This was the first modern car I owned. It was an absolute bargain too - it was free. All it cost me was an afternoon accompanying my mate Scott up to Cheshire to pick up a Honda Prelude 2.2 bought off eBay.

After we picked the Honda up - lovely car four wheel steering and all that - I drove the Cavalier back and kept it. It was already called Bertie when I got it so the name stayed. Before this, the car belonged to Scotts' father in law.

It was quite a good looking motor (I thought) and being an 8 valve instead of 16 the insurance was relatively inexpensive. It had BMW 3 series alloys which looked good, a rear spoiler and was a saloon not a hatchback - I always favour saloons as I prefer the way they look. Practical it wasn't though - Imagine my embarrassment when a wheelbarrow that had been taken out the back of a Ford Ka failed to fit into the boot. In the end I had to put it on the rear seats with the handles sticking out of the open window.

The body work was in really good condition with only a couple of minor rust scabs. When you drove it however, it showed its true colours - it was knackered. It had over 178.000 miles on the clock and practically nothing worked properly. The brakes were terrible (the handbrake didn't work at all), the gearbox had a knack to it to say the least and bits would literally fall off when you closed the doors.

The engine was thoroughly and comprehensively worn, and it used nearly as much oil as it did petrol. We reckon that it used to be a taxi. The sunroof and electric windows worked though, but the radio was stuck on Magic FM, Hmm... After a few months of burning around, it was MoT time. I was nervous.

Bertie managed to fail not one, but two MoT's in a week. Is this a record? The first garage said that it would pass with a small amount of welding to the underside and the handbrake being repaired. I was quoted £200 all in to get it though. I then took it to another garage - after the test they recommended that I have it towed to the scrapyard as it would be too dangerous to drive it there.

They put it on the lift so I could see the underside - I was horrified. The Floor of the car was rotten as was the inner sills, and the suspension mounting points. The brake lines were badly rusted and weeping fluid. No wonder the brakes were shit. It was a right old mess.

So what did I do? Well it was straight onto eBay complete with a very frank description and photo's of all the bad bits. I was really advertising it for the alloys and tyres, which were in good nick and would cost a fair bit to buy separately. It sold for £62.11 in the end, to a scrap dealer up the road. He collected it on his truck and was surprised at its outward appearence.

Yes it did look like a good car but it wasn't. I clawed back a bit of the cash that I had spent on the MoTs, kept the stereo, the jack and a few other odds and sods and got another feedback on Ebay. I was happy. The next day I walked past the first garage that would have passed it, and there it was, up on the ramp again. Thankfully, it doesn't show up on the DVLA database so I assume it's been scrapped and not repaired.