holy overpriced beige shite!

[wilko]

Check out the 1.5 sunny on page 5 of this dealer site:http://www.ashwood-autos.co.uk/22376/stock.htm£2k for that seems, well, absolutely mental?If it was a 70's one, I could understand a speculative price as some sort of scene taxage on the "retro j-tin banded wheel drift twat club" - but it's pure shite - 80's, beige, and front wheel drive!We just gave £200 for an always garaged original handbook 40k one owner fully historied Triumph Acclaim the same age...

[Spottedlaurel]

Crazy isn’t it? It was up for more than that earlier in the year, £2495 maybe? Back then it was more than I paid for an identical one on an A-plate back in 1989 when it was still a fairly new car.Having said that, if I was insanely rich I would buy it for that – chances of finding another identical to my old one, or restoring one to that condition?Someone recently paid well over £2k for a 1988 Laurel SGL. It came on a nice set of Minilite-style alloys, but he wanted it original so he bought another complete car for £500 or so just for its (ugly) standard alloys. I’d have sold him mine for less than that, or at least swapped them.

[andrewp]

Sorry Wilko, I've got to disagree with you on this one. If you bought that for £1800 assuming it's all solid underneath then I think its a fair price. Have you seen the sort of tat being sold for 2K?

Boy racers ex-smashed up Saxo

The Nissan should provide at least 5 years continuous motoring for the cost of 3 months depreciation on a new Micra. Nothing mental about that! I also think it has some cred to it , I'd have far more respect for someone driving that than an 8 yr old 206 or Clio. Hopefully it will find a caring home where it will be used for just taking to shows so that it will be preserved for decades to come. The previous owner certainly prevented this from becoming Shite in my opinion.

 

[Guest]

The thing is, despite the fantastic condition and mintness of it, it is still a fairly undesirable model. I think it's very cool and I'd quite happily own it for the right price (if I had room), but generally that is a bad sign.Worth £750 at an absolute push - it's one of those cars where everyone will crowd round and say how cool it is, do edits with mad wheels and low suspension, but no one will actually buy.

[Milford Cubicle]

There's a 'styled with rulers only' later Sunny coupe in the local free ads for £1k, it's been there for months. I should really go and see if it's £1k kind of condition.

[Ratdat]

The thing is, despite the fantastic condition and mintness of it, it is still a fairly undesirable model. I think it's very cool and I'd quite happily own it for the right price (if I had room), but generally that is a bad sign.

 

Worth £750 at an absolute push - it's one of those cars where everyone will crowd round and say how cool it is, do edits with mad wheels and low suspension, but no one will actually buy.

Don't agree. It's worth £750 to you at a push. You can't judge what a cars worth from your own perspective. If somebody specifically wants one of these in tip top shape, they'll probably put their hand in their pocket and pay the asking price as the alternative would be buying a cheaper one and restoring it. Not only would restoring a car of this age being difficult but it would end up costing more than just buying a nice one. To the bulk of people this model isn't yet desirable but I'll guarantee there'll be someone out there who loves them and to whom this price is reasonable.

 

Cars are worth different amounts to different people. True enthusiasts for a particular marque or model will often pay over the odds to get what they want. I have done so myself on several occasions.

[Mash]

Cars are worth different amounts to different people. True enthusiasts for a particular marque or model will often pay over the odds to get what they want. I have done so myself on several occasions.

So have I.....

 

 

 

It's like I said about the gold Strada - I thought it was a reasonable price on first look. Agreed, 2k is going some for even a factory fresh B11, but if it was a Ford of comparable age there'd be a queue down the street at that price I reckon. That guy at Affordable Classics seems to move his stock on at a good pace and they ain't cheap.

 

I'm with Ed, buying a minter is going to get more expensive because soon the freebies from pensioners will dry up and all the 200 quid ones will have been scrapped.

