Intro
I'm pleased to say that the project car merry-go-round continues and so it's time to introduce a new addition. The previous car, a VW Golf came and went quite quickly (see here for that one) and that had given me an idea. Could I buy and sell 4 cars in one year, or to put it another way could I drive a different car in every quarter of the year? Mmmm, interesting, so I've decided to give it a go.
Now I never intended to buy the Golf, but it did prove that having a small-ish runaround in the household was useful and as always with cars that are already a little down at heel it's very liberating being able to park them wherever and whenever the need arises. I like owning a nice car, but there is always the concern that something will happen to it and whilst "that's what insurance is for" it's the aggro that surrounds dealing with it that causes the grief.
And finally, I noticed when running through my car back catalogue that I've had some brands twice, (Vauxhall, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes, Audi, VW), some a lot (BMW) and some I've only had once (Fiat, Porsche, MG, Subaru, Alpina, Mini) - assuming you don't count those last two as BMWs.
So the hunt was on for a five door hatchback that was quicker than a 1.6 VW Golf, had ISOFIX and was less than £2,0000. From my list of previous brands that eliminated Porsche, MG (no ISOFIX), Alpina and Mini (no 5 door options in budget) The Subaru option is an entry level hatchback circa 2008, but I've had a WRX-S version of that so getting a slower model of a car I have already had didn't appeal. Thinking I was out of options I did briefly consider a Peugeot 308 with the 1.6 THP engine but they don't seem to come up often, but from there I was reminded about the 2nd gen Fiat Bravo via a road test between one of them and a 308 from AutoExpress from back in 2007. I say reminded, as I barely even knew they existed and I had no idea about engine options, but it turns out they could be had with a 1.4 Turbo unit that, if the first owner chose wisely, gave a respectable 150hp.
As an aside, if you can't picture a 1st gen Bravo this was mine, a car that I took from 49k miles to 113k miles in 4 years and that was genuinely a pleasure to own. Even back in 2003 I liked a clean car!
So the search was on and the first car I found was local and so I arranged to go and see it, which was all done via Facebook with somebody who seemed to be Eastern European. I was told to go to an address that didn't correspond with his Facebook Marketplace address and I was given a phone number that also was different. On arrival I can't find the car, and the person I spoke with on the number I'd been given didn't speak English. But eventually we found each other and I was directed to behind some flats not far from the A30 as it runs through Camberley.
While he went to get the keys I had a quick look around and it was quickly obvious it wasn't the car for me. I hadn't spotted the aftermarket alloys in the advert (it should have wheel trims but they look a lot like this) and it had lots of lacquer missing and generally was very unloved. I don't mind down at heel but I'm not after a total shed either.
I soon become aware that I had been on my own a while, enough to do a full inspection of the bodywork, tyres (ditchfinders, obvs) and run the MOT history so I went looking for my "handler". I eventually found him in a backstreet garage about 50m away whereupon I was handed a mobile phone and indicated to talk, as if I was expected to conduct some kind of hostage negotiation to get access to a leggy old Fiat. Turns out the person on the other end of the phone was the Facebook marketplace seller, but it wasn't his car, and the person whose car it was wasn't the man stood in front of me who couldn't find the keys either. In a word, shenanigans. I had anticipated this to some extent but how person A expects to sell person B's car via person C without a set of keys or a grasp of English is beyond me. I was given lots of promises by the man on the phone about finding them but by this point I was ignoring everything being said, so handed the phone back and got the hell out of there.
A few days later this one turned up and by this point the Golf was for sale but hadn't sold:
As you can see, it's in much better shape (these are my photos) but inevitably there are some challenges. I've concluded that sellers at this end of the market are either just lazy and/or aren't that bothered in doing much of a job, so for example this is the entirety of the advert for this car:
It is what you might call "light on detail". I asked a few questions via Messenger but there's no substitute for being there and seeing it in person, so that's what I did and headed off in the direction of Gatwick. On arrival the first challenge is that it isn't taxed and so I can only drive it around a yard. The 2nd challenge is that the guy selling isn't the guy on the V5C, but has apparently taken it in part-ex. He runs a bodyshop so he's at least sort of in the motor trade, but he can't really answer any of my questions as he doesn't know, like why has it only done 1,000 miles in the last year. Still, it all looks reasonably promising with only one mis-matched tyre, both keys and a recent cambelt and waterpump. I'd have preferred a more interesting colour but beggars can't be choosers. I drive it 200m in 1st gear and then reverse it back 200m and they both work so we are getting somewhere. It has a full toolkit, the alloys aren't too bad and the few marks I notice don't concern me. I tell him that I'm interested and if the Golf sells quickly I'll call for a chat about the price.
Well, the Golf did sell quickly, three days later in fact and so that Thursday evening I call him back and we agree at £1,700 and that I will collect after the bank holiday.
And so just four days after selling the Golf and 18 years after selling my last one, I am now once again a Fiat owner.
Collection day coming up...
