Bangers chat

[nogojones]

My full banger life...

£500 Lasted a couple of years, was pretty shit in all sorts of ways.

£120, Left and drive automatic. lasted two years without any problems. We used to call it the dragon as smoke would puff out the front every time it stopped. third year MOT failure

£100. Some idiot has put wide wheels on it, but in one of those strange coincidences my neighbour was pimping his sunbeam (they must have been the last two in town), so I swapped my Carlos Fandango wheels for his normal ones. He was so happy he fixed any mechanical problems I had with it for a couple of years. It was shit. I was two lazy to fix the window that would only close to leave an inch open. the heater didn't work so the inside and outside would freeze over in the winter.

I think I had another cortina before I got the crusader. I should have known better, but it was £300, and had all the high spec. Lasted good few years though the auto choke was shit ( like my other cortinas), so ended up throwing the air filter away so I could disconect the fuel line and chuck a bit of petrol down the venturi to get the fucker started every time. Got knicked and trashed in the end. Can't say I was too upset and got £700 from the insurance.

 

[Voley]

Toyota Corolla T-Sport, photos for insurance purposes due to altercation with an Audi shown in second pic, subsequently added to by reversing into a wall about a week later.

16 years old, 145,000 on the clock, engine warning light permanently on (Garage: "We don't know why" Me: "OK"), makes a weird noise when idling, changing from 4th to 3rd is a crunchy experience. Every time it goes through the MOT it costs what I paid for it but somehow it keeps going. I stick with it because it's 190 BHP. The 1.8 VVTI has this valve thing that kicks in at 6000 revs that's like a turbo. 6 speed box, goes like shit off a shovel, I fucking love it. A plumber came round to mine once who was a previous owner and we had a long chat about engine warning light issues/weird noises and its other little quirks. He did go a bit misty-eyed when we talked about the acceleration though. He said he missed it.

I'll drive it till it drops - the engine's sound but the salty/corrosive sea air round here is doing its thing on the bodywork etc. I've a suspicion that suspension or something major other than the engine will go eventually and then the engine and leather seats will go back to my brother-in-law who has first refusal before I scrap it.

 

[nogojones]

£200. on the first day I locked the key the ignition and had to squeeze my boy through the sunroof to open it. 20 mins later the head gasket went. Got my money back from the seller (a mate who run a scrappy)

Went upmarket and spent £1k! Banging car. never let me down, it was so nice to have a car that started every morning. lasted about 4 years till my ex killed it. She pretended she knew nothing about it and didn't mention it to me until I had the cops on my doorstep

Two of these in a row. One for £400, the other £450. They were ok. a couple of years out of both of them.

£300, 2litre. pretty good. once again a couple of years without too much grief

£700 auto, high spec, all heated leather seats and a low pressure turbo. lovely car that kept on going for about 4 years without too much hassle.

£950. once again a lovey car that lasted about 5 years til I bumped it

 

[nogojones]

£500, great car. no problems for about 3 years when the electrics started messing up and killed it.

I had a company A3 for a few years that I treated as poorly as all my bangers in the mix as well. which ended up costing me nore that any of my bangers in excess costs when some fucker knocked the mirror off. £350 for a fucking mirror- thats the cost of a car for me ! and loss of 9 yrs NCB as I was on company insurance for 3 years.

Bangers for life!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Mine is definitely straying into banger territory. Got it less then 3 years ago with 115k, now on 162km. Just been MOTed. Apparently the Ecu light is now a fail which would have meant new car time, but they took the bulb out for me.

 

[Part 2]

51 Plate Ford Focus estate here. Bought it with 60k+ on the clock 2 years ago for £360. Engine light keeps coming on since I bought it and occasionally over revs but never got any worse. Speedo occasionally doesn't work and doesn't add miles on which explains the low mileage. I've learnt to manage speed via the rev counter. Flown through MOTs, only thing I've needed to buy was a couple of tyres and a back light.

A couple of months ago someone drove into it and it was classed as an uneconomic repair. Book price was £531, their insurance let me buy it for £31 and gave me a cheque for £500. Bought rear light for £12 on ebay and taped up the bumper. Think I'll park it there again

 

[Voley]

A couple of months ago someone drove into it and it was classed as an uneconomic repair. Book price was £531, their insurance let me buy it for £31 and gave me a cheque for £500. Bought rear light for £12 on ebay and taped up the bumper. Think I'll park it there again

Nuts isn't it? That set of scratches on the back of mine in the pic above were uneconomical to repair, apparently. They'd scrap a perfectly good car for that.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I nearly got the previous puddymobile written off after an attempted theft that resulted in nearside door getting slightly bent and window shattered.

I withdrew the claim rather than go through all the bollocks of write-off, buying back, having it certified as being the same car (DVLA do this to stop people laundering stolen cars in the identity of a write-off) and having more expensive insurance in the future.

Got the repair done (involving second hand window from scrap car) for about 50 quid

 

[Part 2]

Nuts isn't it? That set of scratches on the back of mine in the pic above were uneconomical to repair, apparently. They'd scrap a perfectly good car for that.

