Permabanned
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2008
- Posts
- 3,762
- Location
- My fabulous ship
Hi I am not really into cars, but my gf needs her licence, so I've been looking for something cheap to learn in while still being able to sell it on for a possible profit... so I was looking on ebay and and auto trader and started noticing that peugeot 206 convertibles were going quite cheap..... around 1000 
bargain.
I also went on auto trader, and there was also a bargain there, a peugeot 206 down for spares or repairs. I figured I would go look at both cars on the weekend (one in swindon, the second in wolverhampton.
we drove down to swindon first to see a blue 206 1.6 cc for £1000, it looked great in the pictures for its age (2002).... but when we got there, we could see there was bad tearing on the seats and the internals were not in very good condition, the seller (a dealer) said they had it part exchanged so the owner could have a different car, they hadn't had time to check it over so they didn't know what was wrong with it and it came with no guarantee, MOT, TAX and was spare or repairs.... yet they said it was fine.... something didn't seem right.....
I started the engine (it sounded fine), the service light came on (as I'd have expected for something with no MOT) and then I noticed the mileage... It was originally advertised with 61k miles, but the clock read 96k. When I approached the dealer, he said the speedometer was broken and they had to change it... but they had not had time to look over it? the breaks were badly rusted over too.... when I took it for a drive, it kept losing power and was not as smooth as I would have expected, so we decided to not go for it.... so! OFF TO WOLVERHAMPTON!
The car was a 2005 model, advertised for 650, spares or repairs, with category D damage, when I asked, he said it took a hit to the bonnet and grill, but other than that and a "bumpy clutch" it was fine... hmm
but from the pictures all I could see was a damaged bonnet and grill... the damage looks minimal and the rest of the car seems in great condition, and with 49k miles on the clock, this could have potential!
So when we got there, we were expecting some sort of garage, but it was some guys house on an estate. When he came out, we were lead behind his house to a small park (this seemed dodgy) and there was the car. COVERED IN BIRD POO. It wasn't millions of drops, but 6 birds looked like they lost their internal organs on it. poo aside, when the guy started up to reverse (so we could get a better view), the engine started, but when he put it into gear, there was a scream from the clutch that could shatter glass. What ever had happened to the car, the clutch had gone and needed to be replaced along with the bonnet, grill and lights. hmm.
I checked the car out, the inside was in immaculate condition and had been well looked after, no marks on the seats, the clock read 49,500, with no engine lights on.... I was trying to hear anything other than that loud screaching from the clutch but no it sounded ok.... I opened the bonnet to check the engine and there was a big crack in the radiator holder and the radiator fan had a loose fin:
we also noticed that the frame to the lights were bent, I took out one of the lights and put it in its place but it looked ok so we thought it was a false alarm. So we decided to bring the guy down to 600 and he accepted bargain.
Now I had to get the car home..... It drove fine.... when I didn't need the clutch! then I had to cross my fingers and hope. I managed to get the car from Wolverhampton to bedford fine so the car must be in a repairable condition. But first I needed to get the parts to replace the damaged parts.
So ebay to the rescue. The car didn't have a common colour... I had tried all scrap yards around bedford area, but ebay came along and found 2 sellers, one sold new parts in the colour (bonnet for 200, grill for 110) and another was a breaker who wanted 150 for the bonnet, grill, radiator and lights. So I chose the latter. I said I would arrange a courier to pick up the parts, but he didn't want to take them off and suddenly, another buyer had come and offered him £200... crap....
So 4 days go by and I am frantically looking for parts to a car with a rare colour code.... I finally text the guy saying I will offer 250 and pick up the parts that day, he said the guy was coming the next day, but deal.
So I left work early, drove from london to scunthorpe in a van, picked up the parts, drove back to bedford. I finally had the parts, current total: 850, still a good deal in my eyes.
So this weekend, I put the new bonnet and grill on, the colour matches perfectly, but we get to the lights and we find out that the guy has damaged them (they've literally been ripped out from their sockets), the radiator is also damaged, but thankfully ours is in good condition so we managed to replace the parts. I'm a bit sour about the lights though as I now have to get new ones.
I drove the car down to my dads house on saturday (he's a mechanic with 30 years experience) and he looked at the car, confirmed the clutch is gone, but said the front had lifted in the accident, which was what was pushing the bonnet up, the accident had also pushed the wings out, and although no damage to them was made, they now separate from the bonnet about 2 centimeters. Thankfully though he said we can repair this as he has a hammer to knock it back into position. The clutch will cost £100 (making total costs £950, but this should be the last expense for the car to be back on the road.
