I am looking for an automatic banger for my wife who is still learning to drive. It won't go more than 5 miles from our house [her office is 4 miles from home]. As long as it is legally drivable [ie has MOT] any car will do.
My budget is around £200 [+ I'm happy to pay the tax] and car should be drivable for 9-10 months at least without needing to fix anything. Of course, if it requires any repair I'll scrap it.
My insurer can cover the car [up to Group 7] for £25/month - which I think is reasonable.
I've looked into AutoTrader/Ebay but the problem is, at this price I can't find any car which has MOT.
Any suggestions for which car and where I can find them?
Thanx
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Don't think it's going to happen to be honest.
With the scrap value being about £150, even a 20-year-old Hyundai Stellar with 750,000 miles on the clock and a dicky engine will fetch more than £200 if it has MOT.
Probably ebay -- and be prepared to get something deeply unfashionable.
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Has to be worth cycling that distance surely? :-/
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That's right but she needs to drive as she is unable to get better jobs without own transport.
The purpose of the banger will be for learning rather than commuting :) Once she gets the license then she can buy a proper car.
Edited by movilogo on 09/09/2008 at 22:55
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You will be lucky to find something suitable under £400.
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I've been looking around on ebay and one pattern seems to be emerging: pre-1995 non-Japanese Far Eastern cars (Hyundai Lantras, Protons etc) seem to fall into your price range with maybe 9 months test.
There are others but they tend to be short test only -- not really what you are after.
I think the owners are mad for taking this little for them, but there you go.
The one that particularly caught my eye was an auto Proton MPI 1.5, 48000 miles, 10 months MOT, sold for £172. These were very solid cars, but it depends on how far you want to take your unfussiness really!!
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These were very solid cars but it depends on
Reliable enough - but trust me, FAR from solid! :-P
Leaks, plastic breaks, electrics go dodgy, but that HGF prone 1.5 just keeps on tickin' even with just water in the cooling system and a dodgy HG.
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OK, maybe not so solid then!! lol.
Sounds like it's the non-Mitsu parts that give trouble then -- I based my comment on the fact that they are supposedly the same as an old 80s Lancer, and they *were* very solid motors -- about as good as they got before the rot set in.
Thing is though, I think it's about as good as a £200 auto is going to get unless you're VERY, VERY lucky.
Edited by jase1 on 09/09/2008 at 23:17
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As long as it is legally drivable [ie has MOT] any car will do.
Go back to Auto Trader and do another search ("more search options") for anything up to £500 withh the keyword "MOT", and a good distance from your home post-code. You will have to...
My budget is around £200 [+ I'm happy to pay the tax]
pay 50%+ more than that,though. You may get lucky with the tax.
and car should be drivable for 9-10 months at least without needing to fix anything.
That is rather a matter of luck, as well as considering carefully the motor car that you're looking at.
Of course if it requires any repair I'll scrap it.
Scrap's gone down. Reckon on £80 for a car right now.
Any suggestions for which car and where I can find them?
Anything that works, and has a long MOT. It will be helpful if it doesn't burn oil, hasn't ever been taken to bits to be fixed, and has done around (guesstimate on your requirements) 130,000+ miles - if it works, and hasn't needed to be repaired, and has an MOT, it's likely to continue like that for at least some time. Don't get to caugh tup by the cosmetics, if it's just "transport"/learning.
You have a vague hope on shop noticeboards, the sort that have small ads, the local press, word of mouth, your local motorbits dealer, - or - a dealer who takes P/X. Be heartless with the latter. Tit for tat (I woncer what the swear filter will make of that, if anything).
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It *is* possible to get a decent car, if you are at the right place at the right time.
A dealer pal of ours managed to find us a 1998 Daewoo Nubira 1.6SE, 42,000 miles, in actually really good nick, from auction for £120. The driver's door wouldn't unlock properly (just needed adjustment), and he gave it a bit of a service and fixed the door, and gave it to us as a favour.
It's managed two MOTs now without issue.
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Not really sure if it's possible today, due to the price of scrap metal.
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If you are going to get her a better car after she has passed her test, why not get the better car now, assuming she doesn't drive like Mr Magoo of course. Learning in a total nail could out her off the whole experience and you'll have an extra £200 to put to he better car.
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There is a Pug 309 auto on autotrader for £225. T&T and only 65000 miles. Worth a look.
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Go to a local main dealers showrooms and talk with the head of car sales.
Tell them what you want.
They may have a PX that is not forecourt material or a 'no seller' outback and you walking in with a few hundred pounds in your hands may just be sufficient to get them to sell you that car.
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Any small auto with nine months MoT that's not falling apart will make £500 through an auction.
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Cheapest near us on Autotrader
1995 HYUNDAI LANTRA 1.6 16V Cdi 4dr Auto Saloon (private)
73,000 miles
Automatic
Burgundy
Petrol
4 door saloon, petrol, automatic,tax end of month,mot feb 2009 vcc all but scrape on rear door & front bumper easy repair e/w s/r r/c c/l used daily has never let me down. £395.
£395
8 photos
Technical Data
1990 VOLVO 740 SE 4dr Auto Saloon (private)
80,000 miles
Automatic
Blue
Petrol
80,000 miles, low mileage,4 door saloon, blue, petrol, automatic, MOT valid until Dec 08. £395 no offers.
£395
Edited by madf on 10/09/2008 at 09:39
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Plenty of pre 2000 cars going through the auction I was at last week for £100-150,don't know about autos,they weren't the cars I was looking at.
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You need a model with no street-cred. A Citroen ZX is a Peugeot 306 in all but name. How about this on Ebay, in Weston super Mare - item no. 180286816704
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Any small auto with nine months MoT that's not falling apart will make £500 through an auction.