[Guest]

Ed, I can 100% see your point as I have paid over the odds for all sorts of stuff, I'm just not very confident that Sunny-loving person will appear. I know £2K isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, but what are the chances of there being someone who loves that specific generation of Sunny enough to pay £2K, as well as the chance of them finding out it exists and having that much money to spare?Hope it does get a good home though, regardless of what it sells for in the end. I think you should buy it just to prove me wrong!

[mk2_craig]

Both sides of the argument are relevant here. Dare I say it, there'll be a higher proportion of the UK market production run of that era Sunny surviving than the equivalent Astra or Escort simply due to the nature of the car's typical buyers. Supply and demand dictates that this car could be sitting around on the dealer's premises for a while. Shouldn't imagine they'd be worried though - I don't suspect for one moment that there's any less than a 50% profit margin in it!

[bassman77]

Two grand is a bit steep, but it is nice.... I had a B11 once great car it also had air conditioning in the floorpans !

[wilko]

Agreed, 2k is going some for even a factory fresh B11, but if it was a Ford of comparable age there'd be a queue down the street at that price I reckon

An XR or RS model then I'd agree, but do you reckon there'd be a queue down the street for a "minter" beige 5 door Mk3 Escort 1600 GL for 2 grand?If the answer is "yes" then what is the world coming to!?!?!I know people are paying some strong money for good condition 70's standard model stuff now, but FWD 80's stuff?

[nigel bickle]

Are these Sunny Coupes worth much?There's an 'E' plate one sitting behind a small local garage. 44,000, t'was legal till 7/07, no rust that I could see. Got a Fiorino pickup too, M plate, 40,000 -£600.Is that good value?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Agreed, 2k is going some for even a factory fresh B11, but if it was a Ford of comparable age there'd be a queue down the street at that price I reckon

An XR or RS model then I'd agree, but do you reckon there'd be a queue down the street for a "minter" beige 5 door Mk3 Escort 1600 GL for 2 grand?If the answer is "yes" then what is the world coming to!?!?!I know people are paying some strong money for good condition 70's standard model stuff now, but FWD 80's stuff?

I'm going to tentatively say yes. I'm sure there was just such a car opn eBay fairly recently with about 12,000 miles on, defo was 2k sort of money.

[Ratdat]

Here's another way to look at it. I seriously wish I had the foresight ten years ago to spend top money on a clean Datsun of similar age then. Ten years ago that would have been an early 70's Datsun. For not much more than a grand ten years ago I could have bought the most mint, perfect Datsun imaginable, something which now is nigh on impossible to find and damned expensive if you do.It's easy for us to look at a B11 and dismiss it as being undesirable but that's precicly what most people did with 70's Datsuns 10 years ago.

[scrappylad]

I suppose my gripe with this is that the trader will have got the car for a song & is now trying to fleece some individual who won't care how much it is. Why not just sell it at a fair price?There was a banger racer selling a MG Magnette Farina on Ebay earlier in the week... 13,000 miles, v good order & all the rest... when I saw the listing it was at 3 grand reserve not met. That price wasn't bad IMO but he 'rescued' the car (from some old biddy for sweeties no doubt).(Oh & if folk weren't prepared to bid it up, it was gonna get raced of course )

[Mash]

Fair comment, it is a bit galling to know that is probably the case with a lot of these cars. Unfortunately I can't devote my time to trawling the free ads or driving around the country rescuing these cars from their original owners much as I'd like to.There are numerous examples like this. I could have had a mint 4000 mile Rover SD1 earlier this year for £2500 but I hadn't the money, space or desire for it truthfully, but it recently sold through a dealer for at least three times that price. There was also a Wolseley 4/44 on offer at £12500 which I know for a fact was bought at auction for around £4500.There's making a living and there's just being plain greedy.I still think values should be increasing a bit on these types of cars to stop them being run as cheap bangers and not lasting much longer though.

[andrewp]

Here's a 1981 Datsun Sunny that makes the one that started this thread look like bargain of the decade. This one is only $8500 AU for which it must be the best available, plus it has new back lights and seat covers; no bids as yet!! Later update: I notice the seller has reduced the price by $1000 AU.

