Biggest bargain car you've bought
Discussion
In 2010 I bought a 2007 Octavia VRS with 22k Miles and all the options for £8500, ran it for 5 years with only servicing and consumables for over 100k miles before it got sold for £4750. Cheap motoring
In 2001 I bought an RS1600i for £2.2k, I drove it and serviced it and sold it in 2003 for £5.5k (wish I had it now lol )
In 2001 I bought an RS1600i for £2.2k, I drove it and serviced it and sold it in 2003 for £5.5k (wish I had it now lol )
Mk1 Fabia vRS - Bought with 30k on the clock for 6k, run for 3 years and traded in with 60k and belts due a change for £5k
Current Octavia vRS was a bargain too. Run for 2 years so far and apart from consumables and wear and tear items it's paid for itself for the amount of use I've had out of it
Current Octavia vRS was a bargain too. Run for 2 years so far and apart from consumables and wear and tear items it's paid for itself for the amount of use I've had out of it
E39 BMW 540i sport
Bought from BCA at 115k miles in Jul-13 for £2,900, in the car whilst sorting insurance to drive away I found an invoice for 3 months prior for £6k in repairs! (cooling, suspension etc.).
In my ownership it had 4 tyres and an oil change, plus an alternator, S/H PAS pump and a gearbox rebuild (£2.4k total). Written off in December 2016 and paid out £5.5k, so ££200 profit.
I then bought it back for £500 and fixed the car for £800. I then sold it again last week for £2,500 (too cheap in hindsight, gone in 3 hours!)
Total profit = £1,500 effectively paying for 4 years of ownership
Bought from BCA at 115k miles in Jul-13 for £2,900, in the car whilst sorting insurance to drive away I found an invoice for 3 months prior for £6k in repairs! (cooling, suspension etc.).
In my ownership it had 4 tyres and an oil change, plus an alternator, S/H PAS pump and a gearbox rebuild (£2.4k total). Written off in December 2016 and paid out £5.5k, so ££200 profit.
I then bought it back for £500 and fixed the car for £800. I then sold it again last week for £2,500 (too cheap in hindsight, gone in 3 hours!)
Total profit = £1,500 effectively paying for 4 years of ownership

1) Bought a 7 year old Volvo S80 2.9 SE with 90k miles for only £2,450. Sold it a year later for £2,800.
Shame it was a clocked heap of s
t that cost me £1,500 to keep running in the meantime.
2) Bought a 3 year old 50k mile Chevrolet Lacetti 1.6 SX estate approved-used from a main dealer for £3,000. It was in perfect condition and served me very well for four years with no problems. Pretty good for £3k!
3) Bought a 3 year old 75k mile Passat 2.0 TDI SE estate for £7,400 approved-used from a main dealer. Didn't like it, so sold it 8 months later for £8,000.
Shame it was a clocked heap of s

2) Bought a 3 year old 50k mile Chevrolet Lacetti 1.6 SX estate approved-used from a main dealer for £3,000. It was in perfect condition and served me very well for four years with no problems. Pretty good for £3k!
3) Bought a 3 year old 75k mile Passat 2.0 TDI SE estate for £7,400 approved-used from a main dealer. Didn't like it, so sold it 8 months later for £8,000.
Current daily, a mk4 Golf GTI (with the 1.8 that went in the TT, albeit turbo-less).
Bought non-running for £50
Repaired for £30 parts
Needed £200 suspension work to get through MOT
And a REALLY deep clean...
£280 + some TLC for at least 18 months motoring which at my current rate of usage will be c.15k miles

Bought non-running for £50
Repaired for £30 parts
Needed £200 suspension work to get through MOT
And a REALLY deep clean...
£280 + some TLC for at least 18 months motoring which at my current rate of usage will be c.15k miles

