Wanted: Local Cheap Stop Gap....

[Toms306]

Ok I know I know it's a long shot...

Looking for something cheap (less than a grand) working with at least a couple of months T&T. Not overly fussed what it is but must be local, or delivered. Need it before the end of the month....

Cheers
Tom

[kentiiboii]

Sorry but cheap stopgap car should be less than £500. What about maxs clio?

[Toms306]

What about it? It's not local and it's only fit for scrap lol.

As for the price, I haven't found anything running for under £500 locally, let alone with T&T.

Stuff's expensive down here unfortunately.

Plus hopefully it'll be something half decent for a grand, which I can sell to my sister once I'm done with it as she's learning to drive atm.

[Strikeforce]

Whats happning with the vectra tom?

[Toms306]

Whats happning with the vectra tom?

The idea was to trade it in for something smaller, newer, reliable and economical before the tax ran out...... But that's failed as the tax runs out in a couple of days so now it looks like a stop gap, privately sell the Vec untaxed (balls!) and then get something smaller, newer, reliable and economical.

I always leave things things too late.

[kentiiboii]

Sorry but to me idea of stop gap car is something scrap value, that doesnt have to be decent as long as it runs. Like I say maxs clio is perfect , might be mattered but runs and means you have £850 to put towards your new car.

[Toms306]

It doesn't mean that at all, I already decided the budget for the new car, I don't just throw all the money I have at it lol. Whatever I get will be sold on for similar to what I paid, as long as it loses less that £200 it will be cheaper to do that than to tax and fill the Vectra again, but if its good enough to sell to my sister I won't lose anything.

No one sells a car for scrap value, why would they when they could just scrap it!?

In my position I can't really be fussy, if I could find something decent for £500 of course I'd go for it, but I've been looking for weeks and that's really not the case tbh. And its especially difficult to find one still with tax die to the gov't insurance/tax scheme.

[strictly_perv]

My clio?

[Toms306]

My clio?

Errr.....




No.

[THE_Liam]

I got my green XRDT with 4 months tax and 10 months test for £250, needed a rad but was great for the 6 months I had it, and I'm still using its Bosch on the diablo. Even went to Cornwall, no issues...

Try main dealers, that's how I got that so cheap

[devils_fuel]

I got my green XRDT with 4 months tax and 10 months test for £250, needed a rad but was great for the 6 months I had it, and I'm still using its Bosch on the diablo. Even went to Cornwall, no issues...

Try main dealers, that's how I got that so cheap

He's right, get friendly with local dealers. You buy it trade, they get rid of the car cheap but you have no come back-thoroughly look at it first

I got mine 2 lady owners, FSH and a lot less than book value.

[1616six]

You can have ambers 1.4 Ep1 Civic for £1500 ono & we'll deliver it. its a 2001 51 plate with 80k on it, MOT March & 5 mths tax.

It's been resprayed in the past (HPI clear) but it is slightly dull.

Has full type R interior, type R skirts, 17" alloys with newish tyres.

[Pompey306mark]

I bought my stop gap 306 1.9dt with a years mot and 6 months tax for £500.

In great condition too, bar a squeaky aux tensioner.

[karl1989]

I have a 306 £400

[Toms306]

Sorry guys, this is no longer relevant. Can't deal with the hassle so have just taxed the shitty Vectra again.

Cheers anyway.

[1616six]

Tom just be happy with the vectra.

[Toms306]

Lol, might do if it wasn't so broken and shit on fuel, and tax...and bouncy...and lacking traction control....


REALLY wish I'd taken the hint the first week I had it and sold it there and then. Just a shame I had to spend so much on springs, droplinks, stat and coolant before even driving it properly. By then I couldn't justify getting rid, wish I had though. Reason I've kept is so long since is that I couldn't deal with the hassle of changing it. As it came to the end of the tax I thought I'd make extra effort to get rid...but too late as usual.

[1616six]

What MPG do you get?

[Toms306]

What MPG do you get?

Averaged 48mpg....and its getting worse now its colder.

