Current Prices

[tomato]

Cannot go on a proper hunt for a car now as on the Isle of Wight and being on holiday and having sneaky car window shopping time is dangerous.

Prices for 2's seem to be all over the place, a number have been reduced and not shifting.

Looks like 80k mileage in the 1k to 3k range.

60 to 80k mileage around 3k to 4k.

Under 60k anything from 4k to 8k.

Most expensive £10.5k which makes the Green Goddess look like an absolute bargain.

TF's around 1-2k premium although not sure it worth it.

Age does not seem to make a lot of difference.

Hardtop, some add a premium some don't but around 500 to 800 pounds.

Found a very bright yellow one, oddly like that colour!

Anyway, assuming condition of body is average for a 15+ year old car, with a good history, do those prices seem in the right ballpark.

Trying to figure out best base to buy 🤔

[1979scotte]

TF isn't worth a premium to me but people definitely are willing to pay more for some funky seats and naff badges.

[Ardent]

History and overall condition.

Show me a folder of receipts over a dealer stamp any day.

[jonbill]

show me a car in good condition over a folder of receipts any day

[s12vea]

You can tell a quality car within seconds of viewing

[Roj]

The prices you mention look about normal, i.e. a wide spread over a wide range of age and mileage. Although to be honest I'm surprised you can find 80k mile cars up for £1k. Without knowing the condition, though, that low price might reflect the cost to bring up to scratch.

What's frustrating is everyone has a different opinion of what is mint, ok, crap or scrap. So you'll go to see a £5k, low mileage '06 thinking it's the beauty it's been described as but it turns out to be worse than a £2k, 100k miles '01  that's been advertised as 'needs some TLC' by an owner with OCD.

[Joesson]

Sage advice there from @Roj, as @1979scotte might say: Beauty is in the eye of the Bee(6)holder.

[tomato]

Suspect I am going to have fun hunting, wife already giving me ear ache. She wants an upgrade now 😏

[Topdownman]

I always say that you need to drive as many as possible as, as said above, you can tell a good one. I would always try to buy privately and judge the owner as much as the car (I like them to start off the test drive so you can see how they drive). I drove 2 crap dealer cars before I bought the 3rd I looked at privately.

The range has been wide in asking prices for at least a few years but even more so now so there are no shortcuts, you need to go and drive them.

Remember, you can always buy another one if a better one comes up and sell the first one you buy (or the first 25...).

[Ardent]

[quote author=Roj link=msg=859721 date=1628347497
What's frustrating is everyone has a different opinion of what is mint, ok, crap or scrap. So you'll go to see a £5k, low mileage '06 thinking it's the beauty it's been described as but it turns out to be worse than a £2k, 100k miles '01  that's been advertised as 'needs some TLC' by an owner with OCD.
[/quote]
Spot on.

[Ardent]

Have said before.
Normal caveats aside.

There is merit in buying one for a 1k and spending a £K on it.

[tomato]

Interesting views thank you. What are the most expensive or hardest part to source parts for on the 2s out of interest.

[Call the midlife!]

Due to the propensity of people scrapping an otherwise perfectly good car that's using a little oil there's no shortage of second hand parts available so there's very little that's difficult to get.
The most expensive parts to replace on a brand new basis are the headlights and roof.

[1979scotte]

Due to the propensity of people scrapping an otherwise perfectly good car that's using a little oil there's no shortage of second hand parts available so there's very little that's difficult to get.
The most expensive parts to replace on a brand new basis are the headlights and roof.

Rear subframe?
That's over £300 isn't it?
Are they now out of production?

[Call the midlife!]

Due to the propensity of people scrapping an otherwise perfectly good car that's using a little oil there's no shortage of second hand parts available so there's very little that's difficult to get.
The most expensive parts to replace on a brand new basis are the headlights and roof.

Rear subframe?
That's over £300 isn't it?
Are they now out of production?

Still fairly available last time I looked but I was looking at it from a non repairable basis, you can patch a subframe up if you catch it early enough.

[tomato]

Engines seem fairly bullet proof if they have been looked after as far as I can tell.

Lots of choice out there 😃

[Dev]

I always say that you need to drive as many as possible as, as said above, you can tell a good one. I would always try to buy privately and judge the owner as much as the car (I like them to start off the test drive so you can see how they drive). I drove 2 crap dealer cars before I bought the 3rd I looked at privately.

The range has been wide in asking prices for at least a few years but even more so now so there are no shortcuts, you need to go and drive them.

Remember, you can always buy another one if a better one comes up and sell the first one you buy (or the first 25...).

 To add to that if you can't drive as many examples the best thing to do is reach out to a community of owners and ask them to come with you to look at a car.  Buy them lunch or pay them for their time. Most owners don't mind doing it because they are fascinated at looking at another example out of curiosity.
 I have done this a number of times for potential owners some of which were the owner lived elsewhere and planed to have the car shipped. Its like tire kicking or window shopping but for real and you don't have to buy anything. 
 
Otherwise I would spend money and pay for a mechanic with a lift to look a the car. Within the first five years its not so important but anything over 10 years needs a proper inspection.

[steveash]

Good advice here. I would add that used car prices are high at the moment across the board and that convertibles have historically been cheaper to buy in the autumn winter months. You can get a great deal from a dealer in September/October who still has stock of convertibles that haven't moved over the summer. They really won't want them taking up space over the winter. Once January comes around, interest starts picking up again.

[The Other Stu]

Due to the propensity of people scrapping an otherwise perfectly good car that's using a little oil there's no shortage of second hand parts available so there's very little that's difficult to get.
The most expensive parts to replace on a brand new basis are the headlights and roof.

Rear subframe?
That's over £300 isn't it?
Are they now out of production?

Still fairly available last time I looked but I was looking at it from a non repairable basis, you can patch a subframe up if you catch it early enough.

From what I'm told, PFL subframes are like hens teeth.
FL are still available from Toyota.

[Call the midlife!]

Due to the propensity of people scrapping an otherwise perfectly good car that's using a little oil there's no shortage of second hand parts available so there's very little that's difficult to get.
The most expensive parts to replace on a brand new basis are the headlights and roof.

Rear subframe?
That's over £300 isn't it?
Are they now out of production?

Still fairly available last time I looked but I was looking at it from a non repairable basis, you can patch a subframe up if you catch it early enough.

From what I'm told, PFL subframes are like hens teeth.
FL are still available from Toyota.

Not a massive drama though as you can use an FL on a PFL without issue, it's the other way round that's a problem.