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Hi all, I have recently been reading the famous barge thread on Pistonheads:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...1636665&i=3080
Wondered if any fellow TZ'ers have had a go at barging/bangernomics and their experiences. I myself have recently plunged in with a recent Lexus Ls400 purchase. Would be great to hear of any successful barge purchases & nightmare repair bills as seems to be the case with many of these
My most recent barge purchase was a Nissan Maxima 3ltr V6 for £1K
Lovely smooth ride, seats are more comfortable than the ones in my lounge
Everything works apart from the cruise control
A service by my local mechanic last month didn't indicate anything hideous though he did say that it needs a new shock and brake calliper at some point soon
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k2...psfeeg4vpw.png
I nearly bought an LS400 the other month - I really like the look of these so its only a matter of time........
That's very clean and should (in theory) give a good few years of relatively trouble free motoring. What is the spares situation with these like?
Just to add (although slightly biased) The LS400 seems to have really bottomed out now and are crazy value, what with many preferring this incarnation compared to the LS430 and the fact that hardly any come up for sale anymore with crazy reliability, I can't see you ever losing money on one if you can find a good one at reasonable money
Yes. Did this myself with an aged but well looked after Volvo V70 (the 850 facelift one).
Had it maintained by the independent Volvo specialist in my town. Unfortunately he retired recently.
There's plenty of help and advice on the Volvo Forums but I didn't have the time or facilities to work on it myself.
So decided to call it a day. Interesting experience though.
I've had a Lexus LS430 LPG for over a year, - no nightmare stories as yet... I absolutely love it... even though it was cheap to buy and run, it makes you feel like a king when you're in it. Like driving on grass in the comfort of your living room. Also a very smug feeling to be driving a 2 tonne 4.3 V8 and getting good MPG!
Did it for quite a while with a Rover 75 some time ago. I really liked that car. Cost under a grand, didn't require much doing, ran for a while, was smart and comfy, sold for not much less than I paid (on here in fact!)
Buy well and be flexible and it's ace :)
I tried this with an A8, lovely car until the engine ate itself.
I run a banger as a second motor, 3 years in W124 multivalve diesel cost 720 in service and depreciation over the 3 years and now an E39 530d,via volvo V90 i ran for 6 months and sold for a profit.
I buy the cars i couldn't afford as a young man.
I loved my barge. Big, thirsty old auto. Sadly it was killed when a young lad drove into it.
http://www.helianthus.me.uk/volvos/brian/m_offside.jpg
Mechanicals are available at a price. Bodywork and trim not so good though.Quote:
Originally Posted by maxwellwd
They were way more popular in the States so eBay USA is a good source.
MPG isn't bad - mid 20's, unless you keep it in sports mode and have a heavy right foot in which case you are down to 18mpg or less.
Being as I drive 100 miles plus most days this would be no good as a daily driver. I keep it as a back up car and something to tinker about with and gradually improve over time.
This is the way I look it, I covet the cars I could never dream of affording when I was younger.Quote:
Originally Posted by MCFastybloke
Starting looking at CL55s & CL600s, remember when new you were lucky to get any change out of £100k. Sadly as per the initial asking price they aeem to have the running costs of that still
Sent from The Isle Of Sheppey