I'm going back down this weekend to fit it and hammer out the kinks in the front of the car (I like to learn) so I'm hoping to have it ready for MOT by next week
will come back with more pictures then
bargain.I also went on auto trader, and there was also a bargain there, a peugeot 206 down for spares or repairs. I figured I would go look at both cars on the weekend (one in swindon, the second in wolverhampton.
we drove down to swindon first to see a blue 206 1.6 cc for £1000, it looked great in the pictures for its age (2002).... but when we got there, we could see there was bad tearing on the seats and the internals were not in very good condition, the seller (a dealer) said they had it part exchanged so the owner could have a different car, they hadn't had time to check it over so they didn't know what was wrong with it and it came with no guarantee, MOT, TAX and was spare or repairs.... yet they said it was fine.... something didn't seem right.....
I started the engine (it sounded fine), the service light came on (as I'd have expected for something with no MOT) and then I noticed the mileage... It was originally advertised with 61k miles, but the clock read 96k. When I approached the dealer, he said the speedometer was broken and they had to change it... but they had not had time to look over it? the breaks were badly rusted over too.... when I took it for a drive, it kept losing power and was not as smooth as I would have expected, so we decided to not go for it.... so! OFF TO WOLVERHAMPTON!
The car was a 2005 model, advertised for 650, spares or repairs, with category D damage, when I asked, he said it took a hit to the bonnet and grill, but other than that and a "bumpy clutch" it was fine... hmm
but from the pictures all I could see was a damaged bonnet and grill... the damage looks minimal and the rest of the car seems in great condition, and with 49k miles on the clock, this could have potential!
So when we got there, we were expecting some sort of garage, but it was some guys house on an estate. When he came out, we were lead behind his house to a small park (this seemed dodgy) and there was the car. COVERED IN BIRD POO. It wasn't millions of drops, but 6 birds looked like they lost their internal organs on it. poo aside, when the guy started up to reverse (so we could get a better view), the engine started, but when he put it into gear, there was a scream from the clutch that could shatter glass. What ever had happened to the car, the clutch had gone and needed to be replaced along with the bonnet, grill and lights. hmm.
I checked the car out, the inside was in immaculate condition and had been well looked after, no marks on the seats, the clock read 49,500, with no engine lights on.... I was trying to hear anything other than that loud screaching from the clutch but no it sounded ok.... I opened the bonnet to check the engine and there was a big crack in the radiator holder and the radiator fan had a loose fin:
we also noticed that the frame to the lights were bent, I took out one of the lights and put it in its place but it looked ok so we thought it was a false alarm. So we decided to bring the guy down to 600 and he accepted
bargain.Now I had to get the car home..... It drove fine.... when I didn't need the clutch! then I had to cross my fingers and hope. I managed to get the car from Wolverhampton to bedford fine
so the car must be in a repairable condition. But first I needed to get the parts to replace the damaged parts.So ebay to the rescue. The car didn't have a common colour... I had tried all scrap yards around bedford area, but ebay came along and found 2 sellers, one sold new parts in the colour (bonnet for 200, grill for 110) and another was a breaker who wanted 150 for the bonnet, grill, radiator and lights. So I chose the latter. I said I would arrange a courier to pick up the parts, but he didn't want to take them off and suddenly, another buyer had come and offered him £200... crap....
So 4 days go by and I am frantically looking for parts to a car with a rare colour code.... I finally text the guy saying I will offer 250 and pick up the parts that day, he said the guy was coming the next day, but deal.
So I left work early, drove from london to scunthorpe in a van, picked up the parts, drove back to bedford. I finally had the parts, current total: 850, still a good deal in my eyes.
So this weekend, I put the new bonnet and grill on, the colour matches perfectly, but we get to the lights and we find out that the guy has damaged them (they've literally been ripped out from their sockets), the radiator is also damaged, but thankfully ours is in good condition so we managed to replace the parts. I'm a bit sour about the lights though as I now have to get new ones.
I drove the car down to my dads house on saturday (he's a mechanic with 30 years experience) and he looked at the car, confirmed the clutch is gone, but said the front had lifted in the accident, which was what was pushing the bonnet up, the accident had also pushed the wings out, and although no damage to them was made, they now separate from the bonnet about 2 centimeters. Thankfully though he said we can repair this as he has a hammer to knock it back into position. The clutch will cost £100 (making total costs £950, but this should be the last expense for the car to be back on the road.
I'm going back down this weekend to fit it and hammer out the kinks in the front of the car (I like to learn) so I'm hoping to have it ready for MOT by next week
will come back with more pictures then
Last edited:
