Ding Ding

howardmarks

Does anyone actually subscribe to true bangernomics or do we all just like cruising done deal looking at cars?

What i mean is in the truest sense of the word buying a car with test and maybe some tax if your lucky and running it til it falls apart or test runs out and then buying something else? Obviously with some research into what will hold up better than complete thrash.
Was gonna post in the b'nomics car of the week thread but thought this question deserved its own.

Take an average second hand car maybe a ford focus 2007 for approx 8 k. Consider you keep the car which is currently 4 years old for 3 years and take out a loan over those three years to buy the car. The loan costs approx 3 grand a year to service. We wont include tax or other incidentals like fuel etc.

Alternatively u buy an old (any car) for max a grand with one years test. U drive this til test runs out and worst case scenario get 100 scrap for it at the end of the year. Cost 900 v 3000. Multiply by 3 = 6300. You may get unlucky in one year and buy a lemon banger and need to get a a second but u still save 1000 plus in this year. And on the flip side if your clutch goes in the good car your going to get it fixed cause the car is worth something to u.

The downside is obvious. You dont drive a newish car. But look at the upside. Lots of saved money for holidays, drink and girls. (bit father jack there?) You drive a different car every year. So no getting bored. Sometimes u can pick a cracker of a car that age or plate snobs wont drive anymore but is a steal has lots of toys etc and which even if u did have some money could never ever afford new. (mercs, lexus for eg)

I think i ranted here but il return to my initial question. Does anyone or has anyone subscribed to what can only be described as the pikeyest form of motoring possible or do we just like to peruse done deal all day. Which in itself is actually quite addictive:)
If u have, Do u think its a plausible and acceptable way to motor or is it flawed. Was your experience good or bad? What was your worst buy and your best in the low price bracket

andyseadog

i used to run like that.

buy a car with a little test, drive it until it died. it grew tiresome.

all well and good getting a bargain, but i've had brakes fail, engines fail, fires, motorway conk outs, break in's successful and unsuccessful, people hitting my car and leaving the scene because it was a shed, terrible stick from friends and family and i recall after taking my (new at the time) girlfriend to the cinema one night in one of my first skips, it took me around 20 minutes to get the car started and we we're the only people left in the carpark, for some reason we're still together.

i found it much easier after all that to buy a reasonable car, in the 2-4k price range and keep it for a while. that way you have a car that is presentable and reliable and it still hasn't really cost the earth god forbid should something go wrong.

car finance is for fools yo! if you cant buy it outright, don't take out credit. the only finance i'l ever be arranging is for a house.

howardmarks

jesus andy i thought i was the only one awake at this hour. But dont forget man at least u have some stories to tell. Its all about the stories.
I dunno tho theres a lot more available these days for your money. Tip from a grand to 1500 and a bit of haggling and theres lots of options. And as for finance i completely agree. But how can someone afford 10 to 15 k for a motor if not for finance>? And thats on small scale.

andyseadog

ah im just in off the night shift, just checking boards before bed

x2 on that though, the stories are great, i've driven some of my skips through places you wouldn't dare walk, streams, beaches, quarries, fields, in the air ... in hindsight its no wonder they broke down :rolleyes:

admittedly in the last 2-3 years theres a far better range of cars available in the circa 1000 euro bracket. back in 2006/ early 2007 k10 micras and mk3 fiestas were going for that kind of money and both featured in my vast array of past skips :cool:.

to own a car worth 10 to 15k, you need to earn it. start with a 1k car, save a little, trade it in for a 3k car, then save a little, trade that in for a 5k car and so on... success doesn't come overnight, and people taking out jumbo mega car loans they can't really afford are part of 'the problem'

itarumaa

I have tried to do this, but also noticed that if spending a bit more than
1000e you get better results.

And yes, now I drive an Lexus, that I could not afford to buy new, but I would not see any point why to buy it new anyway (even I would have the money).

The best thing is that there is no finance attached to the car or a lot of money invested in the car either, I cannot see me spending lot of money for car anyway.

