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On Saturday this became mine....


MrRegieRitmo

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Bonus but pointless night time shotz;

 

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It's replacing the 146 in the line up as my daily plugger, it's going to be a bit of a come down but it's not like I haven't spent my time previously on the road in something prehistoric, basic & French. Hey this one's a GTL it makes the 14 TL seem like....er....an L! You probably know a bit about this car already unless you've not been paying attention in Autoshite class. I garnered it from Mr Reno mainly for economical reasons (half the insurance, half the tax & hopefully half the petrol bills too!) but also I wanted something in which I could be an individual again but with comfort in the knowledge that when it goes wrong it isn't going to bankrupt me to put it right. It will go wrong I know that....it already needs the brakes looking at - but the fact is anybody should be able to fix this without too much fuss. A common or garden mechanic that is, as opposed to a 'specialist' who deals with those sort of things! No ECU fault code clearing for me - No Sir! No cambelt changes on this baby - No Sir - it doesn't have one! :D No wild revving here, and if it does it isn't going be antisocial & shove the problem in my face as there's no rev counter! For what I was quoted to sort out the Alfa's 'issues' by the 'specialist' I went to see, I could have bought at least 3 of these for the same price. 5 if I was to go to town & make the car 100%. As much as it hurts to admit defeat, all I have to think about is how much more money I'm going to have in my bank account at the end of each month & how much money I didn't spend on the Alfa & the uncomfortable thought about how much money I could have been drawn into spending further down the track if other things had arisen with the car had I decided to stick with it. You just don't know, but I wasn't prepared to take the risk. Couldn't honestly take the risk. For a start I knew it had serious corrosion issues in the floor to worry about come next MOT time, along with all the other advisories on there. It was enough hassle getting it through last year. The most I ever spent getting the R14 through an MOT was £150, which looking back now was absolutely bugger all, even though the car cost less than that to buy, I suppose proportionately it was alot but comparatively it was peanuts. I look forward to having that kind of motoring again.

I did have fun with the Alfa, I don't regret owning one, I just regret owning that one! I'm just sorry it didn't turn out happily but you have to know when enough's enough, I couldn't give it what it needed. I'd have another Alfa in the future for sure, provided the car was; proven to be a good one, low mileage etc, all big jobs done & I had alot more money behind me so that I could bankroll anything that might need doing on it without it leaving me short for everything else.

 

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Here it is taking it's place slotting in amongst a couple of the other Frenchies!

 

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I've always liked 9s, especially the pure & original style like this. They follow closely behind the 14, 20 & 18 in my affections, so I was only too happy to try this one out.

This car has so far thrown up 3 firsts for me (that I can think of right now anyway); it's my first ever saloon, it's my first ever car with an 'up-and-over' bonnet and it's my first ever car with reverse gear requiring you to lift the gear stick in order to find the gear, normally a Vauxhall thing I believe, although dad's 407 has it. I've experienced it but never owned a car that had it.

I know you're all itching to see some more of that fetching interior so I'll sort out some more pics once I've cleaned it up a bit! Soft squashy seats which seems to be the thing with old Renaults....lovely.

 

Just for the hell of it, the background things, although not terribly interesting are dad's Peugeot 407 2.2 Sport XS diesel (I'll spare you pictures since you all hate them & you've seen it before anyway);

my sister's other half's company Escort van (woo-hoo!)

 

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My sister's other half's Peugeot 306 XS 1.8 petrol (which I've been driving about whilst I've been car-less)

 

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and mum's Toyota Supra Turbo MkIII auto which most of you have seen before. The rusty white manual non turbo Supra was sold on eBay to a guy from Leicester last year. Told him about this site but not heard anything since.

 

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The R14 & the Ritmo occupy various garages.

 

Right, I'm off to bed!

:P

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Nice one Reggie, I remember my uncle from Newcastle came over to Belguim to vist me and my Dad, he bought a similar Renault 11, all I remember about it was that was a dark colour and that he bought it especially to go Europe in it, dont know if he still has it though.

 

Do you still have your Renault 14's as I have not seen one on the flesh for years.

 

I do like Supra's, when I worked at a garage many years ago a local bus driver bought his in for servicing, when he took it out back around to the front entrance he took the car drifting sideways!

