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1. rickonwheels - Member 

   £3000 doesn't buy you very much, at all.

   I've had bangers for 25 years, our current workhorse (06 Touran, bought with 90k on the clock) cost a smidgeon over £3k and is the most expensive car i've ever bought. 1.5 years in, so far so good, including 2 fully loaded family camping trips to the south of france and back. Comfortable, safe, cruise control set to motorway speed limit, economical, dirty-diesel.

   A few random observations:-
   - Most bangers, expect up to £1k/year in maintenance - clutches, broken coil springs, random electrical gremlins, hoses, cv boots. Though you might be lucky.
   - Electrical stuff (airbag sensors etc) can be tricky/uneconomical to fix, and may be the eventual reason a car has to be scrapped
   - Really old vehicles can rack up labour expenses for seemingly simple jobs - it once cost me half a days labour at the local garage to replace a £5 bushing, due to a seized bolt!

   Posted 16 hours ago #
2. thomthumb - Member 

   dont be afraid of a car that needs a little work if it's cheap enough.

   When looking at mk1 TTs (the wifes choice) condition varied wildly, as did prices - the two not always matched.

   We bought a very cheap one that needed some mechanical work, a cambelt plus oil changes. Spent almsot £2k at my independent VAG man. Still ended up cheaper than the sale price of nearly any other car we'd looked at (and they all needed something).

   Don't buy a mk1 TT for bangernomics though. too comlicated to fix & too many problems.

   e39 BMW tourer has been bulletproof so far. uses a lot of fuel but otherwise cheap to run.

   Honda CR-V would be my outside choice - I fancy one and never had a honda - I don't know enouigh about them to commit though...

   Posted 16 hours ago #
3. sbob - Member 

   core - Member

   £3000 doesn't buy you very much, at all.

   Half that bought me an S Type Jag.
   The other half bought me a 740 BMW.

   How much do you want?

   Posted 16 hours ago #
4. trail_rat - Member 

   with in the last year ?

   historically i could regale with what ive bought for me and friends for almost nothing but doesnt mean much if right now many pounds doesnt buy much unless your buying waaay left field like a 7 series bimmer....which i wouldnt thank anyone for.

   with many dealers doing thinly veiled discounts by calling it a scrappage scheme for up to three grand on some models , its driven up the price of the once prized 10 year old car that had been someones pride and joy and they were selling for buttons because they were getting an even crapper trade in .....

   Now what im seeing(having been looking for the last 3 months) is pretty much un-maintained junk thats not been looked after. Which if your not fussy is great but i judge the history and the owner as much as the car before me. Has worked pretty good for preventing lemons.

   Posted 16 hours ago #
5. edlong - Member 

   My latest bangernomics purchase wasn't entirely planned - had a minor bump in the snow the other week and needed a new front bumper only (even the foglight survived).

   Being a 2006 Renault Scenic, a new bumper at insurance bodyshop prices rendered it uneconomical to repair and so it's been written off.

   Enquired as to whether they'd sell the car back to me.

   £20!

   Now, I'd filled the tank the day before so it had c.£60 of petrol in it. So if I just run it till it's empty and then torch it, I'm still £40 up!

   As it is, I can get a good condition matching bumper (so no paint needed) locally for £50. That said, it is fine with the corner of the bumper held together with gaffer tape, so if it will go through an MOT, I might just leave it as it is.

   Posted 15 hours ago #
6. Jolly Green Giant - Member 

   My gf has got the bangernomics strategy down to a fine art.
   She bought a £2k Ford Focus approx 10 years ago. Said car is now 16 years old and on 165k miles.
   Only gets stuff fixed to pass an mot.Hasn’t even had an oil change for 3 years. Had a patch welded on the sill about 2 years ago. Apart from that it just gets consumables. Went straight through it’s last not with just 3 advisories.
   Headed for the scrappy this year if it fails it’s mot and we will buy another focus.
   Mk1 foci are reasonably reliable , great to drive ,can be serviced anywhere and more importantly cheap to get bits for.

   Posted 14 hours ago #
7. chakaping - Member 

   Being a 2006 Renault Scenic, a new bumper at insurance bodyshop prices rendered it uneconomical to repair and so it's been written off.

   Enquired as to whether they'd sell the car back to me.

   £20!

   Amazing. You should do the other bumper as well!

   Posted 14 hours ago #
8. chiefgrooveguru - Member 

   I had a 2004 Civic Type-S from 18 months old until it proved uneconomical to pass the MOT (after a lot of abuse) in 2013. I test drove a load of newer cars and was so unimpressed I bought a very good condition lower mileage and slightly younger ‘04 Civic and we’ve had it since then. It’s had an alloy refurbed, and the headlights replaced due to the lenses becoming rather opaque but I think that’s it (other than annual servicing and tyres).