Yea the repairs for mine were estimated at £2500 or thereabouts.

 

[felixthecat]

06 Focus 120000 on the clock. Engine management light permanently on - dodgy catalytic converter but still passes the emissions test ( the mechanic turn the light off before the MOT ). Instrument cluster failed this year - when I started getting bruises from banging the dashboard to get it to start i took it to Ford because codes and suchlike. Ford wanted almost a grand to replace it but got it repaired for £160 elsewhere, no need for any codes. Invariably gets water in the engine block now and again - £30 cash for the mechanic to blow it out and reseal the crack.

It'll be going in the summer to become a proper banger - my neice does banger racing and I've promised her my car for the track if she pays me scrap value.

 

[Nivag]

I'm gutted my 1998 Saab 900 will have to go in a couple of years as it's not ULEZ compliant. There will be a lack of bangers in London from that point

 

[not-bono-ever]

my drivers leccy window grates, pops out of the runners and sometimes jams- its a PITA.gonna start by stripping the door and replacing the guides- its may be fuck all but a scrappy mechanism is a score if i need one

 

[UnderOpenSky]

my drivers leccy window grates, pops out of the runners and sometimes jams- its a PITA.gonna start by stripping the door and replacing the guides- its may be fuck all but a scrappy mechanism is a score if i need one

Ah yeah. Mine does that as well. I normally just pull it hard.

 

[Limejuice]

How many of you Mondeo owners have gaffer tape on your bumper?

(I thought of asking this before I checked the picture in the OP)

Yes!

It was there when I bought the car. Black tape on a black bumper. About 6 inches long.

I like to think of it as colour co-ordinated reinforcement.

ETA: I still have the original gaffer tape on the bumper, so the tape's doing as well as the car itself.

 

[mauvais]

I think they came from the factory like that tbh.

 

[mauvais]

See also Mondeo With Gaffer Tape

 

[not-bono-ever]

my mondy came with the original rear tyres - like 17 years old - fuck knows how it got through MOTs but the 35k miles and the full dagenham motors history backed them up. the car drove strangely when i got it and i realised that they both had a proper flat spot on the rears where the old gadey who owned it from new had left it for a year at a time on his drive - £75 quid a pair unbranded north korean ultra budget new ones sorted the problem. As its my expedition car, a a pair of terribly scuffed focus rims and tyres also reside in the boot for emergencies.

I do get a sense of pride about running a banger when the rest of SE London seems to be caning the RR evoque lease market

 

[Cheesepig3]

Google Image Result for http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/rustyoldford/jalopy-cortina-small.jpg

Best magazine ever.

I had Opel Kadetts (1978-81), Cortina mk IV and a series of sub-£250 cars before about 1995.


You can not get proper bangers now.

 

[Cheesepig3]

.... 2.8i Granada, dog-turd brown, real Life on Mars stuff.


It wasn't mine. My Dad taught me to drive in it and let me out, on L plates, with my spotty 17 year old mates as the "qualified " driver for weekends away.

That's a 2.8i Granada, 1984 model, in the hands of 3 17 year olds with a boot full of camping gear and, er, gear.


What was the old boy thinking of?


Mind, he was younger then than I am now.


My lad will be restricted to 900cc until he can buy and insure his own.

 

[Voley]

my drivers leccy window grates, pops out of the runners and sometimes jams- its a PITA.gonna start by stripping the door and replacing the guides- its may be fuck all but a scrappy mechanism is a score if i need one

Mine does that too.

Also one of its previous boy racer owners lowered the suspension so traffic calming measures are a bit brutal on the front end/exhaust/road itself. In addition to putting the insurance up.

 

[ice-is-forming]

I just bought a new truck! $4000 for a 89, 4.2L diesel Ford maverick, which is basically a patrol. It only has 222,000k on the clock!
Great bargain.

 

[Voley]

It only has 222,000k on the clock!

A mere baby!

Pics?

 

[ice-is-forming]

It's gonna last me around ten years I reckon

 

[Voley]

It's gonna last me around ten years I reckon

Mileage is nothing for an 89.

 

[ice-is-forming]

A mere baby!

Pics?

 

[ice-is-forming]

Mileage is nothing for an 89.

It's barely run in, the ks on my 1984 60's series land cruiser, that i have now is 450,000 by comparison.It doesn't miss a beat but living by the sea has rusted it .

I think this new one may be my last truck if it sees me though to 20 years! I'll try to keep on top of any rust. It has draws & bed base that fold up in the back. and a overhead dvd player lol. and aircon! and sounds! oo and it has a snorkel!

 

[Voley]

She's a beaut ice-is-forming!

 

[ice-is-forming]

She's a beaut ice-is-forming!

She is!

 

[ice-is-forming]

 

[Voley]

It doesn't miss a beat but living by the sea has rusted it .

That's what does for bangers in Cornwall too. I had an 02 Ford Fiesta that died about 5 years ago because the entire back end was rusted out. Engine was fine but there was no way it was going through an MOT. Garage bloke asked if I parked it in the sea.