Short term bangernomics

For various reasons I may need a car soon but for a few months only.

It wouldn’t need to be a banger, I’d thought of say £2-3K on something local (for convenience and time) with average mileage, a decent brand/model reputation, desirability and service history (less risk of breakdown and hopefully sell on  quickly).

This is a good time to buy, price wise, and spring a good time to sell?

Does this make sense?Am I missing anything?

Am I missing anything?

Probably not.

But; a £2k car is written off if an unforeseen £2k problem crops up and you lose £2k

a £500 car is written off if an unforeseen £2k problem crops up and you lose £200 (assuming Redcorn will scrap whatever it is for ~£300)

Unless there’s options you’re looking at are significantly newer than real bangernomics cars then is it worth it?

90% of the time in either case nothing will go wrong and you’ll probably get back what you paid (assuming bought and sold privately) .

What is “Average Mileage” ~10k per year since Reg? as people always say buy on condition not mileage…

2-3k will buy you a car, but what specifically do you need it for? Just for you to drive? any likely passengers? Luggage capacity? Bike transport?  just 10 mile round trips, or a trans-continental road trip? what is it actually for?

All of the above will drive your choices to some extent, possibly more than mileage or indeed how much of a banger it is, don’t just buy based on it having an MOT to cover the period you  need it for, but look it up on the DVLA site and see what advisories it had too (98% likely they won’t have been fixed)…

But In lieu of that detail I’d start from the youngest  (under a decade?) Jazz, Corsa, Clio Fiesta, Micra, note Fabia/polo, Aygo/107/C1  (insert whatever common hatchbacks you like) you can find locally in budget and go from there, don’t get hung up on brands or models.  worth considering now as well that if range isn’t a huge requirement a 14-16 plate Leaf might be an option…

Also worth considering you can get short term lease/long term hire cars for a couple of months allowing you to forgo the bother of buying/selling/insuring a banger. I think that can start from ~£400(+) depending on what you hire and who from.

In the spirit of recommending what you know, we have a petrol Seat Leon like this which has been super reliable and is nice to drive.

Or get on Gumtree, filter by private sales under £1k and look for a well-cared-for older vehicle from a legitimate seller.

…and make sure there’s room in your bedroom to refurb the wheels… 🙂

Dammit, now I’ve been on marketplace and I’m trying to convince myself that a local Z4 with failed MOT* is worth saving.

Does the forum really need a second £500 gas guzzler bangernomics thread?

*Needs new wishbone(s) and from the advisory list pads and disks at a bare minimum. The rest looks more like “cosmetic” stuff, needs a headlamp polish, cracked numberplates, undertray fixing/removing

What engine is the z4 ? 2.0i give it a miss but any of the 6cyls 2.2,2.5 or best a 3.0

If it’s a roadster see if the heated seats are there and the roof pump has been moved and works

if you try to sell it after a few months, would a prospective buyer think you’re offloading it because of a problem?

Porsche Boxster – don’t think you could buy a better car for the money at the moment. I’m even tempted to buy one to keep the miles of my 335d through the winter then flog when Spring comes and people are after a soft top again. Might as well buy something fun!

What engine is the z4 ? 2.0i give it a miss but any of the 6cyls 2.2,2.5 or best a 3.0

2.2, so objectively fast enough to be fun but not 3.0 enough to be desirable once finished?  Back of an envelope pricing it up I don’t think it’d be profitable even before mission creep kicks in and stuff get’s replaced “to do the job properly” or upgraded parts.

£500 car

£220 wishbones [advisory on ball joint]

£210 pads and disks (brembo to OEM label only but really I’d be looking at least at some expensive pads) [fail on the front pads, advisory on rear, advisory on all disks]

£400 stainless exhaust [advisory, slight leak, could get lucky and it just be a gasket]

£……… [fail for high CO, could just need an air filter, could be £££]

Based on the MOT history it’s been neither run regularly nor had any money spent in the last 5 years at least. So add 4x new tires to that, at least £520 even for uniroyals.

So £1900+ for whats a £2500 at most even on a sunny spring day.

I can sell you our 2007 Fiesta 1.4 petrol. 90K miles. Fresh MOT, ultra reliable, 4 recent bridgestone all season tyres, New brakes all round. I am getting something bigger as I need to nip back and forth to Germany for family reasons. It would be less than half your budget and would easily sell afterwards. I am SE Wales. PM me if interested.

If you’re in the borders I know of Skoda Fabia diesel going cheap, MOT until June, 2008 model. Will be some welding required on the sills if you did want to MOT it next year but it would only be a couple of hundred to buy, pm me if interested.

please let it be a volvo for sale

I can sell you our 2007 Fiesta 1.4 petrol. 90K miles. Fresh MOT, ultra reliable, 4 recent bridgestone all season tyres, New brakes all round. I am getting something bigger as I need to nip back and forth to Germany for family reasons. It would be less than half your budget and would easily sell afterwards. I am SE Wales. PM me if interested.

Our 2004 version of the same just ticked over 173,000miles and aside form a few trim related issues still drives like new  They really are bulletproof cars.

If you want to buy now and sell in spring but have no particular needs beyond engine and wheels, a convertible has to give you the best chance of breaking even or better when you sell it on.

£1000 doesn’t get you much these days does it.  Not in the market just now but prompted by this thread looked on Gumtree and Autotrader for private sales under £1000 within  15 miles  which covers all of Glasgow and much of the surrounds.  Any make or model. Hardly anything there.  What there was had short, or no MOTs.  Poor MOT history. Obscured reg no so no checks possible.  Warning lights on.   Etc, etc.

Maybe this is a bad time of year. Nobody selling in the run up to the festive season.

You either need to sniff out a unicorn car (one owner/decent branded tyres/immaculate MOT history) – they are out there but need some finding, or buy something were you can add value by fixing it up yourself.

I’ve done both – my Berlingo was a unicorn and has been a great car, my Cayenne could be sold for a profit.

It mainly depends on how much free time and spannering skills you have.

Thanks all, am struggling to get my own car going  before GF arrives for a 5 week visit so an alternative is looking more likely.

Car will be used for short and longer trips plus shopping etc.  Anything would do really, an estate would be handy for the DIY stuff I’ll be buying, but I could get away with something wee/ silly also.

A 196bhp Corsa does look both fun and high risk!

@irc there are quite a few in Edinburgh under £1K but yes not many, if any “unicorns”.

Where are you? Stealth ad, but if you’re near the Midlands I can sell you a osmotically tatty but mechanically sound ~90k 2l mk3 mx5 for a fair bit less than 2k.

Edit: oh, Edinburgh 😀

Update: have managed to find someone to sort my car next week so hopefully that will work out

I’m a bit confused. If you need a car surely you’re just going to have to buy it whether or not it’s a good time to buy/sell.

@welshfarmer – it’s not an automatic by any chance is it…? (Assuming @cynic-al isn’t interested, I wouldn’t jump any queue!)

Thinking aloud/in writing to follow:

Well the worst has happened and my car is out of action for at least 3 weeks.  My GF is visiting and a car would be really handy for shopping, local and longer (300 mile) trips etc.

Hire seems to be from £13 a day if Kayak is to be trusted, (so ~£273 for the 3 weeks) also I can hire locally for £8/ hour +25p/ mile.

All of the above makes the risk and hassle of buying a banger stupid for a that period of time, yeah? (yeah I know I originally said months, it would seem excessive/daft to have 2 cars at once.

No @politecanmeraaction it’s not for me.