# Bangernomics



## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I think that's the term I'm thinking of, buying a cheap old car, running it for a length of time and then selling with minimal loss? 

To give you a background on what my trail of thought. I drive 130 miles and back to pick up my little girl every other weekend. Now I didn't usually drive the Megane 225 as my mum kindly lets me nab her A1 or the Mrs let's me borrow her diesel Focus. Obviously the AMG is comfy but cost wise isn't great to use every time (literally double the cost) and the Twingo isn't great for the motorway slog. 

So here's the thought, can you run a diesel banger for 12-24 months super cheap? I'm talking £500-£1,000 to run up and down the M4. I pay for the ex's fuel to come pick up my little girl but don't mind dropping her off as well as it gives me more time with her (child not ex haha) so is a reasonable banger a worthwhile idea? 

Yes I have the option of other cars but I don't want to take the pi$$, let alone the fact that my Mrs is putting 80 miles a day on her Focus.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

The world of bangernomics requires a lot of luck. Some people get a good one, others end up having big bills. 

Once you do the maths of buying a car, insuring it, taxing it and paying for all the costs, it would go a long way to pay the fuel for the AMG. 

Then is there any point of having to put up with a banger for driving when you have a nice car to drive? Surely the AMG is the place for a long trip, comfort and luxury?

130×26 in less than 3400 miles per year. That doesn't merit a second car for me.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Renault Zoe? £130pm with no deposit? Fuel savings would pay for itself?


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Just a shame the Zoe doesn't have the range I'd need as its a 260 mile round trip. 

The Merc is indeed perfect for the cruise, but makes the round trip £65-70 rather than £30-35.

As said driving a banger does very much come down luck, having owned a couple of £600 runabouts which worked well but could have worked out to be crap.


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## davies20 (Feb 22, 2009)

I did this & bought a 03 plate Saxo 1.1 bog standard job for £500 - recent'ish new clutch, I put new cheapo disc & pads on it so sets me at about £600 not inc tax insurance.

I only go to work & back in it so a around trip of 15 mile but I give it no love, it gets abused, never cleaned, driven from cold, I don't even lock the doors! And I tell you what, best car I've ever owned, no power steering is interesting too!!

I say go for it, worst that'll happen is you lose £500, no biggy really!


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Go for it, driving cheap cars you don't care about can be really fun actually. I've made a profit on all the cheap cars I've had, just give it a good look over when buying so risk is as low as possible


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

I was just chatting with the Mrs about it and was looking at a handful of cars that are sub a grand. What does she come out with, "Eurgh it's green", "I wouldn't want a car with high mileage because it would be unreliable" etc etc when suggesting she could use it for work too! 

There's plenty to choose from though from Focus's to Lagunas to Mondeos etc even a couple of rough Mercs.


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## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

If you're in a position to be considering up to a grand for a banger plus tax, insurance etc then I don't see the point. How many trips in the AMG would it take to equal the cost of this extra car?

You've got an amazing car, use it!


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## tyson1989 (Feb 21, 2015)

As long as your careful it can be done for sure. 

I've never paid more than £1000 for a car, either run it for a year (or until I'm bored of it!)or 2 and I've at minimum got the money back I paid for it


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

I've run a W reg 406hdi Est as a Rubble Shifter runaround for the last few years now and it cost peanuts.

50/60 mpg don't care where I park it, don't care if it carries a more than average amount of dirt.

But. It's comfy, drives nice, has aircon/lectric seat/window/doors etc.

You can pick up a fully loaded full leather example for between 500/1000 run it for a year and sell it for same money.

I never set out to own a peugeot, it kinda came my way but tell you what, wouldn't get rid of it in a hurry.

True bangeromics

:thumb:

> Edit, Can see this going for around 800, crazy when you think of the spec > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-PEUG...ATHER-SEATS-/301762265442?hash=item46426ec162

.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

millns84 said:


> If you're in a position to be considering up to a grand for a banger plus tax, insurance etc then I don't see the point. How many trips in the AMG would it take to equal the cost of this extra car?
> 
> You've got an amazing car, use it!


