End of shite?

[Erebus]

1 minute ago, Soundwave said:

Actually this is one of the few places online I'd consider advertising it. Ebay, facebook and scumtree are just filled to the brim with muppets and scammers (the aforementioned mouth breathers) and the owners clubs can be a mixed bag.

Good to hear!  What is it out interest?

[Shedking]

In April 2019 I paid £475 for a Peugeot 206 with 46,000 on the clock. Had nearly 4 years out of it before it snapped it's timing belt on Christmas eve. 

Looking on Autotrader there was nothing under 2 grand that I wanted to own and made for very depressing reading. I was about to give up and spend a wad of money on something nicer when a client rang me.  He heard about the Peugeot, he had just bought a 2020 C Class and didn't have space on his drive for all his cars. He desperately wanted rid of his old E Class to free up room.

Firstly I didn't want a Mercedes and secondly I didn't want a diesel with lunar mileage on it but I needed a car before returning to work after the New Year.  After driving it (he'd serviced it religiously for 10 years) and having fitted a brand new turbo and diesel pump in the last 12 months, had it remapped also it went like stink, was as smooth as silk and so comfortable.  So for well under a grand I was back on the road and looking down the bonnet at a 3 pointed star.

I must say that I love driving the thing, if it does implode it was cheap enough for me not to be too out of pocket because trying to find anything resembling reasonable for under the 2 grand mark was a soul destroying experience. 

[5speedracer]

Watching Car Wizard on YT the other night looking at a Dodge something estate car, basically a Chrysler 300C estate. About 15 years old with something like 260k miles on it. He had it on to show how shonkily it had been repaired after a crash but went on to say if it was in good condition it would be worth $10-15,000!!

Cars apparently hold value in the US of A.

[sierraman]

13 minutes ago, 5speedracer said:

Watching Car Wizard on YT the other night looking at a Dodge something estate car, basically a Chrysler 300C estate. About 15 years old with something like 260k miles on it. He had it on to show how shonkily it had been repaired after a crash but went on to say if it was in good condition it would be worth $10-15,000!!

Cars apparently hold value in the US of A.

New ones are cheap (relatively). 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Not all cars. I watched a scottie kilmer stint where he was flapping his arms about over a $1k V6 rwd Cadillac with borked cats and an appetite for oil. Worthless in emission controlled states, and the supercharged v8 was described as worse. FWD's are a gearbox eating pig or something to that effect. 

They sound perfect. If they didn't sink in water, I'd have them floated over here immediately.

[Schaefft]

Theres plenty of fwd Northstar powered STS and RWD 3.6l V6 CTS for sale for very cheap in the UK. A ~55k mile example just sold for 1200 quid on ebay the other day. The problem is that people want a cheap car AND not pay much for running it.

[Barry Cade]

On 1/31/2023 at 4:25 PM, wuvvum said:

It was always Wednesday morning for me - that's when the Diamond Freeads came out.  I'd invariably be at the local 24-hour BP garage by 6am to pick up my copy and get circling.

Yep, me too, with plenty 10p's for the phone. You outbid me quite often in the early days of Ebay... I'll never forget your Ebay handle 😄 

We must have similar tastes... or budgets...

[Bren]

Where do I sign?

[Schaefft]

£999. Put up a search alert and you'll get one for a few quid more in significantly better condition by summer.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1127615897921841/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A3317a57a-cc5b-4a0c-a9c3-6e08b2b71e01

 

[mk2_craig]

I love these but there can’t have been many sold, is the survival rate good?

[greengartside]

13 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

I love these but there can’t have been many sold, is the survival rate good?

Matey had one last year, he said parts were hard to get. Headlamps were virtually unobtainable and he considered buying a whole parts car just for them. 

[Dobloseven]

2 hours ago, greengartside said:

Matey had one last year, he said parts were hard to get. Headlamps were virtually unobtainable and he considered buying a whole parts car just for them. 

Saw one yesterday. Wondered what it was, now I know. In Leicester, being driven. 

[mat777]

My childhood piano teachers husband had 3 of those STSs on the trot, swore by them.

As long as you keep an eye on the particular foibles of the Northstar they're meant to be pretty reliable I believe.

Plus, of course - what's not to love about the weirdness of a FWD transverse V8?  

