Banger-nomics?

Just curious, do any of you run a banger rather than the 996 all year? May have an opportunity for a sub 30k miles 2005 Focus for a little over £1k, seriously thinking about it. A proper park and forget throw anything in it/at it car. There's always the potential for it to cost a few £'s but there's little on them I can't tackle DIY. :?:

Yep! I run a banger - my leggy boxster. <£4k to buy, 145k miles, whats not to like? Haven't spent a penny on it*! * that bit's a lie

Haven't spent a penny on it?? :floor: There's a tidy 986 2.5 on Boxa currently for ~2.5k

Yep, it's the only way to do it as far as I'm concerned. I do 12k miles per year driving to work down boring dual carriageways (bar 6 miles of B road from my village) so I have no interest in piling on the miles in anything decent. I've always had a summer car and a second car since my Ford RS days back when I was 21. Exactly as you say, something reliable that fades into surroundings and lets you keep the miles off your weekend car. The weekend car feels more special that way too. All I would say is Focus's (Foci ? ) aren't great as they get older. We've just sold my wife's after 5 years. Bought it on 15k at 2 year old and took it upto 60k. Had a few niggles last year. All to be expected but still. They go through bottom arms and wheel bearings for fun. Also there's a flexi joint on the front pipe which splits. Ford in their wisdom also put the cat in the front pipe too though so it £450 for the part. I had my mechanic cut the flexi out and weld a generic one in but it was a faff. 1.8 petrol detected never averaged more than 38mpg and that was with my wife taking it easy. Mainly 65 ish on dual carriageways. I've owned this old Volvo for 2 years. Bought it for £700 on 154k. Now on 177k. I've fitted two brake calipers and done a service in that time. It humps loads of stuff for my house renovation, has carried mates ands bikes to cycling events all over, etc etc. I love it. No nonsense motoring and I actually think it's quite cool. Newer models aren't as good mind. Anyway back to the point... get it done. :thumb: ETA - I can do this as I'm not a poser and don't care what I drive for work. I don't do keeping up with the Jones and learned not to judge someone by their car years ago. Some people like to pull up in a nice car everywhere though. They wouldn't be seen dead in my Volvo. :grin: Depends which camp you fall into.

Ford RS days? This is where all this carry on started when I bought my Cossie at 23, which still resides next to the Turbo 22 years later Had more than 1 car for as long as I can remember, used the turbo only for the last 2 years (besides the wife car) but she's working more now so dragging the 996 out of the garage for a winter school run does seem a bit mental.

Ha, ditto. 20 years ago for me. Joined the Durham Group for a bit but decided I loved the cars but not so much some of the fan boys. :grin: Chats about concours and things. " Oh you'll never beat him on exhaust!". Not the noise here or anything, just the fact it was mirror polished. Then one guy looking at my mates restored S1 at National Day. He turns to his mate and says "Ooh it's got Bosch headlamps in. It should have Carellos on that year. I couldn't sleep at night". That's when I handed my membership in at the door on the way out. I had S2 RSTs, a black one, then a white one. Fiesta RS Turbo then a Magenta Sapphire Cosworth. Got rid of the Cosworth to buy my first 911 when I was 25. As for the 2 car thing, I think I just like knowing I can clean my car up perfect, then not have to use it if it rains. Sad I know...

2002 330d with 182k on the clock. Just passed it's MOT today with no work necessary. Can't imagine myself without one. I have been an exponent of bangernomics since my first, a J reg Saab 9000 in 2000. Can't beat it!

1999 Porsche 996, 131k miles. A little tatty in the paintwork department, but fresh suspension arms are cheap as chips and regular oil changes take 10 mins. No MOT fails or advisories (ever), £200 to insure and returns 24mpg on the twisty 20 mile B road commute, whats not to love :lol: Its almost some kind of freak bangernomics as its worth a chunk more than I bought it for if you believe the hype.

:agree: There's nothing cooler than an old porsche being used well imo. I'm a big fan of bangers, there's sooooo many choices and so much value out there. Look at the old Range Rovers, the Merc S classes which were >£100k and now <£1-2k, similar with the big E class.. The Audi A8's, A6's, (any big audi), the old Volvos like Marky's (love it btw!), old disco's, cayennes, boxsters, R53 minis, E36 BM's.... In fact there's so many I often spend an evening when I'm bored looking through the classifieds and daring myself to buy one for the craic... :grin:

I love driving my old snotter Boxster in all weathers and parking it anywhere. It's almost a release after years of being obsessive about condition,mileage and cleanliness of my cars.

i used mine as a daily for 2 years, then decided it was time to get a commute car...i stupidly bought a petrol X5 :floor: which drinks fuel quicker than me drinking beer on a weekend! i then moved to an A3 2.0tdi, what a great car but not big enough to carry stuff for my house renovation, so now have an alfa 159 sportwagon...great car although not the best on fuel. Once the house is done i'm gonna go with a 1 series 118d

Bangernomics- Hell yeah. Unless you're rich, and I mean rich, it's madness not to. I mainly use the Vito van for daily grind stuff. I even try to protect the Macan when I can mileage wise. Trouble is the Mrs loves it and I can't keep her out of it. The 911 is strictly for showing off on sunny days.... Unless I get the urge for a blast, which is actually quite often :lol:

My approach is slightly different as my car allowance does not allow me to have a car more than five years old. For the past four years I have leased hot hatches. A focus st for £240 pcm then a Leon cupra for £230pcm. When the Porsche comes, I will change to leasing an economical diesel for around £180pcm. This will allow me to have a 911 as my second car, with occasional trips to work. :grin:

Yes you company car drivers are lucky beggars. :mrgreen: It's a massive expense gone when you weigh up fuel, road tax, insurance , MOTs, tyres, etc etc. It's a good £300-£400 saving a month which if put towards a mortgage, makes a big difference.

Near on snap - I have a 2002 plate V70, the horrid 140bhp one. Electric everything, heated seats, cruise, slushbox. £700 paid, zero spent on it in the year I've had it, and it's done about 6,000 miles for me. It will be going in the bin, at the end of the year though. Won't get through its next ticket, so I'll buy something else for the missus to crash.