Seriously Overpriced Cars

[p4cks]

DjSki said:

p4cks said:

Mental isn't it. They're not even that good!

Looked at one of these about 6 years ago, a Mk2, think it was about £16/17k at the time, yes they look good but they are all show and not much go, and god awful interior. Stupid money now.

Yep, can't disagree there, especially the awful interior and stupid money bits

[E63eeeeee...]

Fiedka said:

E63eeeeee... said:

So, possibly not objectively that overpriced (especially having been reduced from its original £15995, and to be fair pretty difficult to price as there are only about a dozen of the things to compare it against:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-BMW-5-Series-4-4-5...

but this is my old 550i, which I paid £16250 for three years and 25,000 miles ago. And then traded in for about 11k (with about 52k on the clock) last year when I got fed up with the unreliability and the leaks. Lovely car in many ways, and if you do buy it I still have the 550i badge off the back if you don't like the stealth aspect.

Very interesting. I was looking at this ad a few weeks ago when browsing for 550is. Out of curiosity if anything although I would like to own one at some point.
How was your ownership of this one? You mention reliability issues, what was it? Small niggles or big drivetrain stuff?
By the way, I thought those came with round exhausts, we’re those rectangular ones an option of some sort?

The quadrilateral exhausts were unique to the 550i, chrome for SE spec and black on the M Sport. The reliability stuff was all about getting fuel into the engine, so most of the fuel supply system ended up getting replaced, piece by piece, thankfully under extended warranty, but that meant about 7 weeks in total with the car in the dealership, and having to deal with the dealership, which was an astonishingly miserable experience. It also had a series of leaks, eventually diagnosed the big yellow gasket and replaced that, but when I started to smell damp again that was the point where I'd had enough, plus I'd just had to replace a fuel injector at £175 and realised there were 7 more of them. 20 quid of oil every 1500-1800 miles was a minor niggle in comparison. Otherwise it's a fantastic car if you like the stealth aspect, probably the lowest-key way of driving 400+ bhp. Lovely interior (much nicer than the 4 years newer E-Class I replaced it with), excellent long distance comfort, plus on a motorway people think you're plod and get out the way. Handles well enough to have been 18 excellent months of commuting across the snake pass. If the leaks have been sorted I'd say do it but get a warranty and check very carefully what it covers.

[Fiedka]

Thanks for that. Very useful.
I am still enjoying my N53 330i and will probably stick to it for a while but have noted down your response for future reference!

[Dapster]

"1995/N rhd rs2 Avant in ragussa green minus engine/box service history & invoices & v5 etc £23k"





https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-80-QUATTRO-B2-1985...

[Wheel_Turned_Out]

Dapster said:

"1995/N rhd rs2 Avant in ragussa green minus engine/box service history & invoices & v5 etc £23k"





https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-80-QUATTRO-B2-1985...

Also minus a face apparently.

That's one of the more shocking examples of "what the hell is wrong with you?!" I've seen. Goodness me.

[fflump]

Wheel_Turned_Out said:

Also minus a face apparently.

That's one of the more shocking examples of "what the hell is wrong with you?!" I've seen. Goodness me.

This guy has a few of these bits of scrap advertised as "projects". Which they are if the project is bankruptcy

[HM-2]

That's missing all the really expensive bits too. Not just the engine but the front end, mirrors etc.

[Rich135]

HM-2 said:

That's missing all the really expensive bits too. Not just the engine but the front end, mirrors etc.

But it appears to come with a free Pepe keyring, so well worth the money.... Anyone else remember then from the '80s?

[dooosuk]

aaron_2000 said:

This car and seller both confuse and annoy me. Goes to the effort of saying it's all orginal down to the unpainted orange vents, then shows the painted black vents, STi seats and STI mats, unoriginal wheels and despite him saying it has air con, clearly has no air con. The rear bench seat is half STI bench and half UK2000 which is odd considering the picture of the original seats shows the missing STI half. If I was gonna spend £11k on a 2000 Turbo, I'd expect it to be absolutely perfect and completely accurate in the description, if the seller can't even describe it accurately and can't be bothered to give it a quick vac before taking the pictures then it really doesn't scream "the one we are all looking for". Looks like the white door cards have been dyed too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Subaru-Impreza-Tur...

Unless he's updated the advert, some of it is your reading skills, he says

".... orange indicators, vents, black plastic parts unpainted exactly as they came from factory....."

[Slow]

PhantomPH said:

I must be way out of touch...I think the price is probably right, but I am more taken aback by the idea that people not only buy, but SELL million pounds cars on EBay. Who knew? If I was buying one of those, a browse of EBay would not even float across my mind. It would be like shopping for a Rolex in Aldi.

