Ben_O

There is a guy near me that sells used cars regularly through Facebook and he always uses the phrase 'no crybabies or time wasters' and usually a barrage of other random insults aimed at potential time wasters. I understand he has done this because he is fed up of people wasting his time (or more likely walking away from a shit car he has advertised as being good) but I won't entertain viewing a car if the seller comes across as rude and unpleasant In the advert. If I'm looking to buy a car, all I want to see in the advert is the make/model of the car, the mileage, details of any faults, how much mot it has and any services history. That and some clear photos and of course the price I don't want to know how far you've driven in it nor why you are selling it and I certainly don't need to know anything about its previous keepers or how good it is for it's age, i have eyes so I'll decide for myself

Looks exactly the same as my father in laws 1.25 CVT only his is badged as a Mazda 121 Funny, his has the same mileage.. It's soon going to be available if someone else fancies spoiling themselves They are quite entertaining to drive and do go surprisingly well Good luck with it Ben

Nowhere near as high as most on here but my 06 grande punto 1.2 is closing in on 150k For such a cheap basic car, I'm happy with that.

Easy choice for me as every other car I have owned has been at the very least fine. 1998 Vauxhall Vectra 1.6... At the time I got this horrible piece of shit, I owned a 1989 Mercedes 190E 2.0 and it was fantastic. My first Mercedes and I knew it was the car for me. However after a year of ownership I fancied something newer and my uncle had this vectra in that champagne colour. It was clean and tidy and he offered to swap it for the Mercedes. I accepted and the deal was done however after a few days of ownership, I realised that it was a lemon. Noisy tensioner so it made that horrible whine they all seemed to make, it was underpowered, miserable to drive and uncomfortable The thing that made it even more sour was that my uncle sold the Mercedes for quite a lot more than the vectra was worth so there was no going back. I ran the vectra for about 6 months with plenty of trouble and misery and eventually had to get out I sold it to my mother in law as for some bizarre reason, she quite liked it but alas, she had nothing but trouble with it and ended up spending a tonne of money keeping it on the road before finally the radiator exploded during the emissions test on the mot It ended up getting scrapped I used the money from the vectra sale to buy a 1987 Mercedes 190E 2.6 manual and never looked back. That is probably the best car I have ever owned

I play online a fair bit and there is a good selection of knock off shite One of my favourites is is Rune Cheburek

My W202 1.8 auto gets an average 37mpg to a tank full. This is all town and country driving for my commute. Mind you, to achieve that I have had to consistently drive it very carefully keeping the revs right down and relying on my momentum down hill to help go up the next. It was so hard to get into doing that and keeping it up as its not a fast car so the urge to put your foot down especially when running late was high. Despite the 37, I still need more so the merc is coming off the road for a tidy up and I'll put something else smaller on the road and see if i can get better.

I've never used door skinning tools and I've reskinned hundreds of doors. A panel hammer, dolly and patience is all you need to get a perfect result. I restored a midget for a customer a few years ago.i throughly enjoyed it. Have some inspiration

Didn't some Haynes manuals have a colour double page spread on how to repair the big hole in your bright red 205's quarter panel using filler?

The more knackered they are, the more joy you get from restoring them. Top buyage, I would 😉 Good luck to your pal Ben

Pretty disappointed to be honest as it just had to be the side I repaired. It's the fact that the claim against him from the 3rd party has pushed his premium up sufficiently to make it too expensive for the amount he uses it so he decided to pack in driving. It's been used once since I repaired it and that was the day he backed into someone... 🙄

It's reasonably presentable for its age, done only 20 something thousand miles and mechanically very good. I've remembered that he has hit it again so there is some damage to the back panel directly under the rear lamp on the drivers side and on the tailgate directly above the rear lamp but it doesn't affect anything. Broken rear lamp has been changed. Mot until October but I'm considering putting a fresh one on as it's sure to pass hamburg only covered probably less than 100 miles since the last one. I'll get some more pictures of it once I get it over here. It's located on the Isle if Wight though so unless your guy is prepared to travel?

This is now going up for sale. Question is, what's it worth? 1.25 with CVT auto box. Mot until October Any ideas? Cheers. Ben

Yeah, I ended up dealing with the same guy by emailing him directly. It was a few years back when there was a constant stream of classic mini ringing kits on ebay and adverts for late injection minis with early tax exempt registrations with some being advertised as "re-shells" despite the fact the car was obviously entirely a late 90's car As so many Minis were being stolen, I just felt compelled to keep passing any details on and being a moderator on theminiforum.co.uk, I would receive links to pass on from other members as well I remember one of the reported cars being advertised on ebay as an early tax exempt car that was infact a very late 90's MPI cooper sportspack. AVCIS informed me that they went out to view the car and confiscated it. I believe it was found on a stolen vehicle database once they discovered the cars true identity. I often wonder if it found its was back to its rightful owner

You used to be able to report these to vehicle fraud vehiclefraud@avcis.pnn.police.uk Not done it for years but the acted upon the few I reported.

