I called on a customer today just as a 52 plate Proton Satria was being loaded onto a flatback truck. The driver had passed a strap through the rear windows to lift it, buckling the roof and causing the rear screen to pop. I asked the lady, an elderly woman I know reasonably well if the engine had gone. She told me no, the car was her grand daughters, had been owned from new and had about 90k on the clock and was still a trouble free runner. Two new tyres had been fitted to get through the MoT in December and then the girl had bought a nearly new replacement and decided to sell the Proton. She had left it on gran's drive (in a quiet cul-de-sac) for a fortnight with a sticker asking just £200, had no viewers and decided to contact the scrappie who gave her £140 for it.
I could have cried.
It was only a base model 1.3, but a look round the body and from what I could see underneath the car was as sound as a pound, as you would expect with a new ticket. The woman had no reason to lie about the condition of it and assuming it did run ok I'd have bitten her hand off at that price. Even if I'd sold it on rather than have it myself or let SWMBO have it then flogged her ageng Saxo it would have been a steal.
Am I missing something with these models that is shockingly bad or were they throwing money away and taking a sound car out of circulation?
|
I wonder where it was advertised. I would have thought anything tidy with a year's ticket would have moved pretty easily for £200 (or a close offer), let alone a relatively late car like this.
Sounds like a tragic waste. Things like this depress me too. Like the airfield full of perfectly serviceable scrappage scheme chop-ins abandoned and waiting to be crushed. A total waste.
|
There's one advertised in the back of this months CM
FOR SALE: Lotus Proton Satria
God loves a trier :-)
|
Offer it for two hundred quid, someone comes along, kicks the tyres, wastes two hours of your life, haggles you down to £150, rings you up next week and whingess cos the cambelt snapped.
Scrappie guarantees you £140, no comebacks, and he collects, only other thing you get is notification of scrapping from DVLA.
No brainer.
It's a cheap car, not a pet hamster; and whilst it may have been utterly reliable Protons of that era are certainly not nice cars.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Fri 14 Jan 11 at 20:28
|
|
You can never find cars like this when you want to buy one, and never sell them when you want to get rid.
|
>> You can never find cars like this when you want to buy one, and never
>> sell them when you want to get rid.
>>
Very true Bill. Someone always seems to know of one that's just gone, or has bought one and "had they known about yours......"
|
>> It's a cheap car, not a pet hamster; and whilst it may have been utterly
>> reliable Protons of that era are certainly not nice cars.
>>
HM, for two hundred quid you wouldn't expect a "nice" car, reliable would tick the boxes.
|
|
I'm sorry, but I can think of 101 cars I would rather have than an 8 year old Proton Satria. In fact I would rather take the bus.
|
me too Boxsterboy
that things best sent on the high seas to countries new
proton now is that an oxymoron?
|
>> 101 cars I would rather have than an 8 year old Proton Satria. In fact I would rather take the bus.
To each his own, Boxster, but I don't entirely believe you. An eight-year-old, impeccably maintained Malaysian car, continuously maintained, would make a very good car for a woman mature student or single mother, or even a young man. It would drive better than many sixties cars, not like a Porsche obviously, but most cars aren't Porsches are they?
If you like the automobile there's plenty to be said for trundling around in undistinguished jalopies and learning to row them along briskly and discreetly by understanding their little ways. I'm sure you will agree on reflection. I'm a car snob too, but not exclusively so to speak.
To take an example close to home, getting that car would probably have saved Sheikh Rattleandroll several grand.
|
AC after attaining 90,000 miles it should be on the good skoop "crusher india"
|
So much for this recession, people still have far too much money and/or much inflated ego's...Nike boy couldn't possibly be seen in a vehicle with such a badge, get a grip.
I'd have snapped that little motor up if i'd known it was going begging too.
Confucias say 'second hand ride better than first class walk'
|
If I were in the market for a cheap commuter, I'd have snatched their hand off for 200 quid. Insure it TPFT and even with fuel and insurance I'd be quids in compared with a season ticket for the train.