Absolutely see your point there mate and £ for £ it may be very very similar to running a banger or using the AMG.

That's said I use the Merc regularly so it's not sitting idle but I wouldn't use it for a run to the dump etc and would always be wairy of parking any old place.

Something very relaxing about driving a comfy old banger that you don't care too much for. A car literally for A to B that I could run for a couple of years, service myself and rack up the miles on.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Alex_225 said:


> Just a shame the Zoe doesn't have the range I'd need as its a 260 mile round trip.
> 
> The Merc is indeed perfect for the cruise, but makes the round trip £65-70 rather than £30-35.
> 
> As said driving a banger does very much come down luck, having owned a couple of £600 runabouts which worked well but could have worked out to be crap.


You'd need 2 stops of around 25 mins for that. Perfectly doable.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

ardandy said:


> You'd need 2 stops of around 25 mins for that. Perfectly doable.


It maybe perfectly doable, but that's a major pain in the backside that 99% of people would want to avoid.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Depends on if the financial savings outweigh the pain.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

At 6am on a Saturday morning I don't much fancy recharging mid journey. I set off at 5.15 and get home by 10-10.30am.

Sadly I don't think EVs offer the solution for me just yet.


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

I was going to suggest something like this:

https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/cars/fiat/13532/view/fiat_doblo_panorama_(2006)/

Cheap as chips, to buy and run, and perfect for dog's abuse on trips to the tip etc

But perhaps it's just *too* ridiculous a suggestion......


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

I guess it depends on the miles but I've been looking at something similar since the Saab died, well it didn't die, I just chose not to spend any money on it. However when calculating the running costs of replacements it works out almost as cheap to pcp something new.

Taking into account fuel, tax, service, tyres brakes etc based on buying a small auto capable of returning 40 mpg against a new smart forfour then there was something like £15 in it, for the extra you had a new car which I felt more comfortable with the wife driving. The trouble is you have to run them for 3 years to cover any negative equity. 

For what your doing I would be going down the route of the 406 hdi or Saab 2.2 93/95. Although if you like me I never put budget tyres or brakes on it as it was false economy. It's certainly doable but you need to find something with new quality tyres that has 12 months mot and has just had a cambelt otherwise the costs stack up.


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## Bazza85 (Mar 14, 2015)

Interesting thread this. 
I too am toying with banger hunting. Mine is to save my bmw 650i come winter when it's icy/snowing. Dread the thought of gettin caught out with its auto box & ridiculous wide tyres or having a slow motion whoopsie in her. 
My search was more along the lines of an old corsa/Clio etc, but the Peugeot mentioned previously in this thread, thats a lot of car for the money. 
Best of luck mate, I understand how in your head it works even if people 'do the maths' & kinda prove otherwise. 
To me, If you're shelling out what feels like every weekend on fuel, it will 'feel' cheaper rolling around part time in a banger (if you get a good one)

Plus, it's kinda fun tryin to fix it up a bit knowing at worse, it's a few hundred quid lost, or even makin money on a car that hasn't seen some love in a while come time to get rid


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

The_Bouncer said:


> I've run a W reg 406hdi Est as a Rubble Shifter runaround for the last few years now and it cost peanuts.
> 
> 50/60 mpg don't care where I park it, don't care if it carries a more than average amount of dirt.
> 
> ...


God!!!! Can't stand bleeding adverts stating xxxK MOTORWAY miles!

What bull***t


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## Geordieexile (May 21, 2013)

I've been running bangers as commuters / practical cars for a while. If you're handy on the spanners it can be quite a good way to keep the miles off your pride and joy. It's what allows me to have a 2 seater for fun despite having 2 kids and 2 dogs.


