Is it time to let common sense out the window?

[Bailes1992]

I am without a doubt a massive car enthusiast. Cars are just my thing.

I have never really had a car that is sound to look at. The only one car I had that polished up well was the focus and that was covered in dents and scratches.

I would love Stu's car but right now I am not in a position to buy it.
Also my 406 in it's current condition would be a pig to try and sell.

My plan...
I currently have £1200ish in the bank as savings and I'm putting ~ £75 a week away.
The car has 12 months tax and MOT'd till November.
It's also due a Cambelt and my Insurance is up in November.

My idea is to get ~£2000 together, this should cover Insurance, MOT, Cambelt and a few hundred left over just incase in November.

Once I have £2000 together I will get it shoved in an ISA and forget about it.
I will then save up again £1500-£2000 as quick as possible.
I will then get the car resprayed, the Alloys refurbed, a full set of Falken Ziex912 tyres fitted. I will also do other touches like get the calipers painted etc.

Now I also want a little twist without going silly. I cannot modify my car to any real extent due to insurance. I'm thinking of colour coding the bump strips and having the chrome strips done in piano black.
I was thinking about going a nice metallic red, not as dark as Diablo and with an orange flake. (Ford have a nice colour just can't think what it is).

Now my last 406 was 13 years old when we got rid. It's now just gone 14 and I still see pleanty of D8's on the road with no issues.
My current 406 is 9 years old. So technically I should at least get a good 5 years out of it still, enough to enjoy the thousands I'm probably going to plough into it!

How many think I'm mental?

[Doggy]

I don't really understand exactly what constraints you have with insurance, but in my mind it's much, much more cost effective to buy the car you want, (as far as practicable), in the first place, rather than spend lots 'upgrading' it to the spec you wish you had. 'Top of the range' versions don't raelly cost any extra initially, at this age.

I do agree you could keep it going a long time. Maybe the trick is to work back from the spec you want, considering the cost and difficulty of each step. You will probably conclude, 'I wouldn't start from here'.

I did this mental exercise recently and decided that the best way to get my lower mileage, 6-speed, twin turbo 2.2 HDi estate, would be to give in, get a 407, pay somebody to graft some armrests onto the front seats, chisel off the SW badge, learn to live with the hideous front end and try not to loose too much sleep worrying over the full-length glass roof with electric blind.

[Bailes1992]

I don't really understand exactly what constraints you have with insurance, but in my mind it's much, much more cost effective to buy the car you want, (as far as practicable), in the first place, rather than spend lots 'upgrading' it to the spec you wish you had. 'Top of the range' versions don't raelly cost any extra initially, at this age.

I do agree you could keep it going a long time. Maybe the trick is to work back from the spec you want, considering the cost and difficulty of each step. You will probably conclude, 'I wouldn't start from here'.

I did this mental exercise recently and decided that the best way to get my lower mileage, 6-speed, twin turbo 2.2 HDi estate, would be to give in, get a 407, pay somebody to graft some armrests onto the front seats, chisel off the SW badge, learn to live with the hideous front end and try not to loose too much sleep worrying over the full-length glass roof with electric blind.

Spec wise there is pleanty on my current 406.
It's just the bodywork and theres nothing else other than a 406 I really want.

Latley I've looked at taking out a £5,000 loan and getting a 207/407 but I hate the thought of a loan.

[waue1978]

Sam - what was the message you sent me? If you are at all interested, get an insurance quote done on either W4UEJ or X745EBY - plate transfer is going through so it could show on either number at the moment.

You may find that the extra 20hp screws you on insurance anyway which would at least make you feel a bit better about it. Incidentally, the estate is now riding on a decent set of Hoggars so that the Nautilus wheels can find a new home - probably on a coupe, but I'd love to see somebody put them on a 306 or a Berlingo.

[Bailes1992]

Sam - what was the message you sent me? If you are at all interested, get an insurance quote done on either W4UEJ or X745EBY - plate transfer is going through so it could show on either number at the moment.

