First forage into extreme bangernomics
Discussion
So lets set the scene, 2.5 years ago Myself and Mrs Strain decided to have a second baby and move in to a lovely new house twice the size of our previous home. I had a daily Vectra which was used and abused and she had a nearly new Astra for pottering about in.
2 years ago redundancies where announced in Mrs Strains work so she decided to go back to university. Being rather cautious the Vectra was sold on and I purchased a train ticket and one of those death traps with two wheels, some lights and a helmet.
Fast forward to today and she's halfway through her university cause, Our two little Strains are 6 and nearly 2, and one car just does not work anymore. We knew this day would come (but selling my old car, and 2 years of savings really helped) and part of me is glad it came, it's bloody cold in the morning and the 2.5 mile walk to the station isn't nice (Death trap on two wheels resides somewhere in the garage). Coupled with the fact that the little'uns have better social lives than anybody I know Mrs Strain took it upon herself (without my knowledge) of buying a car.
Now Mrs Strain is no idiot, both her Brothers are mechanics and she's fairly smart. For a while I have talked about a banger / station car but I have to admit her purchase has left a huge grin on my face.
So, without waffling on too much more what did she buy? Well we had a fairly limited budget and didn't want to spend more than £500, she know's I have a thing for fiesta's and know them like the back of my hand, and also have access to a load of spare parts curtsey of my old fiesta which is now my brothers project track car. So she set her target on a fiesta, petrol or diesel, any color, any miles, MOT status doesn't matter.
Within a few minutes of her looking she found a little gem, I don't think she realise's how good it actually is.
2003 ford fiesta (zetec) in Ink blue, 1400cc Petrol with just 70,000 miles from new and no MOT. Previous MOT (April 2016) was pretty clean with just brake pads and a tyre being advisory's. Paint looks original with a few little knocks and it comes with the optional extra sunroof!
The amount paid: £150 (10% of current shed)
First look around the car, it's great, runs nice but needs a few parts.
New MOT
Drivers window motor (in the glovebox - need to explore)
Rear center seatbelt
Front pads (doing today)
A few things I will possibly do, dependant how the car treats me
New wing mirror (current one held on with 3 wood screws....)
New steering wheel (A few leather OEM ones sitting in the garage)
New interior, front seat handles are cable tied and the rear seatbelt will cost a few quid, may look at an interior swap if one is cheap enough
Photos will come post MOT
Total cost so far:
Car £150
MOT and pads £50
Insurance £411
Tax £190
Total: £801 (For a full year of driving....)
Will upload photos when it passes its MOT
2 years ago redundancies where announced in Mrs Strains work so she decided to go back to university. Being rather cautious the Vectra was sold on and I purchased a train ticket and one of those death traps with two wheels, some lights and a helmet.
Fast forward to today and she's halfway through her university cause, Our two little Strains are 6 and nearly 2, and one car just does not work anymore. We knew this day would come (but selling my old car, and 2 years of savings really helped) and part of me is glad it came, it's bloody cold in the morning and the 2.5 mile walk to the station isn't nice (Death trap on two wheels resides somewhere in the garage). Coupled with the fact that the little'uns have better social lives than anybody I know Mrs Strain took it upon herself (without my knowledge) of buying a car.
Now Mrs Strain is no idiot, both her Brothers are mechanics and she's fairly smart. For a while I have talked about a banger / station car but I have to admit her purchase has left a huge grin on my face.
So, without waffling on too much more what did she buy? Well we had a fairly limited budget and didn't want to spend more than £500, she know's I have a thing for fiesta's and know them like the back of my hand, and also have access to a load of spare parts curtsey of my old fiesta which is now my brothers project track car. So she set her target on a fiesta, petrol or diesel, any color, any miles, MOT status doesn't matter.
Within a few minutes of her looking she found a little gem, I don't think she realise's how good it actually is.
2003 ford fiesta (zetec) in Ink blue, 1400cc Petrol with just 70,000 miles from new and no MOT. Previous MOT (April 2016) was pretty clean with just brake pads and a tyre being advisory's. Paint looks original with a few little knocks and it comes with the optional extra sunroof!
The amount paid: £150 (10% of current shed)
First look around the car, it's great, runs nice but needs a few parts.
