Any advice on getting into and buying old cars?

[dabigv]

Hi Guys,

First post on here but i randomly found this forum and thought that it might be helpful for me to ask some of you more experienced guys around here how to run things. 

Currently i’m into small “shoebox” (my dad likes to call them) cars such as Seat Marbella, Fiat Panda (1990s), and just anything that is small and low power. (Makes insurance company like you a little more) I haven’t had much luck finding one for a reasonable price. My budget is about 1k to probably max. 2.5k

i know that finding small shoebox cars like this is pretty hard as everyone wants one but i was wondering if you guys have any advice on this. With that being said, if any of you happen to find sometimes resembling a fiat panda or marbella don’t hesitate to just drop a link down for me. 

i am looking to get an old car as my first car as it makes for easy maintenance and it’s fairly reasonable for understanding cars before i get a better more customised car. Thanks for reading.

[zeberdee]

Finding a bargain seems to be getting harder .

Try your local newsagents/co op etc for handwritten advert’s , or the usual ebay/Facebook etc .

Don’t give up looking , if it’s something you want , you’ll find it . Might just need to put a lot of effort in .

Good luck .

👍

[rodharris83]

Is this of any interest to you?

Owned by vulgalour on this forum:

link

[dabigv]

Yeah exactly mate. These days it always seems everyone is out to get each other.

[dabigv]

Thanks for the link mate. Its not quite what i’m looking for but its interesting to get to know how much these things go for. I'm kinda just looking for something a little smaller and maybe a little Curse word .

[slipngripross]

I just sold a Fiat Tipo with 25,000 miles for £1995 so would have been right up your street. Brose Marketplace, ebay, auction houses etc si your best bet. I have a Golf VR6 project for sale but not sure you would insure it.

[at200]

Choose a car with good parts availability and cheap spares. Otherwise you will be waiting a year til a particular bit of trim comes up on ebay. Don't buy a car without viewing it. Do loads of research on the model. If you want to work on it yourself try to avoid cars that for example need the engine removing before you can change the clutch. Early Golf too big? Some will be tax and mot exempt now. Not sure if the clutch thing applies though but parts are available.

[redratbike]

facebook market place throws up quite a few bargains or unusual cars

one or 2 for you

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/6595194520515747/

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/995737254864576/

cinquecento turbo

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3052588711538771/


lots of cheap mk2 pandas maybe too modern ?

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/756416789627472/

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/761279299138789/

cinquecento ?

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/876345337174128/

www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/893190509092357/

[ChasR]

Some good advice here. I'd add something though.

Buy the best example of what you can afford. Yes, folks may say you overpay, but you cannot put a price on time, and hassle incurred.

Parts and bodywork have skyrocketed in price lately, so having a good base will change matters.

[henspeed]

1st car you say
go and get yourself a fiat 500, dirt cheap
modern reliability and retro charm
good handler and can be modded to look even cooler

[bababoom]

When you have a short list of cars or a car in mind, go online and price up parts and how easy they are to get and the cost of the parts.
For example parts for a older Ford lets say will probably be half the price of Alfa and the ford parts will be on the shelf.

[igor]

Remember that old is a relative term. What you may think is old and simple may to others be modern and complicated. Best of luck finding something you like and can afford.

[Quasimoto]

Older car enthusiast / sure check usual sites for whats on offer. If looking online i check the registration plate and from that mot history. Number plate covered up then what is seller hiding.If satisfied enough make contact asking for post code. From Google Earth or any app like that checkout post code / nice area offers some hope the deal might be good and if it looks dubious be on your guard although an area is not a true indicator just an extra bit of information to consider. Check the make / model / year / spec against other cars for sale the same to get a rough price comparison. Again onwards it can and often is a case of buyer beware / often a seller will not be fully truthful and its challenging to work out truth against sales talk but again take along a mate who understands cars as well but overall good luck. Have to say decades ago buying and selling cars of which i did plenty of both was easier and honest / internet as bred this band of keyboard sales people hiding behind cyber land where as years gone by everything was face to face based on a lot of instinct and seller / buyer respect and the most important one trust.

[daklone]

Oct 30, 2023 22:05:25 GMT ChasR said:

Some good advice here. I'd add something though.

Buy the best example of what you can afford. Yes, folks may say you overpay, but you cannot put a price on time, and hassle incurred.

Parts and bodywork have skyrocketed in price lately, so having a good base will change matters.

^^^ This ^^^

And be honest with yourself about what you can and can't do yourself/afford to pay someone to do. It can be frustrating to look at a car and think "ooh, I could probably learn how to fix that" but it's even more frustrating to realise that it's too much for you and you can't afford for anyone to do the work for you.

As someone else said, get the best car you can afford, particularly in terms of paint and body even if it means compromising on exact make and model. There are often temptations out there that "just need a little welding" or "paint in places" that turn into expensive long-term projects...ask me how I know!

I always think that mechanical problems are easier to sort, as you can do a lot more yourself with fairly basic tools and can often find 2nd hand parts (depending on make/model of course) much cheaper than buying new.

So check the MoT history for any mention of corrosion and make sure you check it when you view the car, and make sure you're satisfied with the state of the paintwork. If there are mechanical gremlins to sort, so be it...that's half the fun!

[miamo]

I've recently discovered Exotic Car Trader. Good source for finding used exotic cars for sale. Maybe someone will also like it. And it has to be noted, that the exotic car trader customer service managers turned out to be very nice and ready to help.