Bangernomics 'The Numbers'

[Isaac Hunt]

Our MGZR came to us in 2013 for £650. 60k Miles, 6 Former keepers.  

It had some good MOT and was pushed straight into service.  First MOT required a couple of Tyres and. Track Rod End.  Then the clutch release bearing failed, so we threw a new three part clutch at it.  

A cambelt and waterpump was also undertaken.

A headgasket at 82k and other than a few sets of  brake pads and a set of four tyres, it needed nothing more than a couple of CV Gaiters and a set of spark plugs, a clutch cable, that is all it has needed.

it was laid up for a year during the pandemic and pressed back into service  12 months ago.

Reluctantly,  I've just scrapped it today.  It needed a section of still splashing with a welder.  It also needed a nsf strut assembly after a uhnfortunate altercation with a kerb.  Add onto that a set of four tyres as they were all on the limit.  

MOT is up the end of next week and the local Scrapyard offered £400. 

I hated driving it over to the scrapyard, but it's really surplus to requirements.  The lacquer and paint was hanging off one side where it had been painted at some time, so it looked a real mess down the one side.  

Heart still said fix it up and keep it going, but head said at £250 depreciation plus running costs, we've had our value out of it. It was just about to turn 140k

 

[Kiltox]

11 minutes ago, Isaac Hunt said:

Tyres and. Track Rod End.  new three part clutch 

A cambelt and waterpump was also undertaken.

A headgasket a few sets of  brake pads and a set of four tyres, it needed nothing more than a couple of CV Gaiters and a set of spark plugs, a clutch cable,

 

That’s running a car, it’s not bangernomics in the slightest?

[Isaac Hunt]

My bad then,  I always understood Bangernomics was the economics of running and older car.  10 years in considered 'end of life' and judging by the number  of 10 year old cars in my local yard and thus anything over 10 years is banger territory.  

What is the pedantic definition these days then?

[Matty]

Just now, Kiltox said:

That’s running a car, it’s not bangernomics in the slightest?

I reckon he has a point though. Cutting your losses with an old car when it's times up. Something I've never learnt mind 😄

[Kiltox]

29 minutes ago, Isaac Hunt said:

 

What is the pedantic definition these days then?

It’s not a new concept in the slightest and it revolves around running a car on an absolute shoestring, binning it for another at the moment it needs anything involved (like a cambelt or a head gasket!). Legal and running, just. 

The @sierramanschool of motoring if you will. 

Granted you haven’t strayed from it as far as the person that told me their 2014 BMW was bangernomics

[Timewaster]

£250 for 9 years motoring is a great result. 

 

I do wonder what you will replace it with and how you could replicate such low costs again.

 

If you had gone for the defined bangernomics of buy cheap, drive it till it breaks, scrap and repeat then I doubt you would be better off. How many cars would you have got through?

Not much car around for £500 these days and you only need 1 bad buy to wipe out the savings made.

[sierraman]

53 minutes ago, Kiltox said:

It’s not a new concept in the slightest and it revolves around running a car on an absolute shoestring, binning it for another at the moment it needs anything involved (like a cambelt or a head gasket!). Legal and running, just. 

The @sierramanschool of motoring if you will. 

Granted you haven’t strayed from it as far as the person that told me their 2014 BMW was bangernomics

Mine are all mechanically spot on and serviced on the dot. The best value I ever had was an ‘04 Mondeo TDCI, paid £400, thrashed the bollocks off it for 9 months then fucked it off for £450 when it was a week or two from shitting itself. 

In fairness I look after them better these days, when you could pick them up for a few hundred myself and most of the people I knew would pay no more than £7-800 and drive it until it fell to bits. There’s a bit of an art to it, ideally get it off someone who has treat it like a family heirloom, spend as little as possible then gauge when it’s about to give you a load of agg and strip it and frag the rest. It’s probably people like me in previous generations why there’s so few Cortinas etc left. 

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, Isaac Hunt said:

Our MGZR came to us in 2013 for £650. 60k Miles, 6 Former keepers.  

It had some good MOT and was pushed straight into service.  First MOT required a couple of Tyres and. Track Rod End.  Then the clutch release bearing failed, so we threw a new three part clutch at it.  

A cambelt and waterpump was also undertaken.

A headgasket at 82k and other than a few sets of  brake pads and a set of four tyres, it needed nothing more than a couple of CV Gaiters and a set of spark plugs, a clutch cable, that is all it has needed.

it was laid up for a year during the pandemic and pressed back into service  12 months ago.

Reluctantly,  I've just scrapped it today.  It needed a section of still splashing with a welder.  It also needed a nsf strut assembly after a uhnfortunate altercation with a kerb.  Add onto that a set of four tyres as they were all on the limit.  

MOT is up the end of next week and the local Scrapyard offered £400. 

I hated driving it over to the scrapyard, but it's really surplus to requirements.  The lacquer and paint was hanging off one side where it had been painted at some time, so it looked a real mess down the one side.  

Heart still said fix it up and keep it going, but head said at £250 depreciation plus running costs, we've had our value out of it. It was just about to turn 140k

 

You are doing it all wrong when you start involving your emotions! Treat it like a farmer would a dog, it gets a bowl of dog meat every night but once it starts playing up it gets a bullet in the back of the head.