# Are the days of buying £200 bangers gone?



## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

My gearbox is on it's last legs on my Ibiza so I've tried to find an old banger with mot to tied me over till next year but really can't seem to find any . Are the days of buying a runabout over?


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

I think they are tbh  I cast my eyeballs over the classifieds weekly to see if any potential bargains are to be had. Not seen any genuine bargains for a very long time


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

They can be had but very hard to find these days. They have either been traded in for the scrappage scheme or snapped up. Cars seem to be worth an awful lot I pieces too so maybe more people are jumping on the breaking bandwagon. People also don't seem to want to spend money fixing things and most people are too busy to fix things themselves therefore trade it in dirt cheap at a garage where they are offered finance on a brand new car. The car is then either tarted up and sold for more than its worth or sent to the scrap yard in the sky. Everyone tries to make a buck on cheap car.


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## Willows-dad (Jul 12, 2012)

Once a cars only worth a couple of hundred its easier to scrap it. Especially by the time you've paid for an advert and sat about waiting for people to view it.


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## Versoman (Jan 6, 2006)

just sold the mrs's s reg corolla on the first day with a ticket in the window was in really good condition with tax and mot
doubled the trade in offer (not hard really) and could of sold it three times over so definately a market but I think the issue is the standard out there?


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## Princy (Dec 14, 2011)

The trouble is a scrap car is worth around £150 to weigh in now


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

A few years ago all the free ad's etc were full of £150 bangers my old red fiesta only cost me £150. The only car that seems local'ish to me is a Nissan Micra L 1.0 Auto think I need to get a few paper bags so people can't see me driving it hahaha .


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

Was looking at this till the seller told me he wants £850 for it :O

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330846916669?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

JohnA88 said:


> Was looking at this till the seller told me he wants £850 for it :O
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330846916669?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1426.l2649


Original tyres on rear:doublesho:doublesho:doublesho


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## Davemm (Mar 9, 2009)

i had similar issue, and needed a cheap car to get me through winter until i found a replacement. 

i ended up with a T reg vectra for 500 quid

63k on the clock and mint inside for the age. little bit of rust on the outside and a poor smart repair but it runs well and hasnt put a foot wrong. best part is i wont loose on it, but i spent a long time trying to find anything as cheap that was even road worthy !


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## xJay1337 (Jul 20, 2012)

I know someone (well it's on the Berkshire Dubbers for sale group on Facebook) who has a Golf Mk4 GTI (not sure what engine, either the 1.8T, 1.8NA or 2.0 NA) with full heated leather interior, 6 months tax, 4 months MOT, £550..

You could buy it and then split it for parts in 4-6 months and be easily £500 up.. the interior sells for £300 on it's own.


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

Davemm said:


> i had similar issue, and needed a cheap car to get me through winter until i found a replacement.
> 
> i ended up with a T reg vectra for 500 quid
> 
> 63k on the clock and mint inside for the age. little bit of rust on the outside and a poor smart repair but it runs well and hasnt put a foot wrong. best part is i wont loose on it, but i spent a long time trying to find anything as cheap that was even road worthy !


Vectra's are quite nice cars tbh. Most of the sub £200 bangers on ebay are sold with no mot/tax or with stupid millage with no service history so you could drive down the road and the cam belt go's etc.


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## Davemm (Mar 9, 2009)

This had 6 months tax, 8 months MOT and had just been serviced. All the services apart from the last one were at main vauxhall dealer. Even the display still works fine ! First I've seen on an old vauxhall. 
Really was a good buy need a few bits to make me happy and run smooth but all parts were £60 so can't complain there. Will always be able to sell it on at little if no loss. 

You do get a lot more car for your money if you look at bigger cars. And most won't have been ruined by younger drivers


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## shinyporsche (Oct 30, 2012)

Twice I’ve sacked lads because they were constantly late or not at work because their cars had broken down (again and again and again). The hidden cost of under-spending on a car can be really very high. There are all the repairs, being late, being stopped by the Bill, having bits fall off and cause damage to other people’s cars, paying extra road tax and buying extra fuel because old cars are inefficient the list goes on and on.
The difference between paying £200 and £1000 , just £15 per week. One blown head gasket, a snapped cam-belt or a seized steering rack and you’ve blown that amount straight away.
Sorry, rant over.


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## Ultimate (Feb 18, 2007)

Bangernomics seems to be even more challenging nowadays, as I have found recently, quite a few are in the 250 tax bracket which is crazy considering the value of the cars in question


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## xJay1337 (Jul 20, 2012)

shinyporsche said:


> Twice I've sacked lads because they were constantly late or not at work because their cars had broken down (again and again and again). The hidden cost of under-spending on a car can be really very high. There are all the repairs, being late, being stopped by the Bill, having bits fall off and cause damage to other people's cars, paying extra road tax and buying extra fuel because old cars are inefficient the list goes on and on.
> The difference between paying £200 and £1000 , just £15 per week. One blown head gasket, a snapped cam-belt or a seized steering rack and you've blown that amount straight away.
> Sorry, rant over.