New MOT
Drivers window motor (in the glovebox - need to explore)
Rear center seatbelt
Front pads (doing today)
A few things I will possibly do, dependant how the car treats me
New wing mirror (current one held on with 3 wood screws....)
New steering wheel (A few leather OEM ones sitting in the garage)
New interior, front seat handles are cable tied and the rear seatbelt will cost a few quid, may look at an interior swap if one is cheap enough
Photos will come post MOT
Total cost so far:
Car £150
MOT and pads £50
Insurance £411
Tax £190
Total: £801 (For a full year of driving....)
Will upload photos when it passes its MOT
strain said:
.....For a while I have talked about a banger / station car....
.....Total cost so far:
Car £150
MOT and pads £50
Insurance £411
Tax £190
Total: £801 (For a full year of driving....)
Will upload photos when it passes its MOT
You might also want to try joining the Autosh*te.com forum - it's a highly amusing bangernomics site. They even hold online raffles (called "Roffles", probably because of the ROFL element) for cheap cars......Total cost so far:
Car £150
MOT and pads £50
Insurance £411
Tax £190
Total: £801 (For a full year of driving....)
Will upload photos when it passes its MOT
strain said:
Total cost so far:
Car £150
MOT and pads £50
Insurance £411
Tax £190
Total: £801 (For a full year of driving....)
Well, I wouldn't include tax or insurance in the car cost. If your car lasts a year then that's a £200 car in my book.Car £150
MOT and pads £50
Insurance £411
Tax £190
Total: £801 (For a full year of driving....)
Welcome to bangernomics. It's a fun lottery game. I've played it for a few years with varying results. One car I sold after 3-4 months. Another I kept for 2 years. You're supposed to buy sensible cars that are likely to last but I tend to see what the most interesting car I can buy at the time for under £1k is. Had to step out of the market for a while as I required a more practical car ie a 4x4.
Thanks Chaps! will look on AutoSh*te 
Im hoping it lasts a few years but I know these fiesta's rather well so a little work doesn't bother me.
Just been on the hunt for a new interior, not overly fussed so trying a few best offers on ebay, hopefully sort one instead of doing seatbelt / handles seperately
Im hoping it lasts a few years but I know these fiesta's rather well so a little work doesn't bother me.
Just been on the hunt for a new interior, not overly fussed so trying a few best offers on ebay, hopefully sort one instead of doing seatbelt / handles seperately
Again, I don't really do bangernomics properly. I wouldn't bother dealing with any faults that are not dangerous or illegal. I wouldn't even bother servicing it. Drive it for a year, if it fails the MOT and costs maybe more than £100 to sort, then bin it and move to the next car.
I'm currently driving around in a £1800 4x4. I won't even bother to get that serviced until something fails. It passed its MOT without any problems.
I'm currently driving around in a £1800 4x4. I won't even bother to get that serviced until something fails. It passed its MOT without any problems.
My dailys have been "bangers" for years, its ideal to have a car I am not precious about for the daily post office run and fetching bits and bobs. Ka's have been a firm favorite, latest one is the Sport version, tatty but not rotten, had it for a year now and just insured for another year. Its had a water pump and belt, and a header tank in that time, its never broken down and is fun to drive. £450!
Nice work
I've had 25 cars and i think probs...20 of them have been 'sheds'.
Several of them under £500.
Most of the time....i did very well, not needing to spend anything/much on them and generally getting money back when selling.
It helped that a lot of them were trade ins at work (work at a dealership)
£500 would be my limit. I would consider the 'shed' limit to be £1000.
But i see thats changed on here now, to £1500...
So....i am pleased to annouce that my current vehicle fits!
2011 61 Citroen C3 Picasso 1.6 HDi VTR +, 78k miles....FSH, longish MOT.....£1500.
I've had 25 cars and i think probs...20 of them have been 'sheds'.
Several of them under £500.
Most of the time....i did very well, not needing to spend anything/much on them and generally getting money back when selling.
It helped that a lot of them were trade ins at work (work at a dealership)
£500 would be my limit. I would consider the 'shed' limit to be £1000.
But i see thats changed on here now, to £1500...
So....i am pleased to annouce that my current vehicle fits!
2011 61 Citroen C3 Picasso 1.6 HDi VTR +, 78k miles....FSH, longish MOT.....£1500.
