Autoshite Economics

[EssDeeWon]

I wouldn't drive round in a new car if you gave me one, nearly every new car over the last 3 years looks the same, the whole Vauxhall / Ford / Hyundai / Proton / Toyota / Peugeot all blend into one. And as for some of these new BMW's and Mercs, fuckin company dross of the highest order.

 

As Dink says, there is no point in trying to bring these people round to our way of thinking.

 

I own my car.

 

#NoBalloonPayment in 3 years time when your characterless POS has depreciated by 70%, suckers!

[rml2345]

^That. If we all keep quiet, by the time today's moderns reach shitedom then we'll be doing DMFs and other modern time bombs on the drive in half an hour with a funky gadget from eBay. If you told someone buying an OBD equipped Merc fifteen years ago that one day in the near future you'll be able to read it's brain using a bit of wire, some software and an old laptop he'd have thought you'd gone potty.

[sierraman]

I remember my dad buying a new renault megane about 14 years ago, and saying if it went wrong it would have to go to the dealer as they had the tech to fix it. However 14 years down the line I'm sure its current custodian is keeping it going at the side of the road or plugging it in a hand held scanner to decipher what's wrong

[sierraman]

I remember my dad buying a new renault megane about 14 years ago, and saying if it went wrong it would have to go to the dealer as they had the tech to fix it. However 14 years down the line I'm sure its current custodian is keeping it going at the side of the road or plugging it in a hand held scanner to decipher what's wrong

[stripped fred]

I agree with everything that's been said on here. Only thing is i've been doing it wrong! I've spent more on my Alfa 156 in the last few months than it's worth. DMF, clutch, 2 wheel bearings, aux belt. Total cost about £1500. It still needs the timing belt doing. It doesn't help that parts for the 20v model are pricey and most jobs take ages as the Italian's didn't consider how easy it would be to fix. OK I could have done the easier bits myself but it's a pig to work on and I need it for work. My solution is to sell and buy a cheaper, more shite friendly motor that I can fix easier myself with cheaper parts, and without a DMF! Or even better, buy two so I have a spare.

[Jazoli]

I think I've failed at being an autoshiteist, bought the daughter a shite Ignis for her to drive around in after passing her test, it needed a few bits doing to it such as brake shoes, new bonnet, sort the stereo wiring and new aerial, which I did without complaint, it then decided it needed a new radiator and thermostat which was a pig of a job as it was hidden round the back of the engine under the inlet manifold which had to come off, in February in 2 degree warmth.

 

She then crashed it into a post 3 weeks later requiring another new radiator

 

The MOT was due next week and it was going to need new suspension arms to pass, a new centre section for the exhaust and new tyres, I could not be arsed to do it all so went to the local garage and got her to buy a new (2012) Fiat 500, so now if it breaks it'll be fixed under warranty, if it needs servicing it'll be getting done at said garage to preserve the warranty and I now have more time to spend on my own in the garage messing with my bikes instead of keeping an old shite car running.

[stripped fred]

I think I've failed at being an autoshiteist, bought the daughter a shite Ignis for her to drive around in after passing her test, it needed a few bits doing to it such as brake shoes, new bonnet, sort the stereo wiring and new aerial, which I did without complaint, it then decided it needed a new radiator and thermostat which was a pig of a job as it was hidden round the back of the engine under the inlet manifold which had to come off, in February in 2 degree warmth.

 

She then crashed it into a post 3 weeks later requiring another new radiator

 

The MOT was due next week and it was going to need new suspension arms to pass, a new centre section for the exhaust and new tyres, I could not be arsed to do it all so went to the local garage and got her to buy a new (2012) Fiat 500, so now if it breaks it'll be fixed under warranty, if it needs servicing it'll be getting done at said garage to preserve the warranty and I now have more time to spend on my own in the garage messing with my bikes instead of keeping an old shite car running.

Sometimes you just need to weigh up the pros and cons. Sounds like a sensible solution to me if she can afford it

[Station]

Every car I've bought (excepting a few) I have made money on. It's like someone's given me a car and then gave me extra money at the end.

