Last car you bought from the local paper. Tales of the print media.

[dieselassist]

Last car I bought off the paper was 2010 (ish); a Purple mk3 Golf estate 1.4 ABD; it was in the 'local free paper' - A trader mate tipped me off that the paper did actually get delivered to 'some shops' the Wednesday afternoon (thurday being the official day it was stocked...)

 

..Anyhow it was €400 or something with 6months test, dog guard n reeked of dog; I was the first to view it in a rather dodgy estate in the next town over, tho the seller seemed like a decent 'auld'wan' to chat to- I offered €300, then €325; she said this wasn't 'good enough' - she said the phone rung off the hook for the car  and her neighbour's lads said they "offer more"...

Fine, I replied; knock them up n ask them how much", while I took it for a test drive in the lashing rain...

 

By the time I returned she said 'fine lets shake on the €325'... Great, can you round up the Reg form n I'll be off... she went indoors for 20mins without rematerializing...By this time some other lot turned up asking if the cars was 'still for sale' so I sent them on their way...

 

Long story short, myself n my Friend who was with me ended up having to go through her messy downstairs looking for the reg form for the next half hour; her 'sick husband' sat in a chair 'self medicating' on cans of stella staring at the TV; seemingly oblivious to his front room being turned upside down...

...anyhow it could not be found, but she did post it to me a few days later...

 

I sold the car 3 weeks later for a profit, to a friend of a friend who was a bit of a 'header' - n he honed it about moving house etc, and eventually blew up its gearbox....

[Burnside]

It's weird. That photo looks like it was taken in 1972 on a Kodak Instamatic.

Taken via a Kodak Disposable job at the time and then took a pic of that pic via my crap Samsung to finish!

[pandamonium]

Bought a Vauxhall Nova in 2006 from the local paper - the Echo.

It was a good little car.

 

However the best car I found in the paper was the Mazda 929 estate I owned.

 

[Snipes]

I remember that car, from seeing it here or RR I suppose.God that feels like ages ago!

[AnthonyG]

1975 Hillman Avenger 1600 DL from Swansea in 1998 or 1999, from the yellow free-ads paper that almost everybody in South, West and Mid-Wales bought on a Thursday (or Wednesday) evening when it came out. A friend of my dads did this religiously, and went all over the place buying tat he didn’t need. George also absolutely loved early EBay, as you can imagine. His wife was less impressed - his driveway and front garden looked like Steptoe’s yard most of the time.

 

Anyway, back to the Avenger - it ran well enough but was out of MoT and it was a bit crusty with dodgy cover sills. I didn’t really do much with it, so sold it to a bloke in the ASOC a couple of years later, who was planning to restore with a view to doing the odd classic rally. I don’t remember enough of the reg (it was JSA ???N) to check on DVLA but I doubt it still exists.

 

Despite having owned about 25 cars I’ve only had two out of papers, the other was a 1979 Peugeot 504ti out of the Hereford Times in 1992 for £350 or £400. Was quite solid, replaced a front wing but that was about all it needed for the first 6 months, it got moved on quick to a Peugeot specialist breaker/exporter when the power steering sprung a leak and the fuel injection developed an unhealthy thirst for 4 star.

 

I also had a Mk2 Granada 2.0 litre from a card in Aberystwyth Safeway in 1996. That too was £350 I think!

[AnthonyG]

I not sure if this is a bit off subject because this is an early newspaper ad car purchase.

 

May 1982, Thames Valley Trader

 

It is the car I still have.

There’s some beauties there! Can’t decide between one of the Daimler 250 V8s, the Mercedes 280SE or the Taunus 20m!

[thatsmacar]

The current mighty Almera from 2003.  If I'd waited 1 day I would have come away with a 1.8 hurricane model.

[bunglebus]

I bought a MK2 Golf driver out of Autotrader in about 2002 or so. J882FCD. Last seen a few years after we sold it sporting a dented door but otherwise in the same near immaculate condition as bought. In fact its "test drive" was a round trip to Eastbourne from Essex, it was actually for my partner at the time and I didn't let her see the 150,000 miles on the clock until after the deal was done - as it was to replace a thoroughly shit maroon MK3 Fiesta, I think the idea of a car not being worn out at that mileage came as a shock.

 

Golf_Driver by RS, on Flickr

 

I also used to scour the Basildon Evening Echo as it had lots of boy racer goodies, bought this 2.0 pinto equipped 1600 Sport, unfortunately without the 14" (yes) RS 4 spokes it was sat on when I viewed it. Owner described it as in primer ready for paint. Unfortunately it was ready for the scrap pile which is where it went. Shame as the reg. series is shared with some of the 70's works rally cars...

 

MK2Sport by RS, on Flickr

 

I also scored a set of Cibie Oscar/Super oscar spotlamps on a Capri bracket and a set of lowering springs/adjustable shocks for my Sierra. I should really keep my eye on local ads/newsagents windows as there are still people out there who don't do the interwebz

 

Oh and I sold my 3 door Sierra through the Trader, sold the week after publication to the only interested party. These days it would be worth bazillions on eBay. I paid £150 in about 1997, think I got about £350 for it a year or two later. minty but unreliable.

 

Sierra2 by RS, on Flickr

[fordperv]

That looks a clean sierra and look at you you posh git having a rear wiper

[thatsmacar]

That looks a clean sierra and look at you you posh git having a rear wiper

Maybe for wiping bugs off

[bunglebus]

It was an L you know, none of that dangly mirror nonsense for me!

[DodgeRover]

Citroen visa 1.7D was an E reg ending XFM, T&T expired £200 ish out of the admag, we already had a D plate one in daily use and knew if it ran there wasn't too much to go wrong.

Got to Derby and the bloke was a lorry driver, asked what it was like on fuel, about 200 miles on a couple of watering cans full was the answer.

Tank was half full of cherry.

Absolutely did not get run with the plates from the other visa on it whilst that one was out of service.

Went through a test ok and was eventually sold on. It was never as quick or economical as the older one but was much smoother.