Cheap and cheerful or not?

[Stevesixty7]

Hey guys.

I'll let you all know about my car buying habits. Ever since I bought my very first car (Mk2 Escort 76 P reg) I have never spent more than £700 on a car and that was on a 95 Fiat Tipo in 2005. The Tipo turned out to be an absolute bargain, gave me five years of trouble free motoring and cleared four MOT's straight through. The Mk2 Escort cost me 350 quid back in 1984 when I was 17, but the car had a short life (my fault) Then came the 68 Mk1 for £100 lol. Great car actually, solid as a rock too, no rust, and I got my money back when I sold it.

Many more cheap cars came and went, and they all served their purpose and none so far have cost me much. I'm always on a tight budget anyway, but I'd be afraid to spend a few grand on a car to then end up with a money pit. Anyone else here like me? It scares me when I read stories of people with relatively new cars having so many issues.

Your thoughts?

Thanks for reading.

[south_bound]

I take a different approach - buy nearly new (2 or 3 years old) and then keep it a long as I can.  Most of the time that is not long enough due to changing personal circumstances, but have had my current Focus 10 years and  it is going better than ever (touch wood), and now costing near nothing in depreciation.  I need the car for work, including going to the airport to catch flights so need something reliable which the Focus has been so far.

 

My Dad did it your way, but I always remember him spending his weekends underneath them, having to pick up bits off the road as they fell off or being stopped by the police for something or other.  MOT time was always a worry, especially with rusty under bodywork at the time which he would cover in old engine oil and blag the tester or at least distract him so he would miss the most obvious problems!  The worst was an old Vauxhall Victor which only cost him £200 but literally fell apart one bit at a time.

[doggsbody]

I'm a tight ***** n never spend more than £500 n always oldish 1's ford have been the best buy upto date 😂

[Luke4efc]

If your happy driving around cheap cars then go for it. We bought my granddad an old Volvo 840 (non-estate) for £100 back in 2008 ish. He had it until 2014 but it did cost him near enough £400 to get it through the MOT every year. Never broke down though, the engine was solid.

[Stevesixty7]

9 hours ago, south_bound said:

I take a different approach - buy nearly new (2 or 3 years old) and then keep it a long as I can.  Most of the time that is not long enough due to changing personal circumstances, but have had my current Focus 10 years and  it is going better than ever (touch wood), and now costing near nothing in depreciation.  I need the car for work, including going to the airport to catch flights so need something reliable which the Focus has been so far.

 

My Dad did it your way, but I always remember him spending his weekends underneath them, having to pick up bits off the road as they fell off or being stopped by the police for something or other.  MOT time was always a worry, especially with rusty under bodywork at the time which he would cover in old engine oil and blag the tester or at least distract him so he would miss the most obvious problems!  The worst was an old Vauxhall Victor which only cost him £200 but literally fell apart one bit at a time.

You can grab an absolute bargain though, cheap cars aren't always on their last legs, the Tipo I had is testament to that. My current car is very nice, I have had to pay out for a couple of cheap fixes, but the car runs and drives without fault, and the interior is immaculate. Cheap motoring doesn't mean you have to run around in an old jalopy.

[doggsbody]

My MK6 escort pictured in my profile cost £400 about 2yrs ago nothing spent for MOT as of yet ( l helped with part restoring it so l knew alot about it ) out MK1 focus estate w reg was about £450 ish from a car sales place about 4-5 yrs ago n has cost £500 ish was nearly scrapped because of the garage l used like previous motor's l took there, but luckily thanks to the guy l part restored the essy with l took it else where after they failed the brand new replacement bearing and sorted the emmisions ( after it failed the 1st mot ) a week later new mot place nothing else done to focus magic it passed no advisory's ( for anyone interested reg is ( W992 TAV ) the amount done before we bought it is amazing to say it's virtually rust free 😂

[south_bound]

7 hours ago, Stevesixty7 said:

You can grab an absolute bargain though, cheap cars aren't always on their last legs, the Tipo I had is testament to that. My current car is very nice, I have had to pay out for a couple of cheap fixes, but the car runs and drives without fault, and the interior is immaculate. Cheap motoring doesn't mean you have to run around in an old jalopy.

