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Come on down, the price of shite?


HMC

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The strong interest in cars that were once just viewed as Bangers has lead to many cars become appreciating assets and no longer cheap. Our for sale section tells a tale. 
 

Have we reached the end of old interesting but unloved cheap cars? Does the idea of buying and running a half dead 54 plate car fill you with the same sense of  interest as, say a 91 H plater of your choice when the forum first started?

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12 minutes ago, HMC said:

....Have we reached the end of old interesting but unloved cheap cars? Does the idea of buying and running a half dead 54 plate car fill you with the same sense of  interest as, say a 91 H plater of your choice when the forum first started?

Romance is dead.

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times they are a changin'

and a £500 snotter today is a very different heap compared to that of 20 years ago.

while todays turdburg will not have the galloping rot that you would see on a Ford Escort or Sierra,  or an Austin Metro or Maestro, the modern car will be chocked full of electronical gubbin's that frankly works by the blackest, of black magic.

don't believe me? just see the electric fun and games that BINI is having on this very forum!

and i have little or no idea frankly how you cure those sorts of things, not without spending a fortune!  especially as now these things are all coded onto the car, in the olden dayz if some module thing packed up, you took it off and matched it too one on a scrapper, plug it in, and with luck it would work! no chance of that now.

speaking personally, there are no vehicles from the last 20 odd years frankly that i would like to own. i don't care for them. i do not find them appealing.

there are the odd newish model that i do like the look of, say the Fiat 500 and the MX5, but otherwise stuff like the Corsa or Vectra well it might as well just be "white goods" for all the actual appeal that they have as a car! and as for shit from VAG or any other mediocre "premium" brand, well i would rather bloody walk.

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I think the interest in cars is mostly formed when we are young. My main interest is cars made up to 1982. Things you need a computer to repair really turn me off, I am sure for younger people or people more interested in computers this may not be the case. I also think that rental / PCP being normalised plays a factor. If you think £300 per month is acceptable for a banal car you will never own, then £3,500 for something interesting with character seems a bargain. I am still adjusting to the fact I can no longer buy a useable Cortina for £200 and missed out on a very scruffy estate for over £3k because I thought it was too expensive.  Wages have risen quite a lot in recent years also with minimum wage being introduced. I am glad I kept many of my cars but when you see the price of new cars now £3k for a banger makes sense, I don’t think you can get a reasonable new car for less than £30 k. I have never bought a new car and am very unlikely to.

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1 hour ago, HMC said:

The strong interest in cars that were once just viewed as Bangers has lead to many cars become appreciating assets and no longer cheap. Our for sale section tells a tale. 
 

Have we reached the end of old interesting but unloved cheap cars? Does the idea of buying and running a half dead 54 plate car fill you with the same sense of  interest as, say a 91 H plater of your choice when the forum first started?

Yes and no. 

I'm coming to the conclusion that I much prefer 1996-2010 era cars than 80s and to mid 90s cars. Easier to fix as decent diagnostic tools are available and many parts can be swapped without coding. Basically stuff with OBD2. Even those that need coding can usually be done. Post 2010+ cars become a lot harder to swap parts as things got locked down. That could also be that the tools are still being made for the latest era. My interest in this age cars might also be because I passed my test in early 2000s. 

60s/70s cars also interest me as they're a complete different world of cars that I haven't experienced when they were current. Especially British stuff of those eras, mostly because of the historic interest. But then I was born in the mid 80s and I do find that many people find the decade that they were born as the time they're most interested in. Unfortunately most of that stuff in that era has got much rarer and more popular last decade, so prices have risen tremendously.

Just means the entry price is a lot higher so you need to cough up way more dough to get a chance of experience them. At least the exit price is comparatively decent though. 

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7 hours ago, Matty said:

I've got a golf 20vt. Mechanically spot on but will need the backs of the sills plating for the next test (it's got 11months on current). No body on here likes em. £400 drives it away. There you go @HMC. Restores your faith in humanity 🤣

Has it got cruise control? 

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6 hours ago, SiC said:

Yes and no. 