   It can’t go on for ever but I really like it. Climate control, cruise control, good seats, handles pretty well, fairly quick, not too uneconomical and acres of internal space for a fairly small car. Got a roof box last year so it can handle family holidays without being packed to the headlining. I even like how it looks but that might just be a case of Stockholm Syndrome! Like this but in dark blue and mud:

   

   Posted 12 hours ago #
9. joshvegas - Member 

   My latest bangernimics is a touran.

   A car famed through the land for its reliability and cheapness of repair bills.

   Trailrats berlingo is tempting...

   Posted 12 hours ago #
10. jamesoz - Member 

    We have a 13 year old Astra G Estate, Cost £300 with a fresh cam belt and water pump. It had under 80k on it but had a cabin water leak.

    Traced the leak to the roof panel joins and dried it out.
    Parts are peanuts. I put all new brakes, shocks and exhaust for prob another £400. It’s a 1.6 8v engine that looks like the one in the mk1 Astra, not powerful but stupidly easy to work on. We’ve been to the French Alps twice in it and the GF commuted from Reading to Oxford in it until the traffic got to her.
    It’s great, everything still works, even the air con.

    Posted 11 hours ago #

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11. cookeaa - Member 

    All these car threads have got me perusing what's about in local area, found myself looking at a Dinky 2 seater Smart fortwo Auto that I know my missus would get on with and that I wouldn't feel so bad cranking up the mileage with local short journeys, saving the big evil diesel for longer family trips and bike haulage... Terrible purchase?

    Posted 9 hours ago #
12. Northwind - Member 

    My Mondeo 2.2 (unneccesary upgrade) set me back £2100, it was denty but solid. Now it's had some bills but I've also put 40000 miles on it and parked it in a loch, so, that seems fair. Just got a very clean MOT on it and sorely tempted to shift it on but just really finding it hard to beat- for big efficient estates the Mondeo's still a star, lower mileage ones are getting quite expensive though...

    So in finest STW style I'm recommending what I have, even though the entire point was to replace it. Itchy feet aside if I needed a car tomorrow it'd be my first point of call again.

    Bangernomics always revolves a lot around the level of reliability you need, and how much you can fix yourself, though. I might have scrapped or sold mine on rather than replace the turbo, if I'd had to pay someone to do it.

    Posted 9 hours ago #
13. TimothyD - Member 

    The experiences family and family friends have had of old Audis has me wondering if a late 90's early noughties Audi might be worth a look?

    Posted 7 hours ago #
14. firestarter - Member 

    I had a petrol mondeo bought for 1200 used for 2 years did 30k sold for 1400 when I bought another motorbike, it was mint too

    Got the Mrs a diahatsu charade for 500 ran for 4 years and 35k failed not worth me fixing sold for 280, I see it locally still running now

    Then got her a hyundai getz or something for 350 still using it now after a few years

    I've got a berlingo I paid about 1400 for been to Belgium and France and all over UK camping fold a seat down wheel a full bike in I love it

    Posted 6 hours ago #
15. sbob - Member 

    trail_rat - Member

    within the last year?

    Hell no; the cars I've bought last much longer than that.

    waaay left field like a 7 series bimmer

    Nothing says leftfield like a four door saloon.

    which i wouldnt thank anyone for

    Ah, you haven't driven one. International engine of the year, don't you know?

    Posted 5 hours ago #
16. sbob - Member 

    i judge the history and the owner as much as the car before me. Has worked pretty good for preventing lemons

    
    The confirmation bias is almost as strong as the likelihood of you driving a dull as ditchwater FWD Euro-shitbox.

    Which if your not fussy

    Oh, I've been known to have an eye for detail...

    OP: small simple and Japanese.

    Posted 5 hours ago #
17. trail_rat - Member 

    So yes you have no experience in the current market.

    Thanks for confirming.

    That's all you needed to say. Didn't need 2 passive aggressive posts for that.

    Posted 37 minutes ago #
18. redstripe - Member 

    OP, Japanese company stuff - Someone mentionned Honda CR-V above, great cars with loads of space but a bit thirsty, I had a 52 reg one a while back paid £1200 ran for thousands of miles and sold for a tad more when it went, nothing went wrong.
    Latest one used for a local runabout and by kids when they come home is a 96 Toyota Corolla, cost £200 off an old lady nearby who was giving up driving. Covered in dents and now with a growing interesting paint job but again drives great, really smooth and everything still works. It came with service history and a years MOT which is coming up again next month, hope it passes...
    

    Posted 11 minutes ago #
19. muzz - Member 

    I paid £640 for a 2003 Volvo XC70 2.4 D5 diesel auto with 230odd k on it. Now just below a 1/4 million and a joy to drive

    Drive something you like, get it cheap and treat it well

    Posted 2 minutes ago #

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