TwyRob

If anyone wants a Vivaro then please buy this one from my neighbour. It now lives in an awkward spot directly opposite my drive! https://www.gumtree.com/p/vans/vauxhall-vivaro-van-/1452203362 I know nothing about prices/values and the only comment I can make on condition is that the day before the MOT it was dirtier with a flat tyre. 181000 miles or so. Happy to look over it for anyone that would like that, bearing in mind my total lack of knowledge of these vans. Rob Now £3500! Edit: updated ad moments after I posted this so new link.

It's unlike Bill not to get back to a customer. Have you tried phoning Saabits?

This should sell for quite a lot of money, thousands. 2 door 99 Turbos are very rare indeed and most desirable in black over a red interior.

This could be a power steering fluid leak. The pipe that runs across the front is prone to rusting through on these.

2022, a year where I went from two cars down to one via a few stops in between! Saab Turbo X I have owned Saabs for the last 8 years and I am a bit of an enthusiast. This car is technically brilliant, their first XWD car and with an eLSD and 2.8 Turbo 276bhp engine. I loved it when it was working! I bought this car in the Summer of 2020 and sold it last week. After it spent 35% of 2021 off the road having an exhaust made up I decided that a limited edition from a defunct manufacturer wasn't great reliability wise for my daily car. My new job from Sept 2021 involves more responsibility and daily short hops between premises so I have ordered a (*cough) electric car. 14 months after placing that order I am still waiting! Volkswagen 1300 This car was bought in Nov 2019 with a running problem (missing a bolt attaching the carb, creating a major air/fuel leak when it rocked about) and very leaky fuel lines. After some general improvements; including fixing the above, some wheels and other items it wasn't getting used so I sold it on in April 2022. Mazda MX5 1.8 Almost immediately after I had sold the Beetle the Turbo X had two catastrophically failed wheel bearings. Therefore I bought this. It was lovely but two weeks later the engine failed with a spun bearing. £1k lost. Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible This was a lovely car that died too soon. I bought it in early August and after a battery and new rear brakes it was very nice indeed. Top down everyday! However, on 31st October a big deer ran into the passenger A pillar at speed and it was written off. Peugeot 406 This roffle win was an unexpected purchase in mid August. Leading to a 3 car problem! It was lovely for the 7 weeks left on the MOT and saved me £300 in fuel in September. However, when it failed the MOT it went to a new home to live on. Mazda MX5 2.0 Sport This car was bought in mid Nov 2022. It's great! It hasn't broken and has had a new battery and wheel alignment. It's a lot of fun and is a great single vehicle to have until the electric car comes and I am back to two. My wife's VW T5 has hung around throughout, which doesn't really count!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404043416929?hash=item5e12dd4561:g:4OsAAOSwHdtjk4KS I clicked on this because I thought I recognised the car park. Very sad, I know! I feel like they are about to get a lesson on how rarely you recoup maintenance expenditure on cars. Purchased for £1500 (they say) with some work done for about a similar amount again still does not equal a £3000 car necessarily.

Hi all, This year has been disrupted car wise for me, to put it mildly! To save money, I ordered a leased VW ID.3 in October 2021. I still don't have it, ETA is Apr 2023 apparently. Since then I have been trying to plan around ever moving car delivery dates, which started as Feb 2022... I decided quite quickly that I would need to sell my 2.8 Saab Turbo X to make way for the ID.3 and that my 1971 Beetle would also need to go so that my second car slot was taken by something I would actually use. The Beetle was lovely but it was bought just before COVID so it mainly sat deteriorating over that time, my work was fairly intense most of the way through. Having sold the Beetle I bought an NC Mazda MX-5 1.8. I needed that because two wheel bearings went on the Saab almost as soon as I'd sold the Beetle and the ID.3 was suddenly delayed well into the summer of 2022. The MX-5 lasted about 2 weeks. On the day the Saab was fixed, the Mazda spun a bearing in the engine. It had been an OK example but, looking back, there were signs that this might happen including the thermostat that got stuck and the smoke at idle when cold. Following the eventual departure of the MX-5 (annoying ebay buyer) I waited 3 months and then bought a 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible after the ID.3 was delayed into 2023. I am a serial Saab owner, by the way, writing in the Owners Club magazine etc. Almost immediately after buying that I won the roffle 406! I suddenly had one too many cars. I SORNed the Turbo X and drove the 406 mainly for a bit until the MOT was a failure. As has been discussed on here, I didn't want to repair it but another member did! That car was great but surplus to requirements at the time. After the 406 went the convertible was written off shortly afterwards. A deer ran into the side of it and values are so low for standard Saabs that it was a total loss. I didn't want the salvage, my wife rightly did not like the idea of my 9 year old going in a car that had potential structural damage. Also, l'm not allowed to do heavy car work right now. The car looked a bit bent to me. UKSaabs members were quite vocal in their opinions on this, disagreeing with me even more than you guys did when I was offering the 406 for scrap value! For the last two weeks I have been using the Turbo X. Which has rewarded me with a bad NSF top mount and a few rumbly rear bushes. It was off the road for 35% of 2021 waiting for exhaust parts too. This car is a bit annoying. Therefore, rather than fix it right now, I have bought another MX-5. A 2.0 Sport this time with an immaculate MOT history that looks and drives great and because it's November my insurance payout from the Saab covered it all. Fingers crossed that the engine doesn't go pop! The Saab Turbo X can then go to a garage for repair without interrupting my commutes before I finally sell it. Those Saabs are worth £7k+ as they are a special limited edition. However, that is when they are working properly! I might offer it for a bit less over on UKSaabs and see if anyone wants to fix it themselves. If that happens I'll be Saabless for the first time in 8 years, a worrying prospect. In those 8 years I've had 6 Saabs, a reasonable turnover! I'm now onto car 6 of 2022, which had better be the last one this year! Car shopping day is like Christmas day for me usually but not so much now with the increasing regularity of it and the stress when cars break. Now I just have a nagging doubt about whether this one will be a lemon too. I have lost confidence, despite being a reasonably confident car guy. I know we can all get caught out sometimes but this year has been trying. The engine failure was a particular low point. My daughter loves this MX-5, she had her first trip in it this morning on the way to climbing lessons. Her smile and enthusiasm helps me feel better! Photos of the 2 current cars attached.

