eBay got mine for £120 off there took a few auctions to get one but was worth it in the end mine was immaculate.

got mine off gumtree for £90 (also after one off here fell through think it went to a mate 😉 ), off old couple just needed a strip down clean and descaling. oh and budget £20-25 for a decent tamper the gaggia one is pretty rubbish.

Yeah - look on Ebay. And get an older one with brass internals - the newer ones are nowhere near as good and robust (now that they have been bought out by Philips).

The original ones have rocker switches on the front, the new (inferior ones) have push buttons.

cheers i am aware of ebay and gumtree lol

looking at alternatives and not sure what compares to the ford focus of the espresso machine

I've owned a number of Gaggia machines from the Classic to the Baby and also the Kitchenaid Artisan dual boiler (gaggia internals) over the past 20 odd years,  all 4 machines went to the local dump/recycling centre in the last month as they had sat in the attic awaiting repair for the last few years, About two years ago i bought a Sage Duo Temp pro machine and it makes a far better espresso/cappuccino than any amount of fiddling with the cheap gaggia machines, you can pick up a used machine from £120ish on eBay.

this one on ebay is local - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gaggia-Classic-Milano-coffee-machine/264255646987?hash=item3d86dd2d0b%3Ag%3ARuQAAOSwBlRcmfAE&LH_ItemCondition=3000&frcectupt=true

says it leaks - how easy are these to work on?

The seal is a doddle to change, remove the one philips screw holding the shower screen and prise out the hardened/brittle rubber portafilter screen, make sure the head unit is clean and refit new seal.

We have a Gaggia Baby Class. Steam nozzle is blocked and a pain to clean and the switches are a bit plasticy. The thermal fuse has blown once but that’s a DIY repair.

The Sage stuff is very good; John Lewis keep the full range in stock. We have a Sage grinder which is excellent and are looking at buying a Sage dual boiler machine

says it leaks – how easy are these to work on?

Pretty simple, and there's loads of guides on the web, from simple jobs to full strip-downs.

or a rancilio silvia, if you can get a cheap one. i had a classic for years, lots of mods, great little machine.

OT: nice to see STW back to normal. Next we'll have questions on log fires, audi, wine clubs and sudocrem removal from cats.

DELONGHI Dedica EC685M Coffee Machine £137 from Curry ... if you can live with aluminium portafilter with a bit of plastic insert in them and the 54mm portafilter size.

Or as per jsm go for Rancilio Silvia. £425 from Bella Barista.

Or Breville Bambino Plus ... the portafilter is same as Delongi. £329 from John Lewis.

I like the Breville Bambino Plus but I don't like the portafilter.

They are bloody bombproof, I was clearing out my receipts a few weeks back, found the GC one, I bought it reconditioned form Gaggia themselves for 180 quid, 10 years ago!. God knows how many coffees it's rattled out in that time.

I've been living with the steam wand dripping for about 3 years now, really need to get that fixed!.

got an ebay watch list now 🙂

Or go back to Gaggia Classic which is the best for the price. 👍

I have mine for at least 12 years now and is still working properly just need descaling from time to time.

As I only drink Americano I am not bothered about the steam wand which I have modified. Good steaming power but I just don't use it.

For an alternative, more manual and far less convenient yes, but interesting to look at an no machinery to go wrong I bought a Flair espresso recently. I was at a friends the other day and I put about 7 or 8 shots out of it over about half an hour, all came out really well, but yes these is a reasonable amount of faff to doing it.

I love it though, already wishing I'd gone up a level for one with a pressure gauge on so I can see how much pressure I am putting through it.

Significantly cheaper than the Rancilio Silvia that people at work recommended too.

My Classic dates from 2003. It leaks like a sieve, and I've asked on here about fixing it. The best advice I got was "it's Italian, of course it's a bit shonky, just let it leak". So I do.

My Classic dates from 2003. It leaks like a sieve, and I’ve asked on here about fixing it. The best advice I got was “it’s Italian, of course it’s a bit shonky, just let it leak”. So I do.

Give Bella Barista a call to see if they can fix it for a price.

Give Bella Barista a call to see if they can fix it for a price.

I know how to fix it - yet another replacement steam valve for £45 (this would be the fourth). The internals of the valve are not serviceable and they last a couple of years at most. I'll put up with the leaking.

There's a wee vid on youtube, I'm intending on getting round to it, involves a wee bit of dremel work on steam valve IIRC?.

I got a 2nd hand one for my 40th birthday, almost 15 years ago. Serviced it a few weeks ago (be careful tightening the sensors into the boiler!) Its only OK.