 

Its nice to see your mum's not daunted by larger cars like my mum is.

 

By the way, you live in a lovely house! I see your Dad's car takes pride of place in front of the garage, where the "boss" of the household parks I always think.

 

Lord Sterling

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Good choice for a daily IMO. I love my R11, it's very comfortable and so far has been utterly reliable. A much better car than I'd have ever given it credit for. I'd recommend getting some cavity wax splashed about it if you are using over the winter.

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Well saved Reg, although the thought of binning an X-prefix car in favour of a Y-suffix one would perplex most people, I reckon you've done the sensible thing. What's the Alfa's fate? I'd imagine the price of scrap is so low now that you'd have to pay someone to uplift it.

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Nice purchase there - I really like the early 9's. As a fellow model car collector I'm sure you already have the Bburago 1/43 scale version, and the Guisval one too :wink: Even though its an Alfa, I'm pretty shocked to hear that a relatively recent car such as that has serious corrosion issues in the floor. Hope you enjoy your Neuf!!

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Do you still have your Renault 14's as I have not seen one on the flesh for years.

 

Its nice to see your mum's not daunted by larger cars like my mum is.

 

By the way, you live in a lovely house! I see your Dad's car takes pride of place in front of the garage, where the "boss" of the household parks I always think.

 

Lord Sterling

Thanks, yes you can read all about the R14 in my link to the story of my cars in my signature. Although it doesn't include my recent acquisition!

 

Mum has been driving Supras since 2002 although she's always liked them since they were new in the late 80s. She was always a fan of Calibras & Saab cabriolets too, although she's never had either. Apart from an old Saab 900i in the early 90s.

During my lifetime she's had a Rover 2000 P6, a green Volvo 244 saloon, the Saab 900i, a MkII Vauxhall Cavalier hatch, a MkIII VW Golf, a MkIII Toyota Supra non turbo manual & now a MkIII Toyota Supra turbo auto.

You say she's fine with bigger cars, she's scraped gate posts multiple times at this house & our last house with the Supra(s) and last night she backed it into the gate post hinge! :roll::lol: Not much harm done though.

 

Thanks for the house compliment, we've landed on our feet with this one I think, with all the parking out the front (which mum says is bigger than her car park at work), we've also got a double length garage on the left side of the house & a drive-through alley on the other side of the house leading to a detached garage which we've used as extra storage. Shame I can't fill up all the extra space with cars! The Alfa has been pushed down the side out of sight to stop the front area looking so much like a parking lot! :lol: Our last house had a generous amount of parking / storage space & garden space too; two driveways (one could take 2 cars, the other 3) and a large detached double garage which swallowed up alot of our excess household stuff as well as the R14 as the house was a fair bit smaller. The house was on a country lane with not many other houses so we could shove another 3 vehicles on the grass verge adjacent to the house. It had a quarter of an acre of garden....or was it a third! All for £1300 a month rent. There was a fair sized yard directly opposite which when we moved in was being used to store 3 full size Winnebagos! You could keep about 40 or 50 cars in there probably - yours for £27000 rent a year! :shock:

Downside of our old place was that it was a semi & not overly big in size, it was a weird shape house where the back was bigger than the front. It was in a row of cottages & next door had the lion's share, but ours appeared to be the final third of the row from the front but from the rear it was more like 60/40 in favour of us! Weird!

Much better off where we are now as the house is much bigger, the garden is big & barely any smaller than our old one, just a different shape, 2 garages (1 double length) & parking in total (inc garages even though we've chosen to mainly use them for storage) for about 13 cars, close to all amenities (inc all important watering holes) all for only a grand a month! Can't argue with that. Let's just hope we're able to stay here for at least 2-3 years! You do seem to get a bit more for your money if you rent. Hate to think what would have happened with the last house we owned which was the one before last, it was also a big house like this one but didn't have much garden to speak of & off road parking for only a couple of cars which would have made us very unpopular in the current situation when we're harbouring 8 cars between us. No-one had garages in that road so everyone fought to park on the road & there were several nursing homes around the area so cars came & went all the time - chaos! :roll: There would also be regular appearances from delivery lorries, minibuses, ambulances, fire engines & hearses!

