Is it possible to pay £1 for a car?

[real4star]

Remembering some 'Top Gear' repeats, I vaguely recall Clarkson buying a black Volvo for £1...

Was that just one of their stunts or is it possible to buy a whole car outright for a quid?

[Jamirecluse]

I'd say only if it was a favour from someone you knew.
Think scrap values used to make old cars a pain to get rid of - now they are hunted down, high demand so unlikely to be given away.
That's even for junk, never mind a usable car.

[surveyor]

When top gear did the feature scrap prices were low and people were having to pay to have their ar scrapped.

Not like that anymore.

[Dr Interceptor]

As above - at the time it was possible to buy a car for £1.

The PGI Volvo garage in Farnham often used to advertise old trade ins like 340's, 740's etc for £1 in the local paper.

[Muncher]

I got a mk3 VW Golf 1.9D for £0 just by taking it away, ran it for 7 years with nothing more than a new battery and an exhaust until someone crashed into me, currently sat in my garden awaiting weighing in for scrap.

[SystemParanoia]

i got a mazda for £1 off ebay many years ago

[Captain Muppet]

There seem to be loads of cars in the PH classifieds for £1, so I'm sure it can be done.

Unless every single one of them is posted up by a time wasting retard.

[LuS1fer]

I suppose it depends on the price of scrap. Given any breaker will collect a car and give you at least £100 for it, it would be foolish to give them away for £1.

[warp9]

Captain Muppet said:

There seem to be loads of cars in the PH classifieds for £1, so I'm sure it can be done.

Unless every single one of them is posted up by a time wasting retard.

I believe they are indeed all time wasting retards.

[yellowjack]

Is it possible to pay £1 for a car?


You can buy almost anything for £1, provided its owner is willing to sell, judging by this story:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/s...

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/swanse...

[2DDav]

As has already been said, with scrap prices as they are now its probably unlikely unless your lucky with a 99p bid on ebay. I did once buy a MK2 Astra 1.3L for £1 though.

[LouD86]

Indeed you can, helps to have a friend in the trade though! When I was younger (pre salesman days) my dad ran a few garages, I had several cars, paid £1 to drive around the paddock in!

[anonymous-user]

Didn't I read recently that someone off here was selling their Volvo a while back, and Top Gear bought it from them for use in one of their episodes? Possible the one in question wasn't bought for £1 anyway?

Maybe a different car altogether though

ETA - Just found the thread again, bit of research suggests it was actually this episode

http://www.swedespeed.com/news/publish/Volvo_News/...

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 8th January 10:13

[MarJay]

Nyphur said:

Didn't I read recently that someone off here was selling their Volvo a while back, and Top Gear bought it from them for use in one of their episodes? Possible the one in question wasn't bought for £1 anyway?

Maybe a different car altogether though

ETA - Just found the thread again, bit of research suggests it was actually this episode

http://www.swedespeed.com/news/publish/Volvo_News/...

Edited by Nyphur on Tuesday 8th January 10:13

The volvo he bought for a pound was in the 'cheap car challenge' "can you get to Manchester and back for less money than a train ticket by buying a car?"... The episode in the link above is much more recent and is "What second hand car should I buy for my 17 year old son or daughter"

</topgearnerd>

[rossub]

If the nearest scrap yard is so far away as to make it un-economical to transport the car there, then yes it could be done.

Look for cars for sale in the Western Isles

[Robert Elise]

i gave a car away once.... it was in France, working but looking decidely unhealthy. Transferred 'responsibility' to a fellow Brit working there. We were both fully aware and happy with the outcome.
Frankly i would have paid him...

[kayzee]

My brother technically gave away a car for nothing once... alloys were up for sale for £75 and when the guy turned up to buy them my brother just said take the whole car if you want. Was only a Fiesta Mk2 1.1

[Sir Bagalot]

7.5 years ago it was possible to buy a car for 50p......

[LeoZwalf]

Yes - a good friend of mine bought a beige 2.0S Capri for 1 pound in around 2003 or so. It wasn't asked for but he also gave the seller, my then-girlfriend's dad, a bottle of wine to go with the quid

[DanielSan]

No such thing as cheap bangers anymore. Thank the scrappage scheme for that one.