Forgot to add, the orange slimy oil had no explanation at first. It was suggested that it might be a failed rocker cover gasket but I then remembered topping up the oil when I first got it and it overflowed out the top and went everywhere. I hadn't overfilled it, I just tried to fill it too quickly. I recon the oil I found must have spilled through the cover and been in there since. The other job I did was to finally fix the non working heater blower. It used to work, then it didn't, then it did and then it didn't and never worked again. I found the blower motor under the glove box, wiggled a wire and it burst into life again. Quick check everything was tight and a blow out of the cobwebs and dry old leaves and it's now back to toasty blowy goodness on all 5 speeds!

I had to deploy a small parts cannon at this car recently. I replaced the discs and pads and also both front wheel bearings and all was well. Then I was presented with a strange noise from underneath. It was a rotational sound that sounded like a squeaking rubbing noise. It started off faint and only occurred at low speed but gradually got worse until it happened at most speeds. A quick look underneath showed that the rubber part of the centre prop shaft bearing had completely broken up allowing all the slop. I didn't have time to fix it before a long motorway jaunt so it was decided that surely it will centre itself at a steady motorway speed and be fine and it was. I have now replaced the centre propshaft bearing which was actually quite a pleasurable Job, well everything is on this car.. All was fine for 50 miles before I was presented with a loud randomly changing pitch screaming sound like nothing I've ever heard before. I looked underneath again and everything seemed in order. I ended up slackening the two bolts holding the centre prop bearing carrier and it slipped back on the elongated holes and settled there so I retightened it and the noise went away. Now for the first FTP. well almost... I set off for work and all was fine. I drove down a hill, round the corner and went to accelerate up a hill and nothing.. the gearbox changed down two gears and I just made it up the hill. At the lights, it was barely running and drove with a horrible misfire. I limped it to work and left it there until I had time to look at it. First check was cover off the top to access the plugs and coil packs. Removed the leads and coil packs and one of the recesses that the plugs go down into was full of orange coloured slimy oil.. shit Plugs removed and oil cleaned up and everything back together showed no improvement. Intact it was worse and the smell of neat petrol was overwhelming. I followed this by doing a compression test. 170 across the board. I iustvdecided to throw a pair of coilpacks at it and a set of plugs and its fixed. I couldn't believe the old coilpacks and plugs were the Originals! 151,000 miles 21 years old originals. I have a temporary set of alloys fitted to it which I liberated from a later c200 whilst I repair the originals as they leak air from the crusty rims. The rust is getting much worse and its filthy. I'm actually ashamed at how bad this car looks now considering how nice it was when I first got it but hey ho, whatever. I also crashed it into my gate post one night thanks to the people awkwardly parked in the street making the swing in very tight. My fault too though as I was convinced I'd miss. I need to get my finger out and start sorting my mess out but I still love it and was genuinely sad when I thought I'd killed it

That black knurled knob on the wire feed is adjustable and if its too tight or too loose, it will drastically affect the wire speed and stability of the feed. If you haven't touched the switches since swapping the reel, then it's likely that. Of course, no gas will cause a very porous weld so that needs sorting too before you get going again. I must say, I'm very impressed with the repair. Cheers Ben

I've heard a few people use porker instead of porsche over the years

Maybe the plate is on something else. I got a bill from the Dartford crossing a few months ago for one of my minis. Reg number is R66 SAM. Said mini is in my workshop as a bare shell and has been That way for a few years yet the accompanying photograph from the crossing people clearly showed a Mini with the reg R66 SAM.... Anyway I sent them a photo of mine and they dropped it. Still a concern though

Amazing. Don't let it slip away. Go for it if you have the means!

Seems its finished....

Regarding that pin, if its the same as the one on my old 190E, I welded a washer to a bolt, screwed it into the pin and then withdrew it using a slide hammer hooked onto the washer. Took a fair few blows of the slide hammer but once moving, it came out fine. Cheers. Ben

Lada Riva in 2004 has got to be my cheapest. 1989 model in that dark red they did. 1.3 I think. Was mot'd and taxed for several months and I paid £30 for it. My previous car had been written off and I was due to attend my apprenticeship training programme which now involved a train ride from Kent to Nottingham. The company paid for my train ticket and I used that money to by the Lada and put the fuel in to get me there and back. The intention was to scrap or sell it when I returned as 17 year old me didn't want to be driving a Lada but it was perfectly adequate and so I ended up running it for a few months of total abuse and eventually the utch slave popped a seal and it went to a guy who was exporting them. Thibk he gave me £200 for it lol Cheers Ben

I hit the sump on my old scenic going over a rough unmade road. Caused enough of a hole for the oil to drain out at a fair rate. I ended up using quicksteel to repair it and it lasted another 2 years in my ownership and went on with a new owner without so much as a drip from the repair site. Obviously it isn't going to work if there is any oil near the repair area but I did mine in situ by draining the remaining oil and as the damage was to one side, I jacked the car up on that corner so any remaining oil drained to the other side away from the hole and then kept washing it all down with degreaser until all traces of oil were gone and mixed the putty, smeared it over and let it cure. I say give it a try. Nothing to loose other than a tenner for the quicksteel and a few hours cleaning up. Cheers Ben

Thanks for every comment guys. It really helped me make a decision and its all based on what's been discussed here. I think I made the right choice, it's now gone away to be recycled into something more useful. Cheers all Ben