Biggest bargain car you've bought

Biggest bargain car you've bought

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Discussion

HannsG

3,031 posts

133 months

Wednesday 26th July 2017
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Alex_225 said:
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!

I owned one. Same year and model.

Had to replace two torque converters. Have you checked for any rad problems?

Acidrop

Original Poster:

165 posts

124 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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F10ben28 said:
I'm one of the mugs who buy cars, spend a fortune and then sell for a huge loss.

My best bargain was a battered old Clio. Bought for 650, sold as scrap for 220 a year later. Loved that car.
That's happened to me. I bought a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo a few years back, then got bit by the tuning bug. I went all out, forged the engine, had a big turbo put on, uprated everything etc. and it made 563hp. It was too extreme in the end for a daily driver so it just sat on the drive. I spend around £20k on it and sold it a year later for £8k. A very quick £12k loss. FML.

98elise

26,381 posts

160 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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apotts said:
924 turbo, £4k (a long time ago).
18 months, £150 in consumables.
Sold it for... £4k.

Free Porsche!
My Elise didn't drop in value in the entire 10 years i owned it smile

Cheap to service, and economical.

phazed 11.83

21,844 posts

203 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Bought a vRS Octavia off eBay for £1K.

Full service history with 160,000 miles on the clock. Everything perfect, everything worked.

Used it for a while and sold it to my friend.
Next MOT it passed without even one advisory!

It has now done nearly 200,000 miles and pulls like a train.

I almost forgot, it had slightly lowered springs and matching dampers, Lightweight Wolf race wheels and a few other aftermarket trinkets.


kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Shnozz said:
Same applies to a supercharged Exige I bought when the market was cooler. Paid £16.5k and sold it for £19k about 3 years later. Probably now worth about £22k redface
And then some, cheapest supercharged exige's I found when getting mine last week were £28k+

Superhoop

4,676 posts

192 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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A VW Sirocco GTII that came into the dealer I worked at as a trade in - Red, but almost white as was common for VW paint, and foot wells thick with dirt and grime you couldn't see the carpets - Was previously owned by a farmer.

Paid £35 for it, took the interior out and jet washed the carpets clean and left them hung up to dry for a few days to dry out, spent a few hours sorting the paint with DA polisher, threw a suspension kit on that I had lying around from a previous car, sorted a couple oil leaks and serviced it, so I think it stood me in for about £150 tops...

Took it home with the intention of keeping it for while, a mate popped round, saw it, offered me £1800 for it, so I sold it...

A quick Mike Brewer style flip and probably the quickest £1650 I've ever made

layercake

422 posts

103 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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kiethton said:
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 smile
That was a lovely beamer, pretty sure I did contact you about it, but obviously you had too much demand, personally 2500 was giving it away i'd have asked for atleast 3k, but end of the day you sold it quicker and not out of pocket


alorotom

11,909 posts

186 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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del mar said:
I bought a cat d Ferrari straight from the insurance company - I knew the guy who owned it.

It cost the price of a decent new fiesta, it was repaired and on the road for the price of a decent focus.

It is insured for 5 times what it cost me.
But as a CatD they'll not payout that value if / when it gets crashed again and almost certainly be written off no matter what low level of damage due to its history/status

del mar

2,838 posts

198 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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alorotom said:
del mar said:
I bought a cat d Ferrari straight from the insurance company - I knew the guy who owned it.

It cost the price of a decent new fiesta, it was repaired and on the road for the price of a decent focus.

It is insured for 5 times what it cost me.
But as a CatD they'll not payout that value if / when it gets crashed again and almost certainly be written off no matter what low level of damage due to its history/status
It will always be worth more than a decent focus though....

The 5 times number takes into account its lesser value compared with an undamaged car.

kiethton

13,883 posts

179 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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layercake said:
kiethton said:
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 smile
That was a lovely beamer, pretty sure I did contact you about it, but obviously you had too much demand, personally 2500 was giving it away i'd have asked for atleast 3k, but end of the day you sold it quicker and not out of pocket
Yeah sorry about that - potentially, was a few weeks ago now, listed on Car and Classic & Facebook marketplace - the latter was incredible, phone wouldn't stop ringing!

avenger286

425 posts

102 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Got a 1.4 civic sport for £350 it was immaculate with full history ran it for a year and 10k spent nothing on it sold it for £395.
Currently running a yaris t3 that I was given that owes me £32 for oil and filters for 6 months trouble free motoring and just passed its mot with no issues.

Turkish91

1,084 posts

201 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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I bought a Carina II for £60 off a mate, 12 months tax but a days MOT. Put it through a test for £40, drove it around for 6 months and had an awesome time with it (I was only 19 so naturally it got taken greenlaning and jumped about like it was in the Dukes of Hazzard)... Ripped the oil cooler off it one day without realising and starved it of oil to the point it started knocking. Kept driving til it blew and then weighed it in for £90 and refunded the remaining tax for something like £45. She was a great car, still to this day one of the comfiest cars I've ever owned.

p7tey

5 posts

191 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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2002 Octavia VRS, 140k, FSH, genuine 1 owner. Bought from the dealer that took it in part exchange, asked what it owed him then offered him the same. £400 with new MOT, good matching tyres and even the climate control works, I love it! It's got to be worth about 3 times that...

F10ben28

1,702 posts

91 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Acidrop said:
That's happened to me. I bought a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo a few years back, then got bit by the tuning bug. I went all out, forged the engine, had a big turbo put on, uprated everything etc. and it made 563hp. It was too extreme in the end for a daily driver so it just sat on the drive. I spend around £20k on it and sold it a year later for £8k. A very quick £12k loss. FML.
Well I've never done that far. But I lost 2.5k in depreciation on my last car, fitted a water pump, 4 top of range tyres, rewired drivers door, full service, new battery. Massive loss for 10 months of defo not trouble free motoring.

F10ben28

1,702 posts

91 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Acidrop said:
I always take my time before buying a new car as I like to pay as little as possible for the best car possible. I've wanted a BMW 335i for a while and it took a few months, but I found this in the end. 95k on the clock and has all the options. Paid £5k. biggrin

Is this imperial blue?

I love that car mate. Good buying!

p7tey

5 posts

191 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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2002 Octavia VRS, 140k, FSH, genuine 1 owner. Bought from the dealer that took it in part exchange, asked what it owed him then offered him the same. £400 with new MOT, good matching tyres and even the climate control works, I love it! It's got to be worth about 3 times that...

99t

996 posts

208 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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It's early days yet but this has the potential to be well up there



£350 and pretty much a full history and full working order biggrin

HannsG

3,031 posts

133 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Where do you guys buy all these cars from?

Gumtree, Ebay or Autotrader?

MorganP104

2,605 posts

129 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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HannsG said:
Where do you guys buy all these cars from?

Gumtree, Ebay or Autotrader?
I can't speak for all the bargain-hunters on this thread, but I'll use all the above and more when looking for a deal.

Other good places to get cheap cars:

- The classified ads in the back of your local newspaper.
- The "trade-in" or "part-ex" section of your local car dealer (cars they can't be bothered to prepare and retail properly, often resulting in a "get it off my premises" low price).
- Chatting to fellow car guys. Everyone's got a mate of a mate who's getting shot of something for not a lot of money.

Buying cheap motors is not for the inexperienced or faint of heart, mind. It's essential you know what you're looking for, otherwise you can end up with a £500 paperweight.

But, if you do know the score, and go in with your eyes open, bargains are there for the taking. smile

p7tey

5 posts

191 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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If you can get the above right, it is deeply satisfying to own a succession of cars, often performance orientated, for less than the monthly depreciation of a new 320d!!