You may find that the extra 20hp screws you on insurance anyway which would at least make you feel a bit better about it. Incidentally, the estate is now riding on a decent set of Hoggars so that the Nautilus wheels can find a new home - probably on a coupe, but I'd love to see somebody put them on a 306 or a Berlingo.

Yeah I was going to make you an offer on the alloys but had second thoughts for some reason.
I think I need to decide exactly what I want to do before I start buying bits and bobbs for my 406.

[waue1978]

If it's worth anything, I really get the impression that you aren't happy with the one you have as that honestly sounds like a ridiculous amount of money that you're looking to spend just to get it to what you want when you can buy a car that is pretty much there already for much less. I don't just mean my car either (although it sounds like mine could perhaps be a benchmark for you when looking at others). Rather than spend that much on your saloon you could probably put £1000 plus your car against a really nice example which is already at the standard you want.

Also worth bearing in mind before you start tearing yourself up too much as to whether you want mine or not, is that my car isn't prewired for bugger all. This was why I was so determined to get the SRi seats when they came up. That cruise control that you're having headaches with on your multiplex car would be 10 times harder to fit in mine.

In all seriousness though, if you get chance over the next couple of weeks try & pop down here. I know it's a jaunt (probably about 3 hrs), but if you genuinely wanted mine I'm sure between us we could sort something out for you & if not I still have a load of bits in the shed that may be of use to you in tarting up the saloon. You could also get a lucky sneak preview of the replacement.

[Bailes1992]

Maybe I should get £2000 together and just save up again and buy an SE then?

Maybe I should look into 2.2HDi insurance prices...

I really don't know what to do atm if I'm honest.

[Bailes1992]

I can get insured on a 407 Coupe 2.0 HDi Sport for the same price as a 406 SE (~£1700)... Maybe I should just get a £5k loan off my perants and pay it back as quick as possible?

[Bailes1992]

Just done a quote on my Uncles 2009 Citreon C5 2.0 HDi VTR+... £1395

[waue1978]

Maybe I should get £2000 together and just save up again and buy an SE then?

Maybe I should look into 2.2HDi insurance prices...

I really don't know what to do atm if I'm honest.

The SE plan sounds fairly sensible, but don't write off the Exec just because it doesn't have the sporty seats.

Out of curiosity, what is the cost for you to insure 90, 110 & 2.2 HDis? If it isn't silly money for a 2.2, saloons can be picked up for bargain prices.

[Bailes1992]

Maybe I should get £2000 together and just save up again and buy an SE then?

Maybe I should look into 2.2HDi insurance prices...

I really don't know what to do atm if I'm honest.

The SE plan sounds fairly sensible, but don't write off the Exec just because it doesn't have the sporty seats.

Out of curiosity, what is the cost for you to insure 90, 110 & 2.2 HDis? If it isn't silly money for a 2.2, saloons can be picked up for bargain prices.

90 & 110 are both around the £1800 mark. The 2.2 is £2,165!

A 407 Coupe Sport 2.0 HDi is £1,775
A Citreon C5 2.0 VTR+ is £1,395.

I think a new car is in order.

[waue1978]

If a C5 would interest you there's this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-C5-22 ... 3a727efd7a

Had my eye on it before the new car came up. I have been to see it & been out in it. May be a trek for you, but the guy is a Citroen expert, has loads of spares & has already removed the FAP. This particular one isn't mint, but wouldn't take much to get it to my standard & it has a very high spec for an SX including parking sensors, cd changer & power fold mirrors.

& his reserve is less than £1000!

[lozz]

ive just bought a c5,

upto now im not impressed !
idont think iwill be keeping it long, perhaps a month if that,

[sirwiggum]

ive just bought a c5,

upto now im not impressed !
idont think iwill be keeping it long, perhaps a month if that,

eh up!

Pictures and details please!

[Bailes1992]

If I chabge my car Im going for something less then 5 year old. Looking at a 407 coupe at the moment.