 

Sounds like you have it down to an art.  I wasn't having a go, just saying what my memories were when growing up.  Unless you know your way around cars and what to look out for or personally know the history of an older car for sale, there will always be a risk that you buy a lemon - a least that would be the risk for me.  Saying that I wouldn't mind picking up a well looked after future classic at some point and keep it going as a hobby if ever I found the time.

[doggsbody]

South bound, l know exactly what you mean l spent just over £700 in the space of a few months on what turned into 3 lemon's 😂 just before the essy 

[isetta]

up until about 10 yrs ago I always had old cars and typically had them about 4 yrs before they became uneconomic to keep going. In the early years I was only doing about 3k miles pa but then it increased to about 17.5k pa so the cheap cars were not lasting so long. Then about 10 yrs ago I did some maths and decided that if I spent about £9,500 on a fiesta diesel, not new but almost new then after 7 yrs I would have saved money compared to carrying on with old cars due to the saving on fuel and the reduction in road tax (the road tax saving me about £200pa).  I appreciate you new to have the money for the initial high outlay on the car. And I was fairly confident I would carry on doing that level of mileage.

So I had that Fiesta for almost 9 yrs and spent very little on it (it was on 146k miles when  sold).  

But if in the future I am not doing that kind of mileage and something happened to my existing car I would go back to older cars. And now the 'old' cars have better mpg and lower tax than 10 years ago so my maths of 10 yrs ago would not be quite so relevant. 

So for me the fuel cost and road tax were the relevant factors. 

[isetta]

and I loved my 1998 Escort 1.6 petrol Chicane I had before the Fiesta diesel but the Fiesta did 50% more mpg, but the Escort was a much more comfortable drive

[Stevesixty7]

9 hours ago, south_bound said:

 

Sounds like you have it down to an art.  I wasn't having a go, just saying what my memories were when growing up.  Unless you know your way around cars and what to look out for or personally know the history of an older car for sale, there will always be a risk that you buy a lemon - a least that would be the risk for me.  Saying that I wouldn't mind picking up a well looked after future classic at some point and keep it going as a hobby if ever I found the time.

I know you weren't having a go mate, that didn't enter my head lol, I'm just saying there are some decent older cars out there that can serve you well.

[doggsbody]

Personally I would prefer to Go backwards with the escort maybe mk1-2 or a 3i for me it doesn't matter about performance or milage, but l totally understand the diesel part running costs are way cheaper fuel wise 👍

[Stevesixty7]

I loved my Mk1 and 2 Escorts, and although basic, they were great to drive. They fetch good money nowadays too.

[doggsbody]

Basic is what would suit me fine stevesixty7 for me it wouldn't have to be any of the special models, l grew up with them during secondary school seeing my brother with a new 1 nearly every week, but like you say they bring the good money now which is the problem of getting 1 😂 then you have the parts price if restoring it ( which is what I would prefer to do ) l wouldn't modify it l would be too mortified to try same as the 3i but an other mk3-4 l would, but 1 day l hope to get 1 of 3 or magically all 3 😂

[doggsbody]

On 07/02/2018 at 8:36 AM, isetta said:

and I loved my 1998 Escort 1.6 petrol Chicane I had before the Fiesta diesel but the Fiesta did 50% more mpg, but the Escort was a much more comfortable drive

Isetta, mines a basic 1.6 petrol serenade n l understand exactly what you mean about the ride try driving an old Vauxhall Corsa B they feel like you're riding a baking tray, but the steering is spot on for non powered steering they do rot worse than Ford's do thoe but they don't show it/how bad.