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Bangernomics
Marcus - 7/1/11 at 07:22 PM

As above really, looking for a very cheap motor. Needs to be comfy and reasonably economical. Electric windows would be good. I've had my fill of overpriced cars which break down all too often, if it goes wrong I'll throw it away!!
BTW I'm not a fan of ABS or airbags either!!

big_wasa - 7/1/11 at 07:35 PM

our old pug 406 has been awsome. Anything ford and ten years old + will be roten.

Could also do worse than Rover/Mg

[Edited on 7/1/11 by big_wasa]

hillbillyracer - 7/1/11 at 07:41 PM

There'll not be much about now without an airbag, mainstream motors have had them for a long time now.
Keeping your ears open & being in the right place is as good a way as any at finding a cheap motor.
I'm currently running about in a V reg Clio bought from a bloke I see in my local, not something I'd ever go for normally but with 4 months MOT for £120 you dont worry about stuff like that! Only catch was it would'nt run, but had been running perfect so I took a chance as I could get most of that back weighing it in. A bit of googling pointed me toward the engine bay fusebox as they're prone to corroded connections, & that's what it was so with a bit of re-wiring it was fixed, no more than a couple of hours work!

dhutch - 7/1/11 at 07:46 PM

With the ##6 pug theme ive done well out of my 306's although the economy isnt only so-so. The 1.8 averages 35mph of you trash it everywhere, upto about 38ish on a 65-70mph motorway run, 25 if its towing it own body weight of box trailer.

Ive spent nothing on it bar disks, pads, and one section of exhaust, filters and oil in 2.5 years and 25k.

Does have ABS, airbags, aircon, and auto window wipers tho! (which i like, and the half leather seats)


Daniel

mcerd1 - 7/1/11 at 07:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
Anything ford and ten years old + will be roten.

not quite anything - the old focus's are mostly quite good as far as the tin-worm goes
mine has eaten a steering rack + pump (£200) a sump and a few sets of cheap anti-roll bar drop links - other than that its been quite good (107k and counting)
and according to glass's guide its only worth £900 max. as a trade-in now
(mine isn't what I'd call a banger though - it cost me 9 of uncle ron's locosts worth of beer tokens = 4x more than any car I've ever had before )

but as good as it is I wouldn't think twice about going back to an older car with a carb on it

there are still a few good old pug's around (106 / 205 would be my choice) and if you look really hard you'll get a good basic model with a carb - that way there is almost nothing complicated/expencive on them to break

everthing else I can think of seems to be going up in value these days
(e.g. I'd love another mk1 fiseta, sold mine 5 years ago for £300, now one in the same nick woudl set you back £1500+ )



I've actually been thinking I might spend a bit more on my next car and get something thats a bit of a classic (15+ years old) but in top notch condition


[Edited on 7/1/2011 by mcerd1]

simonwinn - 7/1/11 at 08:03 PM

If your going to have a proper go at bangernomics have a wander round your local scrap yard and see what there is plenty of to keep your banger going.
MK3/4/5 fiestas and MK2/3 polos seem to sell in big numbers and populate my local scrappy.

rusty nuts - 7/1/11 at 08:03 PM

Miss my old Citroen XM , paid £350 for it, had it 13years and took advantage of the scrappage scheme when SWMBO wanted a new car. Latest banger is an X reg Astra estate that had 90,000 miles on it , clean bodywork but a noisy water pump for £300 which I've now had for nearly 2 years

britishtrident - 7/1/11 at 09:21 PM

Main thing is avoid anything Fiat or Renault

Rover 25 & 45 are good buys at auction and easy and cheap to maintain.

Rover 600 are ultra reliable but thirsty

mangogrooveworkshop - 7/1/11 at 09:43 PM

paid 150 quid for a 106 that went all over europe......Waiting in the wings for a blue focus for 150 quid.......


http://www.bangernomics.co.uk/Bangernomics.html

[Edited on 7-1-11 by mangogrooveworkshop]

clairetoo - 7/1/11 at 10:21 PM

Bangernomic's...................one of my favorite subjects

My approach is to set a budget (yearly , for purchase and depreciation) of £200 - if you spend £400 on buying a car , it HAS to last two years , no get-out clause.................
So the major factor in buying a banger has to be cost , followed very closely by running costs - which totally rules out anything French (I had a Renault 5 , and a headlight was nearly £120 so that had to go.....)
So far , over the last twenty three years , I have stuck with this approach and it's worked for me - a £2000 van lasted 10 years , the current tin-top was bought from a forum member here for £250 just on a year ago and is still going well (and as a bonus got written off after 11 days of ownership netting me £600 and keeping the car !)

So.........if your gonna buy a banger to save money , it has to be reliable and have cheap spares - rust shouldnt be a major issue (if you can patch it yourself for the MOT for nowt , that is...) , and it has to be `fit for purpose'

So just scan the local rag's (and even ebay....) - set a budget , and go for it You will be surprised how cheap daily motoring can be - I've even used this approach with Alfa 164's and it's worked

theduck - 7/1/11 at 11:44 PM

Mk4 fiesta, most importantly though, with the CVH engine and NOT the zetec. yes that may sound wrong, but a zetec NEEDS servicing, CVH engines seem to go on regardless!

I have had 2 mk4 fiestas with the CVH engine, neither of which had been looked after properly before I owned them, and both ran faultlessly for 18months without any work.