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## Hondafan1 (Jul 26, 2013)

Bit of a left field choice than the normal Ford or Vauxhall but also take a look at a Nissan Almera. Comfortable, cheap to run and economical. Chain driven so no timing belt and i have had a couple in last 3 years as stop gap cars. Always came up great with a bit of polish and wax and i have never lost money on the resale.

Only thing to watch for is front subframe rot and rattley timing chain. 

Go for SE or SVE for better spec:thumb:


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Thanks for all the replies guys. I had a chat with the Mrs and she did she did show some interest in possibly going into it with me as she could use her Focus and other days use the 'banger'.

I actually spotted a 2003 Laguna 1.9dci with 136k for £600. Not actually a bad looking car and looked in good condition. Will do a bit more homework though and consider all the suggestions made, any more idea let me know


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## LSherratt (Dec 27, 2011)

I do appreciate "banger" driving and I did a similar thing although my budget wasn't exactly banger money as such. My max was £1500 for a daily driver/dog wagon. After a lot of research and the more I looked, in the end I bought a £1500 Saab 9-5 Aero estate with all the luxury extras and a 2.3 litre turbo :lol:. After 3 months of using it I sold my weekend Subaru as I couldn't see myself driving it again so I'm still with the Saab as my only car now. It is a great drive and cheap too if looked after. I will again own another weekend car, but for now I'm sticking with my single cheap car which is in really good condition and I don't mind if it gets a little dirty with the GSD in the huge boot. I shouldn't lose much money on it either.


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

I've got an EP3 Type R for every day use and it's a complete bucket, its black, got several bad smart repairs, more than it's fair share of dents, couple of rust patches poking through now, it never gets washed (does get hoovered regularly though!) and I can put the dog in the big boot it has.

I love it, I don't care where I park it and aside from needing new drop links (20 minute DIY job), a lambda sensor and the back box falling off it's been pretty solid - it's just quick enough to not be boring either. I'm pretty sure I could sell it for what I paid for it assuming I don't just run it into the ground


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## turbosnoop (Apr 14, 2015)

On the contrast to the above. I too have a civic type r. Its my pride and joy. Its my latest ocd car. I want to park it up and just look at it, and rarely use it. I want to almost freeze it in time. 
But my 34 miles a day commute makes this impossible. 
But, I too am lucking at owning a second car. I can't stand road and wind noise on my commute so looking at cars which wouldn't be too crap that they'd drive me insane, but they must be under say £1500, cheap as poss to run, medium sized and petrol. Good thread


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm not sure I quite get bangernomics anymore, I'm in a position to have a nice car so I use it everyday it isn't broken! Never mind, I've found a replacement haha!

I'd use the AMG anyway, it's what it's there for!


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

Here is another option, key fleets were doing the Citroen c4 cactus over 12 months for 69.99 + vat per month with 1 upfront payment,


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## LSherratt (Dec 27, 2011)

SteveTDCi said:


> Here is another option, key fleets were doing the Citroen c4 cactus over 12 months for 69.99 + vat per month with 1 upfront payment,


Possibly one of the most ugliest cars ever though :lol:


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## Delboy_Trotter (Jun 7, 2007)

Bangernomics is a fun sport - if you get into it it can be a lot of fun, making it pay means being handy with the spanners though, if you drive to a garage every time your car needs attention it won't pay, but if you can service it yourself and do most the basic jobs it can be a cheap reliable way of motoring, the best bit is you don't need to worry about them being filthy or a few dinks, anything thats a rep motor is a good bet, and ex-plod are also a good buy, yes they might get thrashed about but they also get maintained, don't get into it if you want low mileage minters etc


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2015)

i love bangernomics! 

I have my Z4 coupe which i can pamper & love, i wouldn't even want to use it to commute to work in.

I have a Mk4 golf 130pd gt tdi, its a 51 plate with dents scratches & rust, but it runs well & drives really nice, offers 50mpg & is only £91 to tax for 6 months.

