End of shite?

[egg]

I think it's the blurring of lines between shite and proper classicdom - they used to be separate worlds*, but with the emergence of FoTU and places like this, even old bilge is valued.

* OK still are if you live in Harry Metcalfe kind of circles.

[mk2_craig]

1 hour ago, davidfowler2000 said:

scrappage schemes

This. Plenty of usable stuff got binned ahead of life expectancy back in 2009-10, and although a lot of that wouldn’t be around now, the ripple effects mean that the bottom of the market was artificially shifted upwards a bit. 
 

And the long term effect on the UK car manufacturing industry? Not brilliant is it. The whole thing seemed like madness then, and it seems like madness now. 

[Bren]

Car mechanics have taken on a 2010 mondeo -£2k plus fees.

Chopped in because clutch failing. Needs a timing belt and other jobs.

Add all this up and it's a lot for a 13 year old car. And it could still crap itself like their insignia project.

[bunglebus]

52 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

And there are too many traders are looking too. I was lucky enough to get in first for a UK registered Lexus GS300 that the owner drove here, before finding out he had 30 days to register it or scrap it.

What do you do with such a car, as presumably you also have the same time limit?

[Schaefft]

10 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

What do you do with such a car, as presumably you also have the same time limit?

Sold it on here, which was then sold to me, now my daily driver.

The same car would have easily been over 4 grand in Germany if it was LHD btw. Gives you an idea how lucky people are in the UK still.

[eddyramrod]

33 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

This. Plenty of usable stuff got binned ahead of life expectancy back in 2009-10, and although a lot of that wouldn’t be around now, the ripple effects mean that the bottom of the market was artificially shifted upwards a bit. 
 

And the long term effect on the UK car manufacturing industry? Not brilliant is it. The whole thing seemed like madness then, and it seems like madness now. 

It didn't just seem like madness: it was, and is, both then and now.  It was nothing but a con, and legions of people fell for it.

[HMC]

Recent media coverage of low uk car production. I’m sniffing a scrappage plan, where Korean factories do well and uk production is barely affected.

[RoverFolkUs]

5 hours ago, grogee said:

I will attempt to prove @HMC wrong, not because I disagree, and not because I'm being obstinate, but purely for the purposes of prolonging the argument. 

But yeah, the cheap as chips car era is behind us I fear. I can remember a mk1 Fiesta I paid either £200 or £400 for with a ticket. A Favorit for £700ish with ticket and I got a good couple of years out of it.

(The cars below might be utter bilge, I just did a quick scan of Toilet Trader)

Have to say, apart from the TF and 3 series, none of those I would have the urge to desire unless the price was halved, and then halved again 😂

And in the case of the Smart and G-wiz, they would need a further reduction of around 80% 😂

[sierraman]

Every now and again something crops up at less than a grand but it’s few and far between and no good if your car has just shit itself and you need something pronto. I don’t even bother looking below £1500 these days, 99% of it is just scrap. 

I think it’s a number of factors over and above what’s mentioned already. Fewer can be arsed with selling cars privately now given the number of wasters offering ‘best price now’. Anything below a thousand quid I’d just bale tbh, at that price level generally I just don’t want to deal with them, too many problems like unreasonable expectations and dithering. 

[83C]

9 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Every now and again something crops up at less than a grand but it’s few and far between and no good if your car has just shit itself and you need something pronto. I don’t even bother looking below £1500 these days, 99% of it is just scrap. 

I think it’s a number of factors over and above what’s mentioned already. Fewer can be arsed with selling cars privately now given the number of wasters offering ‘best price now’. Anything below a thousand quid I’d just bale tbh, at that price level generally I just don’t want to deal with them, too many problems like unreasonable expectations and dithering. 

You're not far wrong when it comes to sellers not wanting the hassle - I can't be arsed with the 'best price' pricks either, but it is noticeable that cars that I've sold priced over £1500 seem to get just as many views/saves on face ache or ebay, but much less in the way of people trying it on. This may also be brand/model dependent, the F10 I sold a few months ago did attract its fair share of '2k cash now m9' types, but sold in the end for twice that to a nice Bulgarian chap who turned up when he said, brought cash with him and did the deal. Decent buyers are still out there, as are decent sellers of shiteable cars but it just seems much harder to find either. 

I think the rise of scrappies using things like Car Take Back and the like are also partly to blame - why have the hassle of selling a £300 car with six months test when CTB will send someone around, have the same amount (or maybe more)  money in your account pronto and not be trying to pick fault like they're doing a PDI on a brand new Audi? It's very easy to see why that appeals, even though that £300 car might just do someone a good turn who just wants a set of wheels because their previous bargain basement motor has just shit itself.

[Split_Pin]

I agree that trying to sell a car on Facebook and Gumtree is a strong reason why people just bin them to avoid the hassle.

Me, I'm never one to avoid a good old barney so I quite enjoy the challenge of selling a car. 

It's a bit of a bubble on here as you can usually be sure of honest descriptions and realistic expectations. There are a few messers but they get flushed out pretty quick.

