Have you always been a 'shiter? Newest car you owned?

[CreepingJesus]

Pretty much always been a 'shiter at heart - and most of my real friends are the same. Let some other sap take the hit on depreciation, and eye-watering main dealer service bills. Unless a job comes with wheels, it'll be cash in hand.

Except the time my £40 Cavalier's rear brakes exploded on the A92 near Kirkcaldy; I was working as a service engineer, and needed something reliable next day. Went into the Vauxhall garage nearby and signed on the line for £3000 worth of Mk3 Astra. 7 years old, and three grand. Newest motorised contraption I've owned, and by far the most money I've ever paid for anything, in my entire life. And it was the cheapest thing in stock.

Did a ludicrous amount of miles in it, rarely had time to show it a spanner*, and it never let me down. Just as well it got repo'd, 'cos it was close to letting me down in a big way. And it gave me an excuse to buy a Panda for £100 instead.

I don't see me doing finance again, but if I could score a T+T'd, usable 7 year old car for under a grand, I wouldn't necessarily say no.

 

*It had about 4 or 5 'throughput' oil changes in my tenure.

[CreepingJesus]

Pretty much always been a 'shiter at heart - and most of my real friends are the same. Let some other sap take the hit on depreciation, and eye-watering main dealer service bills. Unless a job comes with wheels, it'll be cash in hand.

Except the time my £40 Cavalier's rear brakes exploded on the A92 near Kirkcaldy; I was working as a service engineer, and needed something reliable next day. Went into the Vauxhall garage nearby and signed on the line for £3000 worth of Mk3 Astra. 7 years old, and three grand. Newest motorised contraption I've owned, and by far the most money I've ever paid for anything, in my entire life. And it was the cheapest thing in stock.

Did a ludicrous amount of miles in it, rarely had time to show it a spanner*, and it never let me down. Just as well it got repo'd, 'cos it was close to letting me down in a big way. And it gave me an excuse to buy a Panda for £100 instead.

I don't see me doing finance again, but if I could score a T+T'd, usable 7 year old car for under a grand, I wouldn't necessarily say no.

 

*It had about 4 or 5 'throughput' oil changes in my tenure.

[Lord Sterling]

Ever since my Dad had a Rover Sterling, it was always my dream to own a Rover Sterling. I wasnt aware of the 'shiter' thing or whether age of car came into it until I came across this site. To me back then, a Rover 800 was something of a dream for me to behold and enjoy owning whilst I had one, but I have learnt many things since coming to this site and came across the kinds of people (too often for my liking) who see my car as nothing but and 'old banger'

 

These days I couldnt give a toss what people think. I like it, end of. If they dont like it they can pi55 off.

 

The newest car I've 'technically' owned is the Micra:

 

 

1998 'S' reg Micra. Its in my name but its actually owned by Ma_Sterling, I was 'given' the car to sell when Ma went abroad, but I didnt have the heart. She has since taken the back into her possesion.

 

The newest car I actually own is this:

 

1995 'N' reg Rover 827 Sterling. Off the road at the moment, If I (ever) find myself with a good lot of money or in full-time contracted employment, I shall put this back on the road.

[Lord Sterling]

Ever since my Dad had a Rover Sterling, it was always my dream to own a Rover Sterling. I wasnt aware of the 'shiter' thing or whether age of car came into it until I came across this site. To me back then, a Rover 800 was something of a dream for me to behold and enjoy owning whilst I had one, but I have learnt many things since coming to this site and came across the kinds of people (too often for my liking) who see my car as nothing but and 'old banger'

 

These days I couldnt give a toss what people think. I like it, end of. If they dont like it they can pi55 off.

 

The newest car I've 'technically' owned is the Micra:

 

 

1998 'S' reg Micra. Its in my name but its actually owned by Ma_Sterling, I was 'given' the car to sell when Ma went abroad, but I didnt have the heart. She has since taken the back into her possesion.

