Today I saw an 03 plate C5 V6 in the scrapyard

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

[rant mode]

That's another thing, the waste. Some total c*nt has probably got a Kia See'd (yeah i know) on 5 years h.p. in place of that MG.

 

How dare they buy a car that actually works?

 

To be honest, I think s/he's got a Laguna or 1-series instead.

[Fat_Pirate]

[rant mode]

That's another thing, the waste. Some total c*nt has probably got a Kia See'd (yeah i know) on 5 years h.p. in place of that MG.

In all honesty i could not agree more Rev!

cheap foren imports from koreeya.... get rid of them now i say! [/rant mode]

 

Most new car finance is provided via the UK banks we bailed out, which was the real point of the scrappage scheme - to introduce new blood to the cycle of debt. As long as you're just a taxpayer and not the sucker with the finance deal, cheer when you see another Korean box hit the road - finance is more profitable than manufacturing cheap cars!

[Alexg]

Most banks don't offer car finance anymore. Just Santander and Black Horse (Lloyds)

[ashmicro]

I agree with what's been said about some depressingly new and apparently undamaged stuff being in breakers. Indeed, my tame car breaker tells me exactly the same as what's also been said about relatively minor faults writing cars off as the cost of any potential repair renders it financially inviable. However, rather than "scrap" cars like this he just buys them like any other secondhand buyer, and 7/10 he can fix them and sell them on. I guess when you take cars apart all day you get something of an insight into how they work!

 

A couple of recent one's he's had are a MG ZR 105+ (snapped cambelt) and a 4 year old Renault Grande Scenic II 1.5dCI (indeterminate electrical fault)

 

MG - engine change from a Rover 45 1.4 with arse end impact

 

Renner - entire ECU system from a regular Megane dCI that had been t-boned. The Scenic was a really nice car, very nicely finished.

 

So, minimal work and a bang tidy profit. BUT, as has been pointed out on this thread, he's not exactly what you'd call a DIY mechanic.

[Justin Case]

Perhaps that Citroen is in the scrapyard merely because no-one wants it at any price, even if it is fixable. And has it necessarily been replaced by some cheap (except for the repayments ) Korean POS? In the last year or so two friends have weighed in Scorpios with terminal transmission troubles. One replaced a frog-faced Scorpio with an S reg Omega, and the other a Granada Scorpio with an immaculate R reg Mercedes C Class with all the bells and whistles' perhaps on that small sample those are that type of car in demand.

 

This is the cost-effective way to run a large barge; buy cheap, run it for a year or two until something major breaks, scrap it and repeat the process. Nothing is lost because everything is moving down the motoring food chain, and as one falls off the bottom end another moves down to take it's place, and so on. The interesting stuff may well be saved by Autoshiters and put back on the road against all odds, but it is a limited market and is a C5 really in the same league as a BX or even a Xantia?

[Pete-M]

It has always been this way. The normal lifespan of the average car owned by the average Joe seems to be around 8-10 years.

 

This is the kind of stuff that scrapyards have always made their bread and butter from, there's no money in scrapyards keeping hold of all kinds of bits for weird old cars. A Peugeot 604 wing is not going to make them enough money to feed the family (Unless me or Phil happens to be nearby), whereas a few 5-6 year old Mondeos / Vectras / A6s etc will bring a steady stream of customers to the door.

 

I think it's amusing when I go to a scrapyard and almost everything in there is newer than the car I arrived in.

[andrew e]

Perhaps that Citroen is in the scrapyard merely because no-one wants it at any price, even if it is fixable. And has it and is a C5 really in the same league as a BX or even a Xantia?

 

Well yes? No different to a Xantia in a scrappie 2001, or a BX in 1991. I saw both at the time. Devils advocate being that is the V6 rarer?

 

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=c5+citroen+v6

[messerschmitt owner]

Perhaps that Citroen is in the scrapyard merely because no-one wants it at any price, even if it is fixable. And has it and is a C5 really in the same league as a BX or even a Xantia?

 

Well yes? No different to a Xantia in a scrappie 2001, or a BX in 1991. I saw both at the time. Devils advocate being that is the V6 rarer?

 

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=c5+citroen+v6

1000+ BXs of all types on the road

 

c. 201 C5 V6s of all types otr plus 8 sorned

[HillmanImp]

I agree about the life cycle of cars. From watching The Sweeney/Professionals/Minder and looking up the cars on the Doovla website it has always been about 8-10yrs.

 

I dont know what it is like abroad but I think we live in a throwaway society over here. It seems common to simply get a new car when something goes wrong instead of repairing the old one. The person that scrapped these cars could well have spent thousands on a new car when they could have repaired those at a fraction of the cost.