May well do - but who pays for it to get to auction?
The dealer.
I was put on to this money saving idea after seeing it in Autotrader some years ago.
Cut out the middle men (transport and the auction) and you can and will get some really good bargains doing it his way.
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Go to a local main dealers showrooms and talk with the head of car sales. Tell them what you want. They may have a PX that is not forecourt material
The problem is that you, as a private individual, buying from a trader, have lots of rights as a consumer. Most garages won't do this these days - it is not possible to make a "trade" sale to an individual.
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Very true! I did ask some dealers and none of them had anything below £1000. In fact they advised me to look into private sales only.
A small garage told me that they themselves collect cars at this price range from all over the country and then spend £50-£100 to make them pass MOT and then sells to public for £500-£1000. Thus they earn £200-£500 profit per car.
That's why as an individual, it is quite difficult to get anything at this price :(
A colleague of mine scrapped his P-reg Astra (running condition with 6 months MOT) for just £150 a month back. Wish I knew it earlier.
Edited by movilogo on 10/09/2008 at 13:03
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>>That's why as an individual, it is quite difficult to get anything at this price :(
No, it's because if a garage sells to you as a private individual then you as a consumer are protected. Whereas if they sell it into the trade, there is no sort of warranty.
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"Most garages won't do this these days.."
Which is why Ebay is such a useful source. Dealers are understandably wary of anything more than 8-10 years old, but many cars (esp. Japanese) will run reliably for twice that long with only moderate TLC - just change the oil twice as often as the maker recommends!
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many cars (esp. Japanese) will run reliably for twice that long with only moderate TLC
I'd be interested to see a survey on the reasons for cars going to the crusher these days.
Given that (a) they don't rust irreparably until well into their teenage years, and (b) engines and gearboxes are typically good for 200K+, I suspect that probably as high as 75% of all cars are being scrapped for no other reason than a relatively minor repair that will cost more than the car is worth.
As an owner of a couple of Nissans that just refused to die (one was scrapped due to a knackered clutch and general tattiness -- exactly the sort of thing I mean; the other wiped out in a minor non-fault collision that lead to it being written off), I do suspect that if they were looked after the same way cars were in the 60s and 70s, most of them would last for 25+ years, and that goes for the cheapest Proton as well as the BMWs and Jags.
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"I'd be interested to see a survey on the reasons for cars going to the crusher"
So would I. I suspect that most are for failed MOT, but I also suspect that the cost/severity of the remedy often gets exaggerated, as the garage responsible for the MOT would much rather sell you another car than patch up an old one. Also, £70/hour doesn't buy you much labour time!
The only problem I had with my old Audi was a fuel pump failure that would have cost more than the car was worth to replace. The guy who ran the test was thorough enough to trace it to a 'dry joint' that I was then able to fix in five minutes with a soldering iron!
Our throw-away age doesn't help, either...
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Let us know how you get on!
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Let us know how you get on!
I got on very well buying (what is now) my second run around this way.
That is a FSH and in very good condition 1 owner & traded in manual petrol 1.4 S reg Clio for £475 two years ago.
Done 18k (mostly going fishing & driving it up & down dirt or farmers tracks and muddy river banks!) since then in it. It has today 73.9k on the clock). It has passed all MOT's with no hassle or advisories. It is going as strong as the first day I got it and has cost me no more than for consumables & servicing.
Edited by Tron on 10/09/2008 at 12:40
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Found a Proton with MOT in Auto £300 on Auto Trader.......bit of bargaining may get a lower price!
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There?s a 1995 Volvo 440 Auto with only 58k on the clock on autotrader for 395 quid. MOT not quoted but looks like it might be worth calling and asking.
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If you're oop north (Yorkshire) -- you might want to have a look at this (20 hours left to run on ebay).
Ebay auction number 250290757846 : Hyundai Lantra 1.6 auto, 1995, MOTd until August 2009, seems clean enough from the photos, £149 no bids.
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Too far from me, I'm in Bedfordshire! Thanks for looking though.
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Never mind, looked right up your street 'sall ;)
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How about?
tinyurl.com/5mhz3w {link to autotrader}
(mods-sorry don't know how to do anything with this!)
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 10/09/2008 at 19:54
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Everest,
You may or not be bothered, but the link has revealed your post code - distance from...
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>>> You may or not be bothered but the link has revealed your post code -
I've changed it to one of their regional office postcodes - along with shortening the link using tinyurl - of which the instruction for using are in one of the sticky threads at the top of the page.
DD.
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You could try Freecycle - www.freecycle.org
Cars do occasionally appear..
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"Given that (a) they don't rust irreparably until well into their teenage years, and (b) engines and gearboxes are typically good for 200K+, I suspect that probably as high as 75% of all cars are being scrapped for no other reason than a relatively minor repair that will cost more than the car is worth."
I'm scrapping an 89 Golf, simply because it needs a new back box and a new MoT. It might get through with just the box, but at about £225 sale value, it's not worth putting £100 into it. I'll get £60+ to scrap it, and I'm keeping the battery, 4 x tyres/wheels. I paid £150 for it, just to get the Weber carb, which is worth £125 on its own.
So scrapping it (despite having a VW/Pierburg carb that would fit in my shed) will get me £250 in value + cash, whereas MoTing it and then selling would net me around £100, and maybe much less if it fails first time.
Annoying really, as it's a good car, if slightly blotched with cosmetic rust and in need of a good wash.
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I think you will have a hell of a struggle, but good luck. I think you need about double (£400) your budget in order to start getting cars that meet your requirements. Women are most likely to crash within the first year of driving - :-) - so maybe it is best to get a slightly more expensive banger, and then run it for longer than you currently plan to, rather than buy a decent car right after she passes.
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