 

The newest car I actually own is this:

 

1995 'N' reg Rover 827 Sterling. Off the road at the moment, If I (ever) find myself with a good lot of money or in full-time contracted employment, I shall put this back on the road.

[PhilA]

Newest car I've personally ever bought and had registered in my name is the 2010 Impala that the wife drives every day. Part exchanged the previous, very citrus, very shit '06 Silverado that was nothing but a frustrating money-pit one quiet Thursday evening at the dealership in town.

 

Before that the newest vehicle... Uh, my 1990 Bluebird Turbo.

 

I tended to average the 200-300 quid mark for vehicles, despite the Victor setting me back two grand.

 

The Victor was the most fun, the GTA has been the best learning experience and my first Bluebird the most reliable vehicles.

 

Not bad for the money, really.

[PhilA]

Newest car I've personally ever bought and had registered in my name is the 2010 Impala that the wife drives every day. Part exchanged the previous, very citrus, very shit '06 Silverado that was nothing but a frustrating money-pit one quiet Thursday evening at the dealership in town.

 

Before that the newest vehicle... Uh, my 1990 Bluebird Turbo.

 

I tended to average the 200-300 quid mark for vehicles, despite the Victor setting me back two grand.

 

The Victor was the most fun, the GTA has been the best learning experience and my first Bluebird the most reliable vehicles.

 

Not bad for the money, really.

[Cavcraft]

Came desperately close to buying the mingest of mingebag spec Rovers a few years back. James Edwards Rover had an offer on brand new Rover 25 1.1 3 door hatchbacks (bubble shaped) for some thing like £25 deposit then £25 per week, probably for the rest of your life. Not long afterwards I was glad I didn't as I was one shit money at the time and had far more interesting things to throw money at (i.e clapped out Cortinas and the current Mrs 'vette) but I now regret it.

 

To make amends for this sometime later in life I signed on the dotted line for a second hand Peugeot 405, this time a 'snazzy' 1.9 petrol saloon, as I'd regretted selling my superb 1.6GE saloon a bit before.

Oh dear, what a mistake. I got bum raped on price (my fault) bum raped on finance (my fault) and spent 2 or 3 years bitterly regretting the day I'd clapped eyes on the hateful bastarding thing. The finance company were twats too, I got some money together and wanted to end the deal early which they made as difficult as possible. Did some homework, found out what they had to let me do, went into their office (handily enough in the city centre) and effectively threw the money at them before telling them to get bent. Probably futile but made me feel a lot better.

Anyhow lesson learnt and even when I've been a sign of my name away from buying other shit on finance since then I've held back and remembered that bastarding 405.

Last time I paid over a grand for something? Hmm, probably circa 2010 and £1150 on an E46 323 Beemer. Don't really see the point in spending large amounts on a car when I could quite easily find something that does what I want perfectly well for about £800. Don't want or need to keep up with the Joneses, works carparks rammed full of people doing that and it makes me laugh.

[Cavcraft]

Came desperately close to buying the mingest of mingebag spec Rovers a few years back. James Edwards Rover had an offer on brand new Rover 25 1.1 3 door hatchbacks (bubble shaped) for some thing like £25 deposit then £25 per week, probably for the rest of your life. Not long afterwards I was glad I didn't as I was one shit money at the time and had far more interesting things to throw money at (i.e clapped out Cortinas and the current Mrs 'vette) but I now regret it.

 

To make amends for this sometime later in life I signed on the dotted line for a second hand Peugeot 405, this time a 'snazzy' 1.9 petrol saloon, as I'd regretted selling my superb 1.6GE saloon a bit before.

Oh dear, what a mistake. I got bum raped on price (my fault) bum raped on finance (my fault) and spent 2 or 3 years bitterly regretting the day I'd clapped eyes on the hateful bastarding thing. The finance company were twats too, I got some money together and wanted to end the deal early which they made as difficult as possible. Did some homework, found out what they had to let me do, went into their office (handily enough in the city centre) and effectively threw the money at them before telling them to get bent. Probably futile but made me feel a lot better.

