Impreza WRX Sportwagon: sold in mint condition
I contacted the buyer of the WRX and almost did a deal recently. Still thinking about it...
I wonder why I have a reputation of being a car breaker
Hmm, a lot more negative responses than I thought. My thinking behind getting it back is both an engineering challenge (get it back to top condition), and it'll help my sister out when learning to drive. She's 17, was offered mum's old C3 when she bought a Golf and rejected it (who can blame her, I borrowed it once when I went back home, and it was the worst piece of junk I'd ever driven) as it was 'too big'.
We're talking about a Seicento here, which is one of the smallest, cheapest car we could think of when I was 17, insurance wasn't too bad either. The plan, if it goes ahead, would be to go halves on the car with my sister, we'd keep it at my folks' house, so she'd have something to learn in (parents weren't too happy about her rejecting the C3, it took her so long to make up her mind that they lost a lot of money on it, so they won't buy her a car any more. She's started saving up for a Ford Ka, but the one she wants is £1000 and she doesn't have anywhere near that.
We know the car well, having bought it just before my 17th birthday, and sold it 3 and a half years later, we know what tends to go wrong, and that it's piss easy and cheap to fix anything that does go wrong. The insurance won't be an issue for me these days, 5 years later I've gone from paying double the car's value to quotes of under £300 a year. Being a learner, my sister's insurance won't be as kind, although unless I'm very much mistaken we're not at the stage where women pay the same as guys just yet, and now I'm 22 and had my licence for 5 years, I'll be able to supervise when she wants to learn (when I'm not at uni of course). I'd drive the car when at home, as not having a car when I'm back home it's a pain in the arse, and as I mentioned before I wouldn't need the car at uni, which is better as I'm not driving a Seicento from Leicester to Aberdeen, it was almost unbearable in the Panda which I bought to replace it.
But as many of you mentioned, it'll most likely be fked, I don't know what the owners after me have done to it, it needs paintwork doing (although I have friends who would be willing to help me out with that). But I like dicking about with cars and getting my hands dirty, so it could be a fun project for when I come back home and have nothing better to do.
We're talking about a Seicento here, which is one of the smallest, cheapest car we could think of when I was 17, insurance wasn't too bad either. The plan, if it goes ahead, would be to go halves on the car with my sister, we'd keep it at my folks' house, so she'd have something to learn in (parents weren't too happy about her rejecting the C3, it took her so long to make up her mind that they lost a lot of money on it, so they won't buy her a car any more. She's started saving up for a Ford Ka, but the one she wants is £1000 and she doesn't have anywhere near that.
We know the car well, having bought it just before my 17th birthday, and sold it 3 and a half years later, we know what tends to go wrong, and that it's piss easy and cheap to fix anything that does go wrong. The insurance won't be an issue for me these days, 5 years later I've gone from paying double the car's value to quotes of under £300 a year. Being a learner, my sister's insurance won't be as kind, although unless I'm very much mistaken we're not at the stage where women pay the same as guys just yet, and now I'm 22 and had my licence for 5 years, I'll be able to supervise when she wants to learn (when I'm not at uni of course). I'd drive the car when at home, as not having a car when I'm back home it's a pain in the arse, and as I mentioned before I wouldn't need the car at uni, which is better as I'm not driving a Seicento from Leicester to Aberdeen, it was almost unbearable in the Panda which I bought to replace it.
But as many of you mentioned, it'll most likely be f
ked, I don't know what the owners after me have done to it, it needs paintwork doing (although I have friends who would be willing to help me out with that). But I like dicking about with cars and getting my hands dirty, so it could be a fun project for when I come back home and have nothing better to do.DanB7290 said:
Anyone else got an opinion on doing this, or have done it in the past and got stories to tell?
Yes, don't bother, done it twice in 12 months, once with my Seat Ibiza Cupra and just recently with a Golf VR6 I sold the Ibiza in 2003 and the Golf in 2004, both are utterly ruined beyond economical repairYou say you know the car well but only what you did to it. god knows how it has been treated since.
You might as well go out and buy a Sei that doesn't need so much work and spend a bit of money doing a full service (cam belt/waterpump too) getting it tip top rather than buying one to fix from the ground up. You will easily spend a fortune on bits and bobs. Been there, done that, with Centos too. I used to be a bit of a Fiat we. The car I spoke of earlier was a Cinquecento Sporting with a 1242cc conversion that I did on my drive.
You might as well go out and buy a Sei that doesn't need so much work and spend a bit of money doing a full service (cam belt/waterpump too) getting it tip top rather than buying one to fix from the ground up. You will easily spend a fortune on bits and bobs. Been there, done that, with Centos too. I used to be a bit of a Fiat w
e. The car I spoke of earlier was a Cinquecento Sporting with a 1242cc conversion that I did on my drive.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff