Ownership Verified: Ultra Low Cost Motoring - Take Two

You're probably right, 2 weeks after it left the factory, the difference was hardly noticeable :D
 
ChuckMoritz said:
You're probably right, 2 weeks after it left the factory, the difference was hardly noticeable :D
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Some of the BL car bodies were rusty at the factory, prior to assembly. They just painted over the rust and shipped them to dealers. (Not a joke, this has been documented.) So it was even before they left the factory in many cases.
 
Spectre said:
Some of the BL car bodies were rusty at the factory, prior to assembly. They just painted over the rust and shipped them to dealers. (Not a joke, this has been documented.) So it was even before they left the factory in many cases.
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I read a story about unpainted bodys of Series Jaaags left sitting outside in the rain for weeks due to strikes...
 
Ultra Low Cost Motoring - Take Two

Dr_Grip said:
I read a story about unpainted bodys of Series Jaaags left sitting outside in the rain for weeks due to strikes...
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Yup, Series 2s, as they were made at Pressed Steel Fisher. That wasn't a normal thing, though; there was one that Jeremy Clarkson covered in one of his specials - freshly made car bodies were transported half a mile by truck to the other end of the factory - outside, in all weathers. No, the bodies weren't primed first, just naked steel. I want to say that it was Morris or Triumph.
 
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I think that also occurred in Italy. Between the strikes.
 
Found it:


16:40-17:15. It was the Austin 1800 and it was a quarter mile each way, not a half mile.
 
That intro with Clarkson is soo bad :rofl:
 
Went to look at a car today. It was a 2003 Clio dci 65 3 door in blue. Lucky for me it was really close, so little time and effort was expended on the whole adventure. Got to it and it was a little rough on the outside (alloy wheels peeling, front bumper had rock chips on the plastic part). None of that was particularly important as the car was straight and completely rust free. The dealer was very keen to sell it immediately and was practically pushing an invoice in my face which I didn't like too much. Inside the car was clean enough and the engine started up fine. All looked reasonable for ?975. It had MOT till March 2015 and no tax (but hey its only ?30).

I managed to check the MOT history online with the registration document number and found that last time the car had failed on almost all major suspension components, also two wheel bearings. Got it on the road and there was a wheel bearing grumbling badly. Also there the car was suspiciously sluggish, even slower than my old Yaris. I know these are slow but it seemed as if the turbo was absent. Sure enough I walked away from it. It was going to need work immediately and I can do better than that. Reasonable car overall though but the MOT history check thing we have in the UK now is very telling. It seems something like this type of car needs a complete suspension overhaul at 100,000 miles (this had just over 100k on the clock). Also the car had failed every MOT since 2006 (when the record began). Mostly failing on silly little things but they all add up.
 
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There's something so inherently beatable about little French econoboxes that they end up frequently abused.
 
I would not worry too heavily on rust with Fiesta Mk6s, in fact, if you go and look at some you'll be pleasantly surprised I think. Ford had got it under control by then, and the only rusty Mk6s I've seen have been accident damaged.

My own is 10 years old, and perfectly fine, but not a great example as it was garaged for eight years.
 
Not that I know anything given where I come from, but I think you won't have trouble finding a rust free Clio. Mine hasn't got a speck on it and it lives outdoors (albeit under cover) less than 50m from the sea.
 
It really depends on what turns up. I really like Fiestas in general, but there are definitely more Clios and Pug 206s under a ?1k. By the way I sold the CD changer radio for ?55. Minus postage charges, that's a not a bad profit. Also did a quote on going back into a Volvo S60, which didn't go well. For some reason they said prices have gone up and they wanted ?400 extra on my current policy (which cost ?400 in the first place). Considering I have three years no claims discount and a clean license, I declare that crap.
 
I live in the land of overpriced cars... but even our insurance and taxes on the cars, seem reasonable compared to the UK... o_O

i've just gotten myself an old Ford, i hope mine doesn't have those rust holes... that looked almost as bad as the fuel filler lid area of a MK1 Ford Ka
 
Andeh said:
I would not worry too heavily on rust with Fiesta Mk6s, in fact, if you go and look at some you'll be pleasantly surprised I think. Ford had got it under control by then, and the only rusty Mk6s I've seen have been accident damaged.

My own is 10 years old, and perfectly fine, but not a great example as it was garaged for eight years.
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I looked at a Mk6 Fiesta when I was getting my first car, it was half the price of the Yaris but had a much higher mileage and looked a bit worse for wear. Not a spot of rust on it though, I doubt it'll be much a problem for you if they can survive Scottish winters! :D

I would say that I've known a few people with Fiestas who have sold them on when they've bought new cars, cheap 206s and Clios tend to be scrap fodder when it's time to get rid... The Clio in particular seems to like to dissolve around the arches and sills. Personally I'd fork out a bit more money and go for the Ford...

The Doctor 90 said:
It really depends on what turns up. I really like Fiestas in general, but there are definitely more Clios and Pug 206s under a ?1k. By the way I sold the CD changer radio for ?55. Minus postage charges, that's a not a bad profit. Also did a quote on going back into a Volvo S60, which didn't go well. For some reason they said prices have gone up and they wanted ?400 extra on my current policy (which cost ?400 in the first place). Considering I have three years no claims discount and a clean license, I declare that crap.
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Insurance is just a random numbers game, my most expensive car to insure is my Dolly 1300, despite it being a garaged, 2nd car that's limited to 4,000 miles a year on a specialist policy. The cheapest is the 120bhp Corsa that does 15,000 miles a year, is worth 6x as much as the Doloshite and lives outside on the street opposite a pub... :rolleyes:
 
A replacement car has been acquired. Found it advertised on the side of the road, so it was an impulse buy. A new thread will be created once I've cleaned the worst of it up and assessed what work needs doing.
 
Ah I completely forgot. Amazingly I found another car with nearly the same engine. It's a 2001 Fiesta mk 5 1.8 ttdi. Found it completely at random on the side of the road one day. At first glance I thought it was ?450. Turned out to be ?250 and I bargained down to ?200 and was amazed to find it was the diesel I like. Actually I was being a bit mean as condition wise it is more solid than the one I looked at for ?600 at a dealer earlier. Not pretty, but runs nice with just 117k miles on the clock and plenty of MOT left. I really should do a thread, but I must return from Finland first. In general I can't believe I'm getting away with it, a fully functional car for ?200.
 
At the end of the day, if you do not make products that appeal, or are priced incorrectly, or have fallen behind technically, or even do not meet minimum expected levels of reliability and you end up in the doggie do. Funny how it was an entire industry that was only saved by foreign investment and management (Mostly not EU at that).
 
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