Anyhow lesson learnt and even when I've been a sign of my name away from buying other shit on finance since then I've held back and remembered that bastarding 405.

Last time I paid over a grand for something? Hmm, probably circa 2010 and £1150 on an E46 323 Beemer. Don't really see the point in spending large amounts on a car when I could quite easily find something that does what I want perfectly well for about £800. Don't want or need to keep up with the Joneses, works carparks rammed full of people doing that and it makes me laugh.

[rml2345]

Newest and most expensive car I've had was the Yaris... £1200 back in August 2008. Worked as a debt collector so don't really believe finance to be a good thing as it encourages folk to buy things that they can't actually afford so all car purchasing has been made the hard way. Probably why there's been so little of it

[rml2345]

Newest and most expensive car I've had was the Yaris... £1200 back in August 2008. Worked as a debt collector so don't really believe finance to be a good thing as it encourages folk to buy things that they can't actually afford so all car purchasing has been made the hard way. Probably why there's been so little of it

[outlaw118]

First car was 1980 Renault 4tl bought in 1987, second 1976 Capri 1300, bought in 1988 after rolling the 4 . Then 1980 Citroen GS Pallas in early 1989 for £100, needed a clutch and some rust issues sorting; did the clutch myself with the "help" of the HBOL and my mate Monkey, and filled the door bottoms up with newspaper and plod, got a dodgy mot, used for 4 months, then bought Fatha_Outlaw's 1983 Escort 1300L Estate in October 1989, which i wrote off in York town centre December 1989. Was pretty much car-less (Citroen was dying rapidly) until February 1990 when I bought Baby (she doesn't go anywhere without a rattle) Ford Capri Laser 1985 from Dagenham Motors for £3495, bank loan taken - I was workung for Halifax at this point - and they gave me £495 for the Shitron, unseen. Mugs. I still have Baby, she's currently being "fixed", and has been for the last 13 years.

As I was keen to keep the Capri "for best", I bought another Renault 4 for my daily commute, this time a 1983 GTL; this would have been 1995, which i kept for a year and a bit, when I got offered a 1983 Mark One Astra for nowt, so Renault got sold. Astra did me 18 months before I bought Mark 2 F-plate (1987) 1300 Merit estate in 1998. Horrible POS, but could not be killed. I took the decision to mothball the Capri at this point, and bought a E28 BMW 520i for long journeys, but as it had gearbox issues, it got abused and spent a lot of time sideways on wet roundabouts. Mrs Outlaw arrived summer 1998; she had a 1985 XR3i, which she hated, but I loved. Had been lowered a bit and a silly cam fitted, so I used that, while she had my Astra estate. XR3i shat itself on the M25 one morning, so, as we were skint I bought a Cortina 1600L DMM---V out of HBC vehicle salvage auctions, as a Cat D, for £125, used that for six months, then got EJN546Y Cortina 2.0Ghia. Some fucker broke into it summer 1999, and ruined the ignition barrell, door locks, and stole my bangin' stereo out of it, I lost interest and it got ba**er raced. Mrs O got her own car in May 2000, Atra merit got nicked December 2000, then bought N549AKJ Astra Sport estate, kept till September 2008, bougt 1999 Volvo V40 T4, "moose" that i still have.

 

Verdict: Newest car ; Capri, registered 14/8/85, bought 2/90, less than 5 years old.

Mainly shite NOW, but most of my collection may have deemed to be nice - once!!!

