Where Have All the Cheap Cars Gone?

[Negative Creep]

Starting to look for a cheap motah as I should have a job interview coming up (hey - lets be optimistic here). I have the use of my Dad's Focus but that's nowhere near as miserable as I'd like, although nowhere near as nice to drive as I remember, for which I'll blame my Dad's driving style. Anyway looking through Autotrader and Ebay and the lack of cheap cars is amazing. The 'Trader lists a grand total of 2 MOT'ed cars within a 30 mile radius (which would include some of London) under 300 quid. Ebay is similarly dry with a string of "MOT just out but will go straight through the next one" types.

 

Before I left these shores there were loads of 250 pound Mondeos, Clios and so forth. Did the scrappage scheme really hit that hard?

[Alexg]

Get your arse down the car auctions. Plenty of miserable shit down there...

[Station]

An MOT'd MX5 just sold for 395 in Surrey on Retro Rides.

[Pete-M]

I've noticed the only cheap stuff is the stuff I like. Big things with big engines.

 

Scrappage appears to have cleared the roads of cheap, unenjoyable chod.

[Mr Lobster]

Theres still some really cheap stuff about, you just have to look pretty hard to find it.

 

Scrappage did get rid of some but didn't really have as big of an impact as might have been expected, theres still a lot of cheap, old tat about.

 

Maybe people just aren't selling at this time of year as much?

[Cavcraft]

What Mr Lobster said. There are still loads out there, it's just a matter of 'right time, right place' and keeping an eye out all the while.

 

I could have had six MOT'd (and some of them taxed) cars for a grand in total recently.

[wuvvum]

I think the relatively high price of scrap in recent months has also taken its toll. If it's a choice between putting a car on Gumtree for £250 and dealing with the inevitable hordes of pikeys and other assorted mouth-breathers that such adverts inevitably attract or sending it over the bridge never to be seen again and walking away with £200, it's an easy decision for a lot of people.

[trigger]

I've still seen a few about, there was a £250 Mercedes 190E only on here a few weeks ago for sale I'm surprised no one snapped up straight away.

[Pete-M]

Mr W.T.Claim of this parish had a very tidy little 205 that took forever to sell, and it was dirt cheap.

 

Surprised me, that did. Nice little motah.

[retrogeezer]

Not forgetting Billy's Bluey that was a steal at £250 squids...

[pogweasel]

I find this all very peterbing.

I a not so much fussed abouat a dearth of 'average shit'. you know cracked-bumper Mondeos etc for £100, but the absence of cheap properly old shite is quite irritating.

It used to be really good fun buying disgusting old tripe from the 60's & 70's for under £500 and trundling about in them for a few months, but those days seem well and truly over. Anything interesting seems to be well into 4 figures now. I have been looking for months for something Really Quite Shite (preferably tax-exempt) to fill my garage with for the occasional potter out in but there is just nothing. It is hard to justify to the keeper of the purse that something which is objectively worse than my everyday car should cost more, and it really isn't that long ago that I had a succession of ropey ancients for beer money. Sadness.

[ashmicro]

2 things:

 

Scrappage, obviously.

 

And, money is tight. Not long ago, there'd have been people in the market for a car at, say, £3k. Now they're in the market for a car at maybe £1750-2k. And, as another contributor has said, folks are just holding on to their cars in some cases.

[Guest]

It's all out there, you just have to look around. It's not always on the Internet.

[warren t claim]

I've still seen a few about, there was a £250 Mercedes 190E only on here a few weeks ago for sale I'm surprised no one snapped up straight away.

 

 

I would of done if it was an auto. Gutted!

[fiatdaft]

too easy to blame scrappage,i blame timewasters and the price of scrap.

 

look at all the cheap cars that have been for sale on here and rr recentley.

 

was it cavette that had the cheap 205 and escort for sale for ages?

[Lankytim]

Scrappage has wiped alot of decent cheap motors off the map but the main cause of the lack of mega cheap bargain bangers is the high price of scrap. A few years ago scrap was down to £10 a ton or so in some areas. Those were the days when you had to pay someone to take away your old wreck and inexpensive MOTd and taxed clunkers could be had for next to nothing. Many of my daily drivers at the time were sub £100 shitboxes. Now the price of scrap is really high anything sub £200 is snapped up for scrap.

[Negative Creep]

Despite being near the capital all the interesting cars here seem to be advertised up north. Got to be honest it wouldn't be worth the expense of travelling half the country to buy a 300 pound car.

 

 

An MOT'd MX5 just sold for 395 in Surrey on Retro Rides.

 

Also off topic but I take it that's you on the Retro Gamer forum as well?

[Station]

I know some lad who keeps offering me cheap stuff. He works for some bloke who I think gets stuff from auctions and just sells it at a small mark up, he's always offering me random cars.

[Cavcraft]

I can see why a fifty quid train ticket and forty rips in fuel would make it unviable, but for the experieince alone you can't beat travelling by train to some far flung place to drive an old snotter back. Kind of hard to explain the trepidation and excitement of those first couple of miles wondering if it'll make it back. Sounds a bit ghey but it helps you bond with the car and you'll soon find all it's quirks and good points when you're facing a good trek back.

 

Some of the best journeys I've had have been in 'sight unseen' motors from random places.

[Alexg]

Hey NegC, I've got an M-plate Accord you can have for £200. Taxed till jan, MOT till May. 150k, a Leccy Sunroof and it's in Kent

[Negative Creep]

Hey NegC, I've got an M-plate Accord you can have for £200. Taxed till jan, MOT till May. 150k, a Leccy Sunroof and it's in Kent

 

 

 

Ooooh that sounds interesting. Got any pics?

[Alexg]

Pm me your mobile. I'll take some snaps on the iPhone tomorrow and send to u. It's in metallic green for extra shite points

[eddyramrod]

That's service!

[Negative Creep]

PM sent

[garethj]

After scouring ebay, autotrader and a volvo forum I can confirm that old ovlovs are worth the square root of fuck all.

 

I thought the 700 estates were cheap, the saloons are even cheaper and the 360 cars are even cheaper! Up your budget to £600 and the world is your oyster, knackered old car wise

[Tayne]

,

[Negative Creep]

How miserable does it have to be?

 

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9786

 

 

Suitably grim but too far away. My last roadtrip to get a car ended with me standing there watching the water pump pissing water onto the hard shoulder

[Mr H Sceptre]

I can see why a fifty quid train ticket and forty rips in fuel would make it unviable, but for the experieince alone you can't beat travelling by train to some far flung place to drive an old snotter back. Kind of hard to explain the trepidation and excitement of those first couple of miles wondering if it'll make it back. Sounds a bit ghey but it helps you bond with the car and you'll soon find all it's quirks and good points when you're facing a good trek back.

 

Some of the best journeys I've had have been in 'sight unseen' motors from random places.

 

 

Couldnt agree more

[r.welfare]

I haven't seen it but I reckon you could do a lot worse than the Accord AlexG is punting - tough old cars if a little juicy on fuel.

[the barefoot chef]

I can see why a fifty quid train ticket and forty rips in fuel would make it unviable, but for the experieince alone you can't beat travelling by train to some far flung place to drive an old snotter back. Kind of hard to explain the trepidation and excitement of those first couple of miles wondering if it'll make it back. Sounds a bit ghey but it helps you bond with the car and you'll soon find all it's quirks and good points when you're facing a good trek back.

 

Some of the best journeys I've had have been in 'sight unseen' motors from random places.

 

 

Couldnt agree more

 

This is something that I've fancied doing for ages.

 

Finally did it a couple of weeks ago with the ex HillmanImp Scirocco - an excellent, if steady journey home.