Where to find cheap old cars nowadays?

[oli123]

I'm coming to the end of my love affair with my current car and need something as a replacement.

I get frustrated to see most of the usual places either selling complete curse word or over pricing cars hugely.

I'm skint as can be at the moment due to illness so will have to borrow a grand off my other half, just started part time working again so need something for hauling tools etc up the motorway.

My current old mk3 golf estate was a bargain but isn't any good for me in my current situation. Needs some TLC.

Where do you guys go to for ok cars under 1k? It used to be so easy to pick good stuff up for cheap.

[Rob M]

I am seeing ALOT of cheap and decent stuff of FB marketplace.
EG: a late 90s Volvo estate with fsh, in VGC with leather, auto and a long MOT for £375.
Thats a bangernomics no brainer really.

[skkylinedave]

Depends where you are . Facebook here in Oxfordshire is plagued with people from as far as London selling filthy dented no history cars . Anything diesel is near a grand even though its on its last legs . There are so many selling bad cars that i think the prices and condition are normal now ! All other cars are the ones people bought for £1500 2 years ago and have run into the ground and still want £1000 for !


The odd good car comes up but you need the money in your hand there and then and be able to move NOW to get it . At the weekend i saw a nice Fiat Bravo in silver but 40 miles away in Cheltenham , thats how far we have to travel . It was 100k with full history immaculate inside and out , new tyres and new fuel pump , top of teh range heated seats and cold climate etc . It was £975 and went within 2 hours !

No doubt now £2000 on facebook by some dodgy dealer !


You just need the money and be able to pounce right away .

And i still use ebay and put in cars , diesel local and price range and see what comes up

[mondeogrd]

We started going to auctions for our dailys and 18 month ago picked up a 2003 48k Skoda Octavia TDI for £1100, a 2004 47k Focus 1.6 for £450, both with short MOTs but both of them went through their 2 MOTs under our ownership with no issues. Our latest 2007 73k Fiesta was nabbed for £1150 is turning out to be the best car we have owned, although it wont be as good at MOT time.

If you are savvy enough, i would give auctions a try as there are plenty cars, at my local anyway, that go through on the bargain side.

Plenty good stuff out there on Gumtree and Facebook, but all 3 need approached with care!
All the very best,
Geoff.

[skkylinedave]

Its difficult looking nowadays as the adverts people put now would have been ignored . Most say very little if anything other than 'good car ' . No mention of MOT , history , any work done etc . And people cannot be bothered to even throw a bucket of water over it or hoover it !

Seems that people think that if a car is running and driving ok at thta very moment that its worth a grand !

[oli123]

Mar 19, 2019 18:47:59 GMT skkylinedave said:

Depends where you are . Facebook here in Oxfordshire is plagued with people from as far as London selling filthy dented no history cars . Anything diesel is near a grand even though its on its last legs . There are so many selling bad cars that i think the prices and condition are normal now ! All other cars are the ones people bought for £1500 2 years ago and have run into the ground and still want £1000 for !


The odd good car comes up but you need the money in your hand there and then and be able to move NOW to get it . At the weekend i saw a nice Fiat Bravo in silver but 40 miles away in Cheltenham , thats how far we have to travel . It was 100k with full history immaculate inside and out , new tyres and new fuel pump , top of teh range heated seats and cold climate etc . It was £975 and went within 2 hours !

No doubt now £2000 on facebook by some dodgy dealer !


You just need the money and be able to pounce right away .

And i still use ebay and put in cars , diesel local and price range and see what comes up

I'm in southeast Kent, everything seems overpriced here now!

[Mercdan68]

I owned a very nice c250td Mercedes recently I owned it ten years , paid 1500 for it from a dealer who only sold later stuff, best car I’ve ever owned
It’s worth asking a dealers about there trade ins some Low
mileage cars do turn up that way
The guy I sold the merc too recently asked if I wanted to buy it back, no room here though

[Midland Performance & Retro]

Get on eBay etc and search out MK3 Mondeo with the 1.8 Petrol engine. Criminally cheap compared to the often-problematic diesels, but they’re so, so good to drive for a cheap car, pretty well equipped, very comfortable and a huge boot.

