I’m quite a fan of the ethos on the Bangernomics site, physically allergic to spending money on cars and don’t want to suffer another Winter like last on my motorbike so I’ve bitten the bullet and bought a banger.
It’s a Peugeot 205 diesel with 100 thou on the clock, full of dents and only a tape deck for entertainment (I’ll have to get back into mix tapes, great). Only cost me £350 with a new cambelt.
Does anyone else follow the same car buying logic and do you have any tips for cheap motoring and possibly pics of your heaps (I’d put one up but it’s visually offensive).

just used to do what you do spend £300 for car with fullish Mot hope it passed net MOT then decide to scrap or buy another.
Stopped when I had to put my children in it and bought a semi decent car – well you could but a decent hardtail for that price
Depreciation is so massive i just dont see the point owning anything that expensive tbh

I used too. 🙁

Bloody scrappage scheme has got rid of all the nice cheap cars.
Got stung last time as well (I will never buy a Vauxhall Omega with 250, 000 miles again 🙂 ).

Have gone legit now – not as much fun, but life is a bit less dangerous.

we should play what’s the worst you car has been before the MOT ran out 😯

I drive a 306 estate td that cost me £300 about 4 years ago; it’s probably cost me less than a grand total since then to keep it safe and reliable. I’ve done more than 50k miles in it, and it’s never let me down. Great bike car, and perfectly functional family car too, although I have succumbed to the same feelings as you guys and bought a new(er) sturdier car for my wife and new baby to tool around in.

That’s bangernomics!

we should play what’s the worst you car has been before the MOT ran out

Mine has already got bathroom sealent around the nearside tail light and I can imagine the panoramic sun roof will be requiring some before long – although it’ll probably fly off down the motorway before long, I wonder how much marine ply costs these days?

I was the same I used to run heaps until I had kids then I thought I better get summit half decent. Still would not pay more than 10g for a car though

Charles Ware’s Morris Minor Centre

My old Mondeo estate (M reg) needed too much spending on it for it’s last MoT, had to scrap it 😥
My current car (T reg Astra) cost me nothing – it was given to me by a friend – can’t get cheaper than that 🙂

Bangernomics ? that’ll be me then !

Picked up a 52 plate Octavia 1.9 Tdi hatch today, mileage ?? only 170,000 😉 2 owners, last owner had it 6 years, lots of history.
Drives great, registered 65mpg on the fuel computer on the 25mile journey home,ok it was 90% m-way at 70mph,& fuel computers aren’t the most accurate, but i’ll soom bo a tank to tank fill & check the ‘real mpg’ figure.

How much?? £500… 😀

i run a ’96 honda civic hatch 1.4 – got it for free.

Insurance isnt that cheap but £200 ish worth of roofrack on it and its now my do it all car. Drove about 160 mile to GT in it recently and it didnt miss a beat.

Straight through its latest MOT

Granny bought it new, gave it to my mother who passed it on to me – 80k on the clock. Bloody brilliant, ill be buying a honda/Toyota main car in the future for sure.

Best thing about bangernomics is the warm glow you get inside when you sit in a traffic jam next to Mr ‘Beemer on HP’. We’re both going the same speed buddy, and I’ve saved a bleedin’ fortune in comparison. Especially since I could easily afford the Beemer if I wanted to, I just make an informed decision not to.

I suspect the Beemer driver also feels a nice warm glow when he looks back and thinks ‘This traffic jam sucks but at least I’m in a nice, safe, high performance car, not a worthless piece of crap like this guy’. Deciding not to buy(or not being able to afford)a nice car really does not make you a better person. You are just tight, cheap or have other priorities (which is fair enough, but the chip on your shoulder isn’t doing you any favours).

Hi 🙂

I’ve had all kinds of budget cars – 500 quid was my ceiling and some were ace some liabilities. My tips are to get base models as they have the least amount of toys to go wrong and usually bought by boring bstards so will be well kept and no mk1 models, no modded motors

change the oil regularly especially if doing the miles, hammer the internet for clues if you think there is something up with it, your instincts are usually right if you hear/feel changes

ironically the longest lasting was a petrol citroen BX, should have been a money pit and wasn’t. the ZX that followed it set itself on fire

I paid £10k when I last bought a car. That was over 11 years ago though, so I’m doing bangernomics now – not that much of a heap either, and happy to put my kids in it.

