Ridiculously Cheap Cars

[lisbon_road]

Mk3 Astras, dirt cheap and still plentiful.  Seems to me that people want them but won't pay much.  I bought one last September, £400 with six months tax and 10 months MOT, 1.6 auto so expensive tax, but he said the phone just didn't stop ringing (and I'd paid so he had not reason not to tell the truth!).

 

Also 306s, very good value in my opinion.

[Cavcraft]

The point about scrap being low is a valid one. There's shit loads of cheap cars about at the moment under £500, and long may it continue. You still can't make people like some cars though, that's just the luck of the draw.

[andy18s]

That Cougar V6 I had. 130k, face lift full spec, full main agent service history, other than a couple of minor scuffs and the bit where I had the sill repaired didn't match perfectly but otherwise a tidy thing.

 

Would anyone but it? No. I sold it to a mate who put it in for the MOT which it flew through once he'd cleaned up the brake discs. He averages 32 mpg from it and loves it. Did 700 faultless miles in a week. A lot of car for £200.

If i'd had the spare cash i would have taken that off you,even tho' i have no "need " for a car at the mo

[Pete-M]

Scrap is crazy cheap. £<100/ton for complete cars at some yards.

 

Problem is, if you advertise complete working decent cars for a few hundred quid you get a multitude of utter fuckwits ringing and complaining if they don't do a zillion mpg and cost fuck all to tax and insure.

 

Jesus. Working car for £200 and they still whine. I'd rather cut the car up than deal with these fuckwits. £200 cars are something you buy and if they blow up you buy another. If you can't afford to run a £200 motor you really should be getting the bus.

[KruJoe]

I'm chuffed that Cougar lived on, and is doing well Pete.

[beko1987]

Me too!

[Junkman]

I can't believe how cheap one can get a decent Mondeo.

[vulgalour]

I was going to suggest the Citroen XM as it's an awful lot of car for not a lot of money but then I remembered it's a Citroen XM so it has that big French car habit of going on strike with tedious regularity.

[Six-cylinder]

I don't know if this counts as ridiculously cheap, more than I would pay anyway.

 

1988 Jaguar Sovereign 2.9 by GoldScotland71, on Flickr

 

I reckon it would have you in a Hyundai i10 within the year.

 

 

Last Sep I found an X300 on eBay classified for £500 in good running order with 12 months MOT, just a touch of rust at the bottom of the front wings so I bought it with some friends. Turned out to be a great car.  

 

[Bren]

One thing I have noticed about cheap cars is that even if they are very cheap they are difficult (read impossible) to shift without tax.

 

Just shows how many uninsured drivers are out there.

[Asimo]

Chap next door is smoking round in a £300 RX8 or rather he was until the ring gear decided that it didn't want to stay on the flywheel any more.  It was still running fine but needed a bump start.  Apparently it's going to be a right twat to fix as the flywheel is torqued up to 600lb/ft and without the ring gear theres no simple way of stopping the engine rotating.

 

 Remove clutch and bolt a long piece of angle iron to the flywheel with two of the clutch bolts.

[KruJoe]

Automatic W124 Estates with seven seats and 136,000 miles on the clock. But only blue ones with MoT until 4th July.

[catsinthewelder]

 Remove clutch and bolt a long piece of angle iron to the flywheel with two of the clutch bolts.

 

 

He has a plan,  I shall watch from a distance and see if it works #bitsofmetalflyingeverywhere#

[D-Dubya]

the last cheap shitter i bought was a W plate saab 93 for less than £350 from a guy hanging up his keys. it had about 15 days MOT and no tax but he wasnt legally allowed to drive anymore (eyesight). Said car is being run by a family member and has not missed a heart beat and passed its MOT without any advisories and thats 5 months later. no rot or grot and a FSH.

 

selling on the other hand is a mare, i couldnt shift an 80k y plate 306 for £300 earlier this year or a rover 25 and almera last year. i think the geezer found the same until i rocked up, most people looking are expecting brand new and bob on for feck all and wouldnt know a half decent banger even if it hit thim.

 

as for buying new shiney cars, i also do that as well. our main car was never older than four years and our second car (for her) was a shitter.  however she needed a better car for work so we bought a new one, that is going to last till the arse falls off it, and mine that should have been changed in 2012 is going to have to last for quite a while yet, but its rare-ish and makes it easier for me to keep

[dollywobbler]

XJ40s seem to have risen in price quite a bit recently. I guess they're not so many left now and they do have a following.

 

There do still seem to be a fair few X300s at £500 with an MOT still. They're a huge amount of car for that - but check them for rust!!

 

They're not bad for rust, but the one I'm smoking around in has some bubbling on the rear arches and around the rear window. It has rather more than bubbling on the bulkhead... Sills are good though!