I know someone who bought an 05-reg one off eBay last year. EML on, which may have put people off, but it was only a sensor. £250 he paid for the car. Spent the best part of 2 days cleaning, valeting and polishing it and what looked like a scruffy car actually ended up being pretty mint. They’re as good as it gets for proper cheap cars in my opinion.

[grizz]

I think a lot of people have become quite lazy when it comes to buying cars.

For some, even 50 miles to collect a free car, is too far.

Prozac the Berlingo with under 88k miles, everything that opens and closes including a full length sunroof, was £300.00 and in Biggin Hill. I live in Rochester, so about 30 miles,

An early morning drive, viewing, and test drive, saw me shell out and three years later it still makes me grin.

I think looking around, and as mentioned, having cash ready is paramount.

craigrk bought his son a 1.0 liter low miles Polo for under £500.00 and it was less than 50 miles away.

Bargain for a kid.

[BenzBoy]

There are tons of cheap cars around. Gumtree, eBay, Facebook... all awash with sub-1000 quid cars. I picked up a slightly down-at-heel Passat TDI estate from Autotrader last week. He'd been advertising it for a while because all he'd got was chancers test driving it then offering him insultingly low amounts.

Can you buy a 1980s Golf / Escort / Nova cheap now? No. Those days are pretty much gone unless you're lucky. Can you buy some late 90s / early 2000s chod for buttons? Yes, easily. Whether these cars are considered interesting or desirable is another matter, but if you just want a cheap car there are thousands to choose from. You pretty much can't give a Mk1 Ford Focus away, for example. You'd be hard pushed to pay 500 quid for one. They're solid, reliable, economical and easy to fix. They aren't retro, fast or interesting but you pay a premium for that.

[OGDB]

I am in the mid Kent area and although there is a metric tonne of rubbish advertised at well over the odds, there are still some good ones out there. The key to it, in my opinion is you have to be well on the ball for a few weeks.

Have some fuel in the car, cash stashed somewhere and view with the intentions of taking it away (provided it passes the thorough inspection you’d put it through of course).

My R53 was an utter bargain, someone showed me it at work at about 3:30 and I had it by 5. My Porsche was another very well priced car. 4 hour drive after work and that’s nabbed that one. My current T4 was bought at half the advertised price, so some haggling can be had.

Unfortunately traveling is part and parcel of getting something for s fair price. I’ve been looking at another Porsche up in Grimsby, train ticket return is about £35 I think.

I know it’s not easy, fun or convenient but when you get a good one it’s very satisfying.

[ontheedge]

I have bought and sold quite a few cars in the last 12 months (as a hobby - not a job), e-bay is fine, you get what you pay for, I have done three train trips just to get a car and I enjoy it.
Got a 2007 clio last year, black, clean but needed a new under radiator sub frame, got one of e-bay, had it fitted, problem sorted, sold.
Just look for one's that don't have 20 bids, look at something with 24 hours to go with no bids.

[MkX]

As above; Gumtree, ebay. Plenty of decent bargains about if you're quick.

[Quasimoto]

From FB recently acquired a 1990 Volvo 740 Saloon / been advertised a while / no offers so offered a Polo 1.0 litre in P /Ex with a bit of cash. Got myself an half decent retro for pocket money prices really. Someone remarked that nowadays cars are neither washed or cleaned out / both true in my case but that was not really an issue. Am surprised what some folk value cars at though.
Used Swapz successfully but again a few chancers off loading tosh spoils the game.
Sadly anything half desirable retro wise now is slowly getting priced out of my cash range but again as mentioned you need to be on the ball / have cash and prepared to travel a distance if need be. Relying just on anything local often only throws up undesirable over priced stuff. But if you are determined and keep looking often out of the blue you do get rewarded.

