What car for free* motoring?

[leakingstrut]

3 hours ago, grizz said:

Galaxy 

I’ve been very intrigued by how suspiciously cheap these are for something that would make a very useful van / people carrier / small camper. Always assumed they had some crippling issue.

[grizz]

1 hour ago, leakingstrut said:

I’ve been very intrigued by how suspiciously cheap these are for something that would make a very useful van / people carrier / small camper. Always assumed they had some crippling issue.

Abuse, high miles, sometimes just abandoned into the sea of used cars.

Mine was decent miles, ex-Disabled, but then fisherman and horsewoman used.

It was a grubby and dirty asa dirty thing, needed a good clean out.

 

Main reason for getting it was capacity.

It was preceded by a tow bar-less \Berlingo that struggled with the sheer volume of stuff I threw at it.
Most underrated cars, Berlingo.

 

 

[320touring]

1 hour ago, leakingstrut said:

I’ve been very intrigued by how suspiciously cheap these are for something that would make a very useful van / people carrier / small camper. Always assumed they had some crippling issue.

The MK1 Shalhambraxy also like a guid dose of the rampant rot. Inspect VERY carefully before you buy.

 

Great cars, great engines (diesel) and Uber practical. But they love to rot

[Snake Charmer]

Free motoring to me is a result of circumstances, facilites or luck with buying and selling. The rest is cheap motoring. 

I have one friend who bought her ex-company car (Mondeo diesel) and made a absolute mint off it between employers over a number of years and was paid out handsomely when it was written off. The replacement car they bought did the same and was pensioned off to the other half when another was bought and dragged on over 250k. That was scrapped recently and replaced by its replacement but times have changed with no car allowance and an olser ULEZ  compliant Jazz bought. The well looked after non ULEZ car is now the hand-me-down. 

All these cars more than paid for themselves and were given regular servicing and quality parts and tyres etc when needed depending on age and warranties. Proper workhorses well looked after, exceptional circumstances and job dependent mostly motorway miles. I helped occasionally with servicing and repairs saving them more money. When it goes wrong is ignoring repairs and scrimping on parts quality.

The cheapest cars l have had are freebies either limped along to their death or run for a while and sold on. Easy for me as I have always had the means to repair and build my own vehicles, a different matter if I have to pay someone to fix them. Looking at the bills since 2017 for the purchase price and repairs on the latest Mercedes l bought they are horrific and a lot of that has been done on a budget. 

I like doing what my Father did, picking up a spares car and either stripping it or taking parts as needed. Until recently we had two Golfs, I built one from two and sold parts on here before it went for scrap. Wish I had documented the whole project as it would have made a good thread.

 

[Metal Guru]

17 hours ago, motorpunk said:

Lots of love for the Aygo/C1/107 here. Junior had one and it was a needy little bastard, clutch went at v low miles, and it sprang a fuel leak which meant carpets out to clean, and then I saw floorpan rust and it just felt like a cheap, horrible little car. Maybe we just got a bad one, but it was a hoot to drive. 

K11 Micra, love 'em, and was expecting this as a suggestion. Rust, though, right? And 'normal' tax. 

Volvo 740.. this was my thinking all along, the earliest are now tax and MOT free and almost certainly classic insurance possible. Never owned one (had an 850 and a V70, though, which were both awesome). Yeah, crap fuel costs, but a better, bigger 'all round' car than the Aygo and C1. The, say, £500 a year you'd save on tax, MOT and insurance over the smaller, newer cars would get you about 2000 miles worth of petrol, which would sort of cover the additional thirst, right?

That leads me to this. I guess it's worth £150+ as scrap, so the net cost of the car is almost nothing, soon to be MOT and tax free, too; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145413563279?hash=item21db52e38f:g:Q9QAAOSwwpJlRmIA&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4OOSSiqNwgnbWnLCs5AWeeFs1Ddq70csJID1RlH8TFCk7Jqi1rAQwUBhoWfABSCnJ1%2FK3q9qHPjPG3rpO3Tc43i65JDembcjxoSH8PmI8jpX9RsXswWsXcghSSIz%2FCxPIIEex%2BfKbtCnANokHoxHU7JhiOV2lQ9%2FxvIn23%2BBvqcnYUIv2VlV%2Bvo00CpROEFGyv6PROFOa25CLlY%2B2LcNrMzRVEb%2FvrLRIygtsgETYdijwH7oKaA%2Fx0r9rZJ36wLj1M3h0CjLvPTkIdiWgvWn8Y24mjYXMEUISW2358FVkDtk|tkp%3ABk9SR8SKtbj2Yg

Volvo is a cool brand, no-one is making many new estate cars any more, and it's RWD and manual, which I think are all good ingredients for something that might appreciate in value eventually. 