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Lucky You, the last house we owned that had a garage was repossed in the early 90's (Which is why I love "Brookside close" style houses) adn I was only a kid, everywhere that I have lived in with either mum or dad never had any kind of of-road parking except for one place I briefly lived at with mum, it belonged to her work and had off-road parking (Look like th road you currently live on!), but, I did not have a licence and nor did I have car, when I finally did get a licence I lived in house with no off road parking/garage facilities, just my bloody luck :evil:

 

Where I live currently has no nearby garages that I can rent, (The nearest garages are probably about 5 miles away) and there are none available for rent anywhere else around Brum even though I submitted my application months ago (Thats Birmingham City council for you, useless)

 

I've resorted to renting a garage 40-miles from my house in Telford (I'm originally from there) for the extortionate amount of £40 per month :(

 

We have 2 cars at home both of which have to be parked on the street which I personally dont like, but I have no choice. Oh well, worse things happen at sea as they say...

 

Lord Sterling

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There's undeniable logic in your decision to run an old car instead of a newer costly one. I go through the same dilema all the time with running a 1995 Audi which has cost me some money in repairs since ownership & wondering if I should just get rid & drive my old B-reg Honda 'that just doesn't go wrong' as a daily.I do quite a few miles though & would feel about ruining a low mileage old car. It would save me a fortune in bills though.I know this thread is about your new Renault, but I just love that Supra, and it must be one of the very last of them too. Hope you've encouraged your mum to have it rust proofed it (or are going to) to save it from disintegrating like the white one! :wink:

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  • 4 weeks later...

As a fellow model car collector I'm sure you already have the Bburago 1/43 scale version, and the Guisval one too :wink:

I have the R9 by Norev - as an early basic 1/43 model with opening doors, a later jazzed up collectors version in two tone blue / silver special called Louisane & an even more recent collectors one in plain dark red.I have the 1/43 Bburago in yellow with rally decals & in a plain grey which someone has detailed, inc lights etc. Barring the daft wheels, I actually prefer the Bburago model to the Norev one, it has a better shape to it. Although the Norev one is just based on a 1980s toy version which they've updated semi successully.I can't remember if I've got any others....I might have but sometimes I forget what I've got! :lol: EDIT: Oh yeah....the IXO 9 GTL - best of the bunch in my opinion! :D
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Wonderful, always liked these. My Dad had a 1988 model from new up until about three years ago when some p*ssed up hoon rammed the back of it and totalled it. I did my formative driving years in it and loved it! Very comfy, excellent mpg, and easy to fix. Arguably the 9 and 11 are among the most sensible daily drivers around these days, parts are quite easy to find and the lack of electronics makes them an easy DIY proposition. I think I may have just persuaded myself to get a 3 door 11 TC, the one with the povo spec 1.2 litre motor! In beige or dark blue of course....

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excellent work RegRit, a quality 'plodder'.

 

Begs the question, what has become of the Alfa?

Is it going for a song? & Can you remind us just what was wrong with it?

Right.....to Mr Weasel & others asking about the Alfa - my original intention was to pull it apart as that was the only way I was going to get any sort of decent return from it.....however, weighing up the time x effort x profit margin x heart vs head I've decided that I would dearly love to see it continue to live beyond 8 years old as that is really rather pathetic for a modern car & that would mean more to me than raking in another coupla ton or so, especially when you bear in mind that by selling this piece here & that part there it's going to be a long old process & I won't feel like I'm actually bringing anything in as I'd sell something for 20 quid & then spend that 20 quid on something else & it won't actually accumulate into a lump sum as somebody pointed out to me!

As things stand the situation is this....

 

1) Needs the variator replacing - £? about 300 as unfortunately it's the same labour as having the cambelt done. The cambelt was done when I picked up the car so shouldn't need doing again for another 16k mls based on it needing doing every 36k (bought the car on 100k, now on 122k I believe). Had I known about the variator needing to be done at the same time as the cambelt I'd have mentioned it to the garage at the time but I didn't know to mention it & obviously the garage (not being an Alfa garage) weren't clued up about this either. So this could have been sorted out right from the start....but, it's not a 'pressing' issue - it can wait. See note 1 below....

