Bangernomics

[albash82]

I do REALLY miss my E39. But I just keep telling myself it was about to turn into a moneypit and then it's all ok.

It was.

Definitely.

Jacking points were toast. Arches starting to go. Boot lid was going, boot window frame was very bad .... Yes, this is reminding me that it was wise to sell.
But The Chancellor was generally a joy to own.

 

[primo]

I do REALLY miss my E39. But I just keep telling myself it was about to turn into a moneypit and then it's all ok.

It was.

Definitely.

Jacking points were toast. Arches starting to go. Boot lid was going, boot window frame was very bad .... Yes, this is reminding me that it was wise to sell.
But The Chancellor was generally a joy to own.
View attachment 657409

they just look the business though don't they!

 

[grey-beard]

My 60 plate focus 1.6tdci just sailed through it's not one year after buying it. 64mpg average and 30 quid a year road tax. It's a nice drive too. Well done.

 

[Henne]

This money pit syndrome reminds me of my first car, a mk3 Ford Escort, 1984 A reg, 1.3GL. I bought it in 1994 and 80k on the clock for £800. After a couple of years, the rear arches and sills were replaced at a cost of £200, rear window was leaking into the spare wheel well and causing rust and damp, and the battery tray was going too. Front arches starting to rot. Mechanically it was good and reliable but as more rust was found, I realised that what I would be spending on rust repairs, was probably more than the value of the car. I sold it for £500 in 1997.

 

[legrandefromage]

I bought an RS1600i in 2004 for £995

and sold it six months later for....


£995, Years MOT with no advisories

Nobody wanted them. I look now and cry a little

I'd always been a cheap car buyer. Sweaty Betty was the best, a 1983 MKII Fiesta in powder blue with two weeks worth of tax & MOT for £50 as the owner was going abroad for university.

Needed rear arches and sills but was sound, we ran it for nearly 4 years after deciding to just keep it for 6 months. I got a job from it as the neighbour watched me repaint the arches and made the car look as presentable as possible. Car boot ford hubcaps in pearlescent which topped it off nicely. Car boot stereos too.

Sold it in 2000, my gran gave us a bit of cash for an upgrade after it struggled with the three of us to get up the hills out of Brighton

Cars are expensive now and the problems they have with damp modules can end up scrapping them.

Even a 2016 Kia Rio nearly ended up as a parts donor - the ECU had a fault and non of the usual refurbishers would touch it. We found one supplier who managed to match the part number exactly (so it matched all the options on the car) Nearly £2k to fix a perfectly normal car that would start, run for a few minutes then stop for no reason barely 6 months out of its manufacturers warranty - Kia wanted £2k just for the part.

A 2013 Renault horsebox banjoed due to a delaminating multi-layer module that Renault no longer produces - its on 'back-order' - which means they dont have any, anywhere. Alternator alternates, battery charges, module sends a fault to the dash that brings up 'battery not charging!' message. We cannot bypass it or delete it

The problem now is that many components were manufactured in Ukraine and are simply not available until alternate sources come on line.

That leaves car repairers waiting on parts that could be 6 months to a year away. Or relying on 'refurbished' from dubious sources

Anyway, as soon as that Focus starts giving weird starting or central locking faults, its the clocks

clocks clocks clocks

21014 Octavia - hazard lights always on - needs a new ECU as the original is damp and has blown a chip, made in Ukraine so its a refurb or 2nd hand one.

2012 Citroen Berlingo, only one headlight, BCI fault, new one from Britain available, but his was a Ukraine BCI - unavailable, so 2nd hand or refurbished

I could go on

and on


and on

 

[albash82]

Yeah a fella who runs the workshop next door (bikes), was a car mechanic for 25 years. One of the reasons he left the trade was he got so frustrated not being able to fix certain cars because modern electrics.

 

[Betsy]

I was listening to a discussion on the radio recently, they were talking about the giving up the car.. every person's calculations factored in their lease hire cost?... wtf! just buy a banger you idiots!