I paid £825 for the car
£500 for insurance
£150 for annual tax 

so it has cost me 1500 quid all in for a years motoring, i made surei got one with a new DMF/clutch & cambelt. Only big potential bill i can be looking at (unless i'm unlucky) is a set of injectors & a turbo. 

I throw wheels in it all the time, its 5 door so can transport mates & family in comfort, its absoltley terrible at handling so makes me appreciate the z4 when i get in it @ the weekend


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## Natalie (Jan 19, 2011)

This was something I thought about when my job changed from 4 on 4 off to Mon - Fri as I didn't want to put more miles on my Anniversary.

I was looking at £500 Corsas, KAs Fiestas... I ended up with a £2k Polo GTI :wall: :lol:


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

Alex_225 said:


> Thanks for all the replies guys. I had a chat with the Mrs and she did she did show some interest in possibly going into it with me as she could use her Focus and other days use the 'banger'.
> 
> I actually spotted a 2003 Laguna 1.9dci with 136k for £600. Not actually a bad looking car and looked in good condition. Will do a bit more homework though and consider all the suggestions made, any more idea let me know


I would rather chuck £600 in the bin than buy a dci Laguna your asking for endless pain :lol:


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## Tricky Red (Mar 3, 2007)

I've got to be honest and never really thought about it as: 

a. I'm crap with spanners and could fix nothing
b. I'd worry about the safety levels of older cars in comparison with newer ones.

Even if I could do a., I would still not buy anything too old because of b.


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## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

We have a 307 1.4hdi as a family runaround. 

£30/year road tax and can easily do 300miles on £20-25.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

CoOkIeMoNsTeR said:


> I'm not sure I quite get bangernomics anymore, I'm in a position to have a nice car so I use it everyday it isn't broken! Never mind, I've found a replacement haha!
> 
> I'd use the AMG anyway, it's what it's there for!


Me too, no point having a nice car then driving around in a shed, if MPG was such an issue i would get something with better MPG but still nice.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

Shaun said:


> Me too, no point having a nice car then driving around in a shed, if MPG was such an issue i would get something with better MPG but still nice.


Clearly you have never driven a banger, the ability to not care, not wash it and how much better it makes the main car feel. It's like having old trainers and new trainers.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

SteveTDCi said:


> Clearly you have never driven a banger, the ability to not care, not wash it and how much better it makes the main car feel. It's like having old trainers and new trainers.


See there's the thing, I had a Clio 172 I bought for £800. It was a bit scruffy so I showed it some love but always knew it had a life before I owned it. Can honestly say I loved that car because I wasn't prissy about it, ok so I didn't park it any old place and took good care of it but always had that relaxed feel.

My other cars I've either owned from new or would be very hard to replace. Yes I love that the cars I own are special (to me at least) in terms of low mileage, condition or rarity in general but that does make them precious where as driving a car you literally use for the purpose of transport and having no worries for it can give massive pleasure.


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

That was my problem with chopping my DB9 in for something new; at 10 and a half years of age, the 51,000 miles it now has isn't even average for a supercar, but now I've ordered a new car, I started to do that residual value worrying thing as I put 10k odd a year on my daily (I've put 11.5k on the DB9 and all the hire cars I've had in the last 11 months due to its woeful build quality). There's no way I could put that kind of mileage on a 458 for example; the service bills would be crippling and if have a real problem shifting a circa 6 year old Ferrari with 40-50k miles on it. Most don't get there in a decade, so I've gone for something different again.