Bit harsh and untrue.

My Dad has got a Lexus IS220d he bought from a Lexus main dealer. Not sure exactly how much but I reckon about £13k.
It had a FLSH and had done 77k on an 07 plate.

The first 6 months he had the car it was in the garage for 3 I **** you not. It's the most unreliable car I've known anyone to have.


First the EGR buggered up so that was replaced.
Then it had a new gearbox (yes a new gearbox)

Then something happened with the engine which was causing oil to get into the exhaust system (piston ring failure) and the car broke down when he was in France, needing transport back from France for both him and the car

It recieved
 New top end (rings, rods, head, valves)
New exhaust system, cat and DPF (I believe).

^ all fitted and paid for by Lexus UK without question I should add.

Where as a few cars before that he had a 2000, 130k Vauxhall Astra 1.6, had a partial service history, 1.6 16v CD model, never broke down and cost him like £2200 from Auction (this is getting on for 5 years ago). Before that a horrible Ford Escort 1.3 Estate (old boxy square one which did a true 50mpg, with a car full of luggage and 3 people on a family holiday). Again did not break down.

Now I am not saying they are better cars (because they are not, they were terrible) but newer cars can be just as unreliable as older ones..

I understand what you're trying to say but personally I think to fire people for having cars that are not reliable is harsh (consider offering them lifts or alternate transport.... if they are not earning enough to buy a reliable car then ohh maybe pay them more money!!!!) and getting away from that there are plenty of low priced bargain cars out there. To some, £15 a week is an expense they can not afford. 
A few jobs ago I was being paid £15k a year. **** money. I had literally £80 to last me a month after paying my outgoings (rent, bills, phone contract, car insurance, nothing fancy).. That had to cover food, fuel, any other things that come up (eg repairs or house-hold goods like lightbulbs etc). Luckily I had cash investment in the form of my motorcycle I sold to buy my car, but £15 a week would have literally bankrupt me. While now i don't have to worry about that, others aren't so lucky.

Buy on condition and nothing else.

And frankly if bits are falling off the car as you are driving down the road you have bigger problems to worry about because I can't remember the last time i've EVER seen that. :doublesho:doublesho:doublesho


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## avit88 (Mar 19, 2012)

well said ^^^^


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## rob_vrs (Jan 4, 2012)

I bought my 2011 fabia vrs brand new. I had ridiculous amount of problems with it, as listed:
1) Needed new engine.
2) had 2x faulty turbo's
3) new fuel pump
4) brake light sensor fault
5) wiring loom fault

Now yes buying a new car does not solve potential faults, however the manufacturer puts you straight in to a courtesy car (oooo i weren't late for work ever). Oh and as a benefit of purchasing my new car i did not have the cost of having the car recovered to the dealer, oh and when i received my car back It did not cost me a penny.


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## e32chris (Sep 21, 2011)

get a big old barge. my e32 740 cost me £550 and even if it has a major breakdown (which it hasnt in 2 years i have owned it) i can sell the parts and make back more than i paid. it had full bmw history including a new engine from bmw which has done 59,000 miles car has done 149,000 and has more toys than a lot of modern lumps of plastic.

the most comfortable car i have owned and deceptively quick too. i love a v8 !


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

I bought a 3 month old Citroen C5 HDI with 2000 miles on the clock in 2009. 

It spent about 17 weeks of my 18 month ownership in the garage. 

My brother had a £150 Mondeo that lasted him for 3 years problem free. 

Then someone reversed into him in a car park damaging wing, bumper, bonnet, headlamp which resulted in the car being written off. 

He got £650 back and bought another cheap thing that lasted well again. 

Sometimes it really is your luck.


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

People this time of year may well be keeping their ' banger ' as it would matter little if it suffered cosmetic damage in the adverse conditions. You may have better luck in January when they need to sell them to pay for Christmas. But yes, the ' scrapping scheme ' has taken plenty of perfectly good motors off the road to be replaced with keeping up with the Jones's new plate soulless eco boxes.


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## zaphod (May 7, 2007)

A £200 'banger', well, actually £301.50
On display at our stand - Classic Vehicle and Restoration Show, Shepton Mallet Novermber 2012.


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

shinyporsche said:


> Twice I've sacked lads because they were constantly late or not at work because their cars had broken down (again and again and again). The hidden cost of under-spending on a car can be really very high. There are all the repairs, being late, being stopped by the Bill, having bits fall off and cause damage to other people's cars, paying extra road tax and buying extra fuel because old cars are inefficient the list goes on and on.
> The difference between paying £200 and £1000 , just £15 per week. One blown head gasket, a snapped cam-belt or a seized steering rack and you've blown that amount straight away.
> Sorry, rant over.


