oh dear! coupe madness may ensue

[annie]

are the 500 pound ish coupes saveable..

are they just unloved and cheap or cheap coz they are scrap .
looking for another project now the estate is almost done. before i run off to the coupe forum id ask you good people.

really want petrol auto with leather and aircon but body work and electrics more important. i know ill have to replace suspension components like on any 406.presume its more important to have a good engine , box and bodywork.
most 2door now very cheap .

if i get a £500 pound car and budget for another 500 will i have a good clean useable car for that moneylike i can an estate or saloon?

[rwb]

Are you watching that red V6 on eBay?

The £500 ones I've seen have tatty bodywork, tatty interiors, and terminal oil leaks. I'd say have fun with it and run it till it drops, but don't expect it to last more than a couple of years. If you're after a keeper or are in any way proud of its appearance then I think you really need to spend more.

[annie]

that 450 red one on ebay looks the part. does the v6 scare most punters away?
ive seen a couple on autotrader around 800-1100 from traders but are they still 500 pound px they got in and put a risky mot on it. i honestly cant find many for sale and all seem to be really cheap

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... &logcode=p

id like something id be proud of friving once finished so want to stick to mechanical knocks and bangs and a bit of spannering but dont want to do a clutch or chase down anti pollution faults.

[highlander]

£500 Coupes are £500 generally because of the badge on the front, coupled with the age.

The German marketing machine (funnily enough the only bit of German engineering which consistently lives up to the reputation that German engineering has acquired...) has worked so well on the average British motorist that if it isn't an Audi, a BMW, or a Merc, that it's sh*t and will catch fire, explode, and kill you in 5 mins flat. And even if it doesn't, you'll wish it would, because who would want to be seen in a non-German car?

Such a lot of bollocks, but a lot of people genuinely seem to think that way. Great if you're in the market for a Coupe, not so great if you're an owner thinking of selling or trying to weigh up whether or not a respray is "worth it", and even worse if you're hit by another driver and your insurance company is telling you it's a write-off because of a cracked bumper.

My viewpoint - it's a 406, which were amongst the most mechanically reliable cars Peugeot ever produced - but it's in a nicer body. As long as the engine has been maintained (read: timing belt, water pump, tensioner kit, aux belt and aux belt pulley replaced on schedule) and the bodywork isn't visibly rusty (a sure sign it's been repaired (badly) following an accident), then the chances are it'll be worth a punt, particularly if you're capable of maintaining it yourself.

You will likely struggle to find a better-looking, better-built car for such a small amount of money, so yeah, go for it!

[pepdavies]

I paid £450 for my 2001 2.0 and it seems pretty good so far. Only been ten days though lol

[annie]

keep us updated as you fettle her please. like car stories

[highlander]

Speaking of Coupe madness...

This year, I have replaced a whole crapload of stuff.

Around March time I had a disastrous MOT failure, and nearly sold the car - instead, I got some help in the form of MarkW over at the Coupe Club coming up for a visit. Mark replaced:

- all four brake calipers
- all four brake discs
- all brake pads
- handbrake shoes
- all handbrake cables
- interior door pulls (changed from black plastic to metal-finished ones - the only cosmetic mod done in ages)

Mark also got the front seat heaters working, as they had both failed.

At the same time, I also replaced the front tyres (which had worn on the inner half only, right down to the canvas, with the outer half being absolutely fine), which was a horrible thing to discover. Again, for the same MOT, I replaced all the indicator bulbs (the orange paint had peeled off ALL of them) and the side repeater lenses (one of them, the clip had snapped off, and the other, the lens fell out - some superglue got it through the MOT until I could buy a replacement from EuroCarParts.

Couple of weeks ago, I decided to replace all my shocks and springs - my car is now a daily driver again, as I've changed jobs to work somewhere further away than I'm prepared to walk (it's about 5 miles away from my house, but this is Scotland and the weather is generally pish). So I bought:

- front and rear shocks (Monroe on the front, Koni on the rears, all four are gas-charged)
- front and rear springs (KYB K-Flex)
- front suspension top-mount strut bearings (Monroe)

... on eBay from various motor factors and got them changed out at a local independent garage, for nearly £300 worth of labour. They replaced the anti-roll bar droplinks at the same time.

The only brake part I haven't replaced on this car so far has been the brake servo - the master cylinder was changed last year, and I had braided brake hoses fitted last year too. Car is 13 years old and has recently (last 2 weeks) passed the 100,000 mile mark.

The after-market alloys need a refurb, the bodywork needs a respray, and I'm seriously considering it. What is WRONG with me???

[annie]

my rear brakes need setting up, very long play on pedal then a good bite so will get off the drum and have a clean around and adjust

[PhillipM]

Highlander sounds like my long lost twin.