[Pommy]

Slow said:

PhantomPH said:

I must be way out of touch...I think the price is probably right, but I am more taken aback by the idea that people not only buy, but SELL million pounds cars on EBay. Who knew? If I was buying one of those, a browse of EBay would not even float across my mind. It would be like shopping for a Rolex in Aldi.

Not exactly gonna do a PayPal claimback on a man with KGB links and missiles on his ships now are ya...

[raceboy]

Pommy said:

Slow said:

PhantomPH said:

I must be way out of touch...I think the price is probably right, but I am more taken aback by the idea that people not only buy, but SELL million pounds cars on EBay. Who knew? If I was buying one of those, a browse of EBay would not even float across my mind. It would be like shopping for a Rolex in Aldi.

Not exactly gonna do a PayPal claimback on a man with KGB links and missiles on his ships now are ya...

I hope it was listed on a £1 selling fees days.

[Veeayt]

Wheel_Turned_Out said:

Then again I imagine a Brabus one would be easier to live with if they're replacing and upgrading this, that, and the other.

I don't think that's the case because originality is what people pay for.

[Wheel_Turned_Out]

Veeayt said:

Wheel_Turned_Out said:

Then again I imagine a Brabus one would be easier to live with if they're replacing and upgrading this, that, and the other.

I don't think that's the case because originality is what people pay for.

Don't think what's the case?

From Brabus:

"The start of any BRABUS Classic 6-Star Restoration of a Mercedes-Benz classic always is the complete disassembly of the base vehicle in our workshop. All parts are inspected and indexed in the process. Unserviceable parts are discarded. Others that are suitable for reconditioning are returned to new condition by our specialists with utmost care. All missing, damaged or worn out components are replaced with newly manufactured genuine Mercedes parts – from the first to the last bolt. An unparalleled approach in the restoration of vintage cars."

When I say replacing and upgrading I mean with new Merc parts. Not resto-modding.

[Wheel_Turned_Out]

Speaking of 300SLs, I happened upon this Ostermeier 300SL reproduction.

Made in 2000, with a 3.0 engine from a W124. Up for $425k.



It's very well done, and I'm sure it's fun to drive and took a lot of work to manufacture. But it just seems you would be forever having to say "well actually..." when someone asks you if it's real. Or would you just let them presume and say nothing?

I'm sure lots of these ended up with people who have a real 300SL sitting in the garage they just don't want to put the miles on, and I sort of get it. To them I'm sure it's small change, but it still seems a touch overpriced to me. Even at Hyman's usual steep prices.

Then again I really like those Racing Green Bentley repros and they're not exactly cheap, so maybe I should just shush.

[S54B32]

This one's a bit odd. Obviously owned by a wally, used as a work van? I can't work it out. Overpriced for sure though!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101308...



Flagged up when I was looking at F11s!

[Blakewater]

£21,000 for an Austin Metro Moritz at a dealership in Switzerland.

www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1279873



My parents had one of these bought new. My only memories of it are of being sat in the back with the bonnet up. When my dad had Cancer my mum was afraid of it breaking down on the way to and from Christies, so she swapped it for a pre-reg Fiesta Popular, the cheapest new car she could find.

She still has the picnic box she got free with it. It came with two ski jackets as well and was supposed to come with a "Moritz" holdall, but the dealership had run out of the holdall so gave the picnic box as a substitute. It still does regular good service, even if the car was crap.

[GearKnob]

Blakewater said:

£21,000 for an Austin Metro Moritz at a dealership in Switzerland.

www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1279873



My parents had one of these bought new. My only memories of it are of being sat in the back with the bonnet up. When my dad had Cancer my mum was afraid of it breaking down on the way to and from Christies, so she swapped it for a pre-reg Fiesta Popular, the cheapest new car she could find.

She still has the picnic box she got free with it. It came with two ski jackets as well and was supposed to come with a "Moritz" holdall, but the dealership had run out of the holdall so gave the picnic box as a substitute. It still does regular good service, even if the car was crap.

My grandfather's non-moritz mk1 metro lasted him 20 years with little trouble. If it hadn't been written off it'd have gone on even longer, though rust was catching up with it. I dont think it ever broke down apart from battery/alternators.

I guess sometimes duff cars can have individuals that last quite well, other times a usually good car can be a total lemon.

Edited by GearKnob on Tuesday 23 March 00:55

[konster296]

S54B32 said:

This one's a bit odd. Obviously owned by a wally, used as a work van? I can't work it out. Overpriced for sure though!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101308...



Flagged up when I was looking at F11s!

N52 owners trying out their luck lol

[Mark-C]

konster296 said:

S54B32 said:

This one's a bit odd. Obviously owned by a wally, used as a work van? I can't work it out. Overpriced for sure though!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101308...



Flagged up when I was looking at F11s!

N52 owners trying out their luck lol

Do the carbon fibre BMW badges balance out the weight of the subwoofer?