[De Selby]

Mid 2000s, pre the 2008 crash, were the golden age for sure. Low scrap values and lots of cheap* credit so everyone was ditching their old cars. 

[grogee]

51 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Have to say, apart from the TF and 3 series, none of those I would have the urge to desire unless the price was halved, and then halved again 😂

And in the case of the Smart and G-wiz, they would need a further reduction of around 80% 😂

Yeah I just picked out a quick filter of 'slightly different to average' but I think all of us might pick one or two from that selection.

I like the ForFour, I like the way it dared to be different, but sadly it didn't do too well. Also that Coupe one that was on here still gives me nightmares. 

Always liked the Bravo too, pretty thing but again didn't seem to gain any traction here in UK.

@Split_Pin think I'm with you, there's a certain buzz comes from selling but you do have to be patient. One man's 'timewaster' is another's potential buyer.

Sold a low mileage A5 a couple of years ago as a 'quick buck'. Had a father and son come from Sarf Landan come and totally pick holes in it. Basically it was giffer owned, so low miles but a few scratches. Anyway this fella spent an hour telling me what was wrong with it, which I already knew of course. Then buggered off without making an offer.

Fine, that's an hour out of my time.  But it's five hours out of his day with the travelling. So who's the timewaster?

Next bloke bought it sight unseen, paid full price.

[Rust Collector]

I get the impression that the pool of interesting cars is slowly drying up as with so many examples being dirt cheap most of them were run until they were weighed in. What’s left is going up in value now as it becomes collectible. There’s only a finite number of the cars we enjoy, and it’s decreasing daily.

I’m buying far more projects than I can complete in a reasonable timescale, but the thought that this could be the last moment to hoover up the cheapest examples of the cars I enjoy means that I’m happy* to sit on a lifetime’s worth of projects. Nothing much built after the 00’s tickles me much so it’s not like I can see myself wanting to buy a 30 year old project in 2050.

[wuvvum]

They are still around, they are just fewer and farther between.  The TF I bought today was substantially less than a grand with 9 months' test.

[83C]

15 minutes ago, grogee said:

@Split_Pin think I'm with you, there's a certain buzz comes from selling but you do have to be patient. One man's 'timewaster' is another's potential buyer.

Sold a low mileage A5 a couple of years ago as a 'quick buck'. Had a father and son come from Sarf Landan come and totally pick holes in it. Basically it was giffer owned, so low miles but a few scratches. Anyway this fella spent an hour telling me what was wrong with it, which I already knew of course. Then buggered off without making an offer.

Fine, that's an hour out of my time.  But it's five hours out of his day with the travelling. So who's the timewaster?

Next bloke bought it sight unseen, paid full price.

I don't often have problems with the ones who at least make the effort to turn up, even if they don't buy. Yes, asking stupid questions and trying to pick holes is all part of the 'fun', but generally if they're going to turn up then there's at least half a chance of them being the buyer. However, when buyers don't turn up, string you along promising to 'be there in 15 minutes' when they're already 3 hours late and never do appear, or turn up mob-handed then it all becomes too much of a faff. Had a group of Middle Eastern chaps (all big, chunky types dressed all in black) come to look at an old E61 I sold - 5 of them rocked up in a nearly new Merc GL, proceeded to examine everything in minute detail without saying anything to me or asking questions, then wanted to do a test drive without me (yeah, nah), 4 out of the 5 came with on the test drive that I took them on and then they got back into their car and fucked off without so much as an offer or even thanks/no thanks or goodbye. My wife later said she was halfway to phoning the old bill if I hadn't come back within 15 minutes, she'd seen the whole thing from the house and was properly worried. I have to say I didn't feel particularly intimidated by them, they were just odd and unwilling to speak much with me, not asking anything about the car. But if somebody like my wife or an elderly couple has had a similar experience of people turning up en masse, is it any wonder they don't want to sell privately any more? Same with the person who has waited in for buyer after buyer who never appear. I've waited in for people in good faith, because I'd like to think that most people are decent and will keep to an agreed time or at least have the good manners to advise if they can't make it. I reckon probably 50% of the time the buyer doesn't turn up in my experience and I have lost money because of it, choosing to turn down short-notice overtime because someone has already asked to come and see the car at that time, and then doesn't turn up. 

It's not like every sale is like that, I've had some silly easy sales where the first person to get in contact has come, looked, bought and driven off leaving me with a wad of cash and an empty space on the drive, but it has to be said those experiences are much rarer than the arsehole experiences. It's not like I'm even selling for profit, or running a business, so I'm putting up with arseholes and it's costing me time to do so. 

 

[Split_Pin]

My rule is a maximum of two people on my property when viewing a car. There is no need for any more and they can either agree to that or go away.

[sierraman]

8 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

My rule is a maximum of two people on my property when viewing a car. There is no need for any more and they can either agree to that or go away.

This ^. I mean who amasses the a band of 6 to go and look at a car, at the most it’s a bloke/woman and the wife/dad/son etc. 

The other rule is never bend over backwards and discuss a time outside when you’d be in anyway. 

