Harryjoe's lovely Athena FS

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:09 pm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0532202221

Top bloke. He bought the red XM from me. Some might remember him from the CXM rally?

Anyway, nice BX....

messerschmitt owner · Post by **messerschmitt owner** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:57 pm

I saw it, it looked lovely, glad he's added some extra information.

teeny bit of rust down at the sill on that offside rear!

Paul296 · Post by **Paul296** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:38 pm

Top BX! I'll be very interested to see the finishing price. Any predictions? I think it's worth 600 - 700 quid if its as good as it looks - maybe a bit more?

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:37 pm

(double post)

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:38 pm

He's not done himself any favours mentioning a condensation problem that isn't a problem and would get much more if he put a fresh 12 month ticket on it. So with only 2 months ticket I don't see it fetching £400.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:53 pm

On reflection; agreed on the condensation bit, and really, there is NO reason, surely why it wouldn't happily achieve a new MOT.... I have no doubt the car is a good buy. Nige, redraft the ad, put a ticket on it and... please use the old spellcheck lol!

Mickey taker · Post by **Mickey taker** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:02 pm

maybe once this is gone "daddy" can sort out the two barn find diesels

richardd1652 · Post by **richardd1652** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:48 pm

Needs rear arm bearings as well as the caramel in the oil. Short test , i think it will struggle.
Richard.

Paul296 · Post by **Paul296** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:16 pm

Needs rear arm bearings

True - didn't spot that first time round - I don't think the sludge in the oil's a problem though is it? Still worth 500 quid as a rare limited edition though?

richardd1652 · Post by **richardd1652** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:26 pm

I agree that it should be but 16,s are the least valued of them all as far as i can make out. 14,s are just about as quick,more economical and cheaper tax, you hardly ever see a 19 unless its a GTI or 16v then of course the ones everybody wants , the diesels especially TZD Turbos.Theres nothing really special about the "Athena" that you cant get on say a TX spec car and it has done 100k so its not even low mileage.
The caramel in the oil probably isnt a problem, he doesnt say if he used it for short journeys which may explain it. Ive had several 16,s and non had this problem although 14,s can do from experience.But if he hadnt mentione dit on Ebay and somebody won the auction then spotted it etc.
Richard.

Paul296 · Post by **Paul296** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:30 am

Yes, I take your point - I think I've got a soft spot for 'Athenas'! the 16 TGS I had was certainly 'troublesome' compared to the diesels I've had subsequently ( it always had sludge in the top of the radiator but was never a problem) If it had 12 months ticket on it I still think its worth 500 quid to an enthusiast - looks like a very tidy example.

I'd big it up even more if it was 'Platinum' or 'Champagne'!!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:58 am

Paul296 wrote:
Needs rear arm bearings
True - didn't spot that first time round - I don't think the sludge in the oil's a problem though is it? Still worth 500 quid as a rare limited edition though?

Judging by what Ian Fearns car fetched I would expect so, the caramel in the oil isnt uncommon, i get it in my cars due to the short mileage and limited useage. Its normally only in the filler though! she is after all 20 years old so will have its faults but a very nice basis of a cracking car.

I think we have seen values starting to rise, in 2006 I bought an indentical car, with less miles in tidy nick for £120! off ebay as noone wanted it, BXs are getting rare now so lets hope it keeps the values up!

messerschmitt owner · Post by **messerschmitt owner** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:59 am

Roverman wrote:
I think we have seen values starting to rise, in 2006 I bought an indentical car, with less miles in tidy nick for £120! off ebay as noone wanted it, BXs are getting rare now so lets hope it keeps the values up!

I think values of all old cars are rising, for no other reason than they are worth £170-200 a ton as scrap!

Having said Ian's car went for £1355, I have just bought a 46k TGS Auto with fsh for £500 (thanks Richard). I think I got better value for money, by a long shot, over Ian's car as it will not take the best part of £900 to get mine up to scratch.

Low mileage, well-cared-for examples with decent photos and descriptions in desirable colours are always going to sell better than badly described, high mileage cars in faded colours. This Athena, while in a good colour, is up over 100k in miles, has had five owners, has a short MoT and dodgy rear bearings, and a rusty rear sill area - we don't get to see the other side, so what's it like?

So, are values really rising? I think inflation has a lot to do with it. There was a time when you had to pay to have your car scrapped, now they nick them to order as they are worth so much as bits and as scrap.

We had the value discussion a little while back and my experience is that it is better to go with the flow, accept values are probably rising, and watch them get higher. I remember the last time that I said that the days of £100 BXs are over. It seems they are. But look at it this way, you can easily spend a few hundred on repairs but still buy a tidy t&t'd car for £500.

In years to come, will it be the diesels that still command good money? Remember, low mileage in a diseasel is the wrong side of 150k but there are a decent number of sub-100k petrol cars still.

Prices will take a long time to go up and it'll come as a factor of the number being scrapped - the rarer they are, the more expensive they will be. I'm not sure any more people will want to buy one, just the numbers available to them will have reduced.

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:14 am

messerschmitt owner wrote:Prices will take a long time to go up and it'll come as a factor of the number being scrapped - the rarer they are, the more expensive they will be. I'm not sure any more people will want to buy one, just the numbers available to them will have reduced.

I'm not sure that rarity is the only factor in determining sale price. Modern complexity/Old style simplicity is also a part of the mix and, for all their idiosyncrasies, BX's aren't terribly complicated cars to work on compared to, say, my '06 VW Bora, which is an utter pig of a machine that seems to have been designed for main dealer maintenance (and an early scrappage date).

I suggest that, as modern cars get more and more complex, require special equipment to carry out even simple jobs that would have been DIY a few years ago, and then cost huge amounts of money to pay Garages suitably equipped, owning a DIY-able classic will seem more and more sensible for those with mechanical ability and more common sense than spare dosh.

Catalytic converters are a case in point - fragile damned things that can self-destruct on little more than a whim (or a buggered spark plug) and which can cost more to replace than my BX does to service for a year. It's also another thing thing on which to fail an increasingly complex MOT ..... along with overkill kit such as ABS.

Owning a ruggedly built and simply constructed BX makes an awful lot of monetary sense, especially if you have a spare donor. I suspect people are going to start waking up to this in the next few year (or sooner). When they do, any clean cars that can be maintained at home are going to see a rise on their values.

IMHO natch'.

messerschmitt owner · Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:22 am

Bob

I agree with what you say too - but there are fewer people about who can do maintenance, even simple stuff, as they have become divorced from any aspect of their car other than pointing it and pressing some pedals.

So, yes, old = simple = easy to maintain = win!

Campbell