 

I guess people look at the value of the 2nd hand car compared to the cost of repairs instead of the cost of repairs compared to the cost of a new car, which is fair enough i suppose. Its just when you step back and look at it you see how wasteful it is. However I would do the same. If I had to do a repair to the Saab that cost a huge amount I would just scrap it and get another car as its only worth a few hundred. However it would be wasteful as it could realisticlly be repaired and soldier on to fight another day.

[cort16]

This 55 plate Laguna is surely hovering at the doors of the scrap yard. They only want £800 for it but it has an electrical problem that might just be not worth trying to resolve.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2836741.htm

[Lord Sterling]

I would just scrap it and get another car as its only worth a few hundred.

 

And this is how society today is taught to think. If something isnt worth a fair amount of money, then it isnt worth keeping. People today seem to be so concerned about how much thier car is almost as much as how much they are told thier house is worth. I'm sure some here will have met someone who talks in terms of house prices.

 

I've heard many people say, its not worth fixing the old car because its only worth £xxx and so on, so they will go and scrap thier current car, buy a new £8000+ car because they can get finance/free years insurance/warranty etc.... And most importantly for them, it'll be worth at least a few grand. (And they can keep up with the Joneses and whatever)

[andrew e]

Perhaps that Citroen is in the scrapyard merely because no-one wants it at any price, even if it is fixable. And has it and is a C5 really in the same league as a BX or even a Xantia?

 

Well yes? No different to a Xantia in a scrappie 2001, or a BX in 1991. I saw both at the time. Devils advocate being that is the V6 rarer?

 

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=c5+citroen+v6

1000+ BXs of all types on the road

 

c. 201 C5 V6s of all types otr plus 8 sorned

 

140 of them are oil burners too... that leaves 61!

[AnthonyG]

Also the [Rover] 75 doesnt need specialist alignment gear. It's literally a FWD E46 BMW, just like Minis.

 

Are you being ironic or do you actually believe that ?

[CIH]

Also the [Rover] 75 doesnt need specialist alignment gear. It's literally a FWD E46 BMW, just like Minis.

 

Are you being ironic or do you actually believe that ?

 

I seem them almost everyday. Front suspension (strut with lower wishbone) and rear suspension (trailing arms with a pair of lateral links) are almost identical beween e46 (and others), New Mini and 75s.

[25v6turbo]

My local scrappy has a 54 plate Laguna and a NEW shape twingo(LHD but i guess 56 plate)i,ve seen loads of Laguna 2s in the scrapyard even an X reg.

[Rusty Pelican]

I think it's amusing when I go to a scrapyard and almost everything in there is newer than the car I arrived in.

Quote of the year so far , this is embedded for future use

Thanks Pete

[andrew e]

I thought the 75 MINI and BMW's were aligned with a full tank?

[retrogeezer]

I'll go back to what I said earlier....30 years of 'progress' and we are still scrapping cars less than 10 years old yet still being dictated to about being 'green'.

[CIH]

I thought the 75 MINI and BMW's were aligned with a full tank?

 

They specify more a full tank but that's a means to an end. BMWs and MINIs have rideheight targets and usually require ballast.

Rover 75s don't seem bothered either way.

[gtd2000]

[rant mode]

That's another thing, the waste. Some total c*nt has probably got a Kia See'd (yeah i know) on 5 years h.p. in place of that MG.

In all honesty i could not agree more Rev!

cheap foren imports from koreeya.... get rid of them now i say! [/rant mode]

 

So when you get rid of the "foreign" imports - which "non-foreign" car do you suggest the average British motorist/punter should choose then?

 

Would be a bit of a thin choice, I expect, to purchase a purely British owned and manufactured marque I'd wager.

[MK5 Escort]

It does surprise me at how what I still consider to be 'fairly new' motors to be now lying in scrapyards. In an era when they're supposed to be built better and last longer, we see them in the scrapyards at the same age, if not earlier' than in days gone by. 'Progress'? Haha!

 

Eye wateringly high repair costs, 'sealed for life' units and ever complex electrical systems seems to be the Achilles heal of most modern motors.

 

It seems like only a few years ago we bought a fleet of new 02 plate Mondeo Zetecs in my old job, that I used to bomb around in. I can still recall the ‘newness’ smell in them very well. Two years ago an old colleague bought another Mondeo for buttons, a slightly scruffy but largely mechanically sound 03 plate, and he had to replace the offside rear wheel hub and assembly for the MOT (the reason it was for sale). "Not worth it mate" the MOT guy said to him, aparently... He popped along to the local scrappy where he got one off a very clean looking 53 plate Ghia X that had just gone in . I know it’s not, but that still feels only like a couple of years old to me. Amazing how time flies by… I know he's covered well in excess of 30k fault free miles since then and sailed through it's last MOT.

