Bargainous/Top value buys

[Mike]

Ok, so the auction for my Astra has just ended and quite frankly it was less than i was hoping for. Not to dwell on it I'm now looking for something cheap and probably crappy to replace it.

So what has been your best "bargain" buy, or the car thats got you the most value for money, if thats ever possible when buying older cars! Something that cost pennies and was a right laugh, or a car that you've run for years on a tight budget?

I'm sure i'll shortly be entering the realm of Bangernomics, so i need inspiration!

I'll start the thread off with the cheapest car i ever bought, my £150 Renault 5 TL. T&T and just needed a wheel bearing.
Of course I sold it straight on rather than enjoying it...

[dollywobbler]

Hmmm. Not sure I've ever made a value buy! Even my "free" Dyane is fast on the way to costing me a fortune.

[Neil]

dollywobbler said:

Hmmm. Not sure I've ever made a value buy! Even my "free" Dyane is fast on the way to costing me a fortune.

What, you mean there's been progress?!#

[bigginger]

What sort of money are we talking? £100 or £1000?

[rob0r]

I have a habit of picking up BMWs for prices I can't refuse, only this week I've picked up two E21 323i's for less that £200 in all.

Best bargain though, tax and tested BMW 318is. Went on Ebay for £750 and the guy didn't pick it up. Relisted and I got it for £350

Those rimZ not included though

[Seth]

bigginger said:

What sort of money are we talking? £100 or £1000?

I guess if you've scored a 250SWB for £1000 that would be good going!

[topi]

My favorite is getting a Carbon Kevlar Recaro SPG bucket seat for fifty quid, mint.

[Snoozin]

Probably this, on a bang for buck, and fun related level....



Stung me $100 NZ, and $30 later it was welded up and road legal. Had heaps of laughs trying to kick it sideways with the meagre power and torque offered by the 1000cc 2K engine! Also dug the faded tartan seats, which were a nice shade of bright pink! Sold for a handsome profit!

Edit: works out to about 52 of your UK pounds, by todays exchange rates!

[stealthstylz]

Get onto vicsmith on here he's got the most bargainous car lot i've ever seen. My red uno was £75 with 6 months test on it.

Matt

[Mr S]

Bought my Merc 420SEL un MOT'd and unseen for £330, only needed the front calipers unsticking (free) and 2 exhaust downpipes (£80+vat) for the MOT and it's performed faultlessly for nearly 2 years now with only routine maintenance. I've LPG'd it too, which was possibly the best £500 I've ever spent!

That aside, my £72 MOT'd and Taxed Cavalier was pretty good value, ran that for 18 months and spent about £150 on it in that time, sold it on and it ran for another good year before it ended up in a ditch (damn understeer! lol)! Although after that I believe it was just rolled back onto it's wheels and driven off!!

[Harold Ramp Bumface Fandango]

There's been a few. £50 Nova TD that was rotten but stupidly quick was one. Most recently it'd have to be my last (not my current) Frontera Sport. 6 month's MOT, 6 weeks tax, £45 of fuel in it, £200 b-i-n from eBay and only twenty miles away. Pound for pound I don't think I'll ever better the fun I had in that car, it was an absolute riot all the way.

[Mike]

bigginger said:

What sort of money are we talking? £100 or £1000?

We are definitely talking the lower end of that scale, but its not going to have to be pennies.

snoozineuro said:

Probably this, on a bang for buck, and fun related level....



Stung me $100 NZ, and $30 later it was welded up and road legal. Had heaps of laughs trying to kick it sideways with the meagre power and torque offered by the 1000cc 2K engine! Also dug the faded tartan seats, which were a nice shade of bright pink! Sold for a handsome profit!

Edit: works out to about 52 of your UK pounds, by todays exchange rates!

Yes! If only... (goes to scan ebay furiously...)

[passatman]

i've had soooooo many....i can smell a bargain at 100 yards ;D


recent ones.........this off egay last week......£101....63k....1 owner....and it's sweet as a nut




this one from a guy my brother works with...........had 4 months MOT and 1 months tax.........£80......and it's a 5 banger don't you know......straight through exhaust from 1/2 way.......'I AM WALTER ROHRL' ;D




and this..........free......





and this....free.......






all in the last 12 months...........and still here too




there are many more.......bargains are my favourite hobby

[grahamwithimps]

'89 Bluebird hatch... spent £113 buying it on ebay, needed a new radiator for <£90, apart from that I drive it and service it. It's getting on for 10k miles in six months, sailed through an MoT with one advisory... will sit at 85 on the motorway, returns around 35mpg...

Graham

[Odin]

'83 Mk1 Golf with full test: £275, punted on after extensive daily driver duties at a mild profit (not regarding cost of parts fitted though).

'83 Datsun Bluebird with long test: £175, must have been a dodgy ticket as it was as rotten as a pear. Got rid of it for a small loss.

'89 Fiat Panda with full test: £150 off a family member, sold it on here after a brilliant years use for £175 which is what the wheels and tyres I fitted were worth! Needed welding for the test though.

'89 Volvo 360 GLE: £200 with long test, specced up to the hilt (leather, electrics) and doing current daily driver duties. I have treated it to some 480 Turbo rims and tyres, though.

[branny361]

got this off ebay for 200 with mot and tax





a few mods later





still my daily driver


but i was beaten by my lad who got this for £65




and turned it to this !! and after 6 months of use crashed it and bent the chassis

[g40jon]

my polo gt was my best bargain, paid £100 for it, sold the wheels and tyres for 80, still had some tax and a tenner of petrol in it! also had a mk3 golf that cost me £0, had 200k on the clock though! sold it to a mate for £50, he mot'd it for £30 (only needed a sidelight replacing)and sold it on for £500!

[dubzi]

Current Golf GTI Cabriolet was a bit of a bargain I reckon
retrorides.proboards86.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=readersrides&thread=1201906755&page=1#1202000106
but the best example of this I had was a 2 litre Volvo 360 for £50 with 6 months MOT. When the MOT ran out I didn't bother repairing it (rust in the boot floor). Other than that it was quite tidy, no rust on the body and the interior was nice. Couldn't shift it no matter how I tried though so let the travellers have it. This was about 4 or 5 years ago.

Wish I'd kept it now seeing the prices they go for now! Back then they were just bangers nobody wanted.

[Dez]

a rover 216 for free......

got given a stacklight merc too.

ive lost could of the amount of cars ive bought for a couple of hunderd quid, run for a few months to a year, then sold for 1.5 times to twice the purchase price.

and this was £1500-

[grizz]

Not sure I ever bought a bargain car.....

That Beetle for free looks good though ^^^