Longbridge Apologist

I'd immediately put a to spec battery in it. The endless misery and issues that a not quite full health correct spec battery would cause in my E91 320i Touring was mad. Even if it didn't seem to be under volted in usual use!

If they are 2 cheeks of the same arse, then Galloway can only be what you find in between them...!

I particularly enjoyed the Anker Bluetooth speaker on its own wooden mounting?

I do remember the country mostly working before 2010 though. I’d take them again in a shot after this bent shower.

First car was a 1.5 GLX Mk1 Ibiza. Bought it off the son of the deceased owner. They said made and offer and they took £80. It had five gears and felt very exotic in a sea of Mk2 Fiesta's and Metro's. Had to scrap it as it never made it through the next MOT. Pretty sure it was an F reg. Loved it. Oh and it was a 'system Porsche'!

Deep down, everyone wants a new diesel Audi really.

It's really not. For a start, there has never been a "Kensington" special edition Corsa...

One of my favourite ever cars was an end of line Mk1 Focus (Black, 3 Door) with the 1.8 TDCi in it. My mate previously when we were younger had the Mk5 Escort with the TDDI(?) in it. What an utter dog of a car that was. Impossible to get smoothly moving, shook the car to bits. It wasn't until later on that I read somewhere that the TDCi evolved from the aforementioned Escort diesel? If so it's frankly unbelievable they were even within the same millennium of each other, never alone anything else...!

Might try to pop in in a wasn't but slowly becoming shite modern Golf.

Curious tiny interval between last 2 MOT's:

Oh change of plate?

Don't suppose you could look into a midlife crisis* car I had from new for a few years? It seems to have 'disappeared':

It's the interior that makes it.....

If one was to have a 'have a go dream list', the Xantia Activa and BX would be top spot. Peachy, in fact...

My pick of your year, @Six-cylinder! After a pretty dismal last half of 2022 and not being on here much I'm hoping to finally get to a FOD in 2023, be even better to have a ride in something French and hydro

Phwoar

Same garage rang again today keen to update me and said they now think its a sealed for life unit, as it's a 7 Speed and it was rare for this era and lower capacity engine model to be fitted with one and not a 6 Speed. Doesn't inspire faith, does it? Although it has knocked the estimate down to £1460. (Unless of course they do discover fork selector or mechatronic issues, in which case the bill will likely double...)

Thanks. Utterly torn, utterly fed up with not obvious decisions on car repairs this year after the lemon of a 3 Series. That is a concern that as they take it apart they do find a mechatronic issue. It's a VAG independent specialist - Volks Autos, Sutton.

It’s to take it out the car and change a clutch pack, replacement oil. They advised an extra hour of labour to inspect the rest of it.

Just under 43,000. 2000 of which I’ve added the last 6 months. It’s overdue it’s 40,000 mile DSG Change, although this specialist had to confirm this as VW’s own handbook doesn’t…!

Yeah I'd hoped they'd just do the oil and filter change however they seem to be a knowledgeable place. Also the technician report was as thus: "Standard Labour Investigate gearbox fault. Checked fault memory, 2 faults logged " clutch 2 tolerance limit reached" " clutch 2 mechanical malfunction" Carried out test plan for faults, test plan automatically checked pre selected measured values and evaluated event entries. Concluded that the dual clutch requires replacing. The next step would be to remove the gearbox and inspect clutch for damage or wear. It might be worth also removing the mechatronic whilst gearbox removed to check selector forks as these are known to fail. 8 hours for clutch replacement may require fly wheel if we do remove the mech would require new gasket and bolts plus 0.6 hours"

Well my run of luck* continues: Unexpected bill on family owned from new Golf. DSG Clutch gone. Estimate from a specialist to replace: £1700. It's low mileage, 2008, immaculate bar that. MOT on Tuesday passed and no advisories. So do I just get it fixed? £1700 gets you nothing even running second hand. It was my Dad's last retirement car until he passed away last month. 2022 really can get in the bin...

It's must closer (in a good way) to the MK1 Focus in being a bit more dynamic than the MK4 I think, but not as YESSPORTFIRM.

Now tooling around in my sadly departed Dad's Mk5 Golf: 1.4TSI with a 7 speed DSG. Sensible nice riding 15" alloys. Practical 5 door. 2008 but he and mum only ever done 42,000 miles in it. I can't bring myself to move it on, so have decided it will be my reliable, comfy modern daily. It's a very relaxing thing to tool around in, even if it is of course not a sexy or desirable model. One thing concerns me with it though and that's the DSG. At either 40mph or 70mph, gently applying revs gets it into a bit of a tizz. It'll pop down from 7th to 6th, but then almost labour like an old manual slipping the clutch under load? Are these DSG's sealed units or need an oil change? (Time to find a good VAG specialist somewhere nearby in SW London/N Surrey, if anyone could recommend one...)

Crikey, that Talbot!