Bangernomics- the game's moved on

[tubthumper]

Most of my daily vehicles in the past 20 years have fallen into the bangernomic arena,and with my old Fiat Multipla biting the dust last week,after 8 years of sterling work, I've jumped back into the game.

My shock is how much people are now asking,and presumably getting, for their old/ almost end of life cars.

I'd grown used to having quite a large choice of suitable bangers for under £600 locally, but having spent the last two days looking at a variety of cars advertised as " good runners" which appears to be the modern way of saying " would probably drive you to the nearest breakers yard", my realisation is you need over £1000 around my way to get something you won't need a tetanus jab after driving it.

I wouldn't mind if I were searching for something luxurious or desirable, but just need something big enough to get a drum kit in it and not look like it's been parked at the bottom of the sea for a year!

The search continues.........

[fogey]

Yes, totally agree - anything old that is actually up and running seems to £1k plus. Anything actually 'retro' or 'classic' seems to be silly money. Doesn't seem that long ago when you could buy a cheap runaround with at least 6 months mot for £500 or so.

As for drum kit capable cars - Rover 75 Tourer, if not the preferred Diesel versions, seem to be relatively cheap . . .

[misteralz]

We're getting older, and stuff's lasting better, or at least it is to a point. New cars are ridiculously expensive now as well. We're at a weird point in history right now, in lots of ways.

[skinnylew]

Agreed. There just isn't the same market there was, everything seems to have doubled in apparent value and cheap,stuff appears to be cheap because it's knackered. Exceptions to this would be finding a ULEZ orphan and saving it. Perhaps something like a mk1 Octavia tdi estate. Unless you need to access Greater London often which is a pain and limits things further 😑😤

[adam73bgt]

Probably a bit smaller than you'd want but I've been dailying an n16 Nissan Almera for the past year and a half, cost me a shade over £800 but is a tidy example (well it was until someone drove into me) with fsh and low owners



While I've been looking for a replacement door for it, I've seen loads of them up for sale for less than a grand, many better spec'd than mine 😅 if a primera hatch/estate could be found for similar money might do the job of getting a drum kit in with ease?

[tubthumper]

Today, I've looked at a 2.2i Vectra auto, which was ok, but £1500 and a 1.8 petrol Mondeo, that had seen better days in almost every way, but was still advertised at a grand.

Last week I test drove an old XC70, with almost moon mileage which turned out to have a faulty awd system, making it purely fwd,a few electrical gremlins as well as needing 4 tyres. That went for £1850.

A Primera/75 tourer would certainly be considered, but as I'm perilously close to the Ulez zone a petrol one would probably make sense.

[droopsnoot]

Sept 18, 2024 15:25:17 GMT tubthumper said:

Last week I test drove an old XC70, with almost moon mileage which turned out to have a faulty awd system, making it purely fwd,a few electrical gremlins as well as needing 4 tyres. That went for £1850.

My mate had one of those that developed a similar fault with the AWD, apparently there's a shaft that shears (or strips the splines, I forget which) under load to prevent damage further up the drivetrain, sort of a sacrificial part.

[surprisingskoda]

£1500 is the buy-in cost these days, with even Mk4 Golfs and old Scenic's (the ones that survive) making that sort of money. Cars at £750 are "No MOT, should pass no problem" and rocking around with 4 bald tyres.
It happened since the price of new cars skyrocketed (blame covid if you like) and that has trickled down. It's harder to get old cars that aren't knackered because people can't afford to trade up as easily as a handful of years back and there are lots of people nursing along an old banger. I know quite a few people - solid good earning middle class people too - ekeing out the last year or two of cars that in my mind are still almost new.

Conversely I think classics are very cheap right now, proper classics that is, not retro stuff like a Mk3 Escort for £17,500, but I mean like a 1960s Austin for £1750 ready to drive - but I think that is due to lessening demand for those older models that aren't really up to being used regularly and being less relevant to the current disposable income demographic.

[Rich]

Not sure if a 206SW would be big enough? They don’t command huge premiums and as long as the sills are good (they are very galvanised but you get the odd one that is soft) and the axle bearings aren’t baggy then they are buttons to keep on the road. A new radiator for my 1.4 CAZ/ULEZ compliant pez variant cost £11 from Euro car parts. The heater matrix was £4.80 and parts support is still excellent for a car that can be picked up for about £1-1500. Get the latest model you can and they have hardy interiors and tend to weather abuse fairly well.

[mongchop]

They are still out there if you hunt around, - unfortunately with the evolution of eBay and FaceBay, the amount of "classic dealers" has done through the roof and the days of the roadworthy bargains are pretty much gone.

Take a look at Autotrader now and you'll be lucky to find anything in decent condition for less than 1k.
It wasn't all that long ago I used to get stuck into the £500 or less section in the Autotrader. Happier times..

You might be better thinking outside the box as already said with mk1 Ocatvias/Superbs and maybe the odd Merc wagon.

[qwerty]

Probably too small but I paid a grand for this:


£0 tax and 50mpg around the doors much more on a run.
Its on 181k now, Mechanically all I've done is serviced it and fitted a sleeve over a snapped exhaust. 15k miles in it so far.