Although there is some satisfaction in having a car you don't care about, I've found it doesn't have to be a banger. My DB9 had been the biggest PITA car I've ever had. My 35 year old never restored until now 911 was invincible in all the 70k miles I drove in it as a daily before its rebuild and only broke down once (small electrical fire!) but the AM has been so bad, I've washed it once myself in all the time I've had it, I have no love or care for the car, I just get in it and use it like any other car and I think because I'm not precious about it, I have more fun with it. Despite its numerous and varied faults, nothing replaces the head turning stares as I drive it and the growl from that beastly V12. That and I can fit a 3 month old and a dog in it too haha. So no real need for a banger, get a nice car you can let go of a little; life's too short to drive a boring car


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

heres mine...


a little fiesta 1.6 turbo diesel, 125k on for a £1600. £30 tax, no DPF and simple enough to carry out jobs myself, So far ive done Oil+Filter, Air Filter and pads and Discs. I've done over 3000 miles in 4 months and love it to bits and has been totally reliable. Its not perfect like my ST is, but have been round it with machine polisher and its looks well for the mileage, but its such a relief to have something that you can just leave without too much worry what might happen to it, ive left it at the pub car park when ive decided to have a drink something i couldnt do with the ST. The Insurance is the biggest cost beyond the buying the thing but on fuel, 500 miles from £30 is pretty good to me


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## turbosnoop (Apr 14, 2015)

How do you guys with two cars go about insuring the second car as cheap as poss?. A while ago when I bought my ctr, and had my old twingo 133 for sale for a few weeks. I insured the ctr with all my ncb as my daily normal car, then I got quotes on a twingo 133 with 0 ncb (pain in the rear having to say you have 0 ncb) through a compare website. Then asked the insurer of my ctr if they would beat the quotes I'd got on the twingo. They mirror'd my ncb and beat the prices. 
But how do you guys go about this?


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## Natalie (Jan 19, 2011)

turbosnoop said:


> How do you guys with two cars go about insuring the second car as cheap as poss?. A while ago when I bought my ctr, and had my old twingo 133 for sale for a few weeks. I insured the ctr with all my ncb as my daily normal car, then I got quotes on a twingo 133 with 0 ncb (pain in the rear having to say you have 0 ncb) through a compare website. Then asked the insurer of my ctr if they would beat the quotes I'd got on the twingo. They mirror'd my ncb and beat the prices.
> But how do you guys go about this?


I didn't think about asking my current insurer to mirror NCB I just went with the cheapest quote when I bought the Polo. I was only £200 odd cos I'm old :lol:


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Multi car policies are a god send when it comes to accumulating NCB. 

I had a Megane 225 which had 7 or so years of NCB and my Twingo 133 had similar. I then went to insure a Clio 172 so put it on a multi car policy with the Twingo. After a year I decided to change insurers and they gave me a NCB certificate for each car, the Twingo had 7 years on it the Clio got 6! I now have three lots of no claims but in reality I built that up on two cars. If that makes sense. 

Going back to my initial post though, for me the idea of a banger is literally traipsing up and down the motorway, sticking mileage on a car I don't care too much about, in relative comfort but good MPG. 

I have the CLS63 which is epic, I love the car and have no intention of selling it on any time soon. That said it's rare, very low mileage and I'd like to keep it that way my two RenaultSports are even lower mileage and again I have no intention of selling on. 

My Mrs is doing 80 miles a day of motorway miles, so a diesel banger for under a grand would relieve some mileage on her 2013 Focus and double up as a motorway runner for me picking the little'un up.


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## Guest (Oct 13, 2015)

i have a policy with Adrian Flux.

My main car is insured with them , just phoned up & asked if they can insure me a second car, as they are a broker they'll just run another policy in tandem, they mirrored my NCD onto my Golf - Paying £500 for the golf im 27 with 1 fault claim living in med risk postcode


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

SteveTDCi said:


> Clearly you have never driven a banger, the ability to not care, not wash it and how much better it makes the main car feel. It's like having old trainers and new trainers.


I have company car to use that I can do that with so not an issue for me, i still wouldn't have a nice car and not use then drive around in a shed though, when would you ever use the nice car?! , I just wouldn't go or would be choosy about where I went if I had something flashy.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Shaun said:


> ...I just wouldn't go or would be choosy about where I went.


Sadly it's not always an option to be picky like that, something I've noticed more since my little girl arrived. If I want to take her out or go visit people it's not feasible for me to not go. Admittedly my Mrs is less fussy with her own car but when I used to drive my cheapo 172 Clio I really wasn't fussed and didn't care what it looked like as the lack of care made it even more fun.