 

2) Needs a new MAF Mass air flow meter - £? as much or as little as you want to spend - can be had on eBay for 30 quid, but you may end up replacing it sooner. A decent Bosch one can be had for upwards of 50 quid (if you're lucky) but of course the Alfa specialist said you should only buy the official Alfa part - About £140-150 :roll: The part has basically malfunctioned & needs replacing, however, again it's not a 'pressing' issue. See note 2 below...

 

That's it, besides those two points there's nothing that stops it being used & even those two points are not a problem in the critical or urgent sense!

 

 

Note 1) I've been told the variator is dead (bear in mind that the tell tale sign is that the car sounds a bit diesel like on start up - well to me it has always sounded that way & it never caused a problem for me. It may be that the variator has made it slightly down on power but if so then I've not known it any other way & the car has always seemed very quick & responsive to me!). Bear in mind I've had the car since April 07 & I went to see 'The Solent area's only Italian car specialist' in October just gone. The problem that was causing me grief at the time was the MAF, I always suspected the variator might be dud due to the diesel like sound but had never experienced a problem with it that made me confirm it with anybody. The specialist's disgnostic tool highlighted the variator as dud though & he couldn't seem to get past that fact when I suggested to him that I 'could live with the dead variator' as to my knowledge it had always been dead, it was just the MAF bit I wanted him to sort. But he said if I was going to let him loose on the problems I should let him tackle all of it. As I didn't have the quoted £700 to sort it out (not including the service it really needs), I decided not to pursue getting it fixed but instead call it a day because I decided I wanted to revert to bangernomics & a car that doesn't require me to take it to 'the only specialist on the south coast' who is very rigid & wants to give it the full monty with a fine tooth combe for £1,000,000!

 

Note 2) The workaround which I had been following myself is to simply uplug the electrical connector from the offending MAF & you can alleviate the problem, i.e. you can pretty much drive it around like that until you replace the part, the symptoms (i.e. the stupidly erratic idle rev & the cutting out when slowing down for junctions) only occur with the MAF connected. So it will get you to wherever you want to go & drives fine as 'is' until you get hold of a replacement MAF.

The only reason really, why I haven't just gone & got myself a £30 MAF as a starter for ten to see if that does the job is because my heart isn't really in it anymore - I love the car & it gave me no trouble last year at all but I've just decided that I don't want to be paying £60 a week in petrol & £84 a month in insurance anymore. It's going to be a real wrench letting go of it because I'll be letting go of the most stylish, fastest, newest, most respectable car I've ever had, but I've got to face facts & be realistic, it's cost me an awful lot & it was never going to be able to guarantee me future dependability which is a chance I can't take as I have to be able to get myself to work (something the R9, touchwood is mastering for me at the moment, as Nigel was witness to on the A27 as he whizzed past me in his Kia Pride!). I'm now paying about £30 a week in fuel, £40 a month in insurance, no tax to worry about till next August (£100 minimum on the Alfa) & I'm joyous!

 

As for this rust...modern Alfas don't rust unless something has gone wrong, any chip or scratch you will find on the exterior body never oxidises - they're galvanised. However, mine isn't the first I've heard about with a rusty floor, leading me to suspect either they've slacked on protecting the floors, or more likely (as it's so localised) the floor of the car might have been scraped on the ground at some point (say, when going over a level crossing too fast?) & taken off some of the protective coating. Indeed for the first MOT I put it in for, the rust wasn't even on the advisories, it appeared on the advisories for the retest a couple of weeks later! It is a bit crunchy in the area below the rear seats section I will admit, however it isn't currently in a problem area & hasn't reached anything anchored to the floor. It will need looking at though. The rest of the underside is very clean without so much as a scab or a bubble, which is what I mean when I say something has to have gone wrong for rust to develop. This isn't the 70s anymore. The are a couple of scabs in the engine bay near where the battery tray is, but again this will very likely be because maybe a drop of battery acid (or other corrosive) has come into contact. You won't find rust anywhere on the exterior, even where there is a loss of paint!

 

There were some other advisories, like bump stops missing from the rear, 1 rear tyre near the limit, rear lights faded (?) (sounds like b0ll0x to me, they're solid red rear lights & they've always looked the same, the same as every other 146!).