I'll buy anything cheap if I can guarantee making money on it after a quick tidy up regardless of what it originally cost, it's a quick way of making money.

[MarvinsMom]

ah yes, the concept of making a profit.

 

i've heard of it, but never ever managed it myself, i think i must be buying expensive, putting the bloody thing right and then selling cheap.

 

i is shit at autoshite....

[stripped fred]

ah yes, the concept of making a profit.

 

i've heard of it, but never ever managed it myself, i think i must be buying expensive, putting the bloody thing right and then selling cheap.

 

i is shit at autoshite....

I is too. What is this making money thing he talks of? Isn't the point to throw as much money as possible at them to make them nicer for the next owner?!

[sierraman]

'Buy low sell high' sage words indeed.

[cort16]

Buy high, spend shit loads on then sell low. That's my business model.

[sierraman]

Buy high, spend on preventative maintenance, tidying bodywork then sell low to someone that couldn't give a shit is my core business model.

[Taff]

I rarely lose big money but when a car only cost £300 and I sell it for £150, I haven't lost that much.

[cort16]

out of all the cars I've owned I can think of 3-4 that I've bought, done nothing to then sold for more than I paid for them. I rarely lose more than a couple of hundred quid and mostly I break even or make a bit even if I've had to spend x amount on parts to keep it going.

 

I bought 3, 3 series last year in a job lot for 1800 quid. A red 316i base model, 316i auto in high spec and the third an 02 plate 320d tourer

 

I sold the manual 316 base no bother for £650. I was using the (1 owner) 316i auto to go to work and the oil light started to flicker so spent £60 on decent oil, filters and a flush. Fixed it and sold for £700.

The 320d was nice and worth £1500 all day long. Easy money right? That was until it started running like shit and after a load of faffing, changing filters and blanking of swirl flaps it ran well for about 3 minutes and shat a load of something out the exhaust and refused to start. Sold for spears or repeeers for £650 + 100 in parts makes a grand total profit for going to the hassle of selling them and fixing them of £100.

 

At this point I decided not to renew my trade insurance and all cars r shit.

[The Moog]

As has been pointed out before, you may lose a few quid on cars but if it is your hobby then surely it is better than filling the bookies pockets

[Ronnie L]

Back in the late 90s I bought a 1987 E reg Escort 1.6 diesel for 50 quid. I welded new sills and front wings to it and did some cosmetic stuff to the rear arches. Resprayed the bottom half in Rosso red to match the rest and gave it all a going-over with Halford's version of T Cut. The thing looked v smart and it kept me in transport for 18 months, when I sold it for 350 quid. The only repair I had to do was replace the vacuum pump (for the brakes) with a secondhand one from a breakers.

Now, that's my absolute definition of shite motoring. The sheer pleasure I got from covering the miles in that wagon was immense and better than you would ever get from a new car. My colleagues at work however just didn't get it ..... they could NOT understand why I was driving around in a 'banger' when I could have been in something new and with a prestigious badge (I was one of their 'bosses' at work and had the cheapest and shoddiest car in the car park by a hundred miles). That gave me a great sense of satisfaction.

[gordonbennet]

Being cheaper overall is only part of it.

 

I have a big problem with paying any more tax out of the little the bastards leave me with after they've bum raped me for income tax and national insurance and anything else they fancy removing from me paypacket before i've even seen it, so buggered if i'm gunna sign meself up to shovelling what little i have left out too.

 

However the overriding reason i don't want a new car is that they are just so fuckin BORING, and stuffed to the gills with electronic shit i neither want nor need, they all look the bloody same,  cloned junk for cloned people, quite why anyone would pay out good money for something with satans latest semi auto box with a life span of 5 minutes after the warranty expires i cannot fuckin fathom, i have to drive one the bastarding things every day in me lorry and it's about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

 

Why would anyone with an ounce of sense buy something with a DPF/DMF/DSG/electric parking brake etc etc, they'll all fail and when they do it's going to be bloody painful and it'll be insinuated by the 12 year old service manager that it's somehow your own fault...well yes it is i suppose for buying their shit in the first place.

