Brand new X3 on a lease. Or...

... a 53 plate 100,000 mile silver Mondeo ST220 hatchback for a grand!

Well, you know me - I'd LOVE a shiny new Beemer, but it was just too scary a prospect when bangernomics offers such rich opportunities to throw money away.

Anyway, we wanted something we could use to impress customers, with 4-wheel drive for winter use on Cotswold lanes, a reasonably frugal diesel engine, low mileage and impeccable reliability. And a tow bar. And we got it!

We spotted the ad and went to see the car in a dodgy industrial estate near Bristol; we felt quite at home.
The owner (a mechanic) had done a load of work on the car for a customer, who then turned out his pockets to reveal no cash. Our hero was less than pleased and encouraged the penniless chap to sign over the V5c. He just wanted to recoup his investment in parts and labour and consequently the car was a good £500-£1000 cheaper than other equivalent Dagenham products (I know, it was buit in Genk, but I'm telling the story).

On the outside, there are a fair few war wounds and a bit of rust, but nothing that scared us. The only issue will be deciding which of the dozen or so silvers on display to use when we repair it.

The car started first turn (warm, and a new battery says the cynic in me) and ran with a really lovely, deep burble - I really wasn't expecting that.

The interior was cleaner than quite a lot of new cars I've seen and the black leather Recaros were in excellent nick. The previous owner must have been a seven-stone microfibre fetishist.

We were taken for a test drive that nearly caused MrsC to cry (the bout-de-cloche thought telling us how he drove it at 135 mph down the M5 would impress us then tried the same on winding country lanes. Utter fool). I then took over and sedately trundled back to his workshop, where I happily handed over the asking price in order to be able to get in it and get away.

Driving home, I have to say, I loved every minute! The noise is great, the 6-speed gearbox is smooth and positive, the steering is just weighted right and there is enough torque to raise a grin in almost any gear. It feels as tight and sweet as our long missed E39 530d.

You might be grimacing and thinking I've lost yet another plot, but I've spent most of the last 2 years driving Fiat Pandas, a VW Transporter or a (pleasingly loud, but very wallowy) 20-year-old S-Type and this ST was like a breath of fresh driving air.

It has an intermittent ABS warning light fault that is (according to our man) caused by a wheel bearing/sensor and the air-con could do with a regas. But other than that it's got a year's MOT with no advisories (thanks to our speedy friend) and - excruciatingly awful alloys apart - I think it's possibly the best car for a grand I've bought.

And lo and behold, Photobucket has come to its senses!

Looks great, Jim, and you make me chuckle too!

That looks pretty good from the photos (except, as you say for the wheels that don't suit). Price seems good too. Out here, 3000€ seems to get a reasonable one with estates being more common and slightly better ones being in the 6k€ region. Bangernomics is not such an easy option here

Can't say my S-Type is wallowy though, but with only about 50k summer miles on it and one careful owner, I guess it should still be OK

I was always surprised at how cars retained their value in continental Europe.

I suspect that your S-Type, Neil, has had a rather more caring life than the one we, er, enhanced!

Entertaining read and nice looking motor.

I suspect the wheels will grow on you.

Hopefully you have a sound vehicle on your hands, with which to get about with a smile and without mechanical mishap. With fair luck it will provide "entertaining" service for little or no depreciation.

(Rather than upgrade our BM, I am drawn to buying a 10-12 year old 159 for much the same purpose. These seem to be either completely worthless or surprisingly expensive depending on which way you look at it! The ST220 is no doubt a safer bet).

Thanks Brilly - you can always pop over and take a look at it if you're ever in the Stonehouse part of Gloucestershire! Or bring your future 159 over for comparison...

The value of used cars on the Continent is mainly supported by the much bigger market for LHD cars across economies of differing strengths.