£200 tax, £200 insurance ~£200 in the last year on servicing/MOT (though it does need some new tyres soon), but with my current mileage my fixed costs still vastly outweigh what I’m spending on fuel, so in a way it’s not great value sitting on my drive costing a couple of quid a day.

My last car was a mk3 Astra that cost £400 6 years ago that I drove to the recyclers with 170k on it and got£130 for .I now own a £700 mk 3 non turbo golf diesel no leccy windows no sunroof no leccy mirrors so not much to go wrong .With my ex I had a £500 diesel Xsara estate from an auction

Gary_C has the ultimate cheap motor option – a VW/Audi in an unfashionable bodyshell with a proven engine and will probably last 5years or more if kept decent

and VW are boasting that a new golf is only 15,850 pounds…

ed, I promise I did look for a nice XM before I bought the Doblo, but there just aren’t any decent ones left. 😐

Loads of C5’s around , but they’re just not the same. 🙁

This CX looks nice, but quite a trip to view it.

Last car was a banger. £30 for a diesel corsa, with 3/4 of a tank of fuel in late 2010. It needed a new alternator and battery during my ownership. I scrapped it for £170 in August, as it leaked oil like the Exxon Valdez and I didn’t feel like freezing my wotsits off repairing the various leaks and sorting the electrics.

my new car was 400! but not really a banger, its an x reg nissan almera 1.8 sport model. 80 000 on the clock, and in pretty good condition,

I should have bought something with a smaller engine though really.

with scrap cars bringing 150 at the scrappers paying 350 fro a motor is a no brainer..
had a fiat 127.. had no reverse and a gate latch held the drivers door shut bought it with 10 months test.. re taxed a month before test ran out and didnt bother re testing.. you only get done for no mot if caught.. 3 points 80 quid.. another no brainer
amazing what you can do without an reverse gear with a littlke thinking ahead.. only had to get out and push once when stuck in a cul d sac

I paid £300 for my current banger, a BMW 328i estate from a friend who was moving house, had bought a van, and couldn’t be bothered putting any effort into selling.

190k on the clock, I’ve put a couple of suspension bushes on, a 2nd hand alternator, and some braking consumables over the past 3 years, but it’s been great. Not necessarily the cheapest thing to fuel, but it is quite quick 🙂

Cheers, Rich

didnt bother re testing.. you only get done for no mot if caught.. 3 points 80 quid.. another no brainer

And voided insurance, I agree, you do sound like a no-brainer…

Got my last two cars free (fiestas) from relatives. Doesn’t do much for my street cred but great little cars that fit a surprising amount of stuff in and are great to drive. Treat it like a van.

Skoda Cube van, £230. Lasted me two years, was amazing on diesel, cost nowt for repairs, and sold it to the then owner of Guisborough Cycles for £350 with no ticket/tax and a non-runner.

Now THATS bangernomics…!

😉

Learnt my lesson 20 years ago after dropping £3500 on a Golf GTI in 5 months when sold due to getting a company car.

Had various ‘bangers’ since and had virtually no hassle. I splashed out on my current car, a Ford Cougar at £1300 but 2 years later it’s cost me nothing apart from servicing, does everything I need in safety and comfort and will hopefully do me a least another couple of years.

You are just tight, cheap or have other priorities (which is fair enough, but the chip on your shoulder isn’t doing you any favours).

Haha, guilty m’lud, but a least my chips are cheaper! 😉

Best thing about bangernomics was when people in chelsea tractors tried to force their way around parked cars.

You car may be big, but I care less about mine!

I have had that conversation many a time with people trying to barge in at the last gasp at contraflows “it’ll cost more to fix your wing than to replace my car arsehat 😆 ”

i have always run bangers. my best one was a peugot 405 diesel non turbo, £400 with 12 months mot. it refused to fail the mot for another 5 years. i gave to to someone who was driving to the artic circle for charity in the end.

most of mine come from people at work, so i have an idea of the history and why they are selling it.

In response to Junkyard it would either be the £150 Nissan Bluebird which appeared to have no connecting rear crossmember come its MoT, though more likely the £100 Cavalier with rear doors ceased shut (you could just about kick them open from the inside), rear wheels that you could see when you looked in the boot, passenger door skin gaffer taped on, intermittent front brakes (sticky callipers), missing track-rod, half melted fuse board. And sold to some Janner for £50 with 2 months MoT and tax on it.