I'm coming to the conclusion that I much prefer 1996-2010 era cars than 80s and to mid 90s cars. Easier to fix as decent diagnostic tools are available and many parts can be swapped without coding. Basically stuff with OBD2. Even those that need coding can usually be done. Post 2010+ cars become a lot harder to swap parts as things got locked down.

I agree with this, cars are easier to fix than they have ever been in this era, diagnostic tools are cheap and parts are readily available, nothing really needs coding and modules can be swapped easily, plenty of interesting cars for under a grand which shouldn't be out of reach of anybody, and its better than walking that's for sure.

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8 hours ago, Matty said:

I've got a golf 20vt. Mechanically spot on but will need the backs of the sills plating for the next test (it's got 11months on current). No body on here likes em. £400 drives it away. There you go @HMC. Restores your faith in humanity 🤣

I'll PM you about this later on this morning.

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I jumped seats from 30yr ToMM© to 20yr SuziQ.

Halved my road tax.

Moved from carbbie to TBi (thus far, I only see EML when I start up for a moment).

5sp to H.Mills

Toyotas are thin on the ground [never saw another] but Swifts are stuff of legend.... 

Different is not always better, but IS different  ;)

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There's certainly some bargains still out there. But I think we've moved firmly into the early 2000s for cheap but interesting. The very tail end of the reliable 90s-early 2000s car phase, where stuff wasn't too complex but very useable. 

Clean first gen TTs will be appreciating soon I think. They're still sub 2k for a very good one and lots for ~1k or so.  They're a design classic alongside the first A2. 

MX-5s can still be had cheap also. The last of the E39s can be had cheap enough too but I think you need brave pills for those.  

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This is one reason I'm very interested to see how my 2003 Citroen C5 pans out. It has way too much electrickery for my liking, but fundamentally, it's a great cheap car. We will see if it continues to be so...

In some ways, the Primera was a great example of 'peak car.' Electronic fuel injection, an airbag but also a 2-litre petrol engine that could deliver over 40mpg and not so many computers that I wanted to run away. EVERYTHING on the C5 seems to involve a computer. Even the indicator noise.

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My passion for cars is 50s-70s and some 80s stuff like Sierras. From a practical point of view, late 90s-early 00s seems like a sweet spot of still being DIY fixable and not overly complex, but these are quite old cars in most people's eyes so good ones are becoming harder to find. I genuinely think the only thing I'd change my Passat for is another B5 TDi but an estate that's not knackered. Other than that it's all too dull or scares me thinking about fixing it - I would have a good MX5 though

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1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Surely the jump from a brand new* Savvy to an elderly carb'd Toyota would have been a bigger change?

Yes.... From 'frenetic thrashing/elbow fencing' to 'languid swooshing/waving over to OH' ..... quite a change!

Back to elbow fencing, now of course, but the *sheer bliss of H.Mills is really soothing my brow.....

*stonking @trafficlight GP!

;)

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I'm sure the same sort of things were being said about EFI, ABS, PAS etc in the 1980s - home mechanic can't diagnose and fix.  True to an extent, but people adapt and prices eventually fall. It's just the natural evolution of things. 

12 hours ago, MarvinsMom said:

that BINI

While it really, REALLY annoyed me that the car's way of telling me "it's time to replace my battery" was by having a major sulk when I dared to disconnect the negative lead, and leave me without indicators (arguably a safety issue for which BMW should really be issuing a recall) as well as various other major functions, at least a support industry has sprung up in response.  Therefore I was DELIGHTED that someone with the kit and know-how was prepared to hook the stricken component up to a computer with the requisite software, perform the necessary procedure and send it back to me for under thirty pounds.  I know it likely only took five minutes, so it'll probably cost fifteen quid next year, as more cars encounter the same issue and more people enter the market offering the repair service.

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57 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

I'm sure the same sort of things were being said about EFI, ABS, PAS etc in the 1980s - home mechanic can't diagnose and fix.  True to an extent, but people adapt and prices eventually fall. It's just the natural evolution of things. 

While it really, REALLY annoyed me that the car's way of telling me "it's time to replace my battery" was by having a major sulk when I dared to disconnect the negative lead, and leave me without indicators (arguably a safety issue for which BMW should really be issuing a recall) as well as various other major functions, at least a support industry has sprung up in response.  Therefore I was DELIGHTED that someone with the kit and know-how was prepared to hook the stricken component up to a computer with the requisite software, perform the necessary procedure and send it back to me for under thirty pounds.  I know it likely only took five minutes, so it'll probably cost fifteen quid next year, as more cars encounter the same issue and more people enter the market offering the repair service.