My personal feeling about why the UK market is especially low is that getting an MOT certificate test was "easy" and dealer responsibility was low. Too many cars were for sale with hidden expensive problems but a new MOT ticket. People were bitten once and then forever avoid older, especially expensive cars, fearing a money pit.

MOTs are carried out by repairers and it is in their interest to fail the car and create work for themselves. Rather than fight that unfair battle, people dump their not so old cars and get something new.

Those few that have more knowledge about the workings of cars can make bangernomics work very well for themselves

If I take the 159 plunge then yes I would be glad to take you up on that Jim.
Quite often pass nearby via my non M4/M5 route from my Bath HO.

So many people are getting lured into the lease deals on new cars. There have been threads on here highlighting that the costs of leasing a new car for three years are not too different to the costs of depreciation.

The PCP also looks good because cars can seem hideously expensive to fix. Leasing a car through it's three year warranty period before choosing another can be seen as another PCP benefit.

And then there is the fact that cars nowadays are so much better. Back in the 80's I had a four year old Cortina 2.0 Ghia. I took it in for an MOT and discovered it hardly had any floor left! Nowadays you can look at a ten year old Ford with 100,000+ miles and it looks solid.

All of this results in a flood of cars for the second hand market driving prices down. All good news for the banger Hunters.


I would though have to slightly disagree with Neil's comment below...



I don't think you do need to have more knowledge of the workings of cars to make bangernomics work. I just followed these few rules

The first rule of Banger club - Set a price - It should be as low as possible and you should NEVER exceed it.

The Second Rule - Know your brand. Get to know what the common failures are and what the big expensive service jobs are. You'll soon pick up why there are so many Mini Cooper S's being sold near 100,000 and why the 3.2 VW engine, early 2.0TFSi & early DSG's should perhaps be avoided.

The Third rule - ALWAYS buy on condition & service history, never on age or mileage. People too often get caught in the "Newer" car trap. It's surely better to buy a fabulous 156 than a ropey 159?

The fourth and probably most important rule - NEVER spend on a banger. Yes Service it but don't go using expensive service items or buying extras - it's a banger! If you suffer any BIG problems with the car have the "Buy Another Car" option near the top of your possible options.

You do like the thirsty ones Jim

And much braver than me, said the man running a DSG gearbox

I have to be honest and say that we flout every rule of Bangernomics. So, for "brave", I'd substitute ignorant or simply foolish!

As we won't be doing a lot of mileage in the car, its (impressive/fearsome) thirst isn't really an issue. We spend most of our lives blatting round in the Pandas, so the banger, as with the flaming Jag, is just for - rare - long drives, occasionally towing caravans, and generally standing in if we're a car short. I doubt we'll do more than 3-4k a year.

For a number of reasons, we have decided to repaint it. Not for the Fairly Fugly Ford the flamboyance of flames, however.

We are planning to go for a colour called SG07, which - as the initials suggest - is a Spectral Grey.

We use spectral greys as undercoats, especially on tricky-to-cover metallics and pearlescents, but we both like this colour in its own right. Given that we've just painted half a caravan in "primer grey" (because it's, well, primer), it's fair to say that we like a bit of grey. SG07 is like a darker version of the Audi Nardo Grey you see knocking around, but we're going to add a little ghosting pearlescent for the full Sink Estate effect.

Hopefully we'll have our new, higher capacity spray gun by the time we get to the bonnet, or it'll be zebra time...

You have gone through some cars that I would have steered well clear of but it never seems to have broken the bank, or your spirit.

It's sometimes been a bit poorly!

I was actually more referring to having the wool pulled over peoples eyes when something "goes wrong" that pushes people to buying newer cars. You know, like a premium dealer saying "You need new brakes all round. Safety relevant and it only costs 1500 pound." when the brakes are only half worn. Many old cars aren't even worth that! If you can spot this and reject such suggestions, looking for further opinions, you waste a lot less money.

Totally agree that one needs to know what one should buy. Doing your research is is very wise if you want to lower your risks of problems, buying new or used