| Motoring Discussion > Jalopy | Buying / Selling |
| Thread Author: brettmick | Replies: 16 |
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New Sat 19 Jan 13 19:01
Jalopy - brettmick
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I haven't looked at the Jalopy end of the market for a long time - probably 2001 when I paid £100 for a automatic A reg 1.8 Golf with 80k up on ebay (decent car that I ran for 2 years and gave to a friend who ran for another 4). We recently decided that my Mrs would stop working to look after the little ones and as a result running a 59 plate Kia Ceed (Diesel) as a 2nd car is too expensive, especially as she will probably only need to do 2,000 miles a year popping to the shops or taking the kids to play groups. We thought about going to one car but when we looked at the potential clashes (I mostly need a car to get to work - 19 miles each way or 30 minutes on the bike to the guided bus which then takes 30 minutes once it arrives) and the cost of cabs (we live in a small town with limited facilities) it wasn't that much cheaper than a jalopy - say 40 trips a year, £10 in each direction plus the hassle of car seats. So we decided to look at something for under £1k. So many people have said this end of the market is missing thanks to the scrappage scheme, but I have been somewhat surprised. In just a week of looking I have seen for sale locally :- A 2002 Peugeot 206 5 door with 70k miles, 2 owners from new, fsh, new MOT. Citroen Xsara 1.4 5 door 2002, 2 owners with 57k miles up and 80% history with 9 month MOT. Honda Civic 1998 1.6 automatic with 34k miles up, one owner from new and fsh. Nissan Micra 1.0s 2001, 5 door, 99k miles, fsh, new mot. I have also seen some rubbish advertised but I tested the Micra and have bought it for £850. It needs an interior clean as it is a bit grubby but no rips, tears or anything broken (that I saw, anyway). Surprisingly little rust, the wheel arches and seals are very good and the valance under the radiator isn't rusting away as all the guides warned. It was a bit slow once you got to 40 MPH however I am used to the 2.2 Diesel in the RAV4 which is just starting to wind up at 40! Having bought new or nearly new for almost everything over the last 6 years or so I have enjoyed this exercise and I think my wallet will (probably) benefit too thanks to the absence of depreciation, cheap insurance and lack of worry or parking dinks or scrapes. |
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New Sat 19 Jan 13 19:12
Jalopy - Robin O'Reliant
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| I'm one of the banger brigade these days. The effects of the scrappage scheme have largely worn off by now, like you I've seen some very clean cars with far from astronomical mileages for sometimes well under a grand. Get something solid and you can have five years cheap motoring (I got 6 1/2 from my Mondeo, cracking car and the bits I had to buy for it cost less than a service on some prestige tackle). |
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New Sat 19 Jan 13 19:50
Jalopy - corax
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>> Nissan Micra 1.0s 2001, 5 door, 99k miles, fsh, new >> mot. 99k? It should have a few years life left in it yet. A friend of mine recently got rid of his (don't know if he scrapped or sold it, a deceased family member had a Vauxhall Meriva that he took on) at getting on for 180k. Never gave him any problems - he just gave it regular oil and filter changes. Those older all Japanese Micras were very good cars for what they were designed to do. |
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New Sat 19 Jan 13 20:08
Jalopy - Runfer D'Hills
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Good call brettmick. Almost certainly will be a wise move. Although not exactly in "jalopy" territory, my next door neighbour has just got himself what appears to be a bargain second car. Not a model I'd especially noticed before but he's just bought an 09 plate Vauxhall Agila ( the one which looks like a Suzuki Splash) About 20k miles and about £4k apparently. Like I said, I've never really noticed these before but it certainly looks a nice wee thing for anyone who needs or wants that size. |
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New Sat 19 Jan 13 20:20
Jalopy - Runfer D'Hills
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Heh heh, I've just re-read your post RR... >>(I got 6 1/2 from my Mondeo, cracking car and the bits I had to buy for it cost less than a service on some prestige tackle). You're so wrong y'know, I know you must be because so many people here know for sure you are... Mondeos are terribly unreliable money pits you know... Shhh don't tell 'em Pike... :-) |
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New Sat 19 Jan 13 22:44
Jalopy - Avant
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| Good luck with the Micra - it seems to make a lot of sense. The only particular weakness I've heard of is that if you start it from cold and then stop the engine soon after (e.g. to move it around the drive) it won't start again. But you've no doubt got the good sense not to do that anyway. |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 09:51
Jalopy - corax
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>> The >> only particular weakness I've heard of is that if you start it from cold and >> then stop the engine soon after (e.g. to move it around the drive) it won't >> start again. That can happen with a lot of modern cars including mine. If I only need to move it momentarily I'll at least wait until the revs drop, so that I know that it's not on cold cycle. It warms up so quickly that this happens in a few minutes. If it's possible I'll just move it by hand without starting the engine. Last edited by: corax on Sun 20 Jan 13 at 09:53
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 10:01
Jalopy - Duncan
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Mick, you didn't say what the other car is. Would you /mrs mickbrett find the Micra a bit small for putting kids and their stuff in? Perhaps you should do the proper thing and offer to take the Micra to work? |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 19:01
Jalopy - brettmick
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> Perhaps you should do the proper thing and offer to take the Micra to work? The main car is a RAV4 and the Ceed is possibly a bit grand for a 2nd car but I need class one business cover as I use the car for work from time to time - there are lots of bad things that might happen cover wise if we start messing around with "main driver" status. I also want my no claims kept in tact - I have 12 years and she has none, which made the RAV renewal this year fairly pricey but will make little difference to the Micra. My commute is 38 miles a day and I reckon she will do that a week - a modern Diesel engine won't warm up with the sort of journeys she will do and the mess to the EGR valve and the rest of the gubbins doesn't bear thinking about - currently she drives to work twice a week in it which keeps it cleared out. I also reckon the petrol will return a much better economy on the journeys she will do. |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 10:21
Jalopy - Zero
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>> >> The >> >> only particular weakness I've heard of is that if you start it from cold >> and >> >> then stop the engine soon after (e.g. to move it around the drive) it >> won't >> >> start again. >> >> That can happen with a lot of modern cars including mine. If I only need >> to move it momentarily I'll at least wait until the revs drop, so that I >> know that it's not on cold cycle. It warms up so quickly that this happens >> in a few minutes. If it's possible I'll just move it by hand without starting >> the engine. Its happened once on the Polo, and twice on the Lancer. Every time its if you turn off the starter a tad too early before its fully caught in the cold. Its on full rich cycle and floods the engine. Both will start again after much much churning. |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 10:40
Jalopy - Skip
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>> >> Its happened once on the Polo, and twice on the Lancer. Every time its if >> you turn off the starter a tad too early before its fully caught in the >> cold. Its on full rich cycle and floods the engine. Both will start again after >> much much churning. >> Does holding the accelerater pedal on the floor as you used to when you flooded an engine with a carb while you cranked it over still work or are the electronics over riding that ? |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 15:09
Jalopy - Fenlander
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>>>I haven't looked at the Jalopy end of the market for a long time... probably only need to do 2,000 miles a year popping to the shops... considered one car but when we looked at the potential clashes... So we decided to look at something for under £1k... been somewhat surprised... also seen some rubbish advertised... Having bought new or nearly new for almost everything over the last 6 years have enjoyed this exercise... think my wallet will (probably) benefit too thanks to the absence of depreciation... lack of worry or parking dinks or scrapes. Brettmick you probably haven't seen the threads late last year when very similar thoughts/circumstances caused us to take a break in our lease cars and see what a different type of £1k-ish car wold be like. Ended up with a £700 (+ £400 in preventative maintenance) diesel 2003 Alfa 156. So far (6wks on) it is working out far better then I'd ever expected. Good luck with yours. |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 15:14
Jalopy - Runfer D'Hills
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| I'm willing to admit to mild jealousy of your Alfa Fenlander. The notion of a deeply nice car at pocket money really appeals to me. |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 16:03
Jalopy - DP
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>> I'm willing to admit to mild jealousy of your Alfa Fenlander. The notion of a >> deeply nice car at pocket money really appeals to me. >> +1 |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 17:31
Jalopy - Zero
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>> Does holding the accelerater pedal on the floor as you used to when you flooded >> an engine with a carb while you cranked it over still work or are the >> electronics over riding that ? Well it works eventually doing that, no idea if it would if you left the pedal alone, |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 17:39
Jalopy - Manatee
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>>Well it works eventually doing that, no idea if it would if you left the pedal alone, Boy's Panda does this. It's not the "flooding" that prevents it starting, it's programmed, to prevent excess unburnt fuel reaching the catalyst. TBH, I think what works is waiting a while. |
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New Sun 20 Jan 13 18:10
Jalopy - Fenlander
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>>>I'm willing to admit to mild jealousy of your Alfa Fenlander. The notion of a deeply nice car at pocket money really appeals to me. Jealousy isn't an emotion that others ever really attach to my life or posessions but kind of you both to say that. I must admit I've been totally taken aback by how much I like the car and how much pleasure there is using it on even the most mundane runs. The issue that it is almost disposable gains weight the more I use it. The odd scratch or even a whole front end in the snow is now of minor concern whereas it was always in the back of my mind with the C5. I've always liked cars of the 60s/70s (formative years thing that affects most) and there is something in this car that reminds me of that period. I think it's the boot (not had a boot for two decades or more), the lack of cup holders or any useful interior space, the interior design and instruments... just a feeling. So pleased with it actually I treated it to a pair of handbrake cables on sat am after one froze on thurs am. Could have freed off with some WD40 on the ends but thought a proper job was in order. |
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