Roffle 1998 Smart & Pulse MoT 03/17 DRAWING TONIGHT 2/11 (flat4alfa - can't send messages to you!)

[Junkman]

[Dick Cheeseburger]

How many Swatches does one require in one day of wearage?!

[Skizzer]

Oh ho, the oldest Smart!  Hence the Swatch thing.  Shoulda guessed it.

[Sheefag]

[Pillock]

Yes! An early, two tone Mk5 Escort! You WINNER.

[Vince70]

Have a safe journey back Richard, it was nice meeting you today and next time your down visiting pop in for a cuppa.

I'm looking forward to the updates

[Bear]

Smart parking!

 

[xtriple]

You have nearly as many watches as me... though none of mine are Swatch's.... I haven't got a Smart car either.  I am jealous of one of your two collections

 

Bloke over the road had a nice Smart with chrome wire wheels! Big wide buggers as well, it/they looked great. He flogged it and bought a 322 Range Rover - so from the sublime to the ridiculous! He now has an 06 Brabus in matt black and it looks great and goes like a proper little weapon... apparently, he won't let me loose in it

 

Really like your brum-brum but not practical with two dogs.

[Dave_Q]

You're all getting it wrong, what Mr K has is the uber rare shape shifting colour changing swatch, custom made in 1992 for the Sultan of Brunei by unofficial Swatch black ops skunkworks.

 

They would be worth millions on eBay if they weren't so top secret.

 

Nice car BTW, #teamyellow.

[Ghosty]

Rye - the Cheeky Girls live/lived there. Also, there's a windmill.

 

Cue unending Smart puns...

[Bear]

*drive drive drive*

 

This is going well!

 

 

Even got some more bits!

 

 

*bang*

 

Errrrrr

 

*vibrate*

 

 

Bollocks

 

 

Well, my first blowout, after a day with a migraine, in a car with no spare! Joy. Also fuck Bexhill & Hasting's' pothole-ridden "roads". I suspect that's why it happened.

[Skizzer]

Bugger.

[Bear]

The last Swatch - detail

 

[Bear]

So the AA did not take me home, they dropped me off further south to be extorted for a tyre; £200 to have a new Continental fitted.

 

 

So this...

 

 

Means something else is going to have to be sacrificed somewhere.

 

Bloody crap luck that the only blowout I have is in a car with no spare!

[Junkman]

There is a reason why I hate newfangled tosh.

[Ghosty]

That's bullshit luck right there.

[Junkman]

You got that shit right.

[Vince70]

Bloody hell sorry to hear that Richard.

The roads around here are terrible that's daylight robbery for a tyre.

[Vince70]

I think a few smart owners manage to get a slim space saver behind the seats on a smart but it's hard to get hold of one as I think the dealers were the only ones that had them for servicing etc but very occasionally you might see one pop up on eBay but I think there's always a bit of a bidding war for one.

[Bear]

3:14am...

 

 

 

 

I kept the old tyre. There's a big nail in it! Guessing someone lost some on the M1...

[trigger]

What a pisser! And to rub salt in the wound charging £200 for a bloody tyre is disgusting.

[scruff]

Ace thread.

 

My mum had a Smart for a bit, quite a good little car. 

 

For you multi-tat owners maybe look at getting an account with someone, even if you have only one blowout a year you won't get stung as badly. Can work out better for tyre swapping too.

[Timewaster]

I was just past the reveal shot and about to like X 1000 then it turned as sour as the lemon hue.

 

The only smart I ever drove was stickered up like a A1 motorstore oil can and I remember thinking how funny it must have looked overtaking Audis on the M11.

 

Good purchase. Bad luck but hey ho, nobody died.

[mrbenn]

Bloody bad luck on the tyre, Richard. Car looks a peach though.

 

For info, a 3.5 or 4" wide standard Smart steel wheel can be used as a spare and should fit behind the seats.

 

If I had a spare garage space into which to shove this then I think it would have come home with me. I suspect these early models will be worth a few quid in the not too distant future. They're already starting to make an appearance at car shows.

 

If you haven't seen this already, this is to go-to site for all things Smart related imho:

 

http://www.evilution.co.uk

 

£10 a year to get full access but it has saved me thousands over the years, without exaggeration.

[beko1987]

Ouch, that looks like a world of pain! Was probably cheaper and easier in the long run by getting your heavily pregnant girlfriend to ask a neighbor to load 2 spare wheels into the back of her cat, drive 120 miles to you, then find a travelodge for the night then drive back the next day though...

 

And now I'm even more unhappy about the xantia not having a spare wheel...

[BavarianRetro]

What a pisser! And to rub salt in the wound charging £200 for a bloody tyre is disgusting.

What would you charge to invest say £10000 on a mobile tyre fitting van and maybe another £10000 on stock, stay in and sober on a Friday night, get out of your bed at 2:00 am; drive to the warehouse to pick up the tyre; drive to the breakdown; supply a Continental tyre; fit it at the side of the road and drive home again?

 

It's a lot for a tyre if you get Black Circles to deliver it, but fitted at the side of the road at 3 am? Sounds not too bad to me.

 

Say the tyre is £50. The drivers wages must be at least another £50. Then fuel and expenses.

[Sheefag]

I'm with BR on this one, it's the difference between an online retail experience and a bespoke service.

 

It's a major investment with significant overheads, including some very specialised equipment and insurance, that need to be met whether van & driver are out there or not.

[holbeck]

What would you charge to invest say £10000 on a mobile tyre fitting van and maybe another £10000 on stock, stay in and sober on a Friday night, get out of your bed at 2:00 am; drive to the warehouse to pick up the tyre; drive to the breakdown; supply a Continental tyre; fit it at the side of the road and drive home again?

 

It's a lot for a tyre if you get Black Circles to deliver it, but fitted at the side of the road at 3 am? Sounds not too bad to me.

 

Say the tyre is £50. The drivers wages must be at least another £50. Then fuel and expenses.

 

Agreed. When you look at it £200 is not unreasonable.

 

It is however upsetting to be backed into a corner.

[garbaldy]

Bavarianretro and sheefag re read the post, it was fixed at a fast fit place after being delivered by AA recovery,

Your point is still relevant though.

 

On a lighter note RK be thankful you where not abroad and having to sleep in the car before being wallet raped.

[Timewaster]

Triggers pricing sensibility is in the same decade as his taste in cars.

 

See also the rant about paying £300 to service a £10k focus.

 

Don't worry Trig. we're all just as bad!