 

Ebay link: 1981 Sunny with renewed front end

 

[marinast]

Here's another way to look at it. I seriously wish I had the foresight ten years ago to spend top money on a clean Datsun of similar age then. Ten years ago that would have been an early 70's Datsun. For not much more than a grand ten years ago I could have bought the most mint, perfect Datsun imaginable, something which now is nigh on impossible to find and damned expensive if you do.It's easy for us to look at a B11 and dismiss it as being undesirable but that's precicly what most people did with 70's Datsuns 10 years ago.

Thing is, an early 70's Datsun is actually a more interesting car full stop.80's cars are sadly too bland for their own good. Personally I'd be looking at early 90's stuff right now since these really are still in the banger category and the sort of car one could buy from 1990-94 for £2k is staggering.

[andrewp]

I think the issue with the blue Sunny high lights that some Australian car buyers are very gullible or at least the sellers seem to think so, on Australian Ebay I also found an advert for a Mk3 Cortina described as:

 

This is a true original with only 1 previous owner, this old girl has only been driven to town and at a steady pace, all original interior in great condition, this car is shown as the same as the day it was made, nothing has been changed.

 

The seller then continues to tell us about; It has a 2 ltr escort motor with overhead cam, a 4 speed gear box and a re-built twin webber carby HMmm.

This Datsun seller knows how to seduce the punters with flowing sales patter: you are looking at a datson 120y ONLY 98000 SINCE NEW BEEN IN SHED FOR 10 YEARS !! it is in farly straght condition one dint on the front one on the bumperbar at the back seat in great condition for it age one hole in the back seat and one rip in the front but can hardly see has near new tires runs great but when you turn off it doesnt always so you need to take the clutch out abit while its in gear and you wont notice half the exaust is rusted off not much to get re done. End of description!

 

[Guest]

He should probably take it inside, won't do it much good left out in the snow.

[Ratdat]

Thing is, an early 70's Datsun is actually a more interesting car full stop.80's cars are sadly too bland for their own good. Personally I'd be looking at early 90's stuff right now since these really are still in the banger category and the sort of car one could buy from 1990-94 for £2k is staggering.

That's just it though. Everyone has different tastes. Some people just love family saloons from the 1950's but to me they are pretty dull on the whole. Some 70's stuff is really dull too. For example, I'd much rather have my Cherry Europe than a 120Y because to me it's much more interesting. Once you get past the oddball looks of cars like the 120Y, you discover that underneath it's about as interesting as a stale cheese sandwich. I guess it's partly because I'm very "hands on" with cars that makes the oily bits of as great an importance as the styling. Certain cars I like more for the way they are engineered than anything else.

[Spottedlaurel]

If I had the cash spare I'd love to buy this car. As I previously mentioned, an identical beige B11 coupe has featured in my past (it was my second-ever car), so this would mean far more to me than something a bit older.The price wouldn't put me off -as I can can do very little myself labour and parts bills would very quickly exceed what this one costs.I think at the moment we're spoilt with the ability to buy good cars of this era so cheaply (like my Accord). If the car-buying public had half a brain they'd forget about new stuff and concentrate on using perfectly good and capable cars from this era.

[retrogeezer]

Only problem I have with cars from the 80's is crash protection......I would not feel too comfortable taking my 4 year old daughter out in something that will either collapse or be so solid that you internal organs escape.There was a test on fifth gear once with something like an 80's civic hatch and another car....the civic disintegrated.*edit* It was a 92 civic coupe and a Shogun, the test was to show how impacts between 4wd & 'normal' cars was devasting. ....frightening to watch how a car with little or no side impact protection or airbags is destroyed.

[Volksy]

Only problem I have with cars from the 80's is crash protection......I would not feel too comfortable taking my 4 year old daughter out in something that will either collapse or be so solid that you internal organs escape.There was a test on fifth gear once with something like an 80's civic hatch and another car....the civic disintegrated.*edit* It was a 92 civic coupe and a Shogun, the test was to show how impacts between 4wd & 'normal' cars was devasting. ....frightening to watch how a car with little or no side impact protection or airbags is destroyed.