Sounds like a bargain!
Good news MOT passed just an advisory on a tyre, £30 brand new fitted
Sorting out a new interior now as its not great, also going to chuck some new mirrors on it and the drivers window doesn't work.
Wife took it to Uni today so we can get some faith in it, i have to drive through a tunnel and a break down in there isn't cheap!
Good news MOT passed just an advisory on a tyre, £30 brand new fitted
Sorting out a new interior now as its not great, also going to chuck some new mirrors on it and the drivers window doesn't work.
Wife took it to Uni today so we can get some faith in it, i have to drive through a tunnel and a break down in there isn't cheap!
So coming up to my first MOT with this, 7000 miles later I thought I would update!
My Wife did suggest getting rid of it a few months back when we bought her a new car, I opted to trade in her 2012 astra and keep the 2003 fiesta.
The good, I hovered it for the first time in a year at the weekend, it was last washed 4 months ago. I don't bother checking it for dents either
The bad, well apart from basic oil and filter change it needed a clutch 1000 miles ago. I decided to DIY as its a 'banger' Clutch kit ordered from LUK for £72, by the time it got delivered a few weeks later I had put a complaint in about bad customer service, they surpassed my expectations and cocked up refunding me £25, twice! £22 clutch kit I wont complain. When I started the car up I had knocked the temperature sensor which was another £25, plus oil Im looking around £87 clutch change.
What else have I done? Well the state of it did get to me, so I swapped the wing mirrors for the more modern, color coded versions and updated the seats to the ZS half leather. I updated the radio to a bluetooth / apple play one my brother had lying around (exchanged for a set of wind deflectors on his own car)
Picked a few bits up from the scrap yard, new sony speakers, indicators for the mirrors (I like the little touches)
Started doing a Pre-MOT check and figured I needed 2 new tyres, a number plate light and maybe droplinks (sitting in the boot) - I may buy a set of larger wheels with good tyres rather than spending the £50 for 2 new tyres (+fitting on top)
|https://thumbsnap.com/1A1BVxXM[/url]
Total spend now around £1000 and year 2 insurance is down to £328
The more I drive it the more I like it, The passenger door looks warped and is rusting at the bottom, It's fair to say it had been painted in the past. I am keeping my eye open for a door to replace it and I am considering throwing the ST kit on it, yes I know it's a banger but I have the parts sitting there and I do appreciate a good paint job, probably why it's been washed 2/3 times tops in a year.[url]
My Wife did suggest getting rid of it a few months back when we bought her a new car, I opted to trade in her 2012 astra and keep the 2003 fiesta.
The good, I hovered it for the first time in a year at the weekend, it was last washed 4 months ago. I don't bother checking it for dents either
The bad, well apart from basic oil and filter change it needed a clutch 1000 miles ago. I decided to DIY as its a 'banger' Clutch kit ordered from LUK for £72, by the time it got delivered a few weeks later I had put a complaint in about bad customer service, they surpassed my expectations and cocked up refunding me £25, twice! £22 clutch kit I wont complain. When I started the car up I had knocked the temperature sensor which was another £25, plus oil Im looking around £87 clutch change.
What else have I done? Well the state of it did get to me, so I swapped the wing mirrors for the more modern, color coded versions and updated the seats to the ZS half leather. I updated the radio to a bluetooth / apple play one my brother had lying around (exchanged for a set of wind deflectors on his own car)
Picked a few bits up from the scrap yard, new sony speakers, indicators for the mirrors (I like the little touches)
Started doing a Pre-MOT check and figured I needed 2 new tyres, a number plate light and maybe droplinks (sitting in the boot) - I may buy a set of larger wheels with good tyres rather than spending the £50 for 2 new tyres (+fitting on top)
|https://thumbsnap.com/1A1BVxXM[/url]Total spend now around £1000 and year 2 insurance is down to £328
The more I drive it the more I like it, The passenger door looks warped and is rusting at the bottom, It's fair to say it had been painted in the past. I am keeping my eye open for a door to replace it and I am considering throwing the ST kit on it, yes I know it's a banger but I have the parts sitting there and I do appreciate a good paint job, probably why it's been washed 2/3 times tops in a year.[url]
Edited by strain on Friday 2nd November 14:33
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