Can't afford to fuel it tbh, hence wanting something much smaller and cheaper to run.

[kentiiboii]

What MPG do you get?

Averaged 48mpg....and its getting worse now its colder.

Can't afford to fuel it tbh, hence wanting something much smaller and cheaper to run.

You couldn't afford to fuel a moped

[Toms306]

What MPG do you get?

Averaged 48mpg....and its getting worse now its colder.

Can't afford to fuel it tbh, hence wanting something much smaller and cheaper to run.

You couldn't afford to fuel a moped

I know that.

But due to my location I can't be without transport. It's not just about the money though, its about trust/reliability as well, the Vectra gives the same feeling as HDis....as if its gonna explode at any minute....if it even decides to start....

Was looking at the Aygo/C1/107 as they're epically cheap to run (£20 tax a year, £200 insurance, 60+mpg on petrol) but have been put off by their unreliability. So looking for something similar now.

[Strikeforce]

You put an ad up for the vec yet?
Im looking for a new car and im undecided as what to go for so wouldnt mind having a ganders at what you have to offer

[1616six]

What MPG do you get?

Averaged 48mpg....and its getting worse now its colder.

Can't afford to fuel it tbh, hence wanting something much smaller and cheaper to run.

Tom you leave me speechless.

48mpg is GREAT mpg for a 150bhp family 5 door hatch. What do you expect from it?

I promise after a week of driving a C1 or something similar you'll want to cut your cock off with a rusty hacksaw. They are the most basic, horrible to drive, wallowy, slow things ever.

My mother in law had one when she crashed her Kia a few weeks back & it was comical.

You'll hugely regret it afterwards, same as when you sold the golf.

Don't be silly.

[Toms306]

But the point is I don't need a large family car now, I won't take passengers anymore and can't remember the last time I used the boot, 2 Tesco bags fit on the front seat and I don't fix cars or carry gardening equipment. And regardless of whether the MPG is good for the size or not, that's no use if I cant afford it!! Its like saying 20mpg is good for a 3 litre V8 petrol so I should get one.

Its currently costing me a fiver just for the round trip to town which is just ridiculous, I'm supposed to try going out more as part of my 'getting better'...but it's not happening as I can't afford to and the Vec turns me into a complete mess every time I go out (hence not taking passengers at all now).

They're not all that basic, I was looking at one last week with air con, electric windows, leather wheel and knob, leather and alacantra seats, ABS, ESP etc etc. My Nans neighbour has one that I've been in a few times so I know they're not overly quick and don't handle great but that's not the problem here. Reliability and cheap running costs are paramount, over speed or looks.

Also I didn't sell the Golf, cam and lifters failed and clutch and DMF needing replacing so it wasn't worth fixing, I broke it for more than I bought it for. With hindsight I should've bought another instead of f*cking with the china HDi and the Vectra. Hindsight isn't much use now though.

I did expect this kind of reply which is why I didn't bother asking for new car idea's.

[Toms306]

You put an ad up for the vec yet?
Im looking for a new car and im undecided as what to go for so wouldnt mind having a ganders at what you have to offer

You wouldn't want it!! I wouldn't feel right selling it to someone I know anyway, would rather trade it in and let a dealer decide to do with it. Would make a good paperweight I guess.

Spec list is:

2006 (06) Vectra Design 1.9 CDTi 150 in Lightening Silver
103k miles (only done 3k in 7 months, proves how much I dislike it!)
MOT till Feb
6 months tax - tax is £175 the year though!

Good points -
6 CD changer with DAB
Auto dimming mirrors
Half (fake/vegetarian) leather seats, wheel and knob.
Auto wipers and lights.
Climate control.
Rainsports all round on 16" (bubbly) alloys with safety 'spinning head' lockers, so you're f*cked if you lose the key. Drivers one very worn from lack of TC, passengers one 3k old as was replaced when the spring went through it.
New front springs, top mounts and droplinks in March.
New stat and coolant in March.
Doors don't dent as easy as 306 ones so you can PLAC where you like, and you'll need to as it's pretty wide and awkard as you don't really have any rear or front corner visibilty.
Folding rear seats down doesn't require lifting the bases or removing headrests - much easier than in small hatches!
Is can bus so can distract you from driving to alert you that you have a bulb out, same system also tells you when the screenwash is low. Which happens to be now.
Has bosch aerotwins.
Is long enough for fitting ski's or lengths of wood in
Hasn't been washed since I bought it and doesn't look particularly dirty, low maintenance colour