[CHRIS1980]

18 months ago I needed a second car as my new job was a lot further away than my old one so it was the perfect excuse to get a car:) My wife's friends husbands suggested I get some bland box on tick. But I had other ideas. It had to be a 4x4 and diesel . I wanted a Land Rover 90/110 but wanted my kidneys much more,so they were out of my price range. I looked at an Isuzu Trooper with 12 months ticket but when I got underneath it had half the chassis missing :/. I ended up with Frontera with a starting issue that turned out to be rusted pipes and £18 in parts and 1 hour to fix. It's been 100% reliable. I sprayed it with U-POL raptor truck liner paint £88 from amazon. And that's it. I love it,there's no stress,if it dies I will break it for parts and weigh the rest in and start again. But it's far too good,it's got 80k on the clock and starts on the button pulls like a train and looks the bollocks with the paint. And all that for less than 2 HP payments on a mates Honda CRV. Can someone explain the point of A DMF? What the benefit?

[Ronnie L]

My ex is involved in one of these. She has a Fiat 500, the current car is the third such deal she has entered into.

 

I'll defend it somewhat, if I may. When we were together, I had the company Beamer (fully funded) plus a couple of shite/hobby motors, while she tooled about in a fairly unreliable M-plate Clio. Now, that Clio wasn't a huge pain and it only had to achieve a daily round trip of 10 miles but once a fortnight it would fail. Never anything major, but enough of a irritation that the hunt was on to replace it.

The scrappage scheme appeared on the horizon, the local Fiat dealer put together a deal on the 500 that was easily achievable, I no longer had to waste my weekends dicking about with a Clio, so she signed up.

 

I understand that the deal(s) may not represent the best value on earth but at that time, in our case, it made sense from a perspective other than the financial one. Dargging that Clio kicking and screaming through it's MoT had become the bane of my life.

Agreed entirely. I spent years keeping my wife's dodgy old motors on the road until about 10 years ago she decided to start leasing new ones. Fantastic. These things need NO work done to them, are entirely reliable and are even nice and cheap to drive. This means that all my efforts can go into keeping / getting my own chod on the road. It also means we have always got one car we can completely depend on. Don't dismiss these lease deals too quickly. If you shop around at the right time they can be surprisingly affordable.

[twosmoke300]

A dual mass flywheel is supposed to give a much smoother engine effect . More damping than a std clutch hub . More necessary on diesels with big crank speed variation at tickover . Just a bandaid to overcome lazy engine developers IMO

[beko1987]

Depending on where I hold the clutch whilst stationary depends how loud the dashboard rattles in mine. It doesn't bother me that much though...

[CHRIS1980]

A dual mass flywheel is supposed to give a much smoother engine effect . More damping than a std clutch hub . More necessary on diesels with big crank speed variation at tickover . Just a bandaid to overcome lazy engine developers IMO

How do you know if it's failing? My VW Bora TDi is an auto,will that still have one? I'm getting paranoid I think.

[twosmoke300]

Autos don't usually have them

[cort1977]

I know we have this thread regularly but I like a nice bit of confirmation bias.

[mercrocker]

Depending on where I hold the clutch whilst stationary depends how loud the dashboard rattles in mine. It doesn't bother me that much though...

Minor does this...It reminds you its alive and you still have a soul.

[beko1987]

I still get drowned out by new derv vag shite all the time though. But as they can't hear it sat inside it must be better...

[cort16]

My juke sounds like a motor you'd fit to a cement mixer when you're outside the car

[MarvinsMom]

it must be a new derv thing, as the rover 75 dizzler doesn't sound too bad either from inside, or the outside of the car.

 

or it could just be me. 

[twosmoke300]

Modern diesels sound horrible under part load on warm up . Too much boost and injection advance