Also had a Mk1 Mondeo estate that refused to die, in the end I got rid of it as I just wasn’t used to having the same car for so long and had seen something else I wanted.

Love bangernomics. I bought a £600 Citroen XM estate with 110 000 miles and drove it for anoth 50k.

My last two 4x4s have been right at the bottom of the depreciation curve, but have had years of life still in them.

As a post grad student I had a mini pick up that I learned (was taught how) to keep running. I did a huge mileage in it.

I bought this for my sister who stays in France from the STW classifieds. Drove it back from London to Scotland, to France, and its been there and back a couple of times since then.

Rusty Spanner – Member
ed, I promise I did look for a nice XM before I bought the Doblo, but there just aren’t any decent ones left.

Loads of C5’s around , but they’re just not the same.

I replaced my XM with a C5 I again found on here. 60000 miles, one owner, FSH, £1300. I’ve done 40k in it. Only needed a new alternator, when its pulley bearing failed after 20k. Not quite as radical as the XM, of as huuuuuge inside, but a worthy replacement.

Another member of the bangeromics crowd here,the current battlebus is a P reg Ford Escort,I paid £1000 for it 5 years ago with 12 months mot,full service & new cambelt.It’s the most expensive car I’ve ever owned but I think I’ve got my moneys worth from it.A few people were surprised when it passed it’s mot the other month(me & the mechanic included),but all it needed was some gaffer tape to cover the sharp edges on the rear wheel arches.I’ll get this winter out of it then weigh it in for scrap.Prior to the Escort I was given a Volvo 340,I ran that for 4 years until it died.I’ve told my mate the mechanic to have a lookout for a bargain Focus or Mondeo next year.

Got given a ‘P’ reg Vauxhall Tigra (1.6 16v) as a non-runner, put it back on the road for £235, could have spent less, but felt a new back box(amongst other bits) would be a good investment.
Get two bikes in with wheels off, and easily enough kit for two people to ride.
It’ll do over 40 mpg if you take it easy (less if you drive like you’re heads on fire!), handlings not too bad, one of may vehicles I’ve had that are worth more than the bikes they carried.
McMoonter, that Mini pickup would be worth quite a bit now I would think!I was looking for a classic mini (had a few I wish I’d kept!) before I got the Tigra, but people want £2K for a rusty SORN’d heap!

McMoonter, that Mini pickup would be worth quite a bit now

I did it up, then sold it to my brother who then sold for twice what he paid me.

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T3mgPXnpqYQ/TG1wNCcB5zI/AAAAAAAAI9A/2yLCYfEp0Nk/s512/Raph%252520%252526%252520Mini.jpg[/img]

Love old banger cars! Bought a 1996 1.4 astra for £300. Real poverty spec etc… Did 5000 miles in a month across Europe then sold for £350. Never skipped a beat and it really did get abused.

When I need another car I’ll be spending no more than £500.

Here it is:

I’ve been fortunate enough to be furnished with company cars for a few years now, but I’ve had to buy vehicles when I’ve been, ah, “between jobs” as it were.

Last car I had was a Cavalier (my third), cost me £300. It lasted six months, which is all it needed to do.

Use to now and again, between good ones and/or company cars, but last time I splashed out £2200 on an 80k 535i. One (plus two for a couple of months) owner with a FSH (BMW). Had it four years now and put 40k on (commute by m/c). Not particularly cheap to run, but boy, is it lovely to drive.

And it was £42k in 1998…

If (and when) I need to replace it, I’ll be looking for another big engined low mileage one.

I recently bought this:

C200 Kompressor, 50k on the clock, all the whistles & bells, 2 previous owners, FSH, 12mth tax n’ ticket. Runs like a dream, did 522m in 8.5hrs the other day and it returned 32mpg, I was happy enough with that 🙂

3.5k but don’t tell anyone 🙂

£950 on an Audi A4 avant V reg 3 years ago. Petrol, had 125k on it, full climate package, the works as its the ‘special edition’ now upto nearly 170k. Its had 2 wheel bearings, 2 suspension bits and some rear pads and discs. Spent less than £200 on it, been all over Europe does 42mpg on a run. Tho needs a cam belt, meant to have one done at 90k, had a look the other day and it hasnt..oops.