I think the point is that any car really wouldn't stand a chance against a 4x4. With such a high ride height a 4x4 is going to hit above the side impact protection on a smaller vehicle.It's the old nuke theory.. 'they' have one.. so the only way to protect myself is for me to have one too.The fifth gear report on the Volvo 940 vs Renault Modus, was interesting.

[retrogeezer]

Agreed, on re-watching it, it is more about the damage a 4x4 will do to a 'normal' car. Still bloody frightening though!And my point is still valid about taking small kids out in cars with little or no crash protection.I'm still amazed when I see parents with their babies/small kids in the back of things like a Metro - if something rear ended them at 40mph it would be horrendous. I know they are great for running around town but what price to you put on safety for your kids?

[pompei]

I never used to give a monkeys about "safety" when considering cars when I was single or married for the first time; as soon as the infant came along it became a major consideration. Don't suppose he'll ever travel in my Fiat 500

[pandamonium]

I still agree with the idea everyone should have a steel spike fitted to the centre of the steering wheel. That'd make everyone drive more carefully! I know my car would be rubbish in a crash, so I drive slower and leave more room for braking etc. These people in their 5 star 4 x 4s drive like tw*ts cos they know they will walk away from a crash.

[Ratdat]

If old cars were that unbelievable dangerous then we would have seen a collosal drop in road accident fatalities over the last 15-20 years. That simply hasn't happened. On average the fatality rate has dropped by 5% a year since about 1950 with some of the biggest improvements happening between then and the end of the 70's. Since the mid 90's there's been virtually no improvement at all when you would expect things to have improved the most.I'm not questioning wether modern vehicles are safer than older ones, as that undoudtedly is true but not to the degree most people think. Safety sells, and the motor industry has done a fine job of selling cars on that basis, so much so that people are convinced they'll walk away from a crash no matter what. When people see these tests set up to crash something modern against something old (modus vs Volvo 960 was a good example) they see the modern car hold up well whilst the older car gets pulverised and that makes them think the modern car is indestructible. Not so. What happens when the modern car hits another modern car? The results would not look so favourable I'm sure. The accidents in which most people die are often at a speed whereby it wouldn't matter what you were in. If you hit a tree at 70mph you're probably going to be dead wether you're in a a new Megane or a Morris Minor.Then again, if you were in the latter you probably wouldn't have made it to 70mph

[Volksy]

I do agree with you Ratdat, One such glamourised crash was another 5th Gear show where they crashed a smart car into a concrete barrier at 70mph.The car held up very well, as did a Corsa used for comparison, however the results were the same in that the occupants of both vehicles would probably have died due to the forces at work during rapid deceleration.Having worked in the recovery industry for a while, and seeing the resulting sights, there are so many factors involved in an 'accident' that the current NCAP tests are to some extent useless, well good as a generalisation, however thats all. As for manufacturers 'selling' on safety, this is why so many people buy 4x4, as allegedly bigger is better.. What they fail to mention is that whilst in a 4x4 you have more chance of rolling over, stopping distances are longer etc etc.

[Guest]

I think the general conclusion of NCAP tests is "don't drive cars into walls".People should take more responsibility for the mechanical condition of their car, as well as thinking further ahead than the car in front of them, to help prevent crashes in the first place. I tend to be very cautious and somewhat untrusting of most other cars on the road, my philosophy is to expect the worst of everyone and you'll rarely go wrong. (e.g. there was a car on the side of the road today indicating to get out, therefore I instantly assumed the worst, that he would pull out even if it meant I had to slam on, so I covered the brake, which was fortunate as he pulled out on me. Lovely "horn push" buttons on that steering wheel, though!)A worrying thing I find when driving a "modern" is that they don't tend to feel anywhere near as fast as an old one as they are so dampened and soundproofed. 30mph in my dad's 407 feels much slower than 30mph in the Charmant.....