Car History & Current Bangernomics Bus
Discussion
Hi, been a part time browser for a few years but currently debating my next car so spend a lot of time looking in here for experiences of my shortlist. I’ve had a ‘few’ cars and a few pitfalls along the way.
2008 - Clio Dynamique 1.2. No pictures unfortunately, loved this car as most do with their first and it kind of shaped my interest in hot hatches, more specifically Renaultsport.
2011 - R53 Cooper S. Again I can’t find any pictures. Awful car. Hated every minutes of it, didn’t feel that fast, terrible on fuel. Big mistake, only lasted 4 months.
2011 - Clio 182. Probably still the favourite car I’ve owned. Made a mistake getting the Mini instead of one as I thought it would be too similar to my 1.2 but how wrong I was. Bought from an enthusiast with some already tasty parts on I made it my own and it eventually looked like below.
2012 - Whilst I loved the clio, speed humps and a rather loud exhaust was wearing thin. Didn’t want to change it as it would ruin the car so decided to move it on. I’m obviously a sucker for punishment as I went back to Mini and an R56 Cooper S. Bought of a Mini forum it was a well known car which turned out to be dog. Had been modified and returned to standard, just not very well. Luckily it had comprehensive BMW warranty. Of the 8 months I owned it 4 of those were spent in BMW. Engine rebuilds, suspension rebuilds. It was a sh*t show so had to go.
2013 - Had a crap time personally so thought I’d treat myself to a new car. MK5 R32. Was a bit of a dream to me so to get one when I was 23 was brilliant. Fully loaded, dsg, bucket seats sunroof etc etc. Had the invoice which was for £38,000, on. 2006 Golf which was eye watering to me. Had 6 months of bliss driving this in the summer. Couldn’t hold a candle to the 182 in terms of driving feel but as and all rounder it was brilliant.
Until one day driving home the gearbox went. Diagnosed as an Mechatronics unit goosed beyond repair, 5 weeks and £2500 lighter I had the car back. Never felt the same about it after that and 6 months later I moved on it at a considerable loss. Later found out the car was known to be a dog before I bought it so a lesson learned there. Never trust a ‘reputable’ dealer.
2014 - I leased what at the time was a stonkingly cheap Fiesta ST3. Brilliant car in every way. Scandalous how cheap these are now and when I’m in the position to I’ll be adding one to my garage as a track day car.
2016 - The lease on the Fiesta came to an end and due to purchasing a house I didn’t have much funds for a replacement. Worth baring in mind that since I started driving I’d always had unlimited use of a works vehicle so the cars were always just used to tinkering and pleasure. Didn’t want to have nothing to play with so went back to a Clio 182. Again a well known forum car which had been modified and was immaculate for its age. Unfortunately only kept this for 3 months as I genuinely did about 300 miles in it. Went off to a chap in Bristol who’s obliterated it and turned it into a track car.
2017 - House purchase complete I was after something again to use on the weekends and thought I’d try an EP3. Found a lovely Nighthawk Black Premier that needed abit of work but was cheap at 3k with low mileage. Did a few things before it got nicked from my house 3 months later. Vanished without a trace. Shame really, although insurance did pay out £5,000 on it so not all bad.
2017 - The Civic theft came just as I was having a career change so I had already ordered a new car anyway to commute. No more use of a works vehicle would be a shock after 9 years. Again on a cheap lease for 15,000 miles a year I got myself a Leon FR Technology. By no means anything exciting but to do the mundane daily things cars need to do I thought it was absolutely brilliant. 50mpg at 80mph all day long, and in all honesty for a 1.4 with only 125bhp it shifted itself along just fine. Would recommend to anyone.
2019 - Now up to this point my partner always had her own car and Audi A1. Subsequent to the emissions recall the car became a dog. Completely ruined. To the point I couldn’t bare to sell it to someone unsuspecting so punted it to WBAC in the hope a subsequent buyer would have dealer protection (funnily enough I see this car daily on the motorway now). Due to me only working 4 miles from home I gave her the leon to use and started trawling the market for a sub 2k car that would get me to work and back. Which bring us to my current steed...
Having spent weeks trawling through garbage on Autotrader, I was ebay one saturday evening after a ‘few’ drinks, and came across this..
The advert was written as though he was selling his kid, but the key things to me where.
Two owners (mother from new, and then her son)
Comprehensive saab and specialist history
£1700 just spent on maintenance.
10 months MOT
The car was at £1400 with 10 minutes left. 10 minutes later and at £1900 I was the highest bidder. Couple of phone calls later and I was off to Conway to pick her up.
2.0T Aero (210)
Manual
Xenons
Climate
Cruise
Heated seats
A little leggy at 135,000 miles when I bought it but didn’t really feel like that.
Anyway, long story short its now done 145,000 miles as my commute since the turn of the hear has gone from 8 miles a day to 70. Averaging 420 miles to a tank so not the best but for the fact its and old engine with a big turbo isn’t too bad. By no means fast but keeps up with the majority of things and can still be abit of a laugh to drive. Needs a bit of TLC once we start to come out of this lock down but I love it. Ive only washed it once myself back in Jan a year after I bought it ha.
And took this morning as I got to work
In the process of moving house at the moment but once that is concluded I’m thinking of moving into an M140i. Going off what is on the market I’d like to think the car is worth more than I payed due to this history. But at this price range I’d probably keep it and use it for tip runs etc.