But I also think that 2000-3000e cars that you would keep for a while would be better idea than real bangernomics.

shawnee

Yeah, I too have done the new car thing and would certainly not do so again if I won the lotto. I find many of the modern cars finicky and hard to fix. Any small thing that goes wrong , one needs to go to the main dealer and he usually comes up with a bill of around 1k for maybe replacement of a starter or alternator.
Trading in is a no no and is usually met by "very hard to sell those at present"
So I have tried to buy and drive and have currently one on spare that I bought for around 1 k . Its a Toyota with 2 years nct and came with 9 months tax. I will sell my Mondeo and drive this for a while and if I see something that tickles my fancy I might reinvest.
I get a bit of a kick out of this and one can from time to time make a few hundred which also sweetens the deal.:p

langdang

I always pay cash for cars. Last car was 200yoyo's - got me out of a hole and it has NCT for a few months yet. Next car? Sub 1000 Accord maybe, Volvo S40 (loads on donedeal recently, must be a lotta the "new irish" selling up) , or a Mazda 626. There's so many half decent 1.8/2.0 petrol cars for under a grand at the moment its easy to pick up something with 12months test for cheap.

Mr Benevolent

itarumaa wrote: »

I have tried to do this, but also noticed that if spending a bit more than
1000e you get better results.

And yes, now I drive an Lexus, that I could not afford to buy new, but I would not see any point why to buy it new anyway (even I would have the money).

Incidentally, how are you getting on with your LS? Any real world MPG figures? Is it worth the tax?

itarumaa

Confab wrote: »

Incidentally, how are you getting on with your LS? Any real world MPG figures? Is it worth the tax?

Hi,

no major problems, I did do some brake repairs with the car, new pads front and back (40e+40e), brake sensor was hardwired (gave me warning light before) so no more problems with that and brake fluild was changed+system bled + handbrake adjusted. Now the brakes are fine, altough a bit soft, but still really powerfull if needed, so I quess they are ok. There was also a problem with coolant missing but I sorted that with Bars stop leak (since no-one knew where the coolant went) and that is sorted as well. Then I have polished the car again and again ... and now it looks fine and drives fine.

I use the car as daily driver, mpg is about 18 at the moment, but mostly my driving is in the city (with the pwr button on), a little bit in motorway as well, so not too bad.

I like the car and it is well made, might not keep it for many years since the tax will be a bit pain for long term, altough I was planning to take the car to Finland with me, but I have to see if the idea is ok or not.

But yes, best car I have ever owned, specially the engine+gearbox are fantastic, handling is a bit matter of taste, I like it but someone else might not.

Anan1

The problem I have is with not maintaining the car. On a purely financial level I can see the reasoning, but I struggle emotionally with abusing any car through lack of maintenance. For me bangernomics would become rolling restoration, which blows the financial arguments right out of the water.

keithclancy

Ireland has a fantastic used car market, mainly becuase of the Reg plate snobbery.

I mean its perfecly feasible to get a car for 500 euros and drive it for 2 years.

Here on the continent that is impossible :mad:

howardmarks

keithclancy wrote: »

Ireland has a fantastic used car market, mainly becuase of the Reg plate snobbery.

I mean its perfecly feasible to get a car for 500 euros and drive it for 2 years.

Here on the continent that is impossible :mad:

+1 for this. Im amazed at whats on offer really and i'd say a lot has to come down to the need for peoples egos to drive a car with a certain year on the plate. Shoot even I had that in my head when for a while. Its like we're conditioned to think that way.

Voodoomelon

There's also the issue of dependability, you don't want to be not able to take a 100km journey somewhere without risk of something going wrong, you don't want to be stranded somewhere with the wife or a bunch of kids.

Most people want to be able to hop in a car (whether they like cars or not) and be able to go somewhere without worrying about being able to get there. Even a well maintained €1k car is going to be old, probably high mileage and not very dependable.

thewintermute

I'm currently on the bangernomics mode of transport. 96 Mercedes E200 S124Estate. Like Anan1 says I can't neglect a machine I like, so it's a bit of a rolling restoration too. It's definitely in much better shape than when I bought it. I've covered 7000 - odd trouble free miles, just an oil and filter change by myself and loads of elbow grease to bring the paint back up.Have a few small jobs to do over the summer when I use the motorcycle for commuting, but they're driveway DIY do-able and nice to have rather than need to have. (central locking vacuum pipes, A/c sensor).The Regplate snobbery is crazy, dealers here must have lobbied heavily to get the year of sale displayed prominently on all vehicles in the state. I know people who would rather drive a 00 reg with 100,000 miles than a 99 with 50, 000 miles. They're not the kind of folk who could manage an oil change, mind you. My betetr half won't drive my old barge 'because it's too big' however, I can't see the same excuse being given if it were a 06 model. I doubt I'd get a look in tbh.

