Why did your shite survive?

[eddyramrod]

Cherry: previous owner is a Shiter!  I suspect the first owner was an old dear who bought it as their last car, but I don't know.  It's only got 44,000 on it now, which is nothing in 27 years.  I bought it as a nice daily, which it absolutely has been, and now it looks like it's going to another Shiter, so it should survive a while yet.

Volvo: also previously owned by a Shiter.  Although it has nearly four times the mileage on it, in ten fewer years, that still isn't a lot for a Volvo so it doesn't seem to have had a terribly hard life.  It does carry a lot of battlescars, so it's probably been bouncing off the bottom of its price curve for a while.  Again, I've bought it as a nice daily.  Experience with my 740 suggests it'll fill that need for some years yet.  I'll get bored before the car wears out, and even that will take time because I do like a big comfy Volvo estate...

Tacuma: well it's futureshite really.  It's only six years old.  Will it survive?  Who knows?  It's far too soon to tell.  I've got more money invested in it than I would like, but then I'm just mingey.  It has just survived a weekend trip to Inverness and back, and MrsR pronounced it very comfortable, so maybe it'll last.  My view differs from hers, but then I'm a Volvo driver, I'm spoiled.

[Albert Ross]

Mine survived because it was used on a private site, and never saw the road.... from 1995 to 2003. Prior to that I have no history, but it would appear that it had been looked after by various owners, except for the chassis.... which got covered in concrete, salt, mud, sugar.... (yes, sugar) and shit. And left to eat away the structural parts. I have replaced the chassis and fitted a full roof, which makes it easier to fill with crap. Here it is at a "show" for Leaf Sprung Land Rovers. Kev, your door top will hopefully be back with you before Easter! (It was about 6am, I was first through the gate, a day early, and already on the piss at this point.)

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

The Megane is the newest of my fleet. It paradoxically also is the most likely to have ended up as tin cans, as they are undesirable and worthless. It survived because it has had a very pampered life : garaged for the first decade of its life, doing less than 5K miles per year, full service history. It's now living outside and doing 20K miles per year. Part of me feels guilty for using it as a daily, as it will be a really rare beast in a decade's time.

 

The MX5 has survived due to being a Mazda and due to having had one caring owner for most of its life. It also is the unpopular, low-fat 90HP version, so it has escaped being tastefully* individualised* by JDM scenesters or thrashed to death by some middle management TRACK DAY DRIVING GOD.

 

The 740 has 230K miles and half a dozen previous owners. It seems to have survived due to it's impressive build quality and what appears to have been a reasonable level of care and maintenance by its previous owners.

 

The 760 only* has 130K miles but has really been driven to the ground. It's proof that neglect can kill even the most solidly built cars. It was supposed to be a 'back on the road in a couple of weeks' job when I bought it, but the more I work on it the longer the to-do list becomes. I suspect I will eventually give up, cut my losses and move it on.

[beko1987]

First owner of my XM was a rich finance type back in the days when they could get away with anything, so had lots of money. Garaged underground, private plate (K1) etc points to an owner who has a man for these jobs, regardless of cost

 

No idea about the next owner, although sitting in a dry garage for a few years probably helped. Then Campbell came along with a knowledgable head and sorted it out, and I'm using it as a learning tool to fix anything that comes up now.

 

Same with my old ZX, although I question some of the 'work' it had.

[Vin]

The 126 survived because the second owner left it in his garage after it failed the MOT in 1994 on sill welding. It sat there until I bought it off him in 2001 and did all the work to get it roadworthy again. The Panda 750 survived because it's first owner was an air stewardess who didn't use it very often, kept it garaged. It then went through a couple of short term owners then I got it and gave it the love...

 

I don't know any history of the others unfortunately...

[Volksy]

The Peugeot has survived because it was fastidiously looked after by the original (policeman) owner. 1000 miles between oil changes, waxoiled annually, etc. Second and third owners didn't quite keep to the schedule laid out by the first, but it didn't cover huge amounts of miles.

In my - rather short - ownership its needed a few bits and pieces, mainly just wear and tear more than anything else - Alternator, Window regulator, Headlamp & as of yesterday an ignition lock, as it keeps jamming the key. I'm probably going to take it off the road come the new year as I've realised that Audi has been off the road since May!

 

The Audi seems a bit of an odd survivor, it's previously been owned by two people of this parish, and one thing I think that has saved it is the fact that it runs on LPG. which makes the running costs absolutely peanuts.

It failed the MOT back in May, but generally on little fiddly bits, door handles, loose wiring, a rear shocker and wiper blades. But since getting the Peugeot I've just left it in the corner of the yard.