A 200 quid car isn't something you buy with your heart. It's a tool to do a job. Nothing more, nothing less. If it was in the condition the OP says, and had been half looked after, I daresay it would have run for a year without so much as a service.
|
|
Back in the day I'm sure many of the cars I paid serious wedge for drove a lot worse than an eight year old Proton. Hell, one of the muthas only had three wheels.
|
>> So much for this recession, people still have far too much money and/or much inflated
>> ego's...Nike boy couldn't possibly be seen in a vehicle with such a badge, get a
>> grip.
>>
>> I'd have snapped that little motor up if i'd known it was going begging too.
>>
>> Confucias say 'second hand ride better than first class walk'
>>
'ello Bruv. I have noted Confucias saying, but with a little spelling alteration it takes on a hole new meaning.
Yo!!
|
>> Protons of that era are certainly not nice cars.
They're a damed sight nicer than some of the heaps of doo-doo I've owned out of necessity.
Blimey, I have paid around the 200 pound mark for some right pieces of junk that have lasted a few months to a year. Although I have loved them all, they were cars after all and as such gave me untold freedom.
A 52 plate car with only 90k on it, based on Mitsubishi mechanicals? For under 200 quid? I used to dream of such luxuries. And I wouldn't think twice about buying such a thing now if I were to fall upon harder times.
|
|
To be fair, i've been looking at tons of bangers recently, and £200 gets you nowhere! This seems alright for £200 even if it is worn out, the ticket & tyres are worth £200 probably.
|
im amazed my customers want moon on a stick with jam on it
but you guys would buy a proton on its last rights
weird
really weird
maybe time i retired
|
Bellboy, I'd be amazed if you, as a dealer, were prepared to pay £141 for a car (beating the scrappie by a quid), and then sell it for under £200.
We're talking about the private purchase of something hideously unfashionable with MoT on it here.
A glance at autotrader will tell you that there are dealers trying to shift such stuff for about £1500. I wonder if anyone on here would pay such a price for such a car. If I were spending £1500, I'd be after the best Mondeo I could find for the money.
But only £200 for a decent sounding Proton? Ok then.
|
I knew a woman who had a Proton which she bought new.
Served her OK (the car did, not me).
|
>> im amazed my customers want moon on a stick with jam on it
>> but you guys would buy a proton on its last rights
>> weird
>> really weird
>> maybe time i retired
>>
Well said, this is euthanasia not murder.
|
For £200 with a years MOT, what can be wrong?
Buy it, run it, walk away when it goes wrong.
Or is there something I don't understand? The cheapest one on Autotrader is £695.
It's a no brainer isn't it?
|
"It's a no brainer isn't it?"
You'd certainly have to lobotomise me for me to want it.
I'd rather take taxis for a year.
|
|
Nobody wants an 8 yr old Proton. But I can't believe in these economic circumstances nobody needs a reliable, economical, small engined runabout with a year's ticket for £200. Perfect bangernomics material, surely.
Last edited by: DP on Sat 15 Jan 11 at 08:30
|
|
I can only think what a terrible way to treat what could have been Stu's next car.
|
>> I can only think what a terrible way to treat what could have been Stu's
>> next car.
It would have to have something wrong with it to qualify for that accolade!
|
|
Remember folks, not everyone can aspire to a car that makes The Cool Wall on Top Gear.
|
I'll be honest; ten years ago, if something akin to that had turned up around Derby I'd probably have bought it as a hack, for the very reasons stated.
Had two Volvo 340's and a couple of VW Polos back in the day, none of which cost more than £300.
I wonder if, given Bellboy's comments, it was actually TOO cheap? Perhaps if the lady had priced it at say £350 she might have had a couple of offers?
|
"I wonder if, given Bellboy's comments, it was actually TOO cheap? Perhaps if the lady had priced it at say £350 she might have had a couple of offers?"
You might be right.
I think most of us would be suspicious of a used car that had a very low price tag on it. If something is too good to be true, then it probably isn't. Try giving out fivers to passers by. Most people won't take them. Offer to sell people £1 coins for 20p. You won't get many takers.
A few years ago we wanted to get rid of a twin tub washing machine, and put up a notice in a local shop. We would have given it away, but we reckoned that we would have more success getting rid of it if we put a price on it.
(Yes, our advert succeeded, but we'll never know whether "free to a good home" would have been just as successful!)
|
Murder of a Car - DP
