Best of the Bargain Basement (Vol.3)

[sim72]

skwdenyer said:

Re inflation, I'm being quoted by one of the online "we buy any scrap cars" a price for my old Peugeot Partner almost as high as I bought it for on eBay in 2019 - it did me a whole year and 15k miles of motoring before I parked it up in favour of something else!

Mrs72 sold her runabout last month for £220 more than we paid for it two years ago. Admittedly it had a 12-month no-advisories MOT on it, but even so ...

[SimonTheSailor]

Well apparently it's not a barge, more of a shed so I thought I'd put it here.

If it's had all the items replaced like it says it has might be a good purchase ?

Don't know what a Vector Sport is but has leather, new MOT (with a couple of minors), not sure if it's white or silver ?


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAAB-9-3-Vector-Sport-1...

[Justchris17]

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

[wjwren]

I'd stick with petrol. Diesel is great but my e220 does 2 mile round trip everyday and occasionally a bit further and the economy is awful. I'd rather an e320 petrol.

[Hoofy]

Justchris17 said:

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

I wouldn't put money on any European shed being reliable.

There's a shortage of used cars because of the superconductor issue for new cars so that's what's happening with prices.

Diesels would be fine. I use my £1k Merc diesel shed sports coupé for short journeys. It's been moderately reliable but I expect it to die at any point. There are things wrong with it so it's a balance between fixing stuff and deciding if it's time to scrap it, depending on what needs fixing.

It's a fun game to play if you look at it like that. If reliability is the number 1 thing, then you need to increase your budget to reduce the chances of being let down.

[James_N]

Justchris17 said:

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

I've been looking at these for a replacement for my 106 when it finally dies and I had a 107 as a courtesy car for the evening the other day while mine was in for MOT.

They are great little cheap motors. I look in the usual FB marketplace, eBay places finds quite a few under a grand. Just check the MOT history etc and it shouldn't be too much of any task!

[W00DY]

Justchris17 said:

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

I'd definitely avoid diesel, they're great for longer trips, but short journeys where they don't warm up properly and get a chance to work are always going to give you more issues.

I'd look at a Honda Jazz, great space and economy and super tough. They've usually been looked after to a higher standard too.

[phil_cardiff]

W00DY said:

Justchris17 said:

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

I'd definitely avoid diesel, they're great for longer trips, but short journeys where they don't warm up properly and get a chance to work are always going to give you more issues.

I'd look at a Honda Jazz, great space and economy and super tough. They've usually been looked after to a higher standard too.

Definitely a Yaris or Jazz fir shirt journeys at sub £1500. They're usually a little more upfront than a Fiesta etc but less likely to go wrong.

Having said that, I seem to remember the Corsa from the early 00s being unexpectedly robust compared to a lot of rivals.

[Hoofy]

If you get the Jazz, replace the cat with a decat pipe.

[TooLateForAName]

I know that a fair few on here like the omega v6


https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/29671367...

[CM954]

Did I miss the memo - has this thread moved elsewhere? Or is there really nothing left of any note at this end of the market?

[Hoofy]

Wondered where this went. Tried to find it last week and gave up. Clearly, I didn't look back far enough.

Anyway, I've got my old banger for sale. C220 CDI. Open to offers before I scrap it.

Also, have replaced it with a C180K.

[BoRED S2upid]

Justchris17 said:

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

Could the dogs fit in a mini one? There are thousands on the market got to be a decent one for the budget.

[skwdenyer]

BoRED S2upid said:

Justchris17 said:

I need help I need a very cheap car less than 2k ideally less than £1500 it needs to be super reliable and cheap to run so 45mpg+. I’ve looked at Aygo/107/c1, yaris’ and swift’s. I’m struggling to find decent once’s people wanting 1500 etc for £700 cars it’s ridiculous. Any suggestions? All the ones I find in price bracket seem to have sketchy mot history which indicate potential bills on horizon.

I’ve also just started looking at 1.5dci renaults as them engines seem pretty frugal but pretty much the only useage it will see is a approx 10-15 min drive (3 miles) twice a day 4 days a week to my dads and back and a trip to take the dogs to the beach a few times a week which is 10 miles away/20min drive will it be worth considering a diesel for this?