[Schaefft]

Not to derail the thread but Northstars are known to blow headgaskets due to cylinder head studs ripping out of the block. Seems like many blame the GM coolant for it (no clue how that would cause it). If you are happy to play the omghgf roulette these are otherwise great cars though. And no, with maybe a hundred sold in the UK you definitely won't find a rhd headlight (or anything else rhd-specific) easily. Everything else (aside from adjustable dampers) is absolutely no problem though.

[Barry Cade]

2 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Not to derail the thread but Northstars are known to blow headgaskets due to cylinder head studs ripping out of the block. Seems like many blame the GM coolant for it (no clue how that would cause it). If you are happy to play the omghgf roulette these are otherwise great cars though. And no, with maybe a hundred sold in the UK you definitely won't find a rhd headlight (or anything else rhd-specific) easily. Everything else (aside from adjustable dampers) is absolutely no problem though.

The car wizard on you tube has just rebuilt a Northstar, seemingly there is a fix for everything now, but quite a big job.

[Schaefft]

7 hours ago, Barry Cade said:

The car wizard on you tube has just rebuilt a Northstar, seemingly there is a fix for everything now, but quite a big job.

Yeah, the kit has been around for ages. It's definitely not cheap and the engine needs to come out in most cases but it's my only hope for my Auroras to survive in the long run.😂

[egg]

On 31/01/2023 at 18:36, HMC said:

Getting my crystal ball out, mystic HMC here.

As pure electric vehicles progressively supersede ICE transport, what of the remaining ICE vehicles- will they get relatively less, or more expensive. This site began in 2006- 17 years from now what will their status be £££ wise in the old used car (or not classic, not nearly new- ie shite) world be?

apologies for thread drift but it’s sort of a longer term progression of the used market.

I'm sure someone will bet the right way on this question, but I have no idea. I like to think I keep vaguely up to date on social/political/economic trends, but I can't imagine what personal transport looks like in 17 years time in the UK. I'm not sure there is a plan really, beyond phase out the ICE and all will be good.

We could all be shared driving Citroen Amis hired by the hour on every street corner, or we could be back to Edwardian England where personal mobility is an elite activity. Self driving may or may not ever work.

I think running an ICE car in the 2030's will feel having an Austin 7 after the war!

[HMC]

Guys I’m really trying here. I’m doing by usual of browsing for cheap stuff you all love that I’ll own for 10 minutes that’s got a certain something and there’s fuck all. So disappointed by economic forces and scrap values. 

[De Selby]

1 hour ago, egg said:

I'm sure someone will bet the right way on this question, but I have no idea. I like to think I keep vaguely up to date on social/political/economic trends, but I can't imagine what personal transport looks like in 17 years time in the UK. I'm not sure there is a plan really, beyond phase out the ICE and all will be good.

 

I seriously doubt there's ever any "plan" beyond whatever keeps a) the donors and b) the small percentage of the population who regularly vote happy.

At present the comfortably-off pensioners who can be relied on to vote in every election seem to be quite happy with their PHEVs etc so no doubt we'll go down this route for a few years. People who run shite out of necessity tend not to vote, and people who run shite for pleasure barely come onto policymakers' radar.

[meggersdog]

Well I missed it because I was out but Mathewsons lot 244, a Rover 600, just sold for £800. A 1999 with 40k on the clock and MoT until October. Not the best example with the drivers window not working and a grubby interior but proves shite is still about.

[grogee]

2 hours ago, egg said:

I'm sure someone will bet the right way on this question, but I have no idea. I like to think I keep vaguely up to date on social/political/economic trends, but I can't imagine what personal transport looks like in 17 years time in the UK. I'm not sure there is a plan really, beyond phase out the ICE and all will be good.

We could all be shared driving Citroen Amis hired by the hour on every street corner, or we could be back to Edwardian England where personal mobility is an elite activity. Self driving may or may not ever work.

I think running an ICE car in the 2030's will feel having an Austin 7 after the war!

Things weren't so different in 2006 though, were they? We had a London congestion charge - the beginnings of ULEZ encroaching on unfettered ICE ownership.

We were still running the same old tat, well I was. 1996 Nissan 200SX which I think was £1500 from a mate.

My point being, base the weather forecast on today's weather. So today there's a clear trend towards electrification - it'll just carry on. More charge points, more models, and more money for electricity or road charging, something to make up for lost VED. 

More understanding about where (or what) electricity comes from.

And for us, a cornucopia of shite old electric vey-hicles. And a burgeoning aftermarket serving the needs of dead batteries.

Mine's an MG5.

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, meggersdog said:

Well I missed it because I was out but Mathewsons lot 244, a Rover 600, just sold for £800. A 1999 with 40k on the clock and MoT until October. Not the best example with the drivers window not working and a grubby interior but proves shite is still about.

But still, pre-Covid that would have been a £350 motor.

[egg]

11 minutes ago, grogee said:

We were still running the same old tat, well I was. 1996 Nissan 200SX which I think was £1500 from a mate.

That's true, think I sold my Sierra Ghia in 2006, some lads from NI came all the way to Kent for it! And now I have a Mondeo, so yeah, not much changes

[Shedking]

The thing about running shite is that it's an incredibly hard mentality to shift even if you want to, well it is for me anyway.  As a younger man and father for 38 years now I never had much money so running a shitter was all I could afford.  Now nearing retirement and all the kids having left home long ago, although they keep coming back (selfish b@stards) and being reasonably financially secure I've come to a point where I can afford much better but I can't bring myself to do it.

Indeed well to do friends and work colleagues have questioned my sanity in my chosen motoring path with such winning quotes as "come on mate, you can do better than this" with the Peugeot,  or at work "for just £450 a month you could be driving one of these, you wouldn't miss the money " referring to some soulless box that they PCP but it's a way of life now because I've been doing it for so long.

So it's all the more depressing to scour for sub 2 grand cars and not be able to find anything that you would want to own. I suppose that I dropped on lucky with the E Class, time will tell, it's all good so far and I've found that it's not as frightening as I first thought second hand parts wise or for self servicing so I think that I'll carry on with cheap sheds for as long as I can. 

 

 

[RoadworkUK]

I wish there could be some kind of big "tip shop" type operation somewhere on the M25 where all the perfectly good cars being rendered unviable by the London ULEZ could be sent for purchase by folk who live where they won't be financially dry bummed every day for driving them.

[Schaefft]

10 minutes ago, RoadworkUK said:

I wish there could be some kind of big "tip shop" type operation somewhere on the M25 where all the perfectly good cars being rendered unviable by the London ULEZ could be sent for purchase by folk who live where they won't be financially dry bummed every day for driving them.

Facebook marketplace is the solution for those that can be bothered to list something there. There are groups that already leave notes on cars as well. Problem is that most people willing to sell think they own a "classic" car worth it's weight in gold until they'll be forced to sell it this summer.

[wesacosa]

31 minutes ago, RoadworkUK said:

I wish there could be some kind of big "tip shop" type operation somewhere on the M25 where all the perfectly good cars being rendered unviable by the London ULEZ could be sent for purchase by folk who live where they won't be financially dry bummed every day for driving them.

until every other greedy council see what dictator Khan is being allowed to get away with and fancies a bit of that

[BorniteIdentity]

I came to the sad conclusion today that there’s nothing 21st century that I’d really want to buy. The odd thing tickles my fancy, but it’s stuff like Toyota Crowns and big 7 series stuff. Otherwise, it’s all 30/40 years old for me to become aroused. 

I’m in a fortunate position in that I’m paid to have a new car, so a few weeks off the road sourcing bits for an old shonker isn’t a drama. So I think I’ll just stick with the pair of red basers I have. 

(A decent Carina/Camry could change that in an instant tho!)

[BorniteIdentity]

There’s an Acclaim on AT for £750. Could be a potential goer… 

[Schaefft]

10 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I came to the sad conclusion today that there’s nothing 21st century that I’d really want to buy. The odd thing tickles my fancy, but it’s stuff like Toyota Crowns and big 7 series stuff. Otherwise, it’s all 30/40 years old for me to become aroused. 

I’m in a fortunate position in that I’m paid to have a new car, so a few weeks off the road sourcing bits for an old shonker isn’t a drama. So I think I’ll just stick with the pair of red basers I have. 

(A decent Carina/Camry could change that in an instant tho!)

Step this way sir. US market Camry having lived most of its life abroad:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/969527694206350/