Wanted Buying a working, legal, partially presentable car for under a ton?

[sierraman]

I’m looking forward to seeing this £100 car with a valid MOT and free of any faults that’s also ‘interesting’.

[theshadow]

got one incoming from devon sat aswelll,spooky,must be easter holidays.

[GrumpyCat]

Even at £150 I think all you will find are end of life Meganes, Focuses etc.

 

£200 might yield something more interesting...

 

 

Diahatsu sirion automatic, mot £200,

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/diahatsu-sirion-automatic-mot-200/1337200441?utm_source=com.google.android.apps.docs&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_android

 

 

I think Facebook marketplace is the best place to look, but you have to be very quick. A 91 Corolla was advertised locally, a garage find which hadn't been on the road for quite a few years. The lady was only asking a couple of hundred quid. It soon sold and was back a day later photographed on the back of flatbed, still in the jetwash where the buyer had just washed the dust off. Only now it's up for a grand as it turned out to be solid and low mileage.

[bramz7]

Cheapest tested car I ever got was a Citroen ZX TD in 2017. £75. Had 7 months ticket too.

 

It was only cheap as it was being sold by someone I knew who is a car person who paid the previous owner the same for it, they were getting rid as it was smoking a bit on startup due to iffy glow plugs.

 

It did suffer a fuel leak through a perished primer bulb and had all 4 plugs replaced a week into ownership. It also had very rusty inner front wings.

 

Drove well though.

[Bren]

Looking at the bottom end of the market prices seem to be rising for decent cars - probably supply and demand - not enough good ones to go around but lots of fucked ones.

[Aston Martin]

Spend £99 on roffles....

[Marm Toastsmith]

Cheapest tested car I ever got was a Citroen ZX TD in 2017. £75.

 

Cheapest here: I had a B2 Passat estate for £70 in 2005ish. It overheated on the way home, but was utterly brilliant once I'd had the head gasket done. Trips to south of France etc.

 

First car I ever bought with my own money was a Mini Clubman estate. Would have been about 1997. Was £100. Ran it until the MOT run out and sold it for £50. Only thing I had to fix on that was an exhaust mount - coat hanger did the trick.

 

In 2008 I got hold of a MK3 Polo for free. I think I had to replace the rear light clusters. Other than that I pretty much just ran it.

 

About the same time someone offered me a running Ford Capri for free. Would have MOTd ok, the owner had just lost interest, couldn't afford to tax it. Nobody wanted it. I was tempted but couldn't be bothered. Was probably scrapped. Times have changed fast.

 

I still like cheap cars though.

 

Gutted that my dad just gave away my grandmother's Vectra to a guy that came knocking for scrap. No MOT on it but it would have gone through no problem! My dad reckoned the guy deserved it just for his persistence in knocking. Goes to show.

[Marm Toastsmith]

Diahatsu sirion automatic, mot £200,

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/diahatsu-sirion-automatic-mot-200/1337200441?utm_source=com.google.android.apps.docs&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_android

 

 

That looks brilliant.

[Iamgroot]

Cheapest here: I had a B2 Passat estate for £70 in 2005ish. It overheated on the way home, but was utterly brilliant once I'd had the head gasket done. Trips to south of France etc.

 

First car I ever bought with my own money was a Mini Clubman estate. Would have been about 1997. Was £100. Ran it until the MOT run out and sold it for £50. Only thing I had to fix on that was an exhaust mount - coat hanger did the trick.

 

In 2008 I got hold of a MK3 Polo for free. I think I had to replace the rear light clusters. Other than that I pretty much just ran it.

 

About the same time someone offered me a running Ford Capri for free. Would have MOTd ok, the owner had just lost interest, couldn't afford to tax it. Nobody wanted it. I was tempted but couldn't be bothered. Was probably scrapped. Times have changed fast.

 

I still like cheap cars though.

 

Gutted that my dad just gave away my grandmother's Vectra to a guy that came knocking for scrap. No MOT on it but it would have gone through no problem! My dad reckoned the guy deserved it just for his persistence in knocking. Goes to show.

 

Bloody hell, if any of my family gave away a car I'd never forgive them.

 

Actually, the weirdest deal I ever did was when I swapped my cortina for a pregnant ewe. not for sexual purposes, I lived in the country and it equated to about £120 at the time, if only I knew then what I know now! it was a Mk4 which I put a 2.0 pinto in. (I bought the car as a 1.6 for £40 from a stranger in the pub who had just lost his licence, I drove it home, it was a lot more "five and drive" back then)

 

I very much doubt you would get an interesting road legal car from a stranger for less than £100 these days, as they are worth more in scrap, I can't find a decent snotter for less than £300 these days, even then I wouldn't call them "interesting" 

[Dave_Q]

Well I think it is still achievable, difficult but achievable.

