My 21 car history:BMW, Audi, Honda, Ford, Mazda & many more
Discussion
Edit #1 for car number 22!
Edit #2, for car number 23!
Edit #3, for car number 24!
I thought I'd share a look back into my car history, reflecting on my many experiences both good and bad.
I'm going to provide some opinions on the cars too, how much I paid roughly on what mileage and when, think it might be interesting to see how the markets have changed since then!
1) 1996 Peugeot 106 1.4. Purchased in 2006 for £1400 on 41k. First car so bought lots of tasteless tat with my low part time wage.
2) 1999 Renault Clio 1.4. Purchased in 2006 for £1900 on 95k roughly. Crap, was glad to get rid of it.
3) 2001 Ford Focus 1.6 Esp Zetec. Purchased in 2007 for £3500 on 32k off my mum at what was a bargain price! Brilliant car handled superbly and gave me no trouble in what was my fast and furious phase. Mods included lowering springs, cat back poweflow, tinted rear indicators, tints, Ace 197 18" wheels and a retrofitted leather interior. Also had a banging flip out alpine head unit and audio install....
4) 1995 VW Polo 1.3 temporary car, purchased in 2008 for £300 on unknown mileage. Ran over a horse (that run in front of the car at half the speed limit luckily) in it whilst the focus was up for sale and was extremely glad it happened to this car.
5) 2000 Honda Accord Type-R 2.2 VTEC. Purchased in 2008 for approx £4500 on 87k. What a car. Probably the one car I'd buy back if it was up for sale. I added A K&N typhoon long arm induction kit, decat, stainless steel (de) cat back exhaust, rota alloys, tinted windows and a few other bits. The noise this thing made was epic and compared to the ep3 I later bought won hands down. The aggressive VTEC crossover made passengers giggle like school kids. It was not well liked in the neighbourhood. I'd imagine most are rusty and battered by now which is a great shame. The Momo wheel was shared with a Ferrari if I recall correctly. I fixed the known 5th gear synchromesh with genuine Honda parts and regrettably fitted a lightweight flywheel and sport clutch which ruined the drive and ultimately led to me putting it up for sale.
6) 1996 Peugeot 306 1.9d. Purchased in 2008 for £200 on 160k and sold within days to a friend. Was supposed to be a second car but the insurance cost at the time outweighed the fuel savings on the accord.
7) 2003 Ford Mondeo ST220 Saloon 3.0 V6. Purchased in 2008 for £5400 ok 31k. I liked the looks and loved the leather recaros, but they're crap on fuel, handle like dirt on the road (despite the rave reviews...) and the brakes were downright dangerous at speed (same as the 1.8 model etc). Wouldn't recommend. Too quiet too. Was insanely cheap given it was 5 years old on low mileage. Very much a victim of the credit crunch they retained their value from therein quite well.
8) 1999 Mazda Mx5 1.6. Purchased in 2009 for £2900 on 71k. Extremely basic with steel rims off a new car, no central locking, abs or Ac. Great drivers car but was a bit wallowey. My first rwd and it showed after going through a pair of brand new rears in 28 days. Only had it a month as it wasn't practical. I needed a car and it was for sale a couple of streets away, that was my excuse anyway.
9) 2002 Audi TT 1.8t 225 Quattro Coupe. Purchased in 2009 for £6900 on 65k. Never ran right, always felt underpowered. Didn't have a fault as such just wasn't great.
10) 2003 Honda Civic Type-R 2.0 VTEC. Purchased in 2009 for £5500 on 70k ish I think. Great car by all accounts. I usually wouldn't buy a modified car but the previous owner fitted a genuine carbon seibon bonnet, koni adjustable suspension, camber adjusters, DC sports cat back exhaust, AEM air filter, the same rotas which I loved on my accord, a substantial sound system (but the wiring was pretty bad). It was all top parts and the car was presented well and clearly enthusiast owned. When I came to sell the car I bought standard suspension, exhaust and wheels, had the original supplied bonnet resprayed (keyed) and sold it as stock. I made 1k profit on it after 6 months use thanks to the sale of the parts. The crazy thing was the next owner had seen my forum posts and literally bought the same spec parts and refitted it all. That car had a fair few wardrobe changes thankfully not funded by me.
11) 1996 Hyundai Lantra 1.6. Purchased in 2010 for £450 on 80k as a temporary car. To quote a friend it glided over bumps like a child's kite and was a very capable off roader (except in regards to sump clearance. Chemical metal ftw) which is where it spent most of its life in my short ownership.