Spotted this yesterday somewhere in the North of the Isle of Wight between Hamstead and Yarmouth

I agree, it will be and is at odds with my general approach to these things. However: 1. I have no knowledge of these vehicles so the suspension bush would involve a learning curve for me involving time I do not have. 2. As above, time is an issue. As I work 50 hours a week + 10 hours a week of commuting, fixing an old Peugeot isn't something I really want to prioritise on the weekend. 3. Given 2, I would need to spend money on garage labour and that will push the repairs and retest to £250 absolute minimum. Getting the car to a garage would be hassle too. 4. As I bought the car for £30 in a roffle with probably £70 of diesel in the tank it is pretty much disposable, I like it but not enough to put money into it. 5. I already have two cars + my wifes and I have been waiting for a lease car on order for about a year to replace one of those. This car was therefore only ever a short term prospect. 6. As it would shortly be sold anyway investment in repairs would result in a lower final profit by my calculations compared to just scrapping it. If it had passed I would be selling one of my Saabs for about 20x the price of this car but it didn't so I'm holding onto the Saab and selling that next year. Sorry guys, I know this is probably contrary to the whole forum ethos but one way or another I'm moving this car on without fixing it.

Done

Fail! Indicator colour (hmmm, look orange to me) Steering rack gaiter (easy) Rose bush to the rear hub (looks to be a right pain) Therefore, it's going to the ASM scrapyard for £330 collected. Simply not worth the work for me. Sad but an economically sound choice I feel as it's worth about £500 with an MOT.

MOT today. Expecting a fail and will be pleasantly surprised if it's anything else. The car cost me £30, so it'd be unreasonable to be too hopeful!

After a few weeks things are going well. Not sure that I trust the fuel gauge as it seems not to move much so I put £20 in last night. Also, the speedo randomly dropped to 0 a few times today within a few mins. Overall, pretty happy!

... and, home!

Got it! Thanks David. What a nice fella!

I have arrived, an hour early! I left the countryside this morning and now it starts here!

The train is moving whereas the other half stayed put so I'm pretty confident!

For the journey, I walk fast! As for collection, I hate it when people don't collect purchases promptly and my schedule over the next few weeks is otherwise packed.

I am on the correct half of the train! It is a miracle.

On the last leg. Will arrive early. Unless I am in the wrong half of the train...

Still going to plan!

So far so good. I'm on the way to collect the roffle 406 and caught an earlier train! That will help with the walk across London due to tube strikes. Arriving in the big smoke now. Just an hours walk across town to the next station and all should be well. Fingers crossed! Let's hope the car runs better than the Saab I collected in the first week of August. I paid for it and collected a week later while the bloke was on holiday only to be greeted by a flat battery... Rob

Hi! Yes indeed you did. Mine was the electric blue one at the time. The group still meets (in Petersfield this weekend, although I can't go). The photos above are at the Departure Lounge near Alton Hants. Rob

Must be related to this. Presumably deliberately holed to prevent the engine being reused and subsequent liability? https://www.carscoops.com/2022/02/british-police-forces-sideline-diesel-bmw-models-over-fire-concerns/

Cheers Nick! (I am pretty sure it's you )