Should you buy the best or the cheapest?

[Lukas]

On longer term, it was the best car I could afford that was the cheapest in the end. 

 

Because I want my cars to be in tip-top-condition. The almost immaculate green Pajero cost me less than the very cheap Pajero V6

that needed a lot of money to be at least half that good as the green one. So it cost me almost the same as the green one, but is

by far not that good. 

 

So get the best car you could afford is a top-tip.  Boring, but it´s true!

[plasticvandan]

A few years ago my method, especially with reliants,was generally that the ones that looked shit were usually the best mechanically, and the ones with as body polished every Sunday had never had a filter change.this is getting harder to do now of course as the cars are getting older and now they are all shit.

[forddeliveryboy]

There are some shocking 8 grand 2CVs out there for instance

 

 

Any car costing so much is shocking.

[Urko]

I have tried both, neither has been a great success.

[purplebargeken]

Never had a celica so I can't comment on the car directly.

 

I am firmly of the opinion that I buy for as cheap as humanly possible, making sure that parts are available, easy'ish to fit and don't cost the earth. I will then try and make it better if possible.

 

Pristine car ownership scares me as I would stress hugely if some cunt damaged it.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I never buy mint cars to use every day. Twats damage them, they rust, get chips, marks etc. As long as it's a ten footer I don't care.

 

With old cars - it's either a good car,. or it isn't. If it runs and drives okay, has fluids up the level, longish MOT and the right sort of price, there you go.

 

I bought a really disgusting H reg 316i in August for £50. Had almost a years' MOT but I didn't give a shit as it was to be used for bits. But the Mrs wants to resume driving lessons so I taxed it online on 31st, added some fuel and coolant, fitted the (charged up) battery and it goes okay and drives pretty well.

 

When it comes to classics worth $$$$, I would be wary buying from a dealer. IMO some of the biggest crooks in the motor trade are the Quentins found in these establishments who will have your pants down much faster than some minimum wage Arnold Clark drone.

[xtriple]

Tricky question. Full service history should mean it's been looked after properly. In reality, it means that it has had the minimum done to keep the stamps in the book up to date.

 

If you are going to get the 'best' then you want to see bills for recent expenditure as well as stamps in the book. When you get a dealer service they give you a load of 'advisorys that need doing and if the punter doesn't want them doing, they don't get done and the car goes downhill fast... brakes need looking at!

 

I always used to buy the cheapest I could get away with and made it a rule to buy a car with one area (of the three) duff. That way, you get a bargain and make a shilling or two or end up with a great car for less than the going rate.

 

My 'three' were:

 

Bodywork.

Interior.

Mechanicals.

 

So long as two out of the three are good, you should  be fine, if you buy with two out of the three cack, you are in a world of pain and a car that  has been seriously un-loved.

[Tamworthbay]

But a wad of recent receipts can be a sign of overall neglect. I can't remember he last big job I had done on a car as I make sure they are spot on all the time so I don't have big nasty surprises. I also do all the work myself so would only have a receipt for a part. I find the best way is always to talk to the seller and see what knowledge they have of the car, if it's minimal then a decent wad of receipts might be a good sign, but might not as well. Always buy on what you make of a car, not what someone else tells you. I have seen some real nails at work that people have bought with 'full history' and a stack of receipts.

[PiperCub]

While I don't use my decent stuff daily - that's what chod is for! - I would always say buy the best example you can afford as thinking you can fix every major issue cheaply is just not going to happen. This is especially the case with any bodywork/paint problems. 

 

Now to qualify the saying 'Buy the best', it's just that, the best condition overall that fits your budget. This doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive. In my experience it's the cheaper option even if it doesn't feel like it at the time especially if there's a good deal of far cheaper examples knocking about that look OK. But as others have rightly noted, just 'cos somethings expensive, don't suspend your usual cynicism as it could still be crap - albeit well-disguised crap. This is particularly true of buying middling condition cars, I've seen loads of all kinds that are priced in the middle (not cheap not expensive) but are merely dressed up cheap ones, they are the worst. 

 

 

Personally, I prefer something straight, original, unmodified, low mileage and obviously cared for. I don't care if it needs things doing to it such as maintenance duties outstanding (cambelts etc) or new tyres etc. To be honest both my GTi & MX5 fall into that category, yes, they've required a fair bit of catch up fettling but at the end of the day, for keeper cars, I'd rather do this sort of thing myself (it's all part of owning old cars for me so is no problem) then I know where I stand for the future, at least I know all the fluids are new, the cambelt etc are done, brakes are done etc. I know it's been done properly and I don't rely on others. 

[Snipes]

1.8 Celicas (Gen 6 or 7, except 190s) do have the self destruct mechanism that manifests in massive oil use and shockingly bad emissions come MOT time. If it's a cheap 2.0 GT then different story.

[New POD]

There's some private vendors out there that think the old Focus they are selling on has aged like a fucking fine wine.

 

I'd quite like a Focus Mk1 ST170.  But most have been looked after like white lightneing