Could the dogs fit in a mini one? There are thousands on the market got to be a decent one for the budget.

That question was posed in 2021

[SimonTheSailor]

Could be a cheap load lugger for the next 8 months - lots of references to rusty suspension components and visible rear rusty arches but might be able to haggle down to 500 quid ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209209...



It actually looks very clean inside...

Edited by SimonTheSailor on Thursday 22 September 11:32

[Emeye]

I sold my 2000 plate Honda Accord I bought for £750 4 years ago for £1000 at the weekend - cost me nowt to run. I probably let it go too cheap as it was ULEZ compliant and only had 75k miles on the clock and was faultless with working aircon.

[RC1807]

SimonTheSailor said:

Could be a cheap load lugger for the next 8 months - lots of references to rusty suspension components and visible rear rusty arches but might be able to haggle down to 500 quid ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209209...



It actually looks very clean inside...

Edited by SimonTheSailor on Thursday 22 September 11:32

I've a property developer friend who bimbles around in one of these that he's had for YEARS. His just never seems to go wrong. Basic servicing and replacement parts, and it gets through the MOT every year.
I think his is on about 200k miles.

[Hoofy]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread simply because I'm more bangernomics than shed and I feel like the shedding thread is for those who actually look after their £1k cars.

Anyway, picked up a C Class Sports Coupé (C220 CDI) (the ugly hatchback thing) back in 2020 for £1k. Ran that for 2 years, no servicing, only sorting out minor things to get it through the MOT. Topped the black oil up when necessary with whatever oil I had in the shed ('scuse the pun).

This kind of thing:


Had a problem with wheels leaking air, chucked a couple of hundred at sorting out the problem, including re-beading, new tyres, and finally acid/repainting (which worked).

It was a noisy bugger but thoroughly reliable (diesel rattle at idle, hissing sound when accelerating and lifting off the gas pedal!) and torquey enough for me to be lazy about gears. Also could hit 65mpg on a run which was handy.

The pano roof wasn't working at the start but fixed itself in spring 2022! Fortunately, the a/c was ice cold so was useful.

With rumours about ULEZ incoming, I decided to scrap it (nothing wrong with it and would probably have lasted another couple of years but nobody was interested in it).

Picked up a petrol version (C180K) as a replacement.

Apart from some bad luck with a cracking windscreen, it's been fine. It's the "Evo" (facelift) model so the interior is smarter and it has a more throaty roar which does encourage a heavier right foot.

The paintwork is dreadful (scrapes on all corners, lacquer peeling off) but it's a banger so who cares.

This will probably be my last £1k banger for a while as I fancy something more perky as my next car (which I will treat like a banger because why not). Am thinking of finding either a CLK240, a C320 Sports Coupé or an older Audi TT. Anything with two rear seats to dump my stuff. Budget will be £3k.

Edited by Hoofy on Saturday 31st December 00:12

[roy8846]

Got me looking at those Kompressors now lol.

Need a cheap auto for the wife, smaller the better but there's nothing around for cheap.

I mean last time I looked 3 years ago a Grand could get something half decent still!!

[Hoofy]

roy8846 said:

Got me looking at those Kompressors now lol.

Need a cheap auto for the wife, smaller the better but there's nothing around for cheap.

I mean last time I looked 3 years ago a Grand could get something half decent still!!

I think they're brilliant.

-RWD
-nobody cares about them
-quite small but decent enough boot for going away for a few days or just dumping the shopping in
-auto box so a breeze when stuck in London traffic
-comfy and quite luxurious (leather seats, auto lights, decent stereo)

It's a decent place to be considering you could be in a 20 year old Micra for the same money.


The only downsides I can think of
-apparently, unique panels to this car (the CLK panels don't fit)
-the engine with the Kompressor is dodgy due to timing chain stretch (but at £1k for the whole car, it's not a big deal for me) - I think the initial sign is a diesel rattle when you start the engine. It's time to scrap the car when you're getting a juddering engine and EML warnings on the dashboard. Until then, just drive it. Really is not a problem for me. I wouldn't buy a C180k, C200k or C230k for £2-3000, though, as you'd feel compelled to pay £2k to get it fixed!
-people won't be impressed (if that matters to you)

Edited by Hoofy on Monday 2nd January 15:53