[outlaw118]

First car was 1980 Renault 4tl bought in 1987, second 1976 Capri 1300, bought in 1988 after rolling the 4 . Then 1980 Citroen GS Pallas in early 1989 for £100, needed a clutch and some rust issues sorting; did the clutch myself with the "help" of the HBOL and my mate Monkey, and filled the door bottoms up with newspaper and plod, got a dodgy mot, used for 4 months, then bought Fatha_Outlaw's 1983 Escort 1300L Estate in October 1989, which i wrote off in York town centre December 1989. Was pretty much car-less (Citroen was dying rapidly) until February 1990 when I bought Baby (she doesn't go anywhere without a rattle) Ford Capri Laser 1985 from Dagenham Motors for £3495, bank loan taken - I was workung for Halifax at this point - and they gave me £495 for the Shitron, unseen. Mugs. I still have Baby, she's currently being "fixed", and has been for the last 13 years.

As I was keen to keep the Capri "for best", I bought another Renault 4 for my daily commute, this time a 1983 GTL; this would have been 1995, which i kept for a year and a bit, when I got offered a 1983 Mark One Astra for nowt, so Renault got sold. Astra did me 18 months before I bought Mark 2 F-plate (1987) 1300 Merit estate in 1998. Horrible POS, but could not be killed. I took the decision to mothball the Capri at this point, and bought a E28 BMW 520i for long journeys, but as it had gearbox issues, it got abused and spent a lot of time sideways on wet roundabouts. Mrs Outlaw arrived summer 1998; she had a 1985 XR3i, which she hated, but I loved. Had been lowered a bit and a silly cam fitted, so I used that, while she had my Astra estate. XR3i shat itself on the M25 one morning, so, as we were skint I bought a Cortina 1600L DMM---V out of HBC vehicle salvage auctions, as a Cat D, for £125, used that for six months, then got EJN546Y Cortina 2.0Ghia. Some fucker broke into it summer 1999, and ruined the ignition barrell, door locks, and stole my bangin' stereo out of it, I lost interest and it got ba**er raced. Mrs O got her own car in May 2000, Atra merit got nicked December 2000, then bought N549AKJ Astra Sport estate, kept till September 2008, bougt 1999 Volvo V40 T4, "moose" that i still have.

 

Verdict: Newest car ; Capri, registered 14/8/85, bought 2/90, less than 5 years old.

Mainly shite NOW, but most of my collection may have deemed to be nice - once!!!

[wackywacerwill]

Newest 4 wheeler by a mile was a dog of an transit DI which at the first time of ownership was a mere 12 years old. The tranny was run as our sole vehicle till we had too many kids to fit in the front seat then was sold on though re purchased a year or so later before rot and looming LEZ dictated getting shot for good. (great van, really miss it ).

Every other vehicle falls into the 15 to 20 years old bracket with just 2 exceptions. The current Mrs.Will's Leon was gifted to us on a 02 plate (so really doesn't count in my mind) and back again in 2002 I bought a brand spankers new Gas Gas 250 enduro bike for racing. The gasser did me proud for 6 years and hundreds of races and countless tomfoolery though I no longer have the money to keep throwing at it the bike is still in my possession. It really is a sorry state but that's racing for you.

[wackywacerwill]

Newest 4 wheeler by a mile was a dog of an transit DI which at the first time of ownership was a mere 12 years old. The tranny was run as our sole vehicle till we had too many kids to fit in the front seat then was sold on though re purchased a year or so later before rot and looming LEZ dictated getting shot for good. (great van, really miss it ).

Every other vehicle falls into the 15 to 20 years old bracket with just 2 exceptions. The current Mrs.Will's Leon was gifted to us on a 02 plate (so really doesn't count in my mind) and back again in 2002 I bought a brand spankers new Gas Gas 250 enduro bike for racing. The gasser did me proud for 6 years and hundreds of races and countless tomfoolery though I no longer have the money to keep throwing at it the bike is still in my possession. It really is a sorry state but that's racing for you.

[eddyramrod]

I've always been a Shiter. I've never had any money, so cars have been scraped from the bottom of barrels. All of them, for many many years. Until I met Mrs R, the newest car I'd owned was probably my first Lada: a 1977 car in 1984. My Polonez and at least one other Lada ran it close though, being 8 years old at purchase date. Most of my cars tended to be between 8 and 20 years old. Then I met the wife, and started buying younger cars on finance to please her (and, in all honesty, for her to use). We began by upgrading her 1986 Nova saloon for a 1993 Suzuki Samurai that she just fell in love with; this was early in 1998, even before we were married. In fact we took the Suzuki to Stratford for our honeymoon...