Thanks for reading. And if anyone has any advice on M140’s please share. The main one being is doing 350 miles a week in one going to melt my wallet.
2008 - Clio Dynamique 1.2. No pictures unfortunately, loved this car as most do with their first and it kind of shaped my interest in hot hatches, more specifically Renaultsport.
2011 - R53 Cooper S. Again I can’t find any pictures. Awful car. Hated every minutes of it, didn’t feel that fast, terrible on fuel. Big mistake, only lasted 4 months.
2011 - Clio 182. Probably still the favourite car I’ve owned. Made a mistake getting the Mini instead of one as I thought it would be too similar to my 1.2 but how wrong I was. Bought from an enthusiast with some already tasty parts on I made it my own and it eventually looked like below.
2012 - Whilst I loved the clio, speed humps and a rather loud exhaust was wearing thin. Didn’t want to change it as it would ruin the car so decided to move it on. I’m obviously a sucker for punishment as I went back to Mini and an R56 Cooper S. Bought of a Mini forum it was a well known car which turned out to be dog. Had been modified and returned to standard, just not very well. Luckily it had comprehensive BMW warranty. Of the 8 months I owned it 4 of those were spent in BMW. Engine rebuilds, suspension rebuilds. It was a sh*t show so had to go.
2013 - Had a crap time personally so thought I’d treat myself to a new car. MK5 R32. Was a bit of a dream to me so to get one when I was 23 was brilliant. Fully loaded, dsg, bucket seats sunroof etc etc. Had the invoice which was for £38,000, on. 2006 Golf which was eye watering to me. Had 6 months of bliss driving this in the summer. Couldn’t hold a candle to the 182 in terms of driving feel but as and all rounder it was brilliant.
Until one day driving home the gearbox went. Diagnosed as an Mechatronics unit goosed beyond repair, 5 weeks and £2500 lighter I had the car back. Never felt the same about it after that and 6 months later I moved on it at a considerable loss. Later found out the car was known to be a dog before I bought it so a lesson learned there. Never trust a ‘reputable’ dealer.
2014 - I leased what at the time was a stonkingly cheap Fiesta ST3. Brilliant car in every way. Scandalous how cheap these are now and when I’m in the position to I’ll be adding one to my garage as a track day car.
2016 - The lease on the Fiesta came to an end and due to purchasing a house I didn’t have much funds for a replacement. Worth baring in mind that since I started driving I’d always had unlimited use of a works vehicle so the cars were always just used to tinkering and pleasure. Didn’t want to have nothing to play with so went back to a Clio 182. Again a well known forum car which had been modified and was immaculate for its age. Unfortunately only kept this for 3 months as I genuinely did about 300 miles in it. Went off to a chap in Bristol who’s obliterated it and turned it into a track car.
2017 - House purchase complete I was after something again to use on the weekends and thought I’d try an EP3. Found a lovely Nighthawk Black Premier that needed abit of work but was cheap at 3k with low mileage. Did a few things before it got nicked from my house 3 months later. Vanished without a trace. Shame really, although insurance did pay out £5,000 on it so not all bad.
2017 - The Civic theft came just as I was having a career change so I had already ordered a new car anyway to commute. No more use of a works vehicle would be a shock after 9 years. Again on a cheap lease for 15,000 miles a year I got myself a Leon FR Technology. By no means anything exciting but to do the mundane daily things cars need to do I thought it was absolutely brilliant. 50mpg at 80mph all day long, and in all honesty for a 1.4 with only 125bhp it shifted itself along just fine. Would recommend to anyone.
2019 - Now up to this point my partner always had her own car and Audi A1. Subsequent to the emissions recall the car became a dog. Completely ruined. To the point I couldn’t bare to sell it to someone unsuspecting so punted it to WBAC in the hope a subsequent buyer would have dealer protection (funnily enough I see this car daily on the motorway now). Due to me only working 4 miles from home I gave her the leon to use and started trawling the market for a sub 2k car that would get me to work and back. Which bring us to my current steed...
Having spent weeks trawling through garbage on Autotrader, I was ebay one saturday evening after a ‘few’ drinks, and came across this..
The advert was written as though he was selling his kid, but the key things to me where.
Two owners (mother from new, and then her son)
Comprehensive saab and specialist history
£1700 just spent on maintenance.
10 months MOT
The car was at £1400 with 10 minutes left. 10 minutes later and at £1900 I was the highest bidder. Couple of phone calls later and I was off to Conway to pick her up.
2.0T Aero (210)
Manual
Xenons
Climate
Cruise
Heated seats
A little leggy at 135,000 miles when I bought it but didn’t really feel like that.
Anyway, long story short its now done 145,000 miles as my commute since the turn of the hear has gone from 8 miles a day to 70. Averaging 420 miles to a tank so not the best but for the fact its and old engine with a big turbo isn’t too bad. By no means fast but keeps up with the majority of things and can still be abit of a laugh to drive. Needs a bit of TLC once we start to come out of this lock down but I love it. Ive only washed it once myself back in Jan a year after I bought it ha.
And took this morning as I got to work
In the process of moving house at the moment but once that is concluded I’m thinking of moving into an M140i. Going off what is on the market I’d like to think the car is worth more than I payed due to this history. But at this price range I’d probably keep it and use it for tip runs etc.
Thanks for reading. And if anyone has any advice on M140’s please share. The main one being is doing 350 miles a week in one going to melt my wallet.
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