12) 2001 BMW 330ci Sport. Purchased in 2010 for £6900 on 67k. Lovely car that I added CSL replica alloys, tints, face-lift style LED lights to. Had a great spec. Great car.
13) 2000 Renault Megane Coupe 1.6 Sport. Purchased in 2010 for £1800 on 59k. Categorically the worst choice I have made with cars. Was a cheap run around in good condition and low mileage. Bought with the aim of saving money. I scraped the whole side on a bollard somehow and the cambelt snapped a week later. Garage had forged the history it seems after speaking to the previous owner. Sold it as damaged and got some money back from the garage.
14) 2006 Vauxhall Vectra 2.2 SRI. Purchased in 2011 for £3900 on 81k. My mileage was all motorway and this despite being bland, was superb on fuel for a petrol (40mpg easily) and very comfortable. Shame the depreciation literally never stopped on them, had so little interest when I sold it.
15) 2003 Audi TT 1.8t 225 Quattro Roadster. Bought in 2011 for £7500 on 60k Remapped it and was great fun but again unreliable. Didn't have good luck with my TTs.
16) 2003 BMW 330ci Clubsport. Purchased in 2011 for £5900 on 87k. Face-lift so looked a lot more modern than the previous sport, but never drove quite as well. Still. I had this for 2.5 years which as you can tell says a lot. Barely lost any value. I later fitted a full M3 interior which I wish I'd done sooner as it was so much better than the sport seats.
17) 2000 BMW 530i Sport. Purchased in 2014 for a whopping £100 on a substantial 195k. Took it as px against the clubsport, the guy had owned it for years. Sold it same day for a tidy profit to a mate in the trade, who sold it the next day for £900 quid!
18) 2007 BMW 530D M Sport. Purchased in 2014 for £9800 on 87k. Stage 1 remapped it went like stink and was one of my favourite cars. Comfy, fast, economical on a run. Ticked all the boxes at the time. Only sold it as it was coming up to that age and mileage where all the original suspension, turbo and dpf were looming.
19) 2006 Ford Focus 2.0 Titanium. Purchased in 2017 for £2900 on 59k. Blinded by the low mileage, rare xenons, half leather and original (albeit refurbished) 18" alloys. I was a bit concerned about the low mileage intervals between services but bought it anyway. It lasted 24 hrs before it broke down and had a whole string of problems. Luckily bought it from a Honda dealer who took it as px. They ended up giving a refund as it was beyond economical repair, I ended up being a bit put of pocket on expenses and stuff but was glad to get the money back easily. I suspect it had been clocked regularly between services, either that or just abused.
20) 2006 Honda Civic SE 1.8 VTEC. Purchased in 2017 for £3900 on 59k. Very good on fuel, was immaculate inside and out. Had a few niggles with electrics and the door latch kept failing but otherwise a good car. Didn't intend on having it long and barely lost a penny in 5 months.
21) 2013 BMW 320D SE 2.0. Purchased in 2017 for £11,500. A great car that only went due to a house move negating the need for a decent car (close to work) Thread found here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...
22) 2005 Vauxhall Astra Design 1.7d . Paid £650 on 93k but admittedly in a scruffy and dirty state. Mechanically it seems pretty solid touch wood. Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
23) 2013 Mercedes-Benz C220cdi AMG Sport Plus 2.1d.
Longest serving car at a touch over 3 years. Highly recommended.
Thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
24) 2017 Audi S5 Sportback 3.0 V6 Turbo
Thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Hope you may have found that interesting. I'm sure some of these cars must be owned by enthusiasts would be interested to see if any are still about (mot checks are regularly done to see most are).
Thanks for looking.
Edit #2, for car number 23!
Edit #3, for car number 24!
I thought I'd share a look back into my car history, reflecting on my many experiences both good and bad.
I'm going to provide some opinions on the cars too, how much I paid roughly on what mileage and when, think it might be interesting to see how the markets have changed since then!
1) 1996 Peugeot 106 1.4. Purchased in 2006 for £1400 on 41k. First car so bought lots of tasteless tat with my low part time wage.
2) 1999 Renault Clio 1.4. Purchased in 2006 for £1900 on 95k roughly. Crap, was glad to get rid of it.
