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Roadside buys
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:36 pm    Post subject: Roadside buys Reply with quote

Evening all,

Reading D4B's post about checking over a roadside-advertised Land Rover, got me wondering who else has tested, and perhaps bought, cars they've spotted by chance at the side of a road?

The only one I can think of that I ended up buying, was a Series 1 Daimler Sovereign (XJ6) in 2001. My brother tipped me off about it - so perhaps this example doesn't strictly count - but anyway, it had 6 months MOT and was advertised, I think, for £200.

The paint was lousy, and the exceptionally damp rear seat was home to an assortment of growths. Beneath it all though it was a very sound car, just scruffy. It went like the clappers too, which was a bonus Cool

It still shows up on a search of DVLA's system, although the tax was due in Jan 2002. Does DRJ 488L survive I wonder?



RJ
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bought a 1972 vw beetle crom chester, that would have been in 1997. It was owned by a young lady who had gone off to uni and her family were moving it on.
Strangely, even tho it was 25 years old by then, i didnt class it as an old car and used it as a daily for a couple of years.

Kev
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kevin2306



Joined: 01 Jul 2013
Posts: 1359
Location: nr Llangollen, north wales

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bought a 1972 vw beetle crom chester, that would have been in 1997. It was owned by a young lady who had gone off to uni and her family were moving it on.
Strangely, even tho it was 25 years old by then, i didnt class it as an old car and used it as a daily for a couple of years.

Kev
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mikeC



Joined: 31 Jul 2009
Posts: 1771
Location: Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bought a ten-year-old Lancia Delta this way. Totally unplanned, but I couldn't resist what seemed a real bargain... although I did wonder by the time I had driven 100 miles home; there was oil everywhere, except in the sump Embarassed
It turned out to just be a blocked breather, and the car gave something like three year's trouble-free service, before I sold it for twice what I had paid Very Happy
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Ellis



Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 1382
Location: Betws y Coed, North Wales

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the November of 1982 I saw one of these parked in a layby on the A5 near the village of Gaerwen on the Isle of Anglesey :

[img]

A Wolseley 4/44 in black with a yellow "for sale" sign which from memory read as follows :

"1956 Wolseley, 4 months MOT, solid as a rock, £65. Tel *****" !!

I passed it twice in one week and curiosity got the better of me. It had a Shropshire *NT registration number with just two numbers. It WAS solid but dirty and the next time I saw was parked in the driveway of house nearby.

It was still around in 2002.[/img]
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baconsdozen



Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 1119
Location: Under the car.

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went to a scrappy to buy a set of hub caps for the old boys Stype. Found a Jag Mk7 under a pile of corrugated iron and bought that instead.does that count ?
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Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6285
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back in the 80s, I was looking to buy a used car and found a low mileage late model Lancia Beta with no rust issues sitting at the back of a car lot. The later cars were better but it had not been enough to prevent the Government's ban. The Beta had a bad reputation for rampant rot. Prices were very low indeed and the dealer probably thought he would be stuck with it.

The car was dirty and had stood unloved for a long time. Even the tires were soft but there were no marks on the body and it had an attractive herringbone cloth interior which was like new. I simply had to have it.

I ran the car for three years and there was still no rust on it. The biggest problem I had was a cracked block between two cylinders but this was sorted under warranty. My biggest criticism would be the heavy steering at low speeds but otherwise it was a good buy.
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