Bad points

Drivers seat ripped on arse bolster.
Stalk design is shit, learn not to indicate and expect to get frustrated trying to get the right setting on the wipers.
AC doesn't work, and climate doesn't appear to reach a desired temp, or demist the windscreen when selected, great fun in the damp, dark weather we get atm.
EGR stuck open so have blanked it (emmisions light on due to this, could be mapped out)
Front fog has a hole in it
Rear light has a 'star' crack in it
Plenty of small scratches for creating parking spaces where bushes were.
Turbo sounds like a siren, used to be just when cold, now its constant.
DMF feels awful, feel the pedal pulsing through your foot, and the clutch slips easy if you rev before the clutch is fully up, both were replaced only 25k ago. When you put the clutch in slow speed you feel the engine move, at least one mount needs replacing.
Very slow to start, had new plugs so not them, my guess is the broken DMF took out a starter tooth but wasn't replaced at the time as the battery and earths seem fine.
Theres a loud metallic crack/clunk from NSF when pulling away quickly, and a terrible wobble at speed on corners, thinking its something loose or perished around the passenger wheel area, wishbone maybe.
Terrible bounce from the rear, honestly this is the worst, and makes me feel carsick, I assume the shocks are fine and this is normal as it passed MOT just before I bought it (the same MOT that missed the huge crack in the spring that snapped though). Wouldn't advise putting children in the back after eating.
Odd chirping noise under load, either a slipping aux belt or a boost leak, there are plenty of boost leaks that blow oil round the bay as if it was an old Peugeot.
Brakes are shit, for the size of the car they should've been bigger! Not helped by the Unipart pads that don't work when cold, gives some interesting experiences at the end of the road in the morning....on the plus side, the ABS does work well when needed though.
Gearbox leaks quite a lot as the plug wont stay tight, someone's probably crossthreaded it or something, I dunno but the carpet on the undertray stinks of GB oil and the box is always dripping.
Gearbox is also really crunchy if you skip a gear and doesn't like selecting 3rd, especially when cold.
Swirl flaps appear to leak and blow EGR shit through their seals onto the underside of the top engine cover, but the bar is still attached (or it was when I last looked, probably has fallen off now)
Comes with a shitty spacesaver wheel that I threw on the drive in a rage and probably bent it. Can include a full size spare though.


Oh, and I'll be looking for as close to £3k as I can get.

[kentiiboii]

You have a great sales pitch. Sounds a great car.

[Jake]

Buy a mk5 gti..

[THE_Liam]

For fucks sake Tom, if you're complaining about the cost of running a diesel Vectra you need to stop spending so much. Newer cars have too much fragile shit that goes wrong all the time and costs a fortune to fix. Buy an XUD with a Bosch pump for less than £500 and get 40-50mpg on 80p per litre fuel!

[1616six]

For fucks sake Tom, if you're complaining about the cost of running a diesel Vectra you need to stop spending so much. Newer cars have too much fragile shit that goes wrong all the time and costs a fortune to fix. Buy an XUD with a Bosch pump for less than £500 and get 40-50mpg on 80p per litre fuel!

Then he'll moan that the tax costs too much and it's more economically viable to buy a c1.

Tom have you considered a bluemotion vw? My mate has a jetta with the silly cheap/free tax.

[kentiiboii]

For fucks sake Tom, if you're complaining about the cost of running a diesel Vectra you need to stop spending so much. Newer cars have too much fragile shit that goes wrong all the time and costs a fortune to fix. Buy an XUD with a Bosch pump for less than £500 and get 40-50mpg on 80p per litre fuel!

Hell really hate it. But I also think it will be his best bet. Everything about it is cheap.