Have you ever had the pleasure of an old banger?

[swee'pea99]

Hitch-hiking in New Zealand once I got picked up by a guy in a matt green Maxi with only one seat - the driver's. I perched on the junk. At the first corner we turned, the left front wheel let out such a horrible death-screech I thought something horrible had just gone wrong and we were about to crash. He didn't seem to have registered it, so I glanced at him questioningly. 'Yeah...it does that,' he said. He went on to tell me more about the car's recent history, ending up with 'Got pulled over a couple of weeks back. Cop says to me 'you really have to do something about this car'. So I did. I painted it green.'

 

[Bayerd]

Thanks for that, I've just sprayed the screen with Speckled Hen...

 

[very-near]

My first non-student car was a Nissan Primera 2.0 Turbo. Was pretty new, but had damage to two body panels, so I got it cheap. It went like the bloody clappers!

Nowadays, I have a Ford Mondeo Turbo Diesel. Not as quick as the Primera, but once I'd got a motorbike licence and realised I could get more acceleration than most cars on the road for a couple of £K, I lost interest in super-fast cars!

I don't care how many dents the mondeo gets, but if someone left even a microscopic scratch on my motorbike ...

I don't really like any dents in my stuff TBH
I ran my last car into the ground and scrapped it, as was the case for the previous one, and my last m/bike was written off by a SMIDSY after I owned it 8 years.

Car 1 = big bus, 0-60 in about 30-40 seconds (I kid you not) and is nearly 20 years old now and still going strong, More value as a reliable utility vehicle than monetary return
Car 2 = Tardis - frugal, and cheap from an auction
m/bike = can you put a price on Fun
Cycle = Fun and half price when I got it

 

[Alan Frame]

My car is a 1990 Audi 100 which cost me £800 about 8 years ago. It does everything I could want of a car and has never let me down, apart from minor niggles which have always responded to a quick bash with something heavy.

Saw off a Megane which crashed into the rear end whilst stationary at traffic lights. That's the beauty of a substantial towbar.

Missus loves the car, as do the kids and Hermann [as in Hermann the German] is now a part of the family.

 

[Globalti]

We had a 1986 Land Rover 90, ex-RAF. It was scruffy and a bit rusty but in excellent mechanical nick. It was perfect for throwing building rubble in the back and great on the few occasions when we got snow or floods. It was actually about 30 Land Rovers bolted together because I used to fix it with second-hand bits off other cars, which is so easy with Landies. I think only the chassis, engine and bulkhead were original.

 

[ComedyPilot]

I had an old red Sierra that local mechanics called 'The Chicken Shed'.

Even 5 years after it went to the great parking lot in the sky they still talk about it.

 

[leyton condor]

My 11 year old fiat brava which I bought 4 years ago for £1000 has just passed its MOT this morning with flying colours.
We don't use it much, but life would be harder without it. I never spend much on cars as it just seems a total waste of money.

 

[Gromit]

Spending £4000 on an old banger, that's not an old banger. My little punto coast £200, spent a little bit of money on her over the years and she is bomb proof. I've had her for about 4 years and she is still going strong.

 

[XmisterIS]

Spending £4000 on an old banger, that's not an old banger. My little punto coast £200, spent a little bit of money on her over the years and she is bomb proof. I've had her for about 4 years and she is still going strong.

No, quite! Well, it started out as a nice car, but ended up not! It was only 6 months old and retailed for £16000 brand new. Nowadays I don't go spending that much on cars! I currently drive only the third car that I've ever owned in my life - my first one was a Ford Fiesta MkI that I bought when I was a student for £80 - it didn't pass the MOT and fell to bits after not very long! Then I got a job and went cash-happy on the Primera Turbo (but by christ it was quick!) - when that bit the dust, I took my motorbike test and realised that seeing as the only thing that can touch me on my bike is a multi-thousand-pound sports car like a 911 Turbo, I thought "sod it" and just bought a car that gets me from A to B and has good fuel economy while having a bit of punch too. The mondeo cost me £800 two years ago - it's a diesel so it should be good for miles and miles to come!

 

[Hilldodger]

I bought a £150 Skoda Favorit estate in the summer after some stupid woman rear ended my Capri

Have to say that the Skoda is brilliant and comfy to drive and it's the only car I've ever had with a cd player. Which is probably worth as much as the car!

 

[Globalti]

Just change that engine oil regularly and it will do half a million miles before needing an overhaul.

 

[Crankarm]

seriously[/I] cool.

I've got a genuine Mk2 Vitesse soft top, not a saloon that's been decapitated. It's currently off the road though.

 

[Crankarm]

To me a car is just a machine for getting me from A to B when I need to carry anything that can't be fitted on a motorbike or bicycle, or when it's raining and I don't want to get my delicate little self wet. I therefore buy a car that will last for a few years, and drive it to the point where it is worth less than the cost of repairs, at which point it sell it for scrap and buy a new one. (The one before this one cost me £4000 and lasted 10 years! Not bad methinks).

I'm not that precious about my cars (see above), so they tend to get progressively more and more full of dints, scratches, etc from where I use them to carry building materials, rock-climbing kit, bicycles, etc, including the odd mis-judged parking attempt!

The result is that once I've got a few scratches, I feel I have a definite advantage over those who drive the pristine multi-thousand pound "prestige" cars ... when they try to cut me up they soon back off ... they take one look at my battered old car and realise that I really couldn't give a shoot if I get one more dent

Does anyone else enjoy the pleasure of driving an old banger that scares off the BMW and Merc drivers?

OP title - That's no way to talk about the wife .....

 

[threebikesmcginty]

My first car was a Triumph Herald too - sort of orange coloured jobbie, cost £50 and a Panasonic Way!

Rusted to buggery it was...

 

[Crankarm]

My best banger was a Peugeot 205 diesel. I bought it for £350 with 60,000 on the clock. In 12 months I put 30k on it, and then sold it for £400. I only sold it because of cirmcumstances. The new owner rang me up after to ask about the fan belt. I told her that it was changed just before I bought it (the old one was in the boot). She said that it was still running like a dream. I wish I'd never got rid of it. It was a belting little motor, probably still going strong now, another 2 years down the line....

I had a Pug 205 diesel about 5 years ago, an STDT (GTI lookalike) in mint condition. It went like the clappers, was immense fun to drive and was very economical to run. On reflection the best car I have owned. I haven't owned that many though. I loved it nearly as much as my bikes. Sadly some scrotes decided to try and nick it from the local station car park, but failed causing a lot of damage in the process. Got it repaired, but then it befell more bad luck when local mindless f'kin thugs attacked it on a couple of occasions. Still I had a few years of very cheap and fun motoring in it. Now I drive very little, cycling more than I ever did and I've always cycled pretty much everyday totalling about 150-200 miles a week commuting plus weekend club rides on top of anything from 60-90 miles and any other cycle touring I fancy.