Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - Buick Revival & a VERY GREEN Jag!

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Yes, the Phaeton wasn't the only car that arrived here today! In fact, this Matra Murena (not an S apparently despite what the decal says) is coming from the same seller!

As we are all enablers around here I took a few photos of this local Murena that's been off the road for a considerable time. Paul who was selling the Phaeton was trying to find a buyer for this as well. Since I know people who are very much into this kind of thing I had to take a few photos. And here we are now! I'll let the owner reveal themselves here but this sure is one hell of a car! I can't wait to have a closer look at this as well an get it ready for its long trip home!

It's just* like a Mclaren F1 inside!

AS day, won. Top trumps, chapeau.

[Schaefft]

Thanks guys, hoping to have a closer look around the Matra tomorrow as this needs to be roadworthy soon! Not before sorting the wiring on the Phaeton though as that might be all it needs to pass a test!

Meanwhile, have a comparison shot between these two green fwd V6 powered flagship sedans. 

[Split_Pin]

Great finds on a petrol 6 pot Phaeton, I thought they didn't exist and have been looking for one for a long time. I've had the 1/18 model for 20 years now though! Speaking of still existing, that's prompted me to go and Google to see if the bespoke glass factory built especially to produce them is still in service.

Looking forward to your updates on this one.

[Schaefft]

6 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Great finds on a petrol 6 pot Phaeton, I thought they didn't exist and have been looking for one for a long time. I've had the 1/18 model for 20 years now though! Speaking of still existing, that's prompted me to go and Google to see if the bespoke glass factory built especially to produce them is still in service.

Looking forward to your updates on this one.

It still very much exists, they stopped producing cars there last month though and plan to turn it into a museum/event center/delivery venue/university facility. The Phaeton was the whole reason for its existence, it was clear that they couldn't continue building E-Golfs and ID3s there for too long considering the limited capacity and therefore inherently higher costs when they produced the same cars in the thousands just an hour from Dresden in the Zwickau plant.

It's the factory and handcrafted nature of all cars assembled there (and the fact that the prestige model, plus a few Bentleys, of the world's largest auto maker was built so close to my home town at the time) that made me want a Phaeton for a long time. I visited the place a few years back when they still assembled the Golf knowing that it couldn't keep going like that for much longer, it's a shame that such an important chapter in VW's history is slowly fading away now.

A lot of people see the Phaeton as little more than a bigger Passat but the entire ownership experience, including having your car built to your own specifications and then collect it right where it was built, seemed like a step beyond what anyone else was doing at the time. Shame most just ended up as fancy company cars in the UK!

[Split_Pin]

I have the brochure that I got back when they were new and I was surprised that you could go and fetch it from the factory! How does the build quality compare with an A8?

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I have the brochure that I got back when they were new and I was surprised that you could go and fetch it from the factory! How does the build quality compare with an A8?

I got the launch brochure as well, oddly enough they only advertise the VR6 and W12 on there, with a mention of the V10 TDI but no actual details.

Build quality wise they are almost identical. It's easy to forget but the Phaeton came out when the D2 was still on sale. The D3 A8 had a much more sporty interior design with the center console flowing into the dash the way it does, easily the best in class so it feels more special. It doesn't have the fancy electric vent covers but the infotainment feels more modern and intuitive despite having an almost identical features set. The Phaeton feels more conservative, mine being a bare bones one there's more plastic on the center console (like the cup holders) but that could be easily changed.

[Schaefft]

4 hours ago, CGSB said:

Do we have a list of what is currently on your fleet, or is that too terrifying to put down in one place?

Definitely have some cars I lust over.

There is a list indeed (everything I've owned and when I bought/sold it) but I feel like it will remain private for the time being. However, if you follow my fleet account on Instagram you should get a pretty good idea!

I've had most of the day today to crack on with the Phaeton and sort out that terrible mess that was the bootlid wiring loom. They are known for breaking cables but this was on another level:

It's been fixed so many times and started breaking again that I had to cut out all but one wire and replace them with new ones. Fortunately I had plenty left over from retrofitting electric heated memory seats in my E39 many years ago so it was all more or less for free. The Phaeton now is 0.001% BMW.😂

Unlike the previous person who bodged this together I actually used proper heat shrink on all repairs and then wrapped it all in electrical tape to prevent wires without insulation from shorting out and blowing fuses again. Apparently someone disconnected the electric latch to prevent that from happening before so after everything was wrapped up I didn't only have fully functioning lights but also a boot you can actually open remotely again...

All the junk gone. I'll replace the damaged taillights next. I'm not sure yet if I'll stick with the early bright red ones or use the opportunity to upgrade and go with the cherry red ones from the first facelift.

I've also lubricated the hell out of the passenger rear door lock so that's unlocking with the central locking as well now. That should be all it needed to pass an MOT! I even found out that it's got fairly recent Goodyear Eagle F1s on all four corners, what a win! Very happy about making some quick progress for once, and at no cost either!

I even had some time left to remove the dark tint on the XJ8. I'm rarely a fan of aftermarket tints, especially on cars like the XJ where it clashes with the otherwise classy vibes of its design.

That's how a Jag should be! Looks much less chavy, aside from the loud exhaust... Feels much less claustrophobic inside as well. And since most of the towbar was already gone (including all of the wiring) I removed the rest of it as well. The