Lord Nikon

the last thing you need is a car breaking down in the cold with kids on board. While I have a newish car, it goes when i need it to, as opposed to it might not start in the morning. Honestly, I don't need the trouble of getting to work late, or stranded in Belfast on a Sunday evening.

That said, I would be more inclined to go for a bargain lux-o-barge(S350/LS430/540i) and give in to the high tax. They are avoided because of the tax, but the payoff is much greater.

Soarer

I love Bangernomics.

The one thing I've learned though is, for bangernomics to work properly, you have to buy Japanese.
I've just moved on from my last purchase that I'd kept for 2.5 years...a 94 Corolla that I picked up for the princely sum of a 24 box of Miller!
She'd been lying idle for 18 months, the test was out, and the battery was dead.
I put in a new battery and got the timing belt changed. Put her through the test, and she passed first time!
She hasn't missed a beat since I've had her. Only changed to go diesel.
She's a pure workhorse, and starts first time, every time.
I'm reluctanct to sell her on, in case the new yoke packs up (01 Astra 1.7td with 82k on the clock).

Bangernomics rule!

howardmarks

howardmarks wrote: »

Does anyone actually subscribe to true bangernomics or do we all just like cruising done deal looking at cars?

What i mean is in the truest sense of the word buying a car with test and maybe some tax if your lucky and running it til it falls apart or test runs out and then buying something else? Obviously with some research into what will hold up better than complete thrash. ....................Alternatively u buy an old (any car) for max a grand with one years test. U drive this til test runs out and worst case scenario get 100 scrap for it at the end of the year. ...................

I don't like your style of bangernomics. I have bought cars for sub €1000, spent little on them, driven them for 3 to 6 months or longer and recouped much of my money. Driving some heap of sh1t around until it falls apart or until the test runs out doesn't appeal to me and is potentially dangerous.

Since October 2006 I've bought 8 cars, costing €13080 in total, 7 of these I sold on for a total of €12290, I still have the 8th one.

howardmarks

RoverJames wrote: »

I don't like your style of bangernomics. I have bought cars for sub €1000, spent little on them, driven them for 3 to 6 months or longer and recouped much of my money. Driving some heap of sh1t around until it falls apart or until the test runs out doesn't appeal to me and is potentially dangerous.

Since October 2006 I've bought 8 cars, costing €13080 in total, 7 of these I sold on for a total of €12290, I still have the 8th one.

Its not MY style. Just trying to come up with a more cost effective way of motoring
I havent ventured into bangernomics yet but am currently toying with the idea. Ive done the car loan side of things and know thats not a route id go down again. I wouldnt be into buying complete wrecks either. A grand buys a lot more than it used to.
Fairplay to u for having essentially cost free motoring. Something similar to that is probably the more ideal way to go about it.

Eric Cartman

I would love to have a bangernomics evening/weekend car but cant afford to insure anything id like to buy , I would have no hesitation buying an old S class, Lexus LS, 7 Series or A8/S8 if i could afford the insurance, I do 30-40,000 miles a year and couldnt afford to have a car be off the road during the day , I need a car to make money so I cant do it all the time

Eric Cartman

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I do 30-40,000 miles a year

:eek: I did less than that as a rep covering Munster.

Eric Cartman

RoverJames wrote: »

:eek: I did less than that as a rep covering Munster.

theres already 20,000km on the d-max and its not even 6 months old, and the end of 2010 was a quiet year for me, during the 3 months of the summer ill easily get 10,000 miles done

Soarer

An LS400 would eat that sort of mileage all year long.
Roadtax would be a balls though.

howardmarks

RoverJames wrote: »

I don't like your style of bangernomics. I have bought cars for sub €1000, spent little on them, driven them for 3 to 6 months or longer and recouped much of my money. Driving some heap of sh1t around until it falls apart or until the test runs out doesn't appeal to me and is potentially dangerous.

Since October 2006 I've bought 8 cars, costing €13080 in total, 7 of these I sold on for a total of €12290, I still have the 8th one.

Forgot to come back to u on this rover james. Dont suppose u'd list a sample of some of the cars during this period?