I may have got a bit carried away with visual modifications though:



Tom

[mk2cossie]

There certainly seems to be a lack of cars in the couple of hundred-500quid bracket now.

Even at work, people want top money for the rare car we get in thats uneconomical for them to have repaired.

Usually the cheap stuff is from people with many cars, or a pool car from a business.

I was fortunate enough to rehome a friends car, but I'm keeping quiet at what I paid for it

[tubthumper]

Sept 18, 2024 17:03:37 GMT droopsnoot said:

Sept 18, 2024 15:25:17 GMT tubthumper said:

Last week I test drove an old XC70, with almost moon mileage which turned out to have a faulty awd system, making it purely fwd,a few electrical gremlins as well as needing 4 tyres. That went for £1850.

My mate had one of those that developed a similar fault with the AWD, apparently there's a shaft that shears (or strips the splines, I forget which) under load to prevent damage further up the drivetrain, sort of a sacrificial part.

That's exactly what it had, and it's not completely obvious when driving it normally. It didn't make a noise or throw up any dash lights, but you could spin the propshaft,which shouldn't move if the splines are ok.

[tubthumper]

Sept 18, 2024 18:07:54 GMT Rich said:

Not sure if a 206SW would be big enough? They don’t command huge premiums and as long as the sills are good (they are very galvanised but you get the odd one that is soft) and the axle bearings aren’t baggy then they are buttons to keep on the road. A new radiator for my 1.4 CAZ/ULEZ compliant pez variant cost £11 from Euro car parts. The heater matrix was £4.80 and parts support is still excellent for a car that can be picked up for about £1-1500. Get the latest model you can and they have hardy interiors and tend to weather abuse fairly well.

The car prior to the Multipla was a 406 hdi estate, which I thoroughly enjoyed owning,right up until the electrics went wonky,and you couldn't turn off the wipers or radio! The speedo would also stop for an hour or so every few days, but even with those foibles, it served me well.

[Mercdan68]

Yep it’s definitely not the fun it used to be…..but I still find my cars by knocking on doors and shop window ads it still turns up little gems
I bought my fiesta van and my Sierra sapph by knocking on the owners front doors

[dieselmax]

Peugeot 308 SW; This is what I drive at the moment. We bought ours new in 2010, and still have it today with 0 breakages, now 100000 miles. It does 54MPG and has the largest boot space of it's class: 600 litres.
I am not keen on the styling, but equally it served us very well, and is worth pennys: This one is on ebay, and many more.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266990242814?_skw=peugeot+308+sw&itmmeta=01J83A9CS5J8SV6XJ7464STJGV&hash=item3e29dbcbfe:g:7~sAAOSwjdVm5aOj&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnb69FD6j2AP9kZ86NgkdLHgsSuppbK4PerJl9bQ0Xu62cEJcHJ4U4V2CuIRcyxrxr6%2FAUrASvyGz%2BKSYIu5o7aNfbm17RIDjkJwkK9VzGfM%2Fd4XJP8zYc%2F4yw9jJQWAkHdyZX%2B4kY5jPB3NjJ8KbjaKVFaU5bo%2FJxnUqrzPB%2BeKnwDZ2Ir2RAUn0RFiDMjlZdVqiQ1lPuqTjLKmdRfUwf6zAhuteZDnfFeWEO7I7PCPiNItC9M7YKLhlR9ggq1a3uUD9UVo793AHNWQSuLbp8JKX8Y6VNv6IR7Zo5sp6V31A%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9LMperAZA

[jjp666]

autoshite.com/topic/60281-2002-volvo-xc70-25t-its-fast-ulez-compliant-and-comes-with-a-discount-for-shiters/#comment-3097520

[ratchart]

What about a Berlingo? A brief search found this one for well under a thousand. A few advisories and probably not ULEZ friendly if that matters but otherwise seems to fit your criteria. 

But people with decent old (as opposed to classic or retro) cars seem to just want to keep hold of them. Someone I work with has a first generation Volvo V70 and she said she's never going to sell it while it still works as there's no more modern car that does anything better than the one she's got. The Volvo will probably outlive her.

[misteralz]

Exactly. My mk5 GTI is old enough to legally drink in pubs now. It's quick and fast, will return nearly 40mpg on a boring run, it's reasonably cheap to insure and maintain, and I can step out of it after a nine hour drive without feeling frazzled thanks to its aircon and fab seats. I upgraded the head unit to one with an SD card, so I've got nearly all my music in there as well. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that it's still genuinely fun to drive. It is literally all the car I would ever need. A decent hot hatch is all anyone really needs, if they're honest with themselves. I think we've had the 'when was peak car' discussion on here a few times, and the answer's changed over the twenty years that Retro Rides has been going. But honestly? I'm feeling like the cut-off date is getting firmer somewhere around 2014. Let's make it a nice 25 years. 1989-2014. Once touchscreens, electric handbrakes, and apps start arriving, that's when I check out.

[skinnylew]

I still consider my Skoda Octavia mk1 VRS's as modern despite them coming with a cassette player and 6 disc changer 😂