You can also pick them up for under £200, if they have rust, the normal points being inner and outer sills, boot floor and around rear seat belt mounts. I had to have all of these done on one of the two cars and it cost me under £300 (I had a couple other small jobs done at the same time and total bill was £300). So worst case you could pay £200 + £300 for welding and have a car you could sell quickly for £900, when we sold the last one around 6months ago, it went in under a week, with two people turning up on the same night with the cash ready to drive it off!!

mcerd1 - 8/1/11 at 12:08 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
paid 150 quid for a 106 that went all over europe......Waiting in the wings for a blue focus for 150 quid.......

you'll be waiting a while then
I've just about finished fixing it (again) so it owes me a few years yet (about 26 years to be as good value as that 106...)

don't know what Mango got out of it, but once got well over 50mpg out of that 106 on the motorway - not bad for a car with a single choke carb
I did once work out what that 106 cost me per mile (average over 3 years, inc repares, insurance, fuel.....) - I recon as a worst case it was 4p per mile


I don't do Bangernomics - I buy (more or less) rot free bangers and slowly fix them over a few years
my first 2 cars did me 9 years and I made a £10 profit between them (despite selling the 106 too cheap!)
(in that costing I'm saying ~£200 a year in parts is just a running cost, but thats still not bad...)


[Edited on 8/1/2011 by mcerd1]

T66 - 8/1/11 at 12:11 AM

If your going to have a crash in a Volvo .........Do it in a Saab !


http://www.uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=69227




£300

snakebelly - 8/1/11 at 08:16 AM

Merc C250TD, 3.5k 6 years ago, 285k and just fitting a starter motor today, its starting to look a bit battle worn but i love it

s6otty - 8/1/11 at 08:56 AM

I've got a 1996 Toyota Carina 1.6 GS Petrol - Yeah Baby!!!!! Call her the GREEN BOMBER. Not pretty but hey!

Reconnect the battery every winter when I take my daily drive off the road, she's never failed first turn of the key in the last 4 years - best £150.00 I ever spent, never failed an MOT!

She's redundant now - managed to finish my landy, so use that in the snow now, and on play days!

Could be available if she fits the bill, I think it's got some test left on her aswell!

Scott

[Edited on 8/1/11 by s6otty]

dan8400 - 8/1/11 at 09:54 AM

+1 for Peugeot 306. I got one about 6 months ago to replace 2004 5 series. needed some money quick for house deposit. Have to say I am loving Bangernomics. I've always had the best car I could afford and now wonder what the point was???

I have 306 TD with elec windows a/c etc for £450. Great car. Nippy, cheap insurance, tax not too bad and it needs nothing doing to it!!

Bring on cheap motoring Also saves money for important things (like kit cars)


Thanks
Dan


EDIT: she's done 187,000 miles! Tight as a drum

[Edited on 8/1/11 by dan8400]

loggyboy - 8/1/11 at 10:36 AM

Nova GSI!!

lol

Benzine - 8/1/11 at 10:42 AM

quote:
Originally posted by T66
If you're going to have a car with the worst rear visibility ever, buy a saab 93


fixed ^_^

[Edited on 8/1/11 by Benzine]

mangogrooveworkshop - 8/1/11 at 10:53 AM

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=FSW


is a good source ......


My take is a cheap mx5 for 800 run it and break it netting 500 return

[Edited on 8-1-11 by mangogrooveworkshop]

mangogrooveworkshop - 8/1/11 at 10:56 AM

14 tanks of fuel to do 4500 miles ragging the T*T5 of it all the way through umpteen countrys cold......hot.....very hot wet sea level and high alpine routes

quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
paid 150 quid for a 106 that went all over europe......Waiting in the wings for a blue focus for 150 quid.......

you'll be waiting a while then
I've just about finished fixing it (again) so it owes me a few years yet (about 26 years to be as good value as that 106...)

don't know what Mango got out of it, but once got well over 50mpg out of that 106 on the motorway - not bad for a car with a single choke carb
I did once work out what that 106 cost me per mile (average over 3 years, inc repares, insurance, fuel.....) - I recon as a worst case it was 4p per mile


I don't do Bangernomics - I buy (more or less) rot free bangers and slowly fix them over a few years
my first 2 cars did me 9 years and I made a £10 profit between them (despite selling the 106 too cheap!)
(in that costing I'm saying ~£200 a year in parts is just a running cost, but thats still not bad...)


[Edited on 8/1/2011 by mcerd1]

LBMEFM - 8/1/11 at 11:16 AM

Full leather, Climate control, Cruise control, 6x Changer CD player, On-board computer, nice smooth ride, economical, in-fact a good quality car for a few hundred pounds that even looks OK - VOLVO S40. Paid £600 for mine two years ago no problems at all. Barry

Benzine - 8/1/11 at 11:17 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=FSW

is a good source ......


It's amazing, I've forced myself not to look at that section of RR for months now, way too tempting! (I bought my 960 from there)

mcerd1 - 8/1/11 at 06:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
14 tanks of fuel to do 4500 miles ragging the T*T5 of it all the way through umpteen countrys cold......hot.....very hot wet sea level and high alpine routes

asuming you were empty every time (which I seriouly doubt) thats about 138 Gal of fuel = 32 mpg
its more likley ~120 Gal = 37 mpg (which I used to get bombing around up here...)

all that in a 1.0 car (realy 954cc) with 4 spd. box, single choke solex carb (manual choke) - it cost me £450 lasted nearly 5 years - then sold it to mango

and they were so common that there are still some decent ones arould even now.....

Liam - 8/1/11 at 06:07 PM

Pug 205s were the best bangers I had - fantastic things and so easy to keep going.

But then I moved onto prestige bangernomics Old luxo-barges.

Rover 820 si was really nice to drive and ultra comfy and relible. Current Omega Elite is much nicer and more fun being RWD. Worth absolutely naff all . The only downside to prestige bangernomics is the fuel bill, but ah well - the prestige banger is so much car for the money in the first place I dont really care. Auto for the win too - none of this commoner changing gears mallarky.

mangogrooveworkshop - 8/1/11 at 08:19 PM

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2380389.htm