 

I know my Escort is currently worth the square root of bugger all, especially given it's mileage. Yes, I've spent a lot more on it over the last three/four years than what it's worth. However, it spent the first sixteen years or so of it's life only needing general servicing and being near-enough faultless in that time, as it is now. It's cost bugger all over those years and rescued younger cars from breakdowns in that time so I felt, especially being a fussy bugger, the least it deserved some money spent on replacing things which have not broken unexpectantly – just generally worn out through age/high mileage. Average out the recent fettling costs over it's twenty year life span so far and it still has worked out to be cheap. It's still worth bugger all regardless of how well it's served me and the friends/family over the years but do I care…?! No.

[dollywobbler]

To be fair, while moderns may end up in a scrappy after the same sort of time period as older cars, I bet they do a hell of a lot more miles before they go. Can't imagine there are that many scrappers these days that haven't done 100,000 miles, if not several times that. (scrappage scheme aside, when all the lovely low mileage motors got binned, including that 14k mile Volvo 740!).

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Another day, another trip to the sales on a quest for a 75 Diesel Estate that isn't a battered shitbox.

 

 

But - Y plate petrol Mondeos around 250-300 quid and about three 54 plate TDCi's for a grand. Various S-51 plate E46 saloons for £800-1200. Three or four early BMW Minis at £2500. A ropey T5 Estate on a P plate made £250, and a very tidy S plate Accord saloon £350. If I needed another car pronto, I would have gladly paid the £375 reached by a super clean 2000V Saab 9-5 2.0.

 

And - believe it or not - a Y plate C5 Auto V6 in dark metallic blue, leather, nav and not that many miles - £650 (which I thought was dear).

 

Scrapyards are still piling them in. I went to buy a handbrake lever yesterday, and there were 5 cars in a row waiting to go in including an 03 plate Mondeo on a trailer and a V plate Fiesta Ghia which was driven in.

[Futuramic]

I think it's amusing when I go to a scrapyard and almost everything in there is newer than the car I arrived in.

Quote of the year so far , this is embedded for future use

Thanks Pete

 

When I had the Bluebird; I parked it outside Autobreak in Colchester and nipped in to search for a new radio casette unit (duly found and fitted Gr7 4 MUZIC AND SPEACH). When I returned I found who I thought to be a vagabond; trying to detach my newly fitted chrome spotlights. Cue running and shouting on my part and an embarrassed customer backing off mumbling "I thought it was in good condition". I directed him to the real scrapped cars.

[Negative Creep]

I think it's amusing when I go to a scrapyard and almost everything in there is newer than the car I arrived in.

Quote of the year so far , this is embedded for future use

Thanks Pete

 

When I had the Bluebird; I parked it outside Autobreak in Colchester and nipped in to search for a new radio casette unit (duly found and fitted Gr7 4 MUZIC AND SPEACH). When I returned I found who I thought to be a vagabond; trying to detach my newly fitted chrome spotlights. Cue running and shouting on my part and an embarrassed customer backing off mumbling "I thought it was in good condition". I directed him to the real scrapped cars.

 

 

 

Genuine LOLZ

[RoadworkUK]

 

When I had the Bluebird; I parked it outside Autobreak in Colchester....

 

Ha! That and G+L are my favourites. Grnine for burning down on a regular basis.

 

(haven't been there for a while, the Audi has a daft habit of not ever needing any parts. But I have a Rover again now so I'll probably end up there every saturday)

[406V6]

The petrol V6 in the C5 is a real honey of an engine (refined & powerful) and very economical for a V6 provided you don't make too many short trips. My 406 V6 with the same engine rarely gets worse than 30mpg and it's an auto. In the real world it's close to the fuel figures of a 2 litre unless you drive it with a lead foot. The one downside of the engine is that it needs a new cambelt every 5 years and it's a long job which is expensive unless you can do it for yourself. No doubt this 2003 model never had the belt change due in 2008, hence the self-destruction.

 

There's something wrong with the C5 V6 figures on howmanyleft as it doesn't show any of the 2001-3 models. Presumably they are counted as C5 Exclusive or whatever along with the lesser engined variants. Many of those it does show as V6 are the new shape C5.

[overheadvalve]

Also the [Rover] 75 doesnt need specialist alignment gear. It's literally a FWD E46 BMW, just like Minis.

 

Are you being ironic or do you actually believe that ?

 

I seem them almost everyday. Front suspension (strut with lower wishbone) and rear suspension (trailing arms with a pair of lateral links) are almost identical beween e46 (and others), New Mini and 75s.

What do you mean?

Sorry but that is simply not the case, MINI has a "Z" rear axle similar to the Rover 75 and some BMW's but MINI needs no specialist crap to align the front or rear suspension neither does the Rover, any Rover as far as i'm concerned.

* * * *

 

BTW for some reason i was looking at Autocar and came across this:http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/designlanguage/archive/2007/10/17/led-running-lights-no-thanks.aspx

 

Some "interesting comments" here (not) The post by vicky parrot, about the 2nd one down would possibly sum up some of the U.K. s drivers these days maybe this sort of thinking is inpart to blame......