3) 2001 Ford Focus 1.6 Esp Zetec. Purchased in 2007 for £3500 on 32k off my mum at what was a bargain price! Brilliant car handled superbly and gave me no trouble in what was my fast and furious phase. Mods included lowering springs, cat back poweflow, tinted rear indicators, tints, Ace 197 18" wheels and a retrofitted leather interior. Also had a banging flip out alpine head unit and audio install....
4) 1995 VW Polo 1.3 temporary car, purchased in 2008 for £300 on unknown mileage. Ran over a horse (that run in front of the car at half the speed limit luckily) in it whilst the focus was up for sale and was extremely glad it happened to this car.
5) 2000 Honda Accord Type-R 2.2 VTEC. Purchased in 2008 for approx £4500 on 87k. What a car. Probably the one car I'd buy back if it was up for sale. I added A K&N typhoon long arm induction kit, decat, stainless steel (de) cat back exhaust, rota alloys, tinted windows and a few other bits. The noise this thing made was epic and compared to the ep3 I later bought won hands down. The aggressive VTEC crossover made passengers giggle like school kids. It was not well liked in the neighbourhood. I'd imagine most are rusty and battered by now which is a great shame. The Momo wheel was shared with a Ferrari if I recall correctly. I fixed the known 5th gear synchromesh with genuine Honda parts and regrettably fitted a lightweight flywheel and sport clutch which ruined the drive and ultimately led to me putting it up for sale.
6) 1996 Peugeot 306 1.9d. Purchased in 2008 for £200 on 160k and sold within days to a friend. Was supposed to be a second car but the insurance cost at the time outweighed the fuel savings on the accord.
7) 2003 Ford Mondeo ST220 Saloon 3.0 V6. Purchased in 2008 for £5400 ok 31k. I liked the looks and loved the leather recaros, but they're crap on fuel, handle like dirt on the road (despite the rave reviews...) and the brakes were downright dangerous at speed (same as the 1.8 model etc). Wouldn't recommend. Too quiet too. Was insanely cheap given it was 5 years old on low mileage. Very much a victim of the credit crunch they retained their value from therein quite well.
8) 1999 Mazda Mx5 1.6. Purchased in 2009 for £2900 on 71k. Extremely basic with steel rims off a new car, no central locking, abs or Ac. Great drivers car but was a bit wallowey. My first rwd and it showed after going through a pair of brand new rears in 28 days. Only had it a month as it wasn't practical. I needed a car and it was for sale a couple of streets away, that was my excuse anyway.
9) 2002 Audi TT 1.8t 225 Quattro Coupe. Purchased in 2009 for £6900 on 65k. Never ran right, always felt underpowered. Didn't have a fault as such just wasn't great.
10) 2003 Honda Civic Type-R 2.0 VTEC. Purchased in 2009 for £5500 on 70k ish I think. Great car by all accounts. I usually wouldn't buy a modified car but the previous owner fitted a genuine carbon seibon bonnet, koni adjustable suspension, camber adjusters, DC sports cat back exhaust, AEM air filter, the same rotas which I loved on my accord, a substantial sound system (but the wiring was pretty bad). It was all top parts and the car was presented well and clearly enthusiast owned. When I came to sell the car I bought standard suspension, exhaust and wheels, had the original supplied bonnet resprayed (keyed) and sold it as stock. I made 1k profit on it after 6 months use thanks to the sale of the parts. The crazy thing was the next owner had seen my forum posts and literally bought the same spec parts and refitted it all. That car had a fair few wardrobe changes thankfully not funded by me.
11) 1996 Hyundai Lantra 1.6. Purchased in 2010 for £450 on 80k as a temporary car. To quote a friend it glided over bumps like a child's kite and was a very capable off roader (except in regards to sump clearance. Chemical metal ftw) which is where it spent most of its life in my short ownership.
12) 2001 BMW 330ci Sport. Purchased in 2010 for £6900 on 67k. Lovely car that I added CSL replica alloys, tints, face-lift style LED lights to. Had a great spec. Great car.
13) 2000 Renault Megane Coupe 1.6 Sport. Purchased in 2010 for £1800 on 59k. Categorically the worst choice I have made with cars. Was a cheap run around in good condition and low mileage. Bought with the aim of saving money. I scraped the whole side on a bollard somehow and the cambelt snapped a week later. Garage had forged the history it seems after speaking to the previous owner. Sold it as damaged and got some money back from the garage.
14) 2006 Vauxhall Vectra 2.2 SRI. Purchased in 2011 for £3900 on 81k. My mileage was all motorway and this despite being bland, was superb on fuel for a petrol (40mpg easily) and very comfortable. Shame the depreciation literally never stopped on them, had so little interest when I sold it.