When I was far younger I managed to write off my first car in the only crash I've ever had. Bought a Golf Mk2 GTI off a mate for £800. Drove it for a year, spent about £20 on fixing it once, sold it for £1500.
Also managed to buy a 330ci convertible for cheap a few years back. Cheapest manual 330ci convertible with <60k miles on it, and within 100 miles, was £7k+ at the time. While I was browsing I saw one pop up on ebay for £5000, and it was 3 miles from home. The advert had been live for just a few minutes. Phoned the bloke up, went to view it. Offered him a very cheeky £4k and he took it. Sold it on 9 months later for £6k :-)
Also managed to buy a 330ci convertible for cheap a few years back. Cheapest manual 330ci convertible with <60k miles on it, and within 100 miles, was £7k+ at the time. While I was browsing I saw one pop up on ebay for £5000, and it was 3 miles from home. The advert had been live for just a few minutes. Phoned the bloke up, went to view it. Offered him a very cheeky £4k and he took it. Sold it on 9 months later for £6k :-)
Many many years ago, long before most of you were born i expect. I purchased a "Renault Fuego 2.0 GTX manual" for £800.
It was only 4 years old at the time and had just 23,000 miles.
It was an old lady that was selling it, and the car was tucked away in her garage. She had no idea of the cars value.
So i handed over the 800 and drove away a happie chappie.
It was only 4 years old at the time and had just 23,000 miles.
It was an old lady that was selling it, and the car was tucked away in her garage. She had no idea of the cars value.
So i handed over the 800 and drove away a happie chappie.
apotts said:
924 turbo, £4k (a long time ago).
18 months, £150 in consumables.
Sold it for... £4k.
Free Porsche!
Similar...18 months, £150 in consumables.
Sold it for... £4k.
Free Porsche!
I brought a "Renault Alpine GTA V6 turbo" for £3.5k in 2008.
Drove it as a daily driver for 2 years, spent maybe £800 on it.
Sold for £7.5k..
Ding Dong.....
Wish i had kept it longer. They are fetching over 10k now in the same condition.
Although this was priced up at the reasonable sum of £4k when I bought it, as an overall car I can't help but find it a bargain.
It's an early 2003 E320 CDI which had 104k on the clock. The 3.2 straight six can still give 50mpg but has 370lbs of torque so it moves surprisingly well. Heated leather interior, memory seats, decent stereo, great condition and to me feels like a bargain every time I drive it!

It's an early 2003 E320 CDI which had 104k on the clock. The 3.2 straight six can still give 50mpg but has 370lbs of torque so it moves surprisingly well. Heated leather interior, memory seats, decent stereo, great condition and to me feels like a bargain every time I drive it!

Escort Series One RS Turbo
From an addled drug addict come small time dealer in Hartlepool who was desperate for his next hit ... offered him £150 for the car when he pulled into the car park of the Grand hotel that I used to manage and I stepped outside to move him on.
Sold it a couple of weeks later after I got the logbook for £2500 - zero history and supposedly 40k-ish on the clock but I don't think it was correct
This was c.2002 and wish I had hung onto it in all honesty
From an addled drug addict come small time dealer in Hartlepool who was desperate for his next hit ... offered him £150 for the car when he pulled into the car park of the Grand hotel that I used to manage and I stepped outside to move him on.
Sold it a couple of weeks later after I got the logbook for £2500 - zero history and supposedly 40k-ish on the clock but I don't think it was correct
This was c.2002 and wish I had hung onto it in all honesty
VX220 bought for £5700 at 4 years old with 16k on the clock, spent about £1500 on clam repair and paint. Wrote off 2 years later and valuer found it was a special made by Lotus 2 years after production ended and paid out £10500 (should have kept the car doh!)
Porsche 944S bought as non runner for £450, spent less than £100 on battery, plugs, leads and a distributer rotor and sold for £4500.
Got given an S500 for nothing from my boss, spent £1500 or so on suspension, battery and few SAM units and had myself a 5.0 V8 Merc with AMG interior for pittance
Porsche 944S bought as non runner for £450, spent less than £100 on battery, plugs, leads and a distributer rotor and sold for £4500.
Got given an S500 for nothing from my boss, spent £1500 or so on suspension, battery and few SAM units and had myself a 5.0 V8 Merc with AMG interior for pittance

I paid £7.5k for a VX220 once, with FSH and low mileage.
I remember it having the absolute worst advert on Autotrader. The pictures were all turned by 90 degrees and it's pearlescent Rabiata Red paint looked pink. It was covered in tree gunk and basically looked like a barn find.
I went over to have a look, and discovered it was absolutely fine. Unsurprisingly, the owner had zero interest until my phone call, so I low balled him and got it for about £2k less than he was advertising, which was already less than market value.
I was very happy to sell it a year later for far more than I paid. Unfortunately it was crashed on the chap's drive home after buying it from me!

I remember it having the absolute worst advert on Autotrader. The pictures were all turned by 90 degrees and it's pearlescent Rabiata Red paint looked pink. It was covered in tree gunk and basically looked like a barn find.
I went over to have a look, and discovered it was absolutely fine. Unsurprisingly, the owner had zero interest until my phone call, so I low balled him and got it for about £2k less than he was advertising, which was already less than market value.
I was very happy to sell it a year later for far more than I paid. Unfortunately it was crashed on the chap's drive home after buying it from me!

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