I've had many... i had a 20yr old 1L Peugeot 205 briefly before my kid was born.. it was given to me foc, the drivers door lock was broken so i had to get in/out through the passenger side by scooting across the seats, on one occasion my mrs was in the car and i'd just put some petrol in.. she had to get out first so she went to pay while i fueled up.. i jumped back in, she jumped back in and off we went.. (as an aside i'm a super chilled driver, with 18yrs NCD) there was plenty of room so i pulled out from the petrol station, the approaching coach driver with no passengers took aversion and started driving like an agro prick about 1" from my bumper flashing his lights and shouting shit out his window.. then pulled along side me and tried forcing us over... quite rightly i said "what the f*ck are you doing you f*cking stupid cnut" he was red faced and massively obease (i'd be surprised if he could walk nr' mind punch) he said "get out of the car and say that" my mrs said "i'm not getting out again"
Damn! the fight was lost before it had even started..

 

[Jamesbike]

I bought an RS1600i in 2004 for £995

and sold it six months later for....


£995, Years MOT with no advisories

Nobody wanted them. I look now and cry a little

I'd always been a cheap car buyer. Sweaty Betty was the best, a 1983 MKII Fiesta in powder blue with two weeks worth of tax & MOT for £50 as the owner was going abroad for university.

Needed rear arches and sills but was sound, we ran it for nearly 4 years after deciding to just keep it for 6 months. I got a job from it as the neighbour watched me repaint the arches and made the car look as presentable as possible. Car boot ford hubcaps in pearlescent which topped it off nicely. Car boot stereos too.

Sold it in 2000, my gran gave us a bit of cash for an upgrade after it struggled with the three of us to get up the hills out of Brighton

Cars are expensive now and the problems they have with damp modules can end up scrapping them.

Even a 2016 Kia Rio nearly ended up as a parts donor - the ECU had a fault and non of the usual refurbishers would touch it. We found one supplier who managed to match the part number exactly (so it matched all the options on the car) Nearly £2k to fix a perfectly normal car that would start, run for a few minutes then stop for no reason barely 6 months out of its manufacturers warranty - Kia wanted £2k just for the part.

A 2013 Renault horsebox banjoed due to a delaminating multi-layer module that Renault no longer produces - its on 'back-order' - which means they dont have any, anywhere. Alternator alternates, battery charges, module sends a fault to the dash that brings up 'battery not charging!' message. We cannot bypass it or delete it

The problem now is that many components were manufactured in Ukraine and are simply not available until alternate sources come on line.

That leaves car repairers waiting on parts that could be 6 months to a year away. Or relying on 'refurbished' from dubious sources

Anyway, as soon as that Focus starts giving weird starting or central locking faults, its the clocks

clocks clocks clocks

21014 Octavia - hazard lights always on - needs a new ECU as the original is damp and has blown a chip, made in Ukraine so its a refurb or 2nd hand one.

2012 Citroen Berlingo, only one headlight, BCI fault, new one from Britain available, but his was a Ukraine BCI - unavailable, so 2nd hand or refurbished

I could go on

and on


and on

Don't mention ford or fiat rubbish!

 

[Jamesbike]

I do REALLY miss my E39. But I just keep telling myself it was about to turn into a moneypit and then it's all ok.

It was.

Definitely.

Jacking points were toast. Arches starting to go. Boot lid was going, boot window frame was very bad .... Yes, this is reminding me that it was wise to sell.
But The Chancellor was generally a joy to own.
View attachment 657409

Cannot believe it's so shot underneath!!

Never had a BMW - several Audi loads Volvo's, but not BMW or MB!

 

[Sundayjumper]

I bought an RS1600i in 2004 for £995...

Similar; I had a (genuine!) Mk1 Mexico, sold it in c. 2000, got £900 for it and even that was a struggle.

Nowadays - a rotten basket case bare shell is worth 5x that.