Disappearing Fast.

[Bren]

Cannot remember the last time I saw a xantia or an omega. Around here, even mk 3 mondeo's are disappearing.

 

However, I have never seen as many brand new audi's - not bad considering the country is fucked.

[flat4alfa]

I shal take photos of my neighbourhood's glut of Omegas for your perusal, so you can remind yourself what you're not really missing

[egg]

Somebody on here has/had one, can't remember who. It turned up at our South Lakes meet 3 years ago IIRC.

 

My next-door neighbour has a V6, also a mate of mine used to have a V6.

 

I drove my mate's once, it was identical in pretty much every way to my V6 Calibra except the interior was much more plasticky and tacky. And the styling is marmite.

I guess a 2litre will get most shite points. See also Ford Probe l suppose, but that might be moving into enthusiast territory.

[Negative Creep]

The original Impreza, once the quintessential council estate supercar, is pretty rare. In fact there was a time when the roads seemed to have been awash with Skylines, RX7s, FTOs etc. Likely all since stolen or drifted into lampposts.

[eddyramrod]

Cannot remember the last time I saw a xantia or an omega.

I could take my chihuahua for a 15 minute walk and come back with pictures of either, or even both if we took a bit longer.  I'm living in a lovely part of town...

[SiC]

I have noticed when driving our (silver) Astra G, you are definitely assumed to be from "a certain part of the city". Often you also get people avoiding the car in car parks - as if you are about to repeatedly going to smack your door into theirs when trying to get out. Also, as its tiny compared to modern cars (it looks like a Ka against the latest Smart Car or Clio IV), I have noticed you get bullied around a bit more - i.e. people cutting you up, not letting you in and generally aggression + ignoring that you exist.

 

I don't get either in the Civic or the Gooner.

[rml2345]

Very few Xantias around here but we tend to be ahead of the disappearance curve in Scotland by spreading enough salt every year to dissolve a Mazda 6 up to it's doorhandles.

On the Citroën theme, C5s seem to be vanishing and Saxos are now quite uncommon. By 2021 they will probably have all but vanished entirley along with all the Kias and Hyundais built before they became very good.

Saw a Magentis the other day and was quite surprised.

The Mitsubishi Carisma will have probably gone too but no one will have noticed as it's the least memorable car ever.

[Felly Magic]

Mk1 Skoda Octavias seem to be vanishing from the roads now, same goes for Fabias and Felicias

[HH-R]

I've not seen a Felicia for donkeys' years. I remember seeing one when I was at college and thinking they were rare then, 10 years ago.

[JohnDeere]

enough salt to dissolve a Mazda 6 up to it's doorhandles.

[dieselnutjob]

The 605 has already virtually disappeared and the 607 will go the same way.  I think that mine will be one of them as I have nearly worn it out.

[treehugger]

somebody at work often arrives in his sierra, but don't think it's very reliable!

[sierraman]

I think when the Sierra was about, people's expectations of reliability were a bit different to today, you'd half be expecting an engine overhaul at 120,000.

[chaseracer]

I am now seeing early Imprezas, Mundano 3s and mk1 Octavias all over the shop!

[Chris2cv]

Although I spend far less time on the road than I used to, most cars around here (South London) seem to make a maximum of about 10 years. Many seem to just see them as disposable and looking at prices of tax and parts they may have a point!  As a main dealer. they tend to enquire about -parts up to about 6/7 years old, then come back again about 15 years old when they can't get parts anywhere else. The trouble is that we probably can't either!  

 

  Personally, I would say most 80's and 90's cars have disappeared, It seems to be the "normal" cars that die quickest as nobody seems to bother preserving things like Mondeos. Vectras etc, and then they are gone!  I keep thinking of replacing my 2002 Clio, but really enjoyed cruising the country lanes at the weekend and what would I actually gain other than the ability to use Bluetooth? Nobody rings me anyway!

[SiC]

what would I actually gain other than the ability to use Bluetooth?

 

Parrots are dead easy to fit on Clios and I've found them to be far better quality than most integrated ones even on expensive marques.

[catsinthewelder]

There is a big difference in car age between different areas and types of roads.  A day on the motorway will see almost as many classic cars as old bangers but head into the sticks and there are plenty of Peugeot 306's and mk2 Mondeo's still rattling round with occasional visits to men in sheds who fix them for pennies.

[richbraith]

Fiat Stilo...where did they all go?  My heart lifts every time I see a mk1 Laguna, then I feel sad as I wonder how much longer they can last.

[Partridge]

I think a lot of this has a lot to do with desirability. Plenty of Lagunas have been sent off to an early grave which I'm sure were perfectly savable, while the shit tyres and shiny paint brigade will make sure hoards of fucked Rover 75s and Mercedes W210s keep clogging up the roads.

[richbraith]

Renault and Fiat seem to be masters of the disappearing act.  I passed another 19 whilst I was driving mine the other day and it was a real surprise to see another.  Even ph1 mk1 Meganes are getting very scarce.  And the Fiat Marea is following the Tempra and Regata into oblivion. 

[sierraman]

I've seen at least a dozen mk3 Mondeos on the Motorway today. They can't be that endangered!! Then again that's how it goes, one minute they're there next...

[UmBongo]

I might have posted this before but remember when all the Ned racers had Saxo VTRs?

 

And the ones with a bit more squeezing green had the VTS.

 

I never see those now.

 

I did see a nice P reg grey Mondeo this morning - possible a non runner.

 

A car from 1996 is considered very old now, I suppose.

[Coprolalia]

Cannot remember the last time I saw a xantia or an omega. Around here, even mk 3 mondeo's are disappearing.

 

I've been thinking about this in the course of my commute this week. In 210 I've seen one mk3 Mondeo, which considering how ubiquitous they were seems a bit nuts. They all seem to have vanished in the last year.

 

Seen several Xantia/ xsaras, a couple of omegas, a stilo.

Not many mk1 Puntos left anymore.

[Faker]

I've not seen a Felicia for donkeys' years. I remember seeing one when I was at college and thinking they were rare then, 10 years ago.

Ta da!

[Philyc]

i am pleased to report that most of the cars listed so-far on this thread are still a pretty regular sight over here in suffolk. Maybe it's because all the old farmers etc just keep their various vehicles going for years or maybe it says something about the wealth of this area.

 

also pleased to announce that i still have the mk3 fiesta which has been mentioned a couple of times... maybe i'll hang on to it for a bit longer!

[AnthonyG]

I see a Ford Cougar most mornings I walk to work, although it is the only example I've seen for a fair few months. In Gloucestershire you still see most of the vehicles mentioned above, although the older stuff really only in the west once you get away from the Cotswolds.

 

For example, in Gloucester last weekend I saw four Rover R8s, including a minty Nightfire Red saloon, and the odd Mondeo Mk1 still trundles around. There's even some Escorts left.

 

Solid gold giffer machines like Corollas, Civics and R8s tend to be much better condition than the larger/more council stuff. In Waitrose car park a month ago there was a white N plate Corolla three door, some naff Toyota GB special edition like Esportif or something, but it did literally look like it had been driven off the forecourt two weeks previously!

[chaseracer]

There used to be rich seams of chod here in the coalfields, but now the ex-miners are dying off the place is becoming just another sea of PCP tediousness to go with the little brick boxes springing up everywhere.

 

When Domestic Management popped the Musical Offspring twenty years ago, I had the Dyane and a 1981 Volvo 240 while she borrowed a seven-year-old Peugeot 309 from her dad.  The young couple two doors up from us have a 15-plate Q5.

 

I am the giffer now, it would appear.

[Craig the Princess]

Original shape Freelanders will die out from a combination of rust, dodgy transfer boxes and OMGKseriesHGF.

 

Good call earlier on in the thread on Xsara Picassos, I think they are becoming slightly rarer outside of Wisbech.

 

I think Rover 25/45s will survive at a higher than expected rate with Rover botherers keeping them going.

[SiC]

Going by the small amount of rovers left on AT nowadays, I think they're hitting the low point in their ownership life cycle.

[Brodders]

I see plenty of Rovers around here, but that is probably due to the fact that there are at least 3 retirement communities in my town and an ex-MG Rover (now just MG) dealership less than 5 miles away.

 

However, I have not seen any form of Renault Megane or Espace for well over a month now. MK3 Clios have also seemed to just disappear overnight, which is odd as I still regularly see MK2's flying around the place.

 

Other notable disappearances include Saxo's, MK3 and MK5 Golf's (but not MK4's for some reason) and any form of Ford Escort.