W reg weigh in

[r.welfare]

Yup, like an ugly overhanging front and less rear legroom and loadspace

[retrogeezer]

Yeah, swings and roundabouts tho innit, e.g. in Welfs 405 you have to turn the wipers on yourself when it starts to rain rather than them doing it automatically, so although the 407 costs 19 grand more, you get other benefits which are difficult to put a price on.

[Milford Cubicle]

Small price to pay for a couple of cars you know you can rely on, welf'.

[garethj]

Yeah, swings and roundabouts tho innit, e.g. in Welfs 405 you have to turn the wipers on yourself when it starts to rain rather than them doing it automatically, so although the 407 costs 19 grand more, you get other benefits which are difficult to put a price on.

So basically if you're a shite lover and don't have arthritic wrists, a 405 is fine? If only they could get production of them copper wristbands up again We've run our last few cars a bit maintenance heavy. Even though the old Passat was worth £500 because it was so reliable we paid several hundred quid for a new aircon condensor and regass. The alternative would be to buy something else and find the aircon needed a new condensor and regass....Same with the 1999 Galant, it's got £600 of new gearbox bearings (probably £3 for the bearings and £597 for the fitting) and the car is maybe worth £800? But it's never broken down which is more than you can say for even new cars. Fair enough it's not new, but it's comfortable. And it's quick. And it's reasonably fuel efficient. And to buy the whole car 3 years ago cost 3 months payments on a new car

[r.welfare]

Absolutely. Almost-excessive maintenance is the way to go on older stuff to keep it sweet. Luckily the parts are generally cheaper and access is better so you can do it yourself without a degree in Electronic Engineering (which incidentally I have, but still couldn't do much on a new car...).Whilst crafting an eBay ad for t'wife's Fabia yesterday ("new" car hopefully arriving at the end of the month y'see) I was pretty astounded to see how many entries there were in the service book - but then, odd niggles with engine management lights apart, that car has done 70,000 miles in her hands in less than 3 years and has never caused a problem.One wonders if the marvel of 20k service intervals etc is partly to blame for the likes of the Clio originally mentioned heading for the boneyard at such a young age...Incidentally, my 405 estate has buggered a/c - but when they told me £250 + labour for a new condensor (even if it was only that part that was u/s), I told 'em I'd open a window instead, particularly as it was designed for the old R12 refridgerant anyway...the "new" V-reg Accord (gratis from the old man) had the a/c regassed last year, so I'm happy with that I sorely missed a/c on the drive back from Solihull on Wednesday though!

[mk2_craig]

A/C was the clincher for me ebaying off the mk3 Escort auto and buying a then six-and-a-half-year-old Mondeo instead, imagine my disgust when on the hottest day of the year I had to travel from Leeds to Edinburgh via Glasgow and found that it wasn't working despite having had new refrigerant just before I bought it. Turned out the aluminium condenser housing was mounted to its steel bracket on hollow integral studs, one of which had corroded through causing the steel nut to shear off and letting all the gas out. Didn't even bother getting a quote to replace it from Ford (would doubtless have been hundreds) and I could see that it was plumbed in with crimp fittings that probably ruled out cannibalising a secondhand replacement from a scrap car - so did nothing.But I now want to sell the car and working AC would be an advantage! So we'll see how the liquid metal repair stuff that's plugging the hole will hold 250psi...

[r.welfare]

Body colour makes a hell of a difference - the white saloon is much "cooler" inside than the dark green estate on a hot day (and has the benefit of a big, electric sunroof if I want to sizzle my scalp). All those Southern Europeans can't be wrong, how many white cars do you see in Spain, Italy and the South of France? But I'd take (working) a/c every time, given a choice...

[CortinaDave]

I've been on fleet reduction mode this month so the scrappys best friend.. tally of binned cars this month:L reg fiesta 1.1 - nothing wrong with it except a bit battle scarred and a thirst for oil... but i only paid £150 for it and when the test ran out i drove it into the yard and took their £160R plate mondeo si - belonged to girlfriends mother, power steering rack went and it needed brakes etc so off it sailed to scrappyland with 4 months MOTN reg calibra SE4 - my old daily, been lying in the drive for nearly a year awaiting my robbing of its lpg kit. Needed a shedload for an mot so lpg removed and car driven onto the weighbridgeP reg calibra SE7 - nothing wrong with it really, but despite several stints on the bay no one wanted it, so flogged the interior and wheels and binned the rest to get my money backW plate vectra... insurance finally paid out after the fire last august- see previous post!

[mk2_craig]

R plate mondeo si - belonged to girlfriends mother, power steering rack went and it needed brakes etc so off it sailed to scrappyland with 4 months MOT

Nadgers, I coulda used a few bits off that! Mondeos rare over here.

[CortinaDave]

Mate of mine was after some bits off it too..so i said i would deal with it and drove it from the girlfriends mum's back to my place to do some robbing... But the old trout rang the scrappy "to save me the bother" and they whisked it away!

[MrRegieRitmo]

N reg calibra SE4P reg calibra SE7

What's the SE4 & SE7 all about?

[CortinaDave]

Dunno really..just the spec level.. they did se1-se9 calibras changing every year.. but the se7 had bugger all extra that wasnt on the se4.I'm not enough of a calibra anorak to know the differences unfortunately

[andrew e]

Only available from South london dealerships

[retrogeezer]

something to do with special colours I think...

[Guest greenvanman]

So that's over £900 on a 405 TD estate - silly money for one of these really - so I can see where others are coming from. So why did I save this particular one? Mainly because all the tough mechanical work has been done (including a new cylinder head), and it's a 2 owner car with a two-inch-thick history file - so a very strong case for "better the devil you know".

All taken into account I reckon you've made the right decision there, I could fancy another 405 myself. I'm still half-heartedly looking for new wheels, which I keep putting off because the better weather (?) is here and I'm enjoying the scooter riding at the mo. That Skoda was such an unreliable, badly made, ill handling pile of toss that I couldn't face replacing the clutch and the other stuff knowing full well that something else mission critical would break or fall off within two lamp posts of leaving home.

Also, I need to get the old (adhesive rather than painted) coachline off, again any tips?

I get Mrs Guvvum's hairdryer on them to soften them up then they peel off quite easily if you keep moving the hot air along as you pull. A bit of thinners will get off any sticky residue left behind.

[retrogeezer]

Yep, do it on a warm day or use a hair dryer.Petrol is also good for getting off the sticky stuff left behind.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Incidentally, my 405 estate has buggered a/c - but when they told me £250 + labour for a new condensor (even if it was only that part that was u/s), I told 'em I'd open a window instead

Seems to be the going rate. My other half's a/c compressor has gone on her W reg Astra but when told it would cost over £500 to sort (seems to be roughly half for the part, half for the labour) she decided she can afford to make do with the fan / windows, or rather she can't afford not to make do with them, however annoying it might be, the car still runs, it's not the be all & end all! People take it for granted but at the end of the day it's technically a luxury & you can live without it - my Alfa's the first car I've owned that's had it, even though it's not particularly cold - a common complaint on them.