Risky purchases

[Baked_bean]

Hey guys,was just pondering earlier about people like us (car anoraks) buying cars just 'because'. You know the sort, cars that could so easily ruin you or be complete waste of money because you'll drive it five miles and it'll have a catastrophic failure.

So tell us your experiences of buying that risky car.


I expect alot of TVR owners to reply to this

[rigga]

Baked_bean said:

I expect alot of TVR owners to reply to this

I wager the highest proportion of cars,wont be TVR's...... its all a myth

[DP83]

I got an Astra company car. i drove out of my works car park on my first day and the volume knob fell off the radio

That compounded my belief that vauxhalls were horrible cars that should not be subjected on anyone, even company car drivers

[hairykrishna]

I bought a V12 XJS. I drove less than 50 miles, a fraction of my journey home, before the gearbox destroyed itself. Fixed that and the engine immediately died. Got rid of it at a large loss.

[Caruso]

Have bought several Porsches and Ferraris which have cost me variously. Don't spend more than you can afford to lose and it can be a fun and rewarding experience.

[Baked_bean]

hairykrishna said:

I bought a V12 XJS. I drove less than 50 miles, a fraction of my journey home, before the gearbox destroyed itself. Fixed that and the engine immediately died. Got rid of it at a large loss.

ha, that is the sort of thing I'm talking about. Buying something like a 40 year old rusty French saloon.

[Pat H]

When my Dad died nine years ago, I decided to throw caution to the wind and buy a daft old car.

I got a bit carried away over the last decade and have had some fantastic old stuff.

1999 Caterham Seven
1987 Lotus Turbo Esprit
1997 TVR Griffith
1989 Ferrari 328
1985 Lotus Esprit S3
1983 Ford Capri 2.8
1977 Caterham Seven Twin Cam
1987 Lotus Turbo Esprit
2005 Alfa GTV 3.2
2002 Moto Guzzi Le Mans
1975 Triumph Trident
1979 Mini 1275GT
1972 Mini

At the moment, I have the Turbo Esprit, the 1977 Caterham and an eight year old Alfa 156 V6.

You know which has been the most financially ruinous purchase?

None of them.

My most expensive maintenance bill by a country mile was when the dual mass flywheel failed on my wife's Ford Focus.

It cost £750 to get fixed, which is more than the combined cost of getting the cambelts done on both the Ferrari and the Esprit.

Worst for depreciation?

Yep, that bloody Focus again.

Old cars are more simple. If you can use a spanner they are cheaper to maintain and they don't depreciate much.

There's a lesson in there somewhere.

[Gad-Westy]

I really want a Maseratti 3200GT but I fear I would be writing a lengthy reply on a thread similar to this.

[Plotloss]

Gad-Westy said:

I really want a Maseratti 3200GT but I fear I would be writing a lengthy reply on a thread similar to this.

I have a similar issue with Lister XJSs

[hairykrishna]

Baked_bean said:

hairykrishna said:

I bought a V12 XJS. I drove less than 50 miles, a fraction of my journey home, before the gearbox destroyed itself. Fixed that and the engine immediately died. Got rid of it at a large loss.

ha, that is the sort of thing I'm talking about. Buying something like a 40 year old rusty French saloon.

The thing about it was that I still dream about buying a good one. Sign of a cool car I think.

I've got quite few car purchase stories like that if I'm honest; I bought a XR4i with a turbo kit that blew a hole in a piston while I was on the M6. Had a Renault 5 Turbo which had part of its gearbox fly off and smash through the side of the casing. Supra Turbo with an engine that overheated so catastrophically that it cracked the block.

Generally still spend far less on them than I would waste in depreciation if I bought a nearly new car though.

[bazking69]

DP83 said:

I got an Astra company car. i drove out of my works car park on my first day and the volume knob fell off the radio

That compounded my belief that vauxhalls were horrible cars that should not be subjected on anyone, even company car drivers

Based on a single knob falling off? Seriously?

[amir_j]

hairykrishna said:

Baked_bean said:

hairykrishna said:

I bought a V12 XJS. I drove less than 50 miles, a fraction of my journey home, before the gearbox destroyed itself. Fixed that and the engine immediately died. Got rid of it at a large loss.

ha, that is the sort of thing I'm talking about. Buying something like a 40 year old rusty French saloon.

The thing about it was that I still dream about buying a good one. Sign of a cool car I think.

I've got quite few car purchase stories like that if I'm honest; I bought a XR4i with a turbo kit that blew a hole in a piston while I was on the M6. Had a Renault 5 Turbo which had part of its gearbox fly off and smash through the side of the casing. Supra Turbo with an engine that overheated so catastrophically that it cracked the block.

Generally still spend far less on them than I would waste in depreciation if I bought a nearly new car though.

Ever considered having pre-purchase inspections

[Adrenochrome]

I bought my Cerbera without seeing it,I guess that may be construed as being risky

[Steamer]

Pat H said:

1999 Caterham Seven
1987 Lotus Turbo Esprit
1997 TVR Griffith
1989 Ferrari 328
1985 Lotus Esprit S3
1983 Ford Capri 2.8
1977 Caterham Seven Twin Cam
1987 Lotus Turbo Esprit
2005 Alfa GTV 3.2
2002 Moto Guzzi Le Mans
1975 Triumph Trident
1979 Mini 1275GT
1972 Mini

Nicely done!

I can see quite a few motors there that are also on the 'ever changing list in my head!'

I'm just sorry I missed out on the escort Mk1 & Mk2 cars while they were sensible money. I've got a fair idea of what to expect from one, but I just couldnt justify parting with £4K / £5K / £6K+ for a nice one

Was tempted by a Lotus Carlton last week... that, I fear, could well have been a risky purchase as it was ALOT cheaper than I expected.

Edited by Steamer on Friday 9th April 23:46

[Patrick Bateman]

hairykrishna said:

I bought a V12 XJS. I drove less than 50 miles, a fraction of my journey home, before the gearbox destroyed itself. Fixed that and the engine immediately died. Got rid of it at a large loss.

I think I'd probably want to die if that happened.

[Stuart70]

Ah, the thread for me.

Currently running a boxster and a Jag XJ6, and a tuned Saab (all in various stages of old).

I have heard of spanners, but not sure I know which end to hold, to be honest. Per comments above, the risk (actually, fear!) of big repair / service bills is offset by the lack of certain depreciation if I had bought a new model German luxo-middle manager A6/E class/5 series alternative.

You pays your money, you takes your choice?

Love driving different types and styles of cars, and like having the ability to chop and change (see my car history) without being absolutely ruinous to the wallet.

[fivesixseven8]

Gad-Westy said:

I really want a Maseratti 3200GT but I fear I would be writing a lengthy reply on a thread similar to this.

I spent a fair amount of time looking at those before deciding that I am just too risk adverse!

[niggtv]

Gad-Westy said:

I really want a Maseratti 3200GT but I fear I would be writing a lengthy reply on a thread similar to this.

Would you? I'm on my second 3200GT and have no Maserati horror stories to add to the thread. Buy one that has been properly looked after (ideally get a pre-purchase inspection) and they are superb cars. However......


.....I got 60 miles in an Alfa GTV V6 which I bought at the other end of the country before the oil cooler pipe burst on the M6 toll road. Luckily no engine damage, but a long journey back on a tow truck and then a fairly expensive repair.

Afraid to say I have a similar story on a TVR - my first Chimaera started to overheat after about 60 miles and again needed a long tow home. Turned out to be a faulty (Volkswagen) expansion bottle cap.

Edited by niggtv on Saturday 10th April 06:43

[Hairy Cornflake]

I'll second the XJS V12, great GT, lovely to ride around in.

With the inboard rear braking system you had to drop the back axle to change the break pads, besides that No. 6 spark plug on the left bank was a nightmare to get out. So servicing costs were not cheap!

Then when Mrs HC decided she liked it and it was her daily run around she managed 9 MPG................Proper car!

[magpie215]

Quite a few years ago on a bangernomics budget I bought a Mk 3 Granada 2.8 V6 with knocking big end bearing £200 (was aware what it was making the noise)But it did have the magic 12 months mot.

Ran it for 8 months but never let the rpm go above 2400 being an auto that was relatively easy........It was the gearbox that wrote the car off in the end as it was leaking transmission oil faster than it could be put in.

Suppose the risk part was it could have failed 2 miles after buying it but it served me well for the 8 months I had it :-)