Funnily enough this can work in your advantage, the times I’ve gone to view a car and they’ve been that grateful that someone normal, polite and punctual has turned up, hasn’t done cunty things like ‘best price’ or asked ridiculous questions like ‘is the mileage genuine?’ And, get this, had the money in hand to proceed and an assurance they’ll never hear from me again once the cars gone. You’d be amazed how far this gets you. 

[DirtyDaily]

I've been hearing they expect a pretty big crash in car prices this year for the newer stuff. Perhaps that will translate in to lower values for the shite also? I hope so.
I do agree there is very little out there for just cheap money. Anything that isn't completely shagged commands decent money.

[Mally]

16 hours ago, gadgetgricey said:

There are still bargains out there but a lot harder too find.
Missed a £500 one owner R75 Diesel Estate on the R75 forum by about 10 mins a few months ago.

Just looked on the R75 forum to find one above, and there is a 2.0v6 with 12 months ticket for £800. So not mega cheap, but half decent.
https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=322730

 

I've just bought a Diesel 75 Tourer off there £900. Bought it unseen, didn't even try to knock him down. Seems OK, time will tell.

You do get the odd free one there, someone on here had one a while back.

When I decide to part with my Streetka for less than it cost me on here, no one will want it.

[Split_Pin]

It's actually been years since I went to 'view' a car. I think it was 2021 when I got the Civic with the non opening boot. Even that one was in isolation, all the rest since 2019 have either been bought blind and delivered to me or have been from here, in which case the description in the for sale advert was more than enough. 

[sierraman]

51 minutes ago, DirtyDaily said:

I've been hearing they expect a pretty big crash in car prices this year for the newer stuff. Perhaps that will translate in to lower values for the shite also? I hope so.
I do agree there is very little out there for just cheap money. Anything that isn't completely shagged commands decent money.

Could work in the opposite direction, values for older stuff going up as fewer can afford a new car, old bangers tend to be a distress purchase so prices may continue to be steady. 

[Dobloseven]

New car sales have been at 70s levels for the past 3 years. But dealers can sell cars at the full price, no need to pre reg stuff to boost the figures either. Plus prices have risen considerably anyway. In this months Caravan Club mag, there's a test of a 1litre Focus Estate. £38.5k anyone? This sort of thing will increase or keep steady at least, prices of nearly new stuff, along with not so new, down to the near end of life stuff that us lot have a penchant for. 

[Six-cylinder]

I have to agree the golden age of buying cheap cars has passed.

I used to go to a pub drink cheap larger, have a curry and finish the evening off with a browse of cars for sale on ebay and alike, often resulting in a buy. The target price was around £300 for a good running car, they are just not there any more and Mrs6C is relieved!

[Jerzy Woking]

15 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Sold it on here, which was then sold to me, now my daily driver.

The same car would have easily been over 4 grand in Germany if it was LHD btw. Gives you an idea how lucky people are in the UK still.

I still keep looking for cars like this, as it can make sense for someone from the UK to fly down and drive it back, especially as the Lexus drove so well. It wasn't perfect, but it  was priced not much over scrap value.

I sold it on for precisely the sum I paid for it here. The V5 transfer was done on line at time of purchase with the new owners name and address on, so that it could be taxed, and thus legal to drive back.

[sierraman]

Cars will probably be on the road longer as it’s a difficult decision to scrap a 15 year old car over a dead clutch, it could be £2,000 car realistically now so spaffing £500 on it might be worthwhile. 

[barefoot]

19 hours ago, Talbot said:

It's the lack of supply of new vehicles that has done it.  

It will take about 10-15 years of supply of new vehicles for the shite end of the market to get back to being able to buy a car for howevermuch cash you can get out of the hole-in-the-wall or one month's payment on a new car.  But I do think it will happen.

But in 10-15 years, a chap won't be able to buy a new ICE motor car anymore, which will likely change things dramatically - one way or another.

---

I was about to start a very similar thread myself. I've bought four cars from here; Scirocco - £400, XJ-8 - £300, Vel Satis - £295 (£5 raffle) and a Y10 for £120. Those days are sadly long gone. I recently remembered the Buick Park Avenue that sold on here for about £700 before being raffled & thought that I'd look for something similar. Not a hope in hell.

[maxxo]

They’re out there still

just not easy to find

i bought this 37,000 and full proper service history back in august, even a brand new timing belt! It’s been completely trouble free too

i paid £750 for it, seemed suspiciously cheap

but I agree a few years ago this would have been £400

 

[maxxo]

Talking of newish car prices 

my dad has an 18 plate civic (prestige spec 1.5 so fully loaded) and a very nice thing it is too

he paid £18,000 for it in early 2020

According to we buy any car it’s worth £20,000 or so, that’s after doing 40k in it!

it’s staggering 

[colino]

As Eddie Hawthorne of Arnold Clark is currently smacking his chops as last year being their most profitable ever (high demand/low supply) those 3 year finance deals mean the bar has been set and the market has moved on as people expect to pay these crazy prices for new cars.  Even if some can't afford the finance due to the state of the economy, there will be plenty other eager buyers waiting to scoop them up.  Bangers are gone and I'm going to scrap anything under £1000 just for my good health and sanity.