[chris1357]

EBay is quite decent as is shprock, I recently bought my 106 Ski off of eBay advertised at £300 BIN..
Pressed it and travelled the 140 miles to collect it Sunday morning, mot until August and with a pair of 106 Rallye Blanks to boat.
Few issues once I got there with the gearbox crunching into 1st and reverse knocked the price down to £200.
But it'll keep the miles off my S1 Rallye and I'll use it for work so win win.

[Rob M]

I think, whatever the source, you have to be prepared to travel to get the car you want.
I have to agree that prices for, pretty much, the same kind of cars can wildly fluctuate dependent on where you actually are.

I have always been prepared to travel for the right car, I don't see any real issues in doing that off of a FB ad tbh.
This one has just popped up local to me.







'Saab turbo diesel. Car drives great and plenty of power . Gearbox and running gear all smooth. Inside clean for its age and fully loaded being a se model. Remote locking.electric Windows x4. Climate control. Steering wheel controls for audio etc . Cruise control. Mot is till June and v5 present. This is a lot of car for little money. Taken in px so grab a bargain. Any questions please feel free to ask'

It's done 140K and is up for.....£481.
If that's not worth a look and an eventual punt, what the hell is??

[Mercdan68]

As others have said it depends what you after
And if you will travel, I needed a new daily last year after selling my c class
I really like Mercedes and think there great value
I never pay more than two grand for my daily cars
My family say it’s cos I’m tight!!
But why waste money when you can get a great ten year old
Luxury motor with low miles and full history
I bought this Mercedes E240 petrol for £1500
It’s totally mint, no damage dents or scratches
I saw it on eBay the morning it was listed and messaged the seller
I bought it that afternoon and use it everyday just stuck my plate on it
The car looks and drives superb

[Shortcut]

Easy access to wide audience (ie mugs) has made sellers lazy and increased dodgy sellers who don't give a shirt about selling duff cars.

Just keep an eye out. If it's a shirt ad, car is covered in curse word, ad looks/sounds dodgy then it probably is. Just keep looking for what is more obviously a genuine add, but given the landscape and the lack of come back I would say auctions are not a bad bet. Spend £1K get far more car for your money.

Bid on things that look straight but don't float the dealers boats, they pay premium for German and frown on French so Citroens/Peugeots can be proper bargains. Anything super cheap won't have enough ££ in it for dealer to get excited about so plenty of sub 1K action. Saw a nice 05 plate 530d tourer float through at £800 last week. Nearly twitched on that I can tell you.

The world is afloat with cars atm so just keep em peeled.

[roccoguy]

Mar 20, 2019 0:09:16 GMT Midland Performance & Retro said:

Get on eBay etc and search out MK3 Mondeo with the 1.8 Petrol engine. Criminally cheap compared to the often-problematic diesels, but they’re so, so good to drive for a cheap car, pretty well equipped, very comfortable and a huge boot.

I know someone who bought an 05-reg one off eBay last year. EML on, which may have put people off, but it was only a sensor. £250 he paid for the car. Spent the best part of 2 days cleaning, valeting and polishing it and what looked like a scruffy car actually ended up being pretty mint. They’re as good as it gets for proper cheap cars in my opinion.

Diesels have issues with injectors/pump, the petrols have issues with premature engine wear resulting in lots of blue smoke that kills them come mot time. Both if them can suffer from expensive electrical issues caused by ford's stupid "smart charge" system.

They are great cars to run as disposable motors tho. I paid £150 for mine last year, it flew straight through its mot and has been pretty much faultless. If the crack in the windscreen kills it off at mot time I'll buy another and pull the bits that are prone to killing them before I weigh it in.

[backtothe80s]

My best finds have always been by doing the following.

Gumtree. Cars for sale xshire. Refine price to £1000 and search. Check everyday for weeks on end then POUNCE when a good one comes up.

Not long had my V70 2.5 from there. Old guy, ex traffic police. Loved the car, mahoooosive full history and he bartered ME down on the price and delivered it, with his wife with a bottle of wine. Couldn't have been a better car purchase.

Just never sell a car there, so many twonks. Worst one I got was a px with a Staffordshire bull terrier!!