 

The biggest issue is tired suspension. Same with any big barge with a good few miles on it. This one does feel somewhat jaded. It'll be interesting to compare it with the BX when I swap back on Thursday.

[Lankytim]

Chap next door is smoking round in a £300 RX8 or rather he was until the ring gear decided that it didn't want to stay on the flywheel any more.  It was still running fine but needed a bump start.  Apparently it's going to be a right twat to fix as the flywheel is torqued up to 600lb/ft and without the ring gear theres no simple way of stopping the engine rotating.

 

 

Rattle gun innit, ZPFFFFPPPRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!

[Vince70]

I think all the normal cheap shite has been mentioned, the only real shite I can think of that's not been mentioned is the Chrysler Neon.

Those things seem to be worth less than scrap value for a runner with tax and test and are about as appealing as transport as a pair of old trainers with a hole in the sole after treading in some dog poo.

[Volksy]

Quite an accurate description.

[AnthonyG]

I'm not sure about MX5s, they are cheap compared to any other open top, but most of the ones around £500 are very rusty indeed. I guess if you run it for the summer and sell it to a kit car builder come October it makes sense.

[DSdriver]

A mate of mine wants rid of his Merc for a gnats under £500. Just been MOTed and has a bit of rent. If you're interested PM me and I'll give you his number. The car is in Chatham and the reason for the sale is that he has just been offered a friend's Merc estate for what it would have gone for as a trade in. I reckon its worth more than half a bag but he wants a quick sale. Usual merc crustyness included in the price.

[alfetta]

I'm not sure about MX5s, they are cheap compared to any other open top, but most of the ones around £500 are very rusty indeed. I guess if you run it for the summer and sell it to a kit car builder come October it makes sense.

 

Most mk1's have rust, the tripple skin WILL be slowly rotting on most of them.  I'm even wary of 2K cars. I've managed to get my 400 quid example through another MOT with no work even if the outer rear end of the sills are a little crusty. Nothing to do with blocked drain holes, they will rust anyway as some always finds it's way into the seams. The mk2 is worse as the chassis rails conceal hidden rot...

 

I do like the cars though, it's the bangernomics of choice for me as my usual fave Mercs and saabs are far too rich for me now.

[Asimo]

 

These Chrysler PT cruisers are entering freefall right now. 

Watch them drop!

 

[eddyramrod]

Ooh goody, that might mean I can afford another one!

[TRW]

Bren - I hear what you are saying regarding tax, but the ANPR camera would flag them up these days. Wouldn't it ?

[Tetleysmooth]

Supercharged Jag - for 400 quid

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/165050/1995-xjr6-cheap-supercharged-kent#page=2

[Billy SR]

saw a new shape laguna for 500 smackers today. really that cheap now?

[dugong]

MK2 MR2!

Rear wheel drive, mid engined, excellent build quality and reliability for 250 quid! Why?

Because they were twitchy bastards, not that well liked by the press and nowhere near as popular as the AW 11. 

[dugong]

Large engined Volvo 700s, and any naturally aspirated 400s, particularly the 1.6 models in 440 \ 480 flavour. The daft thing is, the later 400s are actually pretty good cars, and you can sometimes get a diesel for under £500. 

I also know a lad who's a multi-millionaire and runs around in a turbo-diesel Renault 19. He only has turbo-diesel Renault 19s and never pays more than £400 for them. He had three years from his first, three from the second and four and a half from the third. He's currently on his fourth, having robbed parts of his first 19 TD that's now in a scrapyard. 

Truly, this man lives the 'shite dream. 

[Negative Creep]

These Chrysler PT cruisers are entering freefall right now. 

Watch them drop!

 

 

Hopefully into the nearest crusher

[forddeliveryboy]

I don't think I am quite brave enough, but worth serious coin when restored.

http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/654033838.htm?ca=12_s

875427035033282.jpg

 

Not as much of a challenge as many of the rotted out Minis which appear on eblag. And better to start with something which looks like it is than covered-up, badly-done work. Which a lot is.

 

Large engined Volvo 700s, and any naturally aspirated 400s, particularly the 1.6 models in 440 \ 480 flavour. The daft thing is, the later 400s are actually pretty good cars, and you can sometimes get a diesel for under £500. 

 

I also know a lad who's a multi-millionaire and runs around in a turbo-diesel Renault 19. He only has turbo-diesel Renault 19s and never pays more than £400 for them. He had three years from his first, three from the second and four and a half from the third. He's currently on his fourth, having robbed parts of his first 19 TD that's now in a scrapyard. 

 

Truly, this man lives the 'shite dream. 

 

Is that his only car?