I'll say it's an odd survivor, as you often find that it's the higher spec models the tend to last longer, for example look at the amount of MkIII Escort Ghias that survive. This one is absolute poverty spec, it's even got a 1.8 four pot, keep fit windows, no rev counter etc.

[fordperv]

my 3 door sierra survived by sheer determination, the nob who it was bought off thought he was driving god and couldnt handle the omg powah of the 1.6 engine and smashed the passengers quarter panel into a lamp post, the running gear was past its best the exhaust was a scaffold pipe which hovered above the ground because it had no hangers, the braking system was fecked the interior was bolloxed, i reckon if i wasnt stupid enough to have it the thing would have been sent around the oval or turned into bean cans,

 

my saph is a happier story, it came from an old boy in essex who worked at trimoco as a salesman, he sold it to his son new and when his son wanted to change cars he bought it off him and from what can be seen cherished it, he did tell us that everytime he washed it he wiped the body over with paraffin when it was dry thats why he reckoned it hadn't rotted away

[PhilA]

Sprite - It's survived* because it came off the road in 1982 and my old man couldn't bear to part with it. It stayed mostly covered under the carport for the longest time. It's still there.

 

GTA - It's survived because at some point in its past, someone actually cared enough to have the engine rebuilt twice and have a can of paint thrown over carefully applied to the bodywork. Quite why it was loved so much then discarded is beyond me. I'm something like the fifth owner since 1987. It's survived the last 5 years because, err. I haven't gotten rid of it yet, despite having driven approximately one mile a year in it. Up and down the driveway.

It'll see the road again some day, probably have another engine rebuild and a few more coats of paint before it goes to the big crusher in the sky.

 

--Phil

[seth]

Minx:  One owner, same garage to park it in for 40 years.

 

[Skoze]

Landy's still here because it was made in a time when Rover used real steel. 

Admittedly it'd been stood for 20 years when i bought it and needed a complete overhaul, but the chassis was it's original and had done bloody well for 60 years, just needing a couple of crossmembers.

Until I parked it in some railings at 50mph anyway, that didn't do it too much good. 

The Capri's sill here because of previous owners with more money than sense.

[scruff]

Skoze's Landy is proof of why meccano like qualities are brilliant.

[Skoze]

Certainly is! Take one bent Land Rover on saturday morning;

 

 

Add willing volunteers;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drive home sunday night. Champion. 

[Bobthebeard]

 

I think mine (1988 car) survived due to being owned for 19 years by a British Airways pilot, who presumably had enough money to look after it. It had done 180,000 miles. Seems he traded it in after an MOT advisory for 'slight corrosion in both sills' The next owner had it for a year until the MOT was almost expired then put it on Ebay. I bought it, then learned* to weld and repaired the sills. They were properly rusty, only the thick layer of factory applied rubbery stone guard was holding them together. Suspect it may well have been scrapped or broken up if I hadn't bought it and put in the time/effort and money.

My amateur sill repairs were solid, as I cut out all the rust and welded new steel in, but werent pretty. Hence me soaking the repairs in waxoyl and fitting fibreglass skirts. (I took it for MOT before the skirts were fitted btw) Not to everyones taste admittedly! Sprayed the skirts, drivers door and one rear quarter with rattle can paint and clear coat. Now on its second MOT in my ownership. I do regularly check for rust in the repaired areas, but so far so good. Now done 196,000 miles. It lives outside on the drive, as sadly my garage is only big enough for one car. The 1984 car is in there waiting for me to get my arse in gear and sort out the rusty sills.

[Sloth in a bowl]

The Fiat Uno did not survive, because it was more rust than steel when I got it.

 

The Reault Laguna did not survive because the previous owners didn't service it properly and I only had so much patience with a car that was rusting from all directions and trying to drop it's fuel tank on the floor to fix all the other shite.

 

The Volvo V40 has survived because I have followed the service guidelines and the extras that have gone wrong (2 rear springs, 2 seized brake calipers, 1 snapped bonnet cable) are less hassle than another equivalent priced car would be.

 

The Datsun 260Z has survived, because I have spent too much money on the bastard (over £10,000) to give up now and it's worth 10 times more now than when I bought it. Also when ever it gets run up over 4000 revs, it sounds magnificent.

[Junkman]

The Rover has survived because I didn't push it through the back wall of the garage into the adjacent river when I should have.
Instead, it contains my blood, sweat, and tears.
 

















 

It turned out that the car is possessed by an evil spirit that is determined to kill me. The car will die with me.

I can't pass it on anyway, because that would be 1st degree murder.

[scruff]

Hat well and truly doffed Junkman...