15) 2003 Audi TT 1.8t 225 Quattro Roadster. Bought in 2011 for £7500 on 60k Remapped it and was great fun but again unreliable. Didn't have good luck with my TTs.
16) 2003 BMW 330ci Clubsport. Purchased in 2011 for £5900 on 87k. Face-lift so looked a lot more modern than the previous sport, but never drove quite as well. Still. I had this for 2.5 years which as you can tell says a lot. Barely lost any value. I later fitted a full M3 interior which I wish I'd done sooner as it was so much better than the sport seats.
17) 2000 BMW 530i Sport. Purchased in 2014 for a whopping £100 on a substantial 195k. Took it as px against the clubsport, the guy had owned it for years. Sold it same day for a tidy profit to a mate in the trade, who sold it the next day for £900 quid!
18) 2007 BMW 530D M Sport. Purchased in 2014 for £9800 on 87k. Stage 1 remapped it went like stink and was one of my favourite cars. Comfy, fast, economical on a run. Ticked all the boxes at the time. Only sold it as it was coming up to that age and mileage where all the original suspension, turbo and dpf were looming.
19) 2006 Ford Focus 2.0 Titanium. Purchased in 2017 for £2900 on 59k. Blinded by the low mileage, rare xenons, half leather and original (albeit refurbished) 18" alloys. I was a bit concerned about the low mileage intervals between services but bought it anyway. It lasted 24 hrs before it broke down and had a whole string of problems. Luckily bought it from a Honda dealer who took it as px. They ended up giving a refund as it was beyond economical repair, I ended up being a bit put of pocket on expenses and stuff but was glad to get the money back easily. I suspect it had been clocked regularly between services, either that or just abused.
20) 2006 Honda Civic SE 1.8 VTEC. Purchased in 2017 for £3900 on 59k. Very good on fuel, was immaculate inside and out. Had a few niggles with electrics and the door latch kept failing but otherwise a good car. Didn't intend on having it long and barely lost a penny in 5 months.
21) 2013 BMW 320D SE 2.0. Purchased in 2017 for £11,500. A great car that only went due to a house move negating the need for a decent car (close to work) Thread found here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...
22) 2005 Vauxhall Astra Design 1.7d . Paid £650 on 93k but admittedly in a scruffy and dirty state. Mechanically it seems pretty solid touch wood. Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
23) 2013 Mercedes-Benz C220cdi AMG Sport Plus 2.1d.
Longest serving car at a touch over 3 years. Highly recommended.
Thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
24) 2017 Audi S5 Sportback 3.0 V6 Turbo
Thread: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Hope you may have found that interesting. I'm sure some of these cars must be owned by enthusiasts would be interested to see if any are still about (mot checks are regularly done to see most are).
Thanks for looking.
Edited by joropug on Friday 14th October 21:34
Quhet said:
A lot of cars there! Why so may changes? Have you lost much on them overall?
That's actually the main reason for changing them so often. I wanted to try lots of cars out, I always hunted for a bargain and then when I sold them, presented the cars very well and often hit what I paid. The majority of quick turn around were pre-clubsport and 530d, which I owned for a total of 5 years. The notable losses were:
Vectra £1200 - I definitely didn't overpay for it, but literally nobody wanted the (far more reliable and refined) petrol.
Megane £1400 - due to my own damage and the cambelt snapping
Clubsport £1000 - a result, had it for 2.5 years, sold it on 113k
530d £2300 - again a result really, 2.5 years it was one of the cheapest face-lift models when I bought it and sold it on 115k
All of the others I sold for roughly the same as I paid, with the exception of the tidy profit on the EP3.
I was very lucky in that I didn't inherit (except the Megane....) any lemons. I do over service my cars but I would have done that regardless of what I was driving. I wouldn't have spent the money fixing the gearbox on the ATR on hindsight but other than that, all were pretty good decisions.
The current car is one I'll probably lose some money on, as it was less than 4 years old when I got it on low mileage, but I'll have it a while hopefully and was considering new cars (Seat Leon 1.4 tfsi 150) which I would have lost a lot more on!
groundcontrol said:
Vaguely recall the orient blue E46 from another forum years ago and admiring the colour, only to find very few for sale and ending up with an Imola Red, which I wasn't too displeased with after all.
I was quite active on e46 zone at the time. The Orient blue was gorgeous Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff