I bought my father in law's 405 in 2001 for £350, an L-reg 2-litre Sti.  He
always bought cars from his company, driven by one manager at his firm and
never had problems with any of his cars. I got it with 161,000 miles. It had
a constant leak from the back of the rocker box (I never got round to it, I
don't pay for oil) and every year had the rear callipers and handbrake
mechanism unseized and lubricated for the MOT.  Four years, a cam belt, 3
services and a ball joint later, I sold it to a mate for £150 more than I
bought it for, but that included 2 brand new Pirellis in the boot that I
paid £50 for and a brand new complete exhaust, £25 off E bay.  He loves it
and it passed it's last MOT with just the rear callipers done again.  It's
now done 184,000 on the original clutch, with no major work on the engine.
he still hasn't done the rocker cover leak and I think the strut top mounts
have gone weak.
I moved to a Rover 620 I got from another friend with a similar history and
had owned for a couple of years, and now to a Mondeo that was very cheap.  I
hate spending money on motoring.

--
r