Just been offered a 1996 750iL V12 for £1000

[TW]Fox;17950477 said:
I was disputing the claim that there was £3k in it, not that there was £1k in it.

But yes, lets buy it anyway so you can spend a month taking it to bits with half a car shell on your drive picking bits off it in the cold with a Haynes manual (OH wait there isnt one for this car).

My mistake, its a legendary idea!

Why not start up a business breaking the plethora of 500-900 quid E38's on Autotrader if you are so confident that they've all got so much money in them? You could give up your day job and become.. A scrap man.
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Nice over reaction there. There are many people who do break cars for a living and make decent money. However I beg your pardon for even thinking of going against you on this. How silly of me lol.

Just because you aren't willing to break a car if needed doesn't mean there are many other people wouldn't think twice about it.

We're talking about £1000 here!

Worst case it dies on the drive home. He cashes in the Tax and gets scrap value at I guess a good £300+ and lives with it. Best case, it works for the time he owns it and he sells it on for a simalar price.

You always go worst case. Why?
 
Because the reward must be greater than the risk. The risk of an ancient 750i is far bigger than the reward, and the chances of failure are huge, so why bother?

Too many people take on cars they can't handle because they can afford to buy them, assuming it wont go wrong, and then wonder what to do when it does.

I like to try and be a voice of reason :p

If you've got loads of cash then it doesnt matter, you can afford to fix this sort of car anyway. But usually the people in threads I go worst case in do not have loads of money, they are normally scraping around amongst the sediment at the bottom of whatever pond of car it is they are trying to buy - for these people a huge bill would be quite a blow. Therefore why take it on?*

*Talking more generally now rather than this specific car.

It's a sad paradox with older complex cars. The people who can afford to take a gamble don't want to because they can afford to just buy a better one. So the people who can't afford to just buy a better one are the ones taking a gamble on the shabby ones and these are the ones with the most to lose..
 
[TW]Fox;17951372 said:
Because the reward must be greater than the risk. The risk of an ancient 750i is far bigger than the reward, and the chances of failure are huge, so why bother?

Too many people take on cars they can't handle because they can afford to buy them, assuming it wont go wrong, and then wonder what to do when it does.

I like to try and be a voice of reason :p

If you've got loads of cash then it doesnt matter, you can afford to fix this sort of car anyway. But usually the people in threads I go worst case in do not have loads of money, they are normally scraping around amongst the sediment at the bottom of whatever pond of car it is they are trying to buy - for these people a huge bill would be quite a blow. Therefore why take it on?*

*Talking more generally now rather than this specific car.

It's a sad paradox with older complex cars. The people who can afford to take a gamble don't want to because they can afford to just buy a better one. So the people who can't afford to just buy a better one are the ones taking a gamble on the shabby ones and these are the ones with the most to lose..
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We didnt win the war with that attitude my boy, he who dares wins :D
 
[TW]Fox;17951372 said:
Because the reward must be greater than the risk. The risk of an ancient 750i is far bigger than the reward, and the chances of failure are huge, so why bother?

Too many people take on cars they can't handle because they can afford to buy them, assuming it wont go wrong, and then wonder what to do when it does.

I like to try and be a voice of reason :p

If you've got loads of cash then it doesnt matter, you can afford to fix this sort of car anyway. But usually the people in threads I go worst case in do not have loads of money, they are normally scraping around amongst the sediment at the bottom of whatever pond of car it is they are trying to buy - for these people a huge bill would be quite a blow. Therefore why take it on?*

*Talking more generally now rather than this specific car.

It's a sad paradox with older complex cars. The people who can afford to take a gamble don't want to because they can afford to just buy a better one. So the people who can't afford to just buy a better one are the ones taking a gamble on the shabby ones and these are the ones with the most to lose..
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Can't argue with any of that :)

and you didn't sound like and arse :p
 
Peerzy said:
Do you really mean pointless? That implies that every other car class has no point exsisting and all cars should logically be this class.

A supermini isn't pointless as the point is to offer much cheaper motoring on a budget.

I suspect you meant something different but the way it came across implies you literally cannot see any reason why people buy anything other than limo size cars :confused:
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I was trying to get across that i am a fanboy of this class to the extent that i am not very interested in anything normal which isnt in it, as a daily driver i would *always* pick one of the big 3-4 names within this segment. For me, personally, i just wouldnt want a 5-series, or an E-Class, etc, why would i bother when the brands also manufacture something similar, but bigger and better? Do not read this as that i am saying that other cars *are* pointless, they are just not of interest to *me* :)

Yet still, even having this opinion, i *still* agree with Fox that this 750iL ideal is just pointless. Its not fun, E38's are not that nice, they are not amazing, even when working. Buying this is just a totally pointless exercise. If he wants an old comfy car to use to pile the miles onto, use as a daily driver, then he might as well buy something else, as this will be more hassle than the thing is worth, IMO.

DiamondMark said:
We didnt win the war with that attitude my boy, he who dares wins :D
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In this case though the prize for the gamble isnt even much good though :p I'd get the sentiment if we were talking about something like an old porka.
 
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ca9phoenix said:
I'd rater look for something like a Monaro that won't cost the earth to service and keep running!
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Sorry but this really did make me laugh :p.

As long as you're half handy with a spanner I'd have thought it would be worth a punt. I still think that the V12 isn't nearly as difficult to work on as some people on the internet make out. Granted I've never had one in proper pieces but I've done a couple of services on them (in the Seraph) and at the end of the day, they're just engines and in design principal they aren't THAT complicated. Sure the rearward plugs are a bit of a pain (one bank being worse than the other if I remember correctly) but it's nothing that a bit of swearing and patients can't sort out.

I'd have it in an instant, but I guess it's one of those "If you have to think about it, you shouldn't do it" type of deals.
 
If you have the cash and want some fun then just buy the thing.

Far too much thinking and pipe smoking going on in this thread. You would think this was the rover 75 owners forum.

Only you can decide if the car is worth a punt. Ignore the uber analysers, you could be out enjoying the car whilst they frantically type up their next well thought out and mathematically correct post :p
 
First off, can you afford to buy, fuel and insure it? Is a grand a big deal to you? And do you want a realistic idea of the running costs of a Monaro? If so, it's not actually a bad idea as it sounds. The Monaro will throw up stupid costs - tyres, fuel etc. The worst case is that one of the big things goes - gearbox, engine parts, suspension. Then you will lose £500 flogging it off. If it runs to May when you're looking at getting a Monaro, I suspect you'd get your money back either a private sale or as trade in from a dealer.

Is it a great idea? No. You need to be fairly special to buy it but you probably guessed that from the (very correct) reactions of others on here. I've had an E38 and it was a costly choice but I did enjoy driving it and it is an amazing motor. You just need to be aware of the risks. At 120k, it should be a calculated risk, especially with fsh. I'd still buy it mind.
 
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