Bren

These were sold as bobcats in the uk. My brother had the landy with the plough.

As stated previously - nostalgia. I saw a 1969 Raleigh chopper on ebay - £2350 . The rona has probably made many people re evaluate their lives - lots if uncertainty. Savings making nothing? Spunk it all on the cars of your youth and hope to re live the good times. The most I ever paid for an SD1 was £800. Those days are gone.

I had considered these in the past - most seemed to have crunchy gearboxes. Even old diesel estates - like the 406 - are sought after. Consequently people will pay for a good one - more than you would expect. Indeed stuff seems to have risen in price so much that I decided to have our vectra fixed - if it costs me £1200 its better than spending 1200 on something that undoubtedly will throw up horrendous bills.

I heartily agree - however modern cars and snaggy shit go hand in hand. When the valve stem seals went on my 545 the local specialists did'nt want to know. The place I took it to entailed a 220 mile round trip but they did the job quickly for under a grand. They seemed to do all the stuff most places run from - do they have techs with better skills? As cars get more complicated snaggy shit will not go away - many places will fall by the wayside if they don't upskill.

No its auto.

Grump 2. Saw a rear louvre on facebook for the SD1 - I really wanted one of these. Agreed £100 and offered to pay immediately as long as seller could keep it until after the lockdown. Seller then said he had been offered £250 and guy could collect tonight. I told him to take it. Some you win, some you lose.

Having said all this garages can also be an issue - a lot of them don't wan't to be come involved in anything that cannot be turned around quickly - ignorant people get fobbed off so buy another car.

I have been to the garage which have the vectra. From speaking with mechanic it became apparent that they have weeks of work hence reluctance to get further involved. I explained if I thought it was absolutely knackered then I would'nt have brought it in. Mechanic then said he would be happy to strip it down. We need an estate - and a diesel one. I would be happier fixing this and chucking £1k at it and fixing it than spending £1500 on some other shite. Apart from the engine the car is mint - I have seen worse three year old examples. I think people don't fix things because they have

The problem is getting somebody else to take a look. It's been to one garage - nobody else will get involved - it's a 13 year old vectra. And it will need recovering. I am angry at the garage - obviously they cannot be arsed and should have said this in the beginning.

The garage has declared the vectra dead. They have had it over a week - the only thing they have done is fit a new belt and declared it knackered. Obviously it won't run if the rockers are broken. They said it needs cams - not sure how they know this without removing the rocker cover. They should have just said " We can't be arsed."

Looks fab and I really like the colour. I would imagine the engine makes about 150 hp? Not much in a car that weighs as much as the malvern hills. Who the fuck is Kendall Jenner?

The paintwork on my BMW is excellent - chap did a great job for not much. But still no news on the vectra.

I have noticed boxed matchbox superfast selling for nowhere near what it was 12 minths ago. A sign of the times? Sadly the vectra crapping itself means any purchases are on hold.

The vectra was recovered to the garage. I'll know tomorrow or Wednesday what the damage is - mechanically and financially.

Went to look at an e60 535d prior to buying my 545. I had looked at the 545 and used it as a yardstick. The 535 was a year newer but had over 100k. It had a few marks and that awful aluminium trim inside that looks more appropriate adorning s chippy. The seller admitted he only averaged 27 mpg. This, coupled with the price of diesel and the bork factor that goes with a twin turbo six pot diesel with over 100k made me plump for the petrol. The e60 is much nicer with a V8.