Best of the Bargain Basement (Vol.3)
Discussion
giblet said:
giblet said:
Chap I know via PH is selling his E39 530i Sport. It’s more than thread budget but well maintained mechanically. Arranged to go see it tomorrow
Went to see it, it had a bit more rust than I was expecting but seller ran through the list of all the stuff he had done under his ownership so I thought I’d risk it. He told me it needed a new crank sensor which he had ordered but hadn’t arrived yet. I was in a rush so took the car on the basis that he would post me the sensor. On the way home it started stuttering so I nursed it back. Sensor arrived a few days later, changed it and it still runs like s
te. Stutters at low revs when setting off but runs fine at speed.Spotted some oil marks on my drive so took it to my mechanic who got it on the ramp and it’s got a oil leak somewhere. Nice thick layer of oil over most parts so it’s not exactly a new leak. Seller had told me that his mechanic had changed the cam sensor the day before I bought the car, surely he would have spotted the sodding oil everywhere too.
Checked the paperwork and all the service history is AWOL. Asked the seller and he says it’s still with him, have asked him to post it on but yet to hear anything back.
It’s been parked up for 2 weeks whilst I’ve been on holiday. Will be sticking the car up on eBay soon for spares or repair. Can’t see a 150 odd k rusting 530i with next to no service history selling for much. Will end up taking a bath on it as I rather stupidly paid £1700 and it’ll struggle to make half that in the current state.
Moral of the story - don’t rush into car buying and don’t assume a fellow Pistonhead member won’t sell you a lemon. Serves me right for trying to be sensible and shed for a while. Ffs
funkyrobot said:
giblet said:
giblet said:
Chap I know via PH is selling his E39 530i Sport. It’s more than thread budget but well maintained mechanically. Arranged to go see it tomorrow
Went to see it, it had a bit more rust than I was expecting but seller ran through the list of all the stuff he had done under his ownership so I thought I’d risk it. He told me it needed a new crank sensor which he had ordered but hadn’t arrived yet. I was in a rush so took the car on the basis that he would post me the sensor. On the way home it started stuttering so I nursed it back. Sensor arrived a few days later, changed it and it still runs like s
te. Stutters at low revs when setting off but runs fine at speed.Spotted some oil marks on my drive so took it to my mechanic who got it on the ramp and it’s got a oil leak somewhere. Nice thick layer of oil over most parts so it’s not exactly a new leak. Seller had told me that his mechanic had changed the cam sensor the day before I bought the car, surely he would have spotted the sodding oil everywhere too.
Checked the paperwork and all the service history is AWOL. Asked the seller and he says it’s still with him, have asked him to post it on but yet to hear anything back.
It’s been parked up for 2 weeks whilst I’ve been on holiday. Will be sticking the car up on eBay soon for spares or repair. Can’t see a 150 odd k rusting 530i with next to no service history selling for much. Will end up taking a bath on it as I rather stupidly paid £1700 and it’ll struggle to make half that in the current state.
Moral of the story - don’t rush into car buying and don’t assume a fellow Pistonhead member won’t sell you a lemon. Serves me right for trying to be sensible and shed for a while. Ffs
t! I rather like the look of this clio. Are they any good as city runabouts? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
0a said:
That seems a lot of money for what it is.0a said:
I rather like the look of this clio. Are they any good as city runabouts? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
looks like a clean one, i would check the electrics, my friends mrs had one of these for years great runabouts, pretty sure the dacia's have the same old Renault running gear@0a - of all those you posted, the Clio looks the best, however it'll almost certainly need a cam belt (probably goes for all of them).
0a said:
New clutch means elderly owner! https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
With an air filter setup like this I doubt it!!!0a said:
I rather like the look of this clio. Are they any good as city runabouts? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Not bad. I'd have a Yaris though if i wanted a cheap runabout.https://www.gumtree.com/p/lexus/lexus-rx300-excell...
Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
sdkrc said:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/lexus/lexus-rx300-excell...
Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
Is that too cheap?Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
funkyrobot said:
sdkrc said:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/lexus/lexus-rx300-excell...
Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
Is that too cheap?Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
phil_cardiff said:
Toaster Pilot said:
Chrishum said:
I’ve managed to find myself a new shed. £1200 Kia Cee’d SW with 4 recent winter tyres and a years MOT. It’s not pretty or fun to drive but has a good history.
Interested to hear more about this - they’ve not been in shed territory for long and would love to know how they’re holding up Being a pre-2010 car there's no DPF to worry about. No DMF either. Apparently a very reliable engine.
Irritations include rust on the top of the doors and the subframe and rattling interior trim.
Drives ok. Feels like they benchmarked the Golf for dynamics and the Focus for interior quality. If only they'd done it the other way round...
Bought on 60,000 miles for £3400 which was cheap at the time most others were over £4.5k at the time
Guy selling it had emigrated to Oz and it was sat on his fathers drive getting in the way, so I put a cheeky offer in and walked away when it was rejected. Got an email 3 days later saying "Do you still want it? " at the price I offered.
Things which have gone wrong:
- Slide pins in the calipers stick, making the brakes very spongy and low pedal (as the pins are not returning). Just popped them out, cleaned them up and replaced the pads as they were worn more on one side than the other (the nearside pins were stuck, the offside were fine so the pads had uneven wear) set of pads £20, took about an hour and half to do the job myself
- Outside air temp on the stereo displays -40 degrees, think this was because it had a parrot hands free kit and I removed all of it, disturbing something in the process. Can't be bothered to look into it any more as it doesnt affect the car running!
- Tyres. Factory toe in/out was incorrect and causes inside edges to wear. Toed it out a little more and now get even tyre wear
Aside from that nothing has gone wrong! (Touch wood)
Bought it as Mrs, Haddock commutes in to Cambridge every day which involves sitting in traffic and over 15k miles per annum.
Returns 49mpg even though most of the journey is slow stop start traffic
Engines seem very reliable, as mentioned they are chain driven so no cambelt to worry about
Guy at work has 4 C'eeds that he uses as taxis. All are newer than mine (12 plates) and all have over 200,000 on the clock. Still run great with only routine servicing. I think 1 of them has needed a new clutch but that is about it.
Great cars for the money, if a little dull....!
Brightened ours up a little by installing a DAB kit that works through the steering wheel controls, wasn't cheap (about £120) but its all hidden away so you don't have any "extra" bits cluttering things up.
On 105,000 miles now and we'll be keeping it for a good while longer too.
sdkrc said:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/lexus/lexus-rx300-excell...
Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
Wow, that's a lot of car for the money! Tempting. Anyone know what it can tow?Lexus RX300 - £950 - Bristol.
Nice, clean MOT history. Clean looking car.
Advisory notice item(s)
rear discs corroded
o/s/r tyre is perished
both front suspension arm rear bushes are split/perished
giblet said:
<snip>
On the way home it started stuttering so I nursed it back. Sensor arrived a few days later, changed it and it still runs like ste. Stutters at low revs when setting off but runs fine at speed.
The stuttering could also be the PCV hoses and valve, which if really deteriorated could account for the oil leaks too.On the way home it started stuttering so I nursed it back. Sensor arrived a few days later, changed it and it still runs like s
te. Stutters at low revs when setting off but runs fine at speed.giblet said:
Will end up taking a bath on it as I rather stupidly paid £1700 and it’ll struggle to make half that in the current state.
You could have had my very useable 523i with over £3k spent in the past 4 years for quite a bit less than that, and it too has a massive history folder.Sub 2 k, (by 5 quid) estate.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Ford focus Estate, you can get some mk 1 ones for 800 or so on trader?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...
Ford focus Estate, you can get some mk 1 ones for 800 or so on trader?
Kingdom35 said:
Anyone have a thought on a Merc SLK as a commuter car? Reliable? High/Low Maintenance? Diesel's economical?
Depends which one you are talking about.I've owned a couple of R170s ( 230 and 32). The 230 was a bit coarse with the 4 cylinder and the 32 turbine smooth with the 6 cylinder. In 7 years and 50k the only time the 32 failed to proceed was the crankshaft sensor (£100). The biggest killer on these is rust, by the boot lock and the wheelarches. Mine was done under warranty but it always comes back.
I've got an R171 55.. cost me nothing outside of routine servicing in 6 years upto a month ago when the fuel tank loom and pump went -£3k
A friend had an early R172 250cdi which was impressive even if I struggled with the concept of a 2 seater diesel
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