Wow never knew you could only have blown head gasket,snapped cam belt or problems like that on a £200 car


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## ShiningScotsman (Jun 20, 2012)

Have been a student of and a supporter of bangernomics for years now.

Always run 1 new car usually on lease and usually the good ladies but I love the hunt and joy of getting an older car and the satisfaction it gives you when you picked right.

I have had all sorts from Lexus LS400, Nissan Maxima Qx 3ltr V6 - countless 5 series Beemers 2.8ltrs - Rav 4 - Nissan Primera - etc etc....all Sub £800 lasted at least a year never needed to do much to any of them and at the end of the day I am not paying a silly monthly payment for a car that I know I will want to change soon becuase I always do and although I take great pride in making a car look good and take care of it I dont need to have a heart attack parking in a supermarket becuase of the value of the car.

I have always made money or broke even passing the cars on as well once finished with them.
It has allowed me to enjoy and run cars that I never would have if I was buying newer.

Currently running a 528i E39 in silver - black leather interior unmarked, taxed and tested till well into next year, got the new 5 series wheels on worth £500+ on their own so I am told and ebay backs it up (they were on it when I got it) - cruise control, heated seats, parking sensors etc etc etc all for £800.

My friend just got Q5 on lease..............£4k deposit then £500 per month for the next 3 years !!!!!
He setteld for lesser spec than he wanted due to price and is well jel of my heated seats and heated steering wheel and its already been in the garage and less then 3 months old.

Even if I do have challenges with my "Banger" it wont hurt as much as £4k and my repair will rarely come to anyhere near the cost of 1 monthly payment of such a car and the best part is I can swap it whenever I like without really losing anything and if I get a supermarlet trolley ding or kerb a wheel accidentally I dont need to act like the world has ended.

In the past year a good handful of friends and relatives who have under a year old cars which have never been out the garage.

Golf - Engine replacement
Audi A4 - Gearbox problems
Passatt CC - Flywheel issues
2 Merc c classes got shirty about a certain type of fuel and was at the garage for 2 days getting everything flushed
Audi Q5 as I stated had coolant issues under 3 months old.

Picked up and dropped off a few of these pals at the train station while there car is in the sick bay in my old "Banger" 

Works for me!


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I've only ever had fairly cheap cars. Not had any problems with them either.
My first car cost £100, an F plate Panda. It was made of rust, then after I'd had a few weeks I'd added filler and chicken wire. It was ace. Next was a MK2 Fiesta, bought for £120 and sold for £250 
Kids now a days don't know the fun of fixing stuff when it breaks. They'd rather have something on finance. My Mrs's cousin gets her cars bought by Daddy, I think her Twingo cost as much as all my cars put together.


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## RisingPower (Sep 21, 2007)

PugIain said:


> I've only ever had fairly cheap cars. Not had any problems with them either.
> My first car cost £100, an F plate Panda. It was made of rust, then after I'd had a few weeks I'd added filler and chicken wire. It was ace. Next was a MK2 Fiesta, bought for £120 and sold for £250
> Kids now a days don't know the fun of fixing stuff when it breaks. They'd rather have something on finance. My Mrs's cousin gets her cars bought by Daddy, I think her Twingo cost as much as all my cars put together.


Oy, I know the cost of fixing stuff, i'm still a kid, honest


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

RisingPower said:


> Oy, I know the cost of fixing stuff


That's because you drive a Datsun


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## rtjc (Apr 19, 2009)

It's all relative really, I bought this a few years ago for around £500, Years MOT, 6 months tax, full Toyota history, 1 owner and under 80k on the clock. Everything worked, was in great condition & returned over 50mpg. Very boring car yes but i did 20k in it and it never once skipped a beat, broke down or anything. Same as buying any car at any price... Look for the right one and just because it's cheap doesn't mean it'll be a bad car :thumb:





P.S Yes i know it's a dull old mans car, but we're talking winter runabouts here. Buy anything other than that for less then you're wasting your time.

Tempted to get something similar again just to clean up & use in winter


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

^^ That's spot on :thumb:


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## cossienuts (Oct 14, 2008)

my van was a good example bought cheap suspected knackered box had been sat for a year new battery,service, 2 bits of welding and a inner cv saw it mot'd and a few days with the rotary saw it looking better than vans ten years newer 4k later not looked back


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

Picking a little 106 up tomorrow with 12 months mot for £250


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

rtjc said:


> It's all relative really, I bought this a few years ago for around £500, Years MOT, 6 months tax, full Toyota history, 1 owner and under 80k on the clock. Everything worked, was in great condition & returned over 50mpg. Very boring car yes but i did 20k in it and it never once skipped a beat, broke down or anything. Same as buying any car at any price... Look for the right one and just because it's cheap doesn't mean it'll be a bad car :thumb:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats mint, love it just my style :thumb:


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

ask around the sheltered housing and nursing homes if anyone is giving up driving, speak to the scheme manager nicely. My sister in law picked up a straight but neglected low mileage daewoo matiz with 9 months mot but a snapped alternator belt and faded pink paint and needed detailed for £150. £20 of alternator, pas and timing belts and shampooing the interior and its a great wee runaround, I'll machine polish it in the spring or once i have room in the garage.
The other way to pick up a bargain is find something that is high insurance/poor mpg and is a bit older, because you can get a solid car for pennies as buyers who can afford to run a car like that can afford to buy a newer one so the older ones get overlooked and the sellers get desperate. I've picked up clean tidy straight bmw 7 series for £50, £220 and £950 which didnt need much other than elbow grease and some cheap parts to get them driving well.
Picked this up for £500 http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=3461089&postcount=53


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

Well that was a waste of time got to the guy's house and then he said it's got no mot but in the ad it's got a years mot and his response to this was I didn't want to get it mot'd till someone was interested so after driving to an mot place he knows it was closed so back to his to try an find an mot place (would only use one's he was friends with) but none was open that he wanted. But the thing is I don't know how the hell he thought it would pass as it didn't have any brake fluid left so the brakes didn't work unless stamped on. The thing that really wound me up was when we got back to his he started it up and bounced it off the limiter a few times as he thinks it's kool to do crap like that :/ (not when your trying to sell the car it's not!!!!). Rant over


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

have a look at rover 25's and mg zr's theres loads and cheap . Also when looking for !k cars i noticed shedloads of gas guzzlers really nice but cheap as no one wants to run them . i fi didnt have a 80 mile a day round trip theres a chance id of got a 2.5 mondeo or even a bmw


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## DMS (May 4, 2011)

I paid £50 for my Mazda and it had six months mot

Owned it for over two and a half years now:thumb:


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

shinyporsche said:


> Twice I've sacked lads because they were constantly late or not at work because their cars had broken down (again and again and again). The hidden cost of under-spending on a car can be really very high. There are all the repairs, being late, being stopped by the Bill, having bits fall off and cause damage to other people's cars, paying extra road tax and buying extra fuel because old cars are inefficient the list goes on and on.
> The difference between paying £200 and £1000 , just £15 per week. One blown head gasket, a snapped cam-belt or a seized steering rack and you've blown that amount straight away.
> Sorry, rant over.


todays £1000 car is yesterdays £200 car though, still a banger. Paying more guarantees you nothing.
I know what you mean but your example is a poor one.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

Tempted to look at this badboy...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212144624948/

..have a set of jumpleads. Could probably break it for less than it's costing if it's dead.


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

How will jumpleads fix ****ed rotor tips? The batterys flat because he spent so long cranking it trying ti get some compression i'll bet. There are a few of those advertised locally for £500 saying thins like"not running, i think i put some bad petrol in it" or "it was running perfect then stopped, aa man says its probably something simple electrical. Cheap fix" and other such bs


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

Still running this : http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=264653

Returning around 45mpg, never failed to start. cracking little motor - could easy sell it now for what I paid > 0 cost motoring at it's best.


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

All sorted now just won a Fiesta on eBay for £225 with a few months mot and tax bargain


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## avit88 (Mar 19, 2012)

JohnA88 said:


> All sorted now just won a Fiesta on eBay for £225 with a few months mot and tax bargain


got a link mate?


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

avit88 said:


> got a link mate?


here it is . 1.3 75k 4 months MOT & Tax










This is my 3rd one of these, Had a 1.1 Quartz then a 1.6 SI and now this


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

Here's a few of my old ones

1.1 Quartz cost me £150


























1.6 SI cost me £200 but the head gasket went


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## avit88 (Mar 19, 2012)

JohnA88 said:


> here it is . 1.3 75k 4 months MOT & Tax
> 
> 
> 
> ...


nice one mate, nothing like cheap motoring
i always feel like running bangers because all i do is drive to work and back and to the supermarket....

if it breaks just scrap it and get a new one.


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

avit88 said:


> nice one mate, nothing like cheap motoring
> i always feel like running bangers because all i do is drive to work and back and to the supermarket....
> 
> if it breaks just scrap it and get a new one.


Can't agree more mate when I got my Ibiza it didn't have one mark down the passenger side but now it's full of them due to prats in super markets opening their door's on it. Really boils my **** when people do that just because they don't give a rats ass about their car don't mean the rest of us don't!!!!.


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## JohnA88 (Jul 26, 2011)

I really want to get another 1.6 SI as the one I had wouldn't rev over 4000 rpm just used to start jerking and spluttering but it made it all the way from my house to Scotland then I sold it. When they are working normally they are quite fast cars.


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