Is this 'free motoring'?

Early 107s etc had weak clutches. I think they were upgraded from about 2009. Plus many would have been used by learners / new drivers , so the clutch may have taken some abuse anyway.

[leakingstrut]

I had a Citroen ZX Volcane TD for 6 months that paid me a pound for owning it. Bought on eBay in Leeds for £150 with 6 months t&t and 215k on the clock, I had a very memorable first collection caper in it, as it had a in incredibly loose passenger side wishbone and would lurch violently to the left upon reaching about 35 mph. That was a long drive back to Scotland. The rear axle was gubbed as well, giving it some interesting camber. 

My green ZX had blown its second head gasket, so that donated the front wishbone bits, and rear axle, and bonnet (the old one was chipped to hell). Ran it for till the MOT ran out, stuck it back on eBay and it sold for £151. Only costs were insurance, fuel and a can of black spray paint. That’s my first Toledo in the background, back when it was my my Dad owned it. 
 

[Psycho Charlie Knobcheese]

I had a 1.0 K11 which I bought as a stopgap. Got it off an old lady that was giving up driving and only had 30 odd K on it. Cost me £550.

In 6 years and 65000 miles it needed: 

2 front brake calipers (refurbished/exchange) about £40 ea

Set of disks and pads- About 40 quid

1 rear drop link.

Other than that it was just tyres and servicing and I absolutely hammered the thing everywhere. Used no oil between services. 

When the rot took hold I finally scrapped it last year and cartakeback gave me £235 for it.

Amazing little cars and good fun to drive.

I replaced it with an Astra H which is a ‘better’ car but is absolutely fucking shit.

My next car with be another Japanese econobox.

How about 2005 on Suzuki Swift/Mitsubishi Colt? The latter (1.1) is supposedly bombproof and lots seem to have lived an easy life at the hands of older drivers.

 

[Dobloseven]

Thinking about it, if you stretch the elastic a bit and factor in some extraordinary circumstances, my youngest son has had six years motoring and ended up with two working cars for 200 quid. First off he was gifted a 54reg Micra by his cousin who'd abandoned it on Mother in laws drive. She'd took over her husbands car, who'd inherited his aunts. Back in 2017,wasn't really worth a lot anyway and needed a few bits doing to it, but an easy father and son bonding project. Ran it for two years,then bought a Volvo C30 for around £4k,which turned out to be a lemon and got his money back. Bought an 11 month old Mk 10 Civic diesel for £12k,admittedly on a PCP. Micra then languished on MiLs drive again for well over a year. Early 2021,I recommissioned it and sold it on Facebook or somesuch within hours, for 600quid.Last year he decided he fancied the autoshite way of life. Wanted a Saab, but ended up with a 300 quid E46 325 Ci. Sold the Civic to WBAC for £12k.This year he bought a Mk 8 Civic diesel for 500 quid off here and runs them both, letting his sister use the Honda when she comes back from abroad. A mixture of 5 cars between under a year and 20 plus years old and the side effects, car wise, of the dreaded lurgy. 

[Talbot]

The issue with a lot of the maths* going on here is that it's only looking at depreciation and repair costs.  If you're looking at overall cost of ownership, then surely the fuel cost must come into this.

EG, you buy a car for £1k, it lasts 30k miles but is then scrap.  However, it did 55mpg over that life.  Alternatively you could buy another car for £150, it does 30k miles, you sell it for £300, but it only did 35mpg.

Total cost of ownership for no. 1 is £1k for the car, and £4,125 on fuel.
Total cost of ownership for no. 2 is a profit of £150 on the car, but £6,200 on fuel.

(assumptions made:  Fuel cost £1.65/litre over 30k miles.  12miles/litre and 8miles/litre used for ease of calculation)

First car would cost £5,125.   Second one cost £6k.

If you do a few miles, or intend to keep the car a fair while, the cost of purchase/residual value is less important than the fuel economy it can achieve.  Certainly at the shiter end of the scale anyway.

[holbeck]

23 minutes ago, Talbot said:

The issue with a lot of the maths* going on here is that it's only looking at depreciation and repair costs.  If you're looking at overall cost of ownership, then surely the fuel cost must come into this.

EG, you buy a car for £1k, it lasts 30k miles but is then scrap.  However, it did 55mpg over that life.  Alternatively you could buy another car for £150, it does 30k miles, you sell it for £300, but it only did 35mpg.