I'm pleased to say that the project car merry-go-round continues and so it's time to introduce a new addition. The previous car, a VW Golf came and went quite quickly (see here for that one) and that had given me an idea. Could I buy and sell 4 cars in one year, or to put it another way could I drive a different car in every quarter of the year? Mmmm, interesting, so I've decided to give it a go.
Now I never intended to buy the Golf, but it did prove that having a small-ish runaround in the household was useful and as always with cars that are already a little down at heel it's very liberating being able to park them wherever and whenever the need arises. I like owning a nice car, but there is always the concern that something will happen to it and whilst "that's what insurance is for" it's the aggro that surrounds dealing with it that causes the grief.
And finally, I noticed when running through my car back catalogue that I've had some brands twice, (Vauxhall, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes, Audi, VW), some a lot (BMW) and some I've only had once (Fiat, Porsche, MG, Subaru, Alpina, Mini) - assuming you don't count those last two as BMWs.
So the hunt was on for a five door hatchback that was quicker than a 1.6 VW Golf, had ISOFIX and was less than £2,0000. From my list of previous brands that eliminated Porsche, MG (no ISOFIX), Alpina and Mini (no 5 door options in budget) The Subaru option is an entry level hatchback circa 2008, but I've had a WRX-S version of that so getting a slower model of a car I have already had didn't appeal. Thinking I was out of options I did briefly consider a Peugeot 308 with the 1.6 THP engine but they don't seem to come up often, but from there I was reminded about the 2nd gen Fiat Bravo via a road test between one of them and a 308 from AutoExpress from back in 2007. I say reminded, as I barely even knew they existed and I had no idea about engine options, but it turns out they could be had with a 1.4 Turbo unit that, if the first owner chose wisely, gave a respectable 150hp.
As an aside, if you can't picture a 1st gen Bravo this was mine, a car that I took from 49k miles to 113k miles in 4 years and that was genuinely a pleasure to own. Even back in 2003 I liked a clean car!
So the search was on and the first car I found was local and so I arranged to go and see it, which was all done via Facebook with somebody who seemed to be Eastern European. I was told to go to an address that didn't correspond with his Facebook Marketplace address and I was given a phone number that also was different. On arrival I can't find the car, and the person I spoke with on the number I'd been given didn't speak English. But eventually we found each other and I was directed to behind some flats not far from the A30 as it runs through Camberley.
While he went to get the keys I had a quick look around and it was quickly obvious it wasn't the car for me. I hadn't spotted the aftermarket alloys in the advert (it should have wheel trims but they look a lot like this) and it had lots of lacquer missing and generally was very unloved. I don't mind down at heel but I'm not after a total shed either.
I soon become aware that I had been on my own a while, enough to do a full inspection of the bodywork, tyres (ditchfinders, obvs) and run the MOT history so I went looking for my "handler". I eventually found him in a backstreet garage about 50m away whereupon I was handed a mobile phone and indicated to talk, as if I was expected to conduct some kind of hostage negotiation to get access to a leggy old Fiat. Turns out the person on the other end of the phone was the Facebook marketplace seller, but it wasn't his car, and the person whose car it was wasn't the man stood in front of me who couldn't find the keys either. In a word, shenanigans. I had anticipated this to some extent but how person A expects to sell person B's car via person C without a set of keys or a grasp of English is beyond me. I was given lots of promises by the man on the phone about finding them but by this point I was ignoring everything being said, so handed the phone back and got the hell out of there.
A few days later this one turned up and by this point the Golf was for sale but hadn't sold:
As you can see, it's in much better shape (these are my photos) but inevitably there are some challenges. I've concluded that sellers at this end of the market are either just lazy and/or aren't that bothered in doing much of a job, so for example this is the entirety of the advert for this car:
It is what you might call "light on detail". I asked a few questions via Messenger but there's no substitute for being there and seeing it in person, so that's what I did and headed off in the direction of Gatwick. On arrival the first challenge is that it isn't taxed and so I can only drive it around a yard. The 2nd challenge is that the guy selling isn't the guy on the V5C, but has apparently taken it in part-ex. He runs a bodyshop so he's at least sort of in the motor trade, but he can't really answer any of my questions as he doesn't know, like why has it only done 1,000 miles in the last year. Still, it all looks reasonably promising with only one mis-matched tyre, both keys and a recent cambelt and waterpump. I'd have preferred a more interesting colour but beggars can't be choosers. I drive it 200m in 1st gear and then reverse it back 200m and they both work so we are getting somewhere. It has a full toolkit, the alloys aren't too bad and the few marks I notice don't concern me. I tell him that I'm interested and if the Golf sells quickly I'll call for a chat about the price.
Well, the Golf did sell quickly, three days later in fact and so that Thursday evening I call him back and we agree at £1,700 and that I will collect after the bank holiday.
And so just four days after selling the Golf and 18 years after selling my last one, I am now once again a Fiat owner.
Collection day coming up...