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

Alex_225 said:


> Sadly it's not always an option to be picky like that, something I've noticed more since my little girl arrived. If I want to take her out or go visit people it's not feasible for me to not go. Admittedly my Mrs is less fussy with her own car but when I used to drive my cheapo 172 Clio I really wasn't fussed and didn't care what it looked like as the lack of care made it even more fun.


My boy is 8 and it's got me through :thumb:, like I say I just get a middle of the road car and don't worry about it, if i can I leave it in a good space I will, i just wouldn't buy a big engine car and then not drive it because it has a big engine though, all that said we take my wife's on hols etc as it has more space, and if I take the bike i use hers but again because it has the space.

It's only my choice though, just an opinion lol.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

i reckon the 1.6 fiesta diesel is what you need


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

bidderman1969 said:


> i reckon the 1.6 fiesta diesel is what you need


No get the 1.4 tdci...no DPF

This shape










ok on the motorway, cheap to run. My Brother in-law runs one as a company car and so do the rest of them that work at his place (domestic gas engineers but not fitters so no need for a big car) They all make ££££'s a year by running these rather than say a new Insignia/Mondeo/3 Series/A4 etc.

They all swear by them as they cover mileage great, no much to go wrong on them and if they do the parts are cheap.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

robertdon777 said:


> No get the 1.4 tdci...no DPF
> 
> This shape
> 
> ...


The 1.6 Tdci on the mk6 and 6.5 also don't have a DPF fitted :thumb:


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## footfistart (Dec 2, 2013)

Get a no pd engined car like an Audi a4tdi or passat and run it on veg and diesel. Or a non turbo diesel then you can run almost neat veg if you choose the right car.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

I'm running about in a 2008 1.2 corsa more than I am my mini, I leave it in the centre of town at the railway station, anyone can drive it and I don't care what happens to it. It's fun to not worry about warming it up or hitting a kerb or if someone parks 2" away I just won't give a stuff. Over the past week I've driven a new m5,5.0 v8 f type and c63 AMG .... Why do I need a nice car everyday  

Insurance, well I just find the cheapest on a search engine, the Saab and corsa have both cost £145 a year with no noclaims.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Some great food for thought in here, then again DW usually delivers on these things. 

I'm not totally convinced it's something I'm going to do but good to get ideas especially from those who do. 

Those little diesel Fiesta's look ideal, ugly as sin, totally characterless but totally functional haha


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

The great thing about having a shed for a daily driver is that it makes the good/summer car feel even more special when you take it out the garage for a play :driver::thumb:


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Clark @ PB said:


> The great thing about having a shed for a daily driver is that it makes the good/summer car feel even more special when you take it out the garage for a play :driver::thumb:


Trouble is I've ended up with two cars like that. My Megane 225 is the garage queen, the Twingo Gordini is the fair weather car and the AMG is the 'four door daily car' haha. I have no intention of wrapping the Merc up, it's been used all be it lightly in it's 7 year life and it's a waste not to enjoy it.

I don't actually drive day to day, it's just every other weekend a run to Bristol and back. Although I suspect this may end up being more frequent hence my shed/banger trail of though.


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Been chatting to the Mrs a bit more about the possibility of a sub-£1k diesel of some kind. Her 2013 Focus has 32k on it so far and with her commute increasing to 40 miles each way that is mounting up pretty quickly. 

So between us buying a banger could work in both our favours for keeping the miles/costs down. 

If I say the brand Saab, what would be your thoughts on an 10-12 year old model? Seems there's plenty of 120,000 milers out there for under a grand. Ford Mondeo seems an option as well.


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

If your looking for a Diesel look for a Rover 75. Fairly rot free and run timing chains. Good BMW engines if your not fussed about a high millage you should get one under £1000.