A soft-top jeep is not the best thing to be driving during one of the wettest-ever summers, followed by a very cold winter, so after 13 months we traded it at Carcraft Rochdale for a Proton MPi saloon that was a mere two-and-a-half years old (96N). Mrs R loved that Proton, and even I enjoyed driving it, so I didn't mind too much that we had signed up to pay for it over 4 years. Except... 6 months before the last payment was due, someone drove into it and Direct Liars wrote it off. When the payout finally came we went out and bought a 1997P Hyundai Lantra estate, which again she loved and again we had to finance, but only slightly this time. Another nice car, but again, she was randomly driven-into; this time not resulting in a write-off. So we drove it about some more and in 2004 were offered a good deal on her daughter's 53-plate Focus. Hyundai duly flogged for cash, Focus proved to be a disappointment, being capable but dull, so we traded it after only a few months for a 52-plated PT Cruiser. Now this was a brilliant tool for long-distance work and I didn't even mind too much about the vast turning circle round town, but she was having trouble seeing out (it's not designed for shorter, wider people) and declared she wanted something smaller and "brand new." Ulp.

Where we lived at the time (early 2006) we had several dealers within easy reach, so we looked at the Citroen C3 (she liked the Pluriel but it was over budget) and the Fiat Panda, but eventually dropped in on the Suzuki garage. They showed us a 5-door Ignis. Just the job! We drove a used one that happened to be in, and ordered it. The PT provided only enough funds for a plain basic model, but that was actually good enough. I made sure to spec it with a towbar, didn't want to be stuck without a towing vehicle of some sort. PK06 BGY.

So, although I myself personally didn't actually "own" it, I did have full and free access to, and my surname on the V5 of, a brand new car. Just the one. I'd probably buy another Ignis if I stumbled across one at shite money, it was a damn good little tool. Until the Ignis, the newest car had probably been the Focus (not quite 12 months old) but again, that wasn't technically mine. Newest car actually registered to me, in my name, all mine? Step forward SVR 535R, the white Lada 1200 referred to in the 4th sentence. 7 years old at the time, bought from an Irish traveller after he'd collected it as scrap. My name is Eddy and I'm a Shiter...

[HMC]

I bought a landrover defender 90 xs new in 2004 and a new honda civic type r in 2005. At some stage I reallised that old chod is far more individual and interesting, snd far easier on the pocket so my present cars (aside from the mrs modern) are of 1964 and 1988 vintage

[Pete-M]

Newest car I've owned was a new Citroen AX, but that was mainly on paper. The car belonged to my girlfriend at the time, but I paid for it...

 

Newest I've owned as a daily driver was my Mk5 Escort RS2000 which was three years old at the time.

 

First car I bought was a 27 year old Austin Healey Sprite. Second was a 17 yr old Mk1 Escort. Majority of stuff I buy is between 7-17 years old because that's when it's cheap and unfashionable, but often available in good nick for no real money...

[meggersdog]

Newest car I owned was my mum's five year old Escort in 2001.I borrowed it when the head gasket failed on my diesel Maestro van.Sadly she passed away a month later and I never gave the car back to her money wasting husband.The next newest,and one I bought with my own money,was an 8 year old Mk2 Cavalier SRi in 1994.Everything else has been atleast 10-15 years old.I'm a firm believer in if you can't afford it don't buy it.The only acceptable finance (for me) is a mortgage.

[ProgRocker]

The only acceptable finance (for me) is a mortgage.

 

I agree with that sentiment.