Total cost of ownership for no. 1 is £1k for the car, and £4,125 on fuel.
Total cost of ownership for no. 2 is a profit of £150 on the car, but £6,200 on fuel.

(assumptions made:  Fuel cost £1.65/litre over 30k miles.  12miles/litre and 8miles/litre used for ease of calculation)

First car would cost £5,125.   Second one cost £6k.

If you do a few miles, or intend to keep the car a fair while, the cost of purchase/residual value is less important than the fuel economy it can achieve.  Certainly at the shiter end of the scale anyway.

I hear you.

I bought a Fiesta TDCi on here as a stop gap car some time ago.

I still have it 15,000 miles later because the combination of 62 mpg and £30 tax in a cheap car is quite persuasive.

Even if I had to scrap it (hopefully not) or give it away tomorrow, it will already have been cheap motoring.

[2flags]

I run several old cars. The reason is twofold, one, I cannot afford a new one, two, I can have a nice little convertible when the sun shines and an estate car to take shite down the dump. We paid £600 for a Renault Megane floppy top 5yrs ago. Apart from regular servicing it has needed new brakes, new tyres and servicing. The Rover was bought this time last year, again just tyres, servicing and the MoT cost £300. The wife's car is a Jaguar X type. That has cost us a bit over the years, but again, lovely car to drive. Fast, very comfortable, and as it doesn't do too many miles then the fuel consumption is irrelevant. My Landrover 110 is my toy. I've had it for over 23yrs. It's a V8 so yes, it drinks like Oliver Reed in a brewery. All these cars combined cost less than the cheapest new car on the market today. Okay, I pay more on tax, but these are all bought and paid for. I don't have a £300-£400 payment going out every month on PFC. 

[Dj_efk]

I think we need more info on the OP’s use cases for the car - however I would suggest an Audi A2 TDi 75 -

Pros:

Ticks the premium box as high spec ones are nice inside

Immensely practical for its size - has the passenger space of an equivalent Golf whilst taking up a tiny footprint (great for urban non ULEZ environments and also if you live somewhere with narrow lanes like me). Also the rear seats unlatch right out and it then turns into a small van.

Most bits are from the VAG parts bin so very cheap to run and reliable - the current record mileage is over 450k on the same engine!

£35 tax, qualifies for classic insurance if needed, 70mpg is possible as….

…Made from aluminium so only corrosion of the suspension components to check for - ideal therefore as winter beaters

There’s a thriving owners club with a wealth of DIY maintenance and repair info 

You can upgrade them easily with a remap, six speed box from a later VAG diesel and add all sorts of retrofits to basically spec the car how you want it via the club relatively cheaply.

It’s a statement that goes against everything that Audi stands for now!

 

Cons:

Styling is an acquired taste

Getting harder to find a decent one for under £1500 - but still easy-ish to find if you’re patient

[juular]

I think I'd choose a Volvo 240 diesel estate from the early 80s. Comfortable, roomy, tax and mot exempt. I'd run it on WVO and the insurance would be about £80. An engine bay you could live in and simple to work on.

Would be tempted to swap in a D24TIC to make it slightly less chronic, nobody would notice.

[R Lutz]

K11 Micra here. Nothing complex on them, but utterly reliable.

[castros_bro]

Mobylette 40T, found in a Belgium skip whilst driving truck, repaired by (French)  truck mechanic - used by many to pop down shops in Holland, subsequently registered in UK , tied to truck and used during compulsory EU rest stops for visiting local village  eateries, buying local wine, cheese, fishing rivers/lakes. Off road ability 9/10.

[scooobydont]

On 10/11/2023 at 06:36, leakingstrut said:

I had a Citroen ZX Volcane TD for 6 months that paid me a pound for owning it. Bought on eBay in Leeds for £150 with 6 months t&t and 215k on the clock, I had a very memorable first collection caper in it, as it had a in incredibly loose passenger side wishbone and would lurch violently to the left upon reaching about 35 mph. That was a long drive back to Scotland. The rear axle was gubbed as well, giving it some interesting camber. 

My green ZX had blown its second head gasket, so that donated the front wishbone bits, and rear axle, and bonnet (the old one was chipped to hell). Ran it for till the MOT ran out, stuck it back on eBay and it sold for £151. Only costs were insurance, fuel and a can of black spray paint. That’s my first Toledo in the background, back when it was my my Dad owned it. 
 

In a bit of a strange AS twighlight zone, I live in this house!

It looks a bit different now...

 

[leakingstrut]

1 hour ago, scooobydont said:

In a bit of a strange AS twighlight zone, I live in this house!

It looks a bit different now...

 

That’s absolutely crazy! It was a nice house, views out the back were fantastic!