Early BSI equipped Citroens and Peugeots are famous for throwing a strop if you don't disconnect the battery in the right way.  I made that mistake with my first C5 and it forgot the keys belonged to the car. Popped out the battery (I accidentally left the ignition on) to change the headlamp and it wouldn't start as the keys needed to be recoded.

€190 later for a tow and a stern talking to with Lexia it was working again. 

 

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It's all good from where I stand.

My 1997 £750 MGF is just as lovable (if not more than) the similarly priced identically coloured 1987 Golf cabriolet I had and sold 10 years ago.

What's changed? I might not be able to afford the Golf any more but 10 years ago I wouldn't have been able to afford the MG... win some lose some. And if I hadn't have sold the Golf then think of all the other flings I've had in between that I would have missed.

Yeah, there is a ridiculous amount of interest in certain 80s-90s "classics", but it's daft really, for the prices they sell for the "collectors" can keep them.

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Im a 60s or 70s car lover , easy to fix and generally reliable , no unfixable computer problems , however the downside is galloping rot .

I currently have two Imps - a 65 Singer Chamois and a 66 Imp van . For ten years or so my daily was an 86  E30 318i , reliable but that galloping rot ate it alive and by the time i sold it it needed every panel replacing and a full respray.

So i bought a rot free Merc - an 06 C180K with no history whatsoever, so now theres no grot to worry about ,
It seems these have hit bottom dollar so i thought lets see what posh people use .
So now all ive got to worry about is a plethora of electronics , iffy timing chains ( apparently ) and BIG bills if it shits anything .
Dont get me wrong its a superb drive and mega comfortable but TBH its cleverness  scares the shit out of me . Telling me a bulbs blown is fine , telling me exactly which one ( even if its about to blow but hasnt ) is way over my head .

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Spent half an hour on ebay last night compiling a watch list (sad l know) of 80s to 90s performance stuff that I was buying and running for peanuts when I passed my test. Can't afford any of them now. And even if I could, I'd love a clio 16v but really can't see 8 grand in one. Maybe you've got a point @HMC

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Early OBD1 / early to mid 90's tech cars are excellent to own. They scare the unbrave. You get all the fun of the lights and warning messages and nothing to read it's brains with unless you have 2large to spend on a 20 year old computeriser machine specifically made for it.... If you can find one. Parts darts is much cheaper* because you practically rebuild the entire car at an extortionate amount, making it resale for as much as you originally bought it for. You literally cannot* fail, loose or feel like your world has ended when it breaks.

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I don't know, as I remarked in the smoll cars thread the market is all over the shop at the moment. An enormous and massively useful £700 Mercedes 7-seat estate gets virtually no interest (even in the wider world), but I watched a rep-spec BMW 320d (2000-ish E46 saloon) with rusty arches, a few weeks test and stratospheric mileage go for nearly a grand on eBay. 

Anything pre-1995 is getting into classic territory now, and don't even think about cheap Land Rovers - 7 years ago I bought a Series 3 with a year's test for £750, a year before that a 90 (which I still have somewhere) for £1500.  Try £4k as a bare minimum now for a Series, and at least £7k for a roadworthy 90/110. Even snotter Discoverys are £2k, rather than £500. 

People have money to burn, for now. It could just keep pushing things ever higher, it could also all come crashing down. I've no idea which way it'll go.  

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It never seems to come crashing down though. It's like houses, once the price is up it seems to stay up. Case in point

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-02-Vauxhall-Vectra-GSI-3-2-V6-24v-Show-Car-Best-Available-/294021883957?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Would I have it? Fucking hell aye, all day and night. Can I see ten grand in it? Not in a month of sundays

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I'd struggle to hand over a quarter of that, I appreciate some VX fetishists will pay more but £10k is insane.

For what its worth I don't think there'll be much of a crash, maybe the market will tread water for a while but these prices are here to stay. We'll have a better idea early next year when things have settled down a bit.

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