 

Exactly 10 years ago I wanted to replace my £800 Mini Racing Green with a newer more reliable car. I paid £4699 for my old 1999 (T) SEAT Ibiza 1.4 S. Or rather I paid £699 and borrowed £4k from GE Capital Woodchester (?) The Ibiza remains to date the best car I have owned, I don't regret buying it but I do regret borrowing the money.

 

I like to think that I'm more financially savvy these days - I could have obtained a bank loan at a more competitive APR. However the best thing to have done would have been to slightly upgrade on the Mini with a budget of around £1500

 

Since then I only buy cars with the money I have. I hope the accountants here will agree with me that cars are one of the worst depreciating assets you can own.

[dollywobbler]

I certainly learnt the hard and expensive way about finance, as I mentioned. It's like having a whole new world revealed to you once you realise that there IS an alternative! There's a Peugeot 306 DTurbo on Ebay at the moment not far away. Struggling for interest at £350. I paid getting on for £10k for one (including finance costs) back in 2001! That's the truth of the matter. Now I'll only spend more than a grand on a car if I'm pretty sure it won't depreciate. I'd much rather spend a few hundred quid and if it all goes tits up, it's only cost me a few hundred quid.

[eddyramrod]

^^WHS!

[Cavcraft]

I certainly learnt the hard and expensive way about finance, as I mentioned. It's like having a whole new world revealed to you once you realise that there IS an alternative! There's a Peugeot 306 DTurbo on Ebay at the moment not far away. Struggling for interest at £350. I paid getting on for £10k for one (including finance costs) back in 2001! That's the truth of the matter. Now I'll only spend more than a grand on a car if I'm pretty sure it won't depreciate. I'd much rather spend a few hundred quid and if it all goes tits up, it's only cost me a few hundred quid.

 

If you look a bit harder there's one for £250 too, somewhere near Corwen I think.

[hauserplenty]

Ullo dur, newbie/pollywog/ex-lurker a.k.a. eddyramrod's "friend in San Diego" here. More on that in a moment...

My first car was a brown 1976 Buick Regal. I took driving school in a Peugeot 504, and the newest vehicle I've owned is my current one, a 1996 GMC Sonoma. I mostly consider it autoshite becuz it can't get out of its own way, as it has the dangerously (for US roads anyway) underpowered 2.2L lump'o'shite. Why GM foisted this on the public I have no idea, but it's a white-knuckler going uphill, that is, when it goes uphill. Mostly in 3rd, (sometimes in 2nd!) And that's only when it's unladen with such things as fuel and passengers...not to mention the 6-foot bed that never has to be made...

My excuse for "typing wizza SCOUSE! ax'int" has more to do with humility than mickey-taking, and of course not the "contents of my bloodstream during my 30's". My 30's aren't over quite yet, so it must have been my 20's. Plus when I was three years old, I decided I wanted Mel Blanc's gig. That, and too much Mad magazine during my youth...means I ended up unfinanceable, even by "the firm you can trust". "Buy here, pay here" is a more common phrase, translated into the American of course. But who needs a new car, laden with debt, when you can have...the automotive equivalent of "Swamp Castle?" And still be brassic anyroad?

Now it seems I have to learn to make less use of commas realizing the way I was taught English was a bit absurd. Not to mention that I need a translation from time to time...e.g. I thought an A-frame was a house! Is that what we call a car dolly? And how in the hell do you drive to Cyprus?? I must have missed something...!

 

R.A.! Autoshite? Is right!

 

Ta, wack...Or Judy, as the case may be...Over to you in the studio, Uncle Bob!

[STUNO]

Always been a shiter. But the newest car I have had was NEW. But it was a Mini and it was 1970. An Australian Mini K deluxe 1100 and cost about $Aus2000.

I had two things added as extras on top, a radio and a heater ! The trade-in was a Wolseley 24/80 (15/60 with 6 cyls and 3 speed manual).I kept it about 2 years and then went back to form with a 1964 Ford Falcon with 2 speed Fordomatic auto.

I am up to 1984 now, so there is plenty of shite to chose from.