Here's one, but there are a few more on here too. http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=229090


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Alex_225 said:


> Been chatting to the Mrs a bit more about the possibility of a sub-£1k diesel of some kind. Her 2013 Focus has 32k on it so far and with her commute increasing to 40 miles each way that is mounting up pretty quickly.
> 
> So between us buying a banger could work in both our favours for keeping the miles/costs down.
> 
> If I say the brand Saab, what would be your thoughts on an 10-12 year old model? Seems there's plenty of 120,000 milers out there for under a grand. Ford Mondeo seems an option as well.


Leaf! Leaf! Leaf!


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Kiashuma said:


> If your looking for a Diesel look for a Rover 75. Fairly rot free and run timing chains. Good BMW engines if your not fussed about a high millage you should get one under £1000.
> 
> Here's one, but there are a few more on here too. http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=229090


Agree with this, but beware of the rear struts on the tourers, they rip the metal off the bodywork over time


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Don't take this the wrong way, but it's a diesel Focus. Being a bit above average mileage isn't really going to make the world of difference to it come resale time.

Could understand if it was an ST/RS/some kind of special edition. But it's a pretty much run of the mill car.


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## Loudandproud205 (Oct 18, 2015)

I am a true fan of bangernomics up until a couple of years ago I very rarely paid over £500 for a car.

Pick up a cheap Audi Coupe or Alfa 156 Sportwagon still a bit interesting and a bit diverse I was looking for a 2.4JTD 156 Sportwagon but they were beyond my reach so I ended up with a 1.8 T-Spark which was fine did around 38-40mpg I paid £350 and didn't have a single issue. Much the same as the Audi Coupe bought a dirty cheap one cleaned it up and sold on.

I try to pick up at least 1 cheap car a year and sell it on as I like doing my bit to keeping cars on the road.


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

I loved my 1999 Saab. It was the 2.3 turbo and I'd have another.


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## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

I'd forget a small diesel as you can pick up things like Saab 9-5s for very similar money and offer you so much more


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## DIESEL DAVE (Jul 26, 2007)

A6 1.9 tdi, cheaper and bigger than equivalent golf and still 40/50 mpg, no DPF


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## SteveTDCi (Feb 8, 2006)

How about an 07 Passat 1.9 tdi with 149k on the clock ?


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

I bought a van with 10 months MOT on for £300. I sold it to downsize my fleet. Only car I've cried about selling. There was a bit more to it than being a cheap car. It was awesome. 

I cleaned it up inside out (spent around a week doing it and built in storage to it. Spent a few quid on some new part worns lol (something I'd never do on a car I'd normally drive) but the part worns had over 6mm of tread all round and were branded for naff all money. Served me fantastically for over a year. After I'd cleaned, polished and touched up paint it looked like a 5 year old van, not a 17 year old. Got comments everywhere it went. 

Fantastic mpg. Not sure if have taken my child in it though.


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## mikechesterman (May 25, 2013)

You can buy a car that cheap that's not a "shed" and can be an appreciating asset or at the very worst "depreciation-proof".

I've just added an almost-mint Mercedes 190E with less than 80k on the clock and full main dealer service history for within that price bracket and I know I could shift it on tomorrow for more than twice what I paid and it's still a very nice car to drive around in even by today's standards!


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Strada Automotive said:


> You can buy a car that cheap that's not a "shed" and can be an appreciating asset or at the very worst "depreciation-proof".
> 
> I've just added an almost-mint Mercedes 190E with less than 80k on the clock and full main dealer service history for within that price bracket and I know I could shift it on tomorrow for more than twice what I paid and it's still a very nice car to drive around in even by today's standards!


That's the thing, for the money it may be 'shed' territory but many of them aren't bad cars.

Saw a 01/02 Mondeo diesel with 80k on the clock. Looked in reasonable condition and even if it had a few dinks or minor scuffs it's not a total shed of a car. Albeit not as appealing as a classic Merc but isn't going to lose you money in the long run.


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