The Bangernomics thread

The Bangernomics thread

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Discussion

MorganP104

Original Poster:

2,605 posts

129 months

Friday 12th May 2017
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There seems to be a lot of love on PH for Bangernomics, so I thought I'd get a general thread going. I did a forum search before starting this thread, but the only stuff I found was old, and a lot of it was specific to one person's search for a cheap car.

This thread's going to be a bit more general than that - any and all talk of Bangernomics welcome. As a fan of the craft myself, I'll kick it off:

- E32 730i purchased for £500, run for a year, sold for exactly £500.
- Very pink (should have been red) Mk1 Mondeo, purchased for £185, given a damn good T-Cutting, run for 2-ish years, sold for £350.
- E39 528i Touring purchased for £950, run for nearly 3 years, paid out £1,250 by third party's insurance company when she drove into my car, writing it off.

There are others, too, but those are the ones that spring to mind (i.e. that I am most smug about!!!)

If you have any good Bangernomics stories, share them here. Same goes for hints & tips on buying an old crock, and good spots of ridiculously cheap cars.

Only one bit of debate on Bangernomics that I can think of, and that's the upper price limit... I'm suggesting £2,000, tops. Anything more pricey than £2k falls into the "normal used car purchase" bracket, as far as I'm concerned.

Marcq

72 posts

96 months

Friday 12th May 2017
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Hello

97 Jaguar XJ, bought for £700, 6 months later, a lot of petrol and a near half axle at the rear (£360) sold for £1000
Current 00 Volvo V70 bought for £900 last month, needed a new power steering pump (£30) but hopefully good for a few years now

Sadly all this is out of necessity as a poor student

seders

74 posts

93 months

Friday 12th May 2017
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The best I have done is a 1999 Peugeot 406. £60 off a motor trader friend as it was a previous Cat C total loss with over 250k miles on it.

Drove it for 2 years and then chopped it in for £2k under the government scrappage scheme.


katz

147 posts

91 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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Currently running a 1998 Skoda Felicia estate, picked up for £300 last year with one year MOT. Have done nothing to it other than add oil diesel and washer liquid. Currently on 72k miles, and needs a cambelt change- playing cambelt roulette at the moment-, so will scrap it just before MOT time Prior to this have had Focus saloon, 318is, Vauxhall Monterrey, and Lancia Dedra all less than £600 and none of them kept for more than a year. (I have sitting in a garage a near perfect condition Alfa 155 wide body 2.0 twinny)

G111MDS

314 posts

90 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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I enjoy a bit of bangernomics too, although find its bit quite a straight forward following the road tax changes. I used to aim for something with a decent amount of mot and tax, and then sell on as the tax was getting relatively close. It was things like a4 tdi 110s etc for less than £1k. Half the enjoyment was the search for the next one.

strangehighways

479 posts

164 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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The last few years (well basically since I passed my test in 2000), I fit somewhere between proper bangernomics (90% of the time), and just above that...

- Capri 1.6 laser - bought for £270, sold to a mate for something like £100.
- Capri 2.8i - bought for £600, sold to an enthusiast for £110 I think. Was totally knackered!
- Alfa 164 V6 - bought for £950, sold for £100 when engine screwed up (now looking back I think it was the MAF)
- Mercedes 190e - bought for £1090, exchanged +£300 for.....
- Mercedes SEC - sold for £100. The car was totally f%$£ked..
- Peugeot 106 d - bought for £220, wrote car off by driving into a tree in the snow.
- Alfa GTV - bought for £3500...got written off by a lorry on the M1. Got £3500 from payout.
- BMW E34 540i - bought for £850, sold for about £750 with a noisy wheel bearing.
- Alfa GTV (2.5 V6.....) - bought for £1700ish, spent 1000s on it, sold to an enthusiast for £1000. Whole story on that one on this site...My favourite car that I've owned..
- BMW E38 740 - a thread on here about this one too. Really loved this car. Spent about £700 sorting the leaking fuel tank. Sold to a friend. When he sold it, the buyer suffered a gearbox failure on the way home!
- Alfa 166 3.0 - bought for £590, sold for £650. Great car.


and my current "fleet"

- Peugeot 406 hdi 110 estate - bought for £700, spent £600 on it in the last 9 months on starter motor, rear brake calipers, discs etc, springs on front... should cover 20k miles in a year. A great daily hack. Very comfortable and returns 45mpg easy (over 50 on a run if careful)

- Alfa 156 V6 - picked up recently for £1350. So far got a new MAF.


texaxile

3,289 posts

149 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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Up until recent events, I ran sheds purely for work, simple maths, cars at my place of work seldom look decent for very long, car park dents, seagull crap, dirt and dust from the local environment and salt air can soon wreck a nice motor over a few years.

I ran a Pug 205 for a good few years, brought for £890, I put almost 80k on it apart from general maintenance it had a couple of driveshafts. Scrapped it for £100.
Next onto a diesel Pug 106, paid £450, ran for a year on "cheap diesel" wink, head gasket went, scrapped it for £160 and sold the alloys it had for £60.

After that my love affair with Escorts started. One S reg for £900 which got written off within 5 months, payout was £800 , I then got a T reg off ebay with less miles for £750, put 35k on it during that time it had a wheel bearing and a driveshaft boot. The A/C still worked, it got used and abused, had 4 mismatched tyres but never ever failed to start and was uber reliable, despite getting vandalised (keyed, tyres slashed) I kept hold of it. I sold it to a young lad for £150 who was going to "do it up".

It had started life as a motability car, there was wads of service history right up to the month I bought it, 75k with FSH for £750 seemed a good deal, and it turned out it was. It also tought me that keeping on top of a car service wise does pay dividends in the long run.

I found with Escorts that despite their image, as a workhorse they are actually quite capable. cheap pattern parts, cheap servicing, just keep an eye on the lower arms and rear wheel bearings and of course rust on the rear wheel arches / suspension points.



Alias218

1,485 posts

161 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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Recently bought a 2002 Mk1.5 Focus Silver for £1500. 45k, full main dealer history (I know!) which I won't be keeping up, and the cleanliness of the car is amazing. Door shuts and engine bay are spotless, with only very minor rust in front of the rear arches at the sills. The only things that don't work are the drivers side heated seat (passenger one does - annoying) and the a/c which I suspect just needs a top up.

My main gripe with the car are the wheels of Edam that the previous thought would make good substitutes for tyres.

1500 miles in, so far so good. Keeps the miles off the old Datsun!

Riley Blue

20,879 posts

225 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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MorganP104

Original Poster:

2,605 posts

129 months

Monday 15th May 2017
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Riley Blue said:
OP, I think you missed this thread;

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Ah yes, Bargain Basement = Bangernomics.

I suppose this could just be a boasting thread then. biggrin Tell us how cheap motoring has been for you!