 

Now the positives, yes there are plenty:- work for the last MOT in June this year (yes so it's MOT'd till next summer, a plus for sure!) & bear in mind it's only been used for about 1 - 2 months since the MOT work was done before it got laid up so everything will still have loads of live left in it. 1 new exhaust mid & rear section, cost me £215 & barely used since, 3 x new (part worns but Michelins) tyres again barely used since changed, handbrake now doing what it should, 4 new brake discs, front & rear brake pads, about £100 worth all barely used since changed. It's also had a change of oil & a new oil filter so it wouldn't even need a complete service. It needs a new front offside foglight for the post 98 facelift cars, I've seen them on eBay, I did bid on one but I was outbid. I won a replacement body coloured foglight surround though. It needs the offside front corner of the bumper touching up / repainting where I reduced the pheasant populus by one! The sky dish (or was it the gutter?) blowing down in the strong wind is responsible for the 'ding' on the front of the bonnet - but again it proves the point - no rust where the paint has been removed!

Apart from the above I've mentioned, the car really isn't in bad condition at all, I have to say I've been quite unlucky with it, or should I say, the car has been quite unlucky, it's been in the wars a bit since I got it, but nothing that happened has been my fault, they are all just 'one of those things'. My cars do seem to be a target for damage though...usually when I'm not in them I hasten to add! :evil:

 

The car is as dead as a dodo at the moment but putting the battery on the charger for a few hours brings it back to life & it normally stays that way unless the car is left unused for more than a few days. Nothing a new battery won't sort, as it also came up on the specialist's scanner, but my motto was, if you're not planning to leave the car undriven for a week or so, then why worry!

 

When I was planning to break it & sell off the spares, I was looking to make around £500 but in drips & drabs. I would rather let it go complete 'for a song' as Mr Weasel put it & take say £350 for it & gain the feeling of contentment for allowing it to 'live on' in the hands of someone sympathetic & who can maybe fix it up 'on the cheap' & have themselves a modern, practical, fast, stylish & unusual car (I used to see about 1 other 146 on the road a week tops). It is the top of the range & as someone else mentioned, the last of line so a bit sought after in that respect, only a leather interior could improve it.....if you like that sort of thing! Everything works on it I'll have you know & barring a tax disc (I got a refund when I thought I was scrapping it) it really is ready to use, once the battery's charged that is.

 

What say you??

 

I do wish I could keep it myself but I'm saving so much money just on routine stuff since I stopped using it.

 

I have mislaid the V5 since we moved house :roll: so I might have to order a bl**dy duplicate at £25 a pop but don't want to do so until I know that I have an interested party(ies).

 

EDIT: So on conclusion I'm offering you a nice car that cost me not far off £2000 last year which in theory needs only £330 or thereabouts spent on it (at some point in the near future) for £350 ono. Sounds ok to me!?

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Just seen this thread.I used to own a R9. It was the 1.6D version, and is without doubt the worst car I have ever driven, never mind owned, and I've driven and owned some utter shite.I'd genuinely rather use public transport than ever have to drive a 9 again.

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That's an endorsement if ever I've heard one! Glad you liked it.... :D Not heard of the 1.6D :?

It was a basic "T" spec model, hence badged TD. Try explaining to the insurers that it's NOT a turbo diesel. There weren't many diesels made, which can only be a good thing as it had all the power of a food blender, and made significantly more noise.The ride was awful, the interior crap (and falling to pieces). Nothing worked and it barely moved. Worst car of evAr.I wish you the very best of luck with yours though.... from my point of view you are going to need it!Edit:

I don't think there was such a thing as a nice to drive diesel in the 80s or earlier! :wink

Ooh, I dunno about that. Most things from Citroen or Peuegot (including talbot) had a rather nice diesel engine in.... :wink:
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Hmmm but then again I associate Citroen & Peugeot with diesels far more than Renault, so there must be something in it! Infact the first time I really took notice (or should I say heard them coming) of diesels were definitely Peugeots, especially 305s & 309s! The 9 must be a step forward from the 14 & that did very well for me whilst it was pressed into daily service! :wink:

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