 

Remember there was a chap who wanted a Renault 14, but it absolutely had to be a rhd UK car?

 

Several of us told him to give up and get one from France but he posted up a few months later with 4 leads on the go.

 

You will eventually find something semi interesting for under a ton, but it will take a very long time and not be through any of the usual channels (eBay, auto trader etc)

 

Others have already said, but keep an eye on 1 make forums for a sentimental fool, or on Facebook marketplace as that is very popular with non car people and idiots.

[leanycan]

I'm interesed in this. I'm currently looking into this sort of idea. I would like a smaller car as im only doing around 150 miles a week (down from 600-700 a week)

[Mr Laurence]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904177067403

 

£100 - 2 days MOT. I doubt it’d pass another though

[flat4alfa]

I read the title and the first post and thought in this order:

 

- I think he's taking the p*ss of AS..

- What year is he in? 1999? More like £499 to fit that bill, nobody will let anything go for less than the bridge a d eBay kicked shortly after to sell the parts off a breaker

- The point of AS has been missed completely and is trying to build some copy to ridicule the jalopy fraternity

[Demio]

I read the title and the first post and thought in this order:

 

- I think he's taking the p*ss of AS..

- What year is he in? 1999? More like £499 to fit that bill, nobody will let anything go for less than the bridge a d eBay kicked shortly after to sell the parts off a breaker

- The point of AS has been missed completely and is trying to build some copy to ridicule the jalopy fraternity

Well, you're very much mistaken on the first and last items. Even if there was a point to doing so, I don't have the time to do the latter one in any case (and given that Barryboys closed down, the market for motoring communities that take the piss out of other motoring communities is somewhat of a dead end), and why would I need or want to register here and post this thread to do it?

 

In fact I registered here, after tips from other people in the motoring writer industry, precisely so that I was being part of the community and not just sitting, anonymously leeching leads from the eBay and £200 threads. I don't think people should just take from online communities, they should give something back too - or else the resource you found so useful dries up.

 

 

As for the middle one... well we'll see. There's some here who think it's absolutely out of the question, others who think it's doable but difficult, some in-between, and more than a handful of people who are interested in the general idea. I've been keeping a close eye on many of the relevant sites since November, and I'll happily concede that in all that time I've only seen three viable cars at a ton or less, but pretty much a deluge at £150 and up - a far cry from £499. At £500 it isn't even a challenge any more - two of the cars on my drive were £400 between them.

 

The extra suggestions from people who've participated in this thread have been really very helpful indeed - it's exactly what I was after. I've checked every link people have posted too. I don't Facebook, but my older child is attached to FB Marketplace for the cause. Hopefully once this gets going, you'll see what the point was, although I don't anticipate the first words appearing until well into the summer. I'll definitely keep a thread updated here with the progress though.

[Marm Toastsmith]

Bloody hell, if any of my family gave away a car I'd never forgive them.

 

I know. But it's in the context of him clearing out his mum's house to sell it - she has dementia and has been put in a home.

 

Realistically he needs to be ruthless about the process otherwise he'll probably lose his marbles too.

 

Besides, London property being what it is, this very modest house is on the market for roughly three quarters of a million pounds. A neglected Vectra sat on the drive isn't going to help it sell, and the £150 or so it's worth in scrap is neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, especially as most of the money is likely to get pissed away over the next few years paying for her care. 

 

Mad world innit?

 

Did I go OT? Sorry OP.

 

 

Hopefully once this gets going, you'll see what the point was

 

Hopefully.

[purplebargeken]

I think this will be a bit of a laugh. I've had a freebie Volvo 940 estate, a Mk3 cavalier and a VW... oh what was the booted Golf called?? I bought a white Uno from BCA in Enfield, it was so miserable they waived the fees, it cost me a tenner. It needed an exhaust bracket welding on for an MOT.

 

Granted it was a few years ago mind but hey, what the heck.

 

Watches with interest....

[Tamworthbay]

Bloody hell, if any of my family gave away a car I'd never forgive them.

 

Actually, the weirdest deal I ever did was when I swapped my cortina for a pregnant ewe. not for sexual purposes, I lived in the country and it equated to about £120 at the time, if only I knew then what I know now! it was a Mk4 which I put a 2.0 pinto in. (I bought the car as a 1.6 for £40 from a stranger in the pub who had just lost his licence, I drove it home, it was a lot more "five and drive" back then)

 

I very much doubt you would get an interesting road legal car from a stranger for less than £100 these days, as they are worth more in scrap, I can't find a decent snotter for less than £300 these days, even then I wouldn't call them "interesting"

 

I have both given and received a car for £0 on this here parish, sometimes the money is secondary to to the survival of a car you have attachment to. Although to be fair the car I received was far over the budget of this thread before it was road legal and probably in excess of what a road legal example could have been procured for in the first place but where’s the fun in that?

[bunglebus]

Not exactly exciting, but...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/57-Ford-Fiesta-Zetec-s-1-6-Petrol-RARE-1-OWNER-FROM-NEW-81k-drives-superb-3dr/401752506079?hash=item5d8a50bedf:g:nLoAAOSwey5ckQxR

[bunglebus]

Less than two days to go, no bids;

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Mazda-6-Diesel-Estate-long-mot-No-Reserve/283457431982?hash=item41ff6129ae:g:UxAAAOSwKVtcujuK

[bunglebus]

I wonder how many people search for "car" on eBay? I'd be watching all the 99p auctions myself.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/car/264289119497?hash=item3d88dbed09:g:7I8AAOSwNXpclTxL

[bunglebus]

Nowhere near you but I started having a nose locally. Is it possible to but a 2012 Ypsilon for a ton?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHRYSLER-LANCIA-YPSILON-2012/123741066543?hash=item1ccf8ad52f:g:ocAAAOSw7D9cukch

[Minimad5]

Current daily cost me £200 to buy.

£200 in new belts, tensioners etc (would have been cheaper if I didn't buy from the dealer)

Four new tyres and some other odds and ends

It looks horrendous, to anyone who doesn't understand my weird way of transport (along as it's Mechanically sound, o don't care what I looks like)

 

And returns on average 38-42mpg, depending how I drive.

 

So yeah, you can find some good stuff for sale, just have to be lucky OR dig hard and find it.

[Daviemck2006]

Wat I would like to k ow is where are all tbese scrap values of 150 or 200 coming from? The highest bid I have had for my xantia td is £80. It can sit in my garden instead of scrapping for 80 quid. Some day I may get round to fixing it, or buying a solid 205 and making it into a 1.9td

 

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

[Mrcento]

Wat I would like to k ow is where are all tbese scrap values of 150 or 200 coming from? The highest bid I have had for my xantia td is £80. It can sit in my garden instead of scrapping for 80 quid. Some day I may get round to fixing it, or buying a solid 205 and making it into a 1.9td

 

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

 

Scrapyards like to try it on. When i scrapped my Mondeo a few years back, i phones about 7 places, i can't remember all the offers, but they varied wildly, i remember 2 places offered under £50, at least 1 place offered £100 if i would drive it there, £70 if i wouldn't and one place offered £140 collected.

[lesapandre]

Corsa 4-dr 1998. Currently £31

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F254201100751

[lesapandre]

"Scrapped" 1999 Micra currently £77.

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F312574361904

[sierraman]

Wat I would like to k ow is where are all tbese scrap values of 150 or 200 coming from? The highest bid I have had for my xantia td is £80. It can sit in my garden instead of scrapping for 80 quid. Some day I may get round to fixing it, or buying a solid 205 and making it into a 1.9td

 

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

Depends where you live. If it’s a rural area or there’s no competition in the local area they can offer you a pittance as you’ve no choice. Similarly other factors come into it like how far away the breakers is from the main metals recycling plant as well.

[lesapandre]

Previa 1994...that doesn't like going out in the wet...currently £74.

 

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F254202944865

 

 

If any of the above go over £100 and 'sell' send the seller an Ebay message telling them if the buyer does not complete you will come and take away immediately for £100. My experience buyers at this sub 500 price are 50% unreliable at least so you might get lucky. A superpolite approach, immediate removal offer and cash can work wonders. Especially if people have been messed about.

 

People have lots if reasons to sell and if you are moving house, off on a long holiday, emigrating, have inherited a car or found a car at your new house etc.   people want to get shot and ££'s is the least of their worries.

[Timewaster]

Working, Legal, presentable.

 

Pick any two.

[New POD]

2004 was a good year for mk2 Cavaliers.

 

I was GIVEN a 76k mile 1.8 CDi Auto hatch by a bloke I'd never met. With 6 months MOT and 3 weeks tax

 

And I bought a 78k 1.8 SRI Manual saloon with 9 months MOT and 1 months tax for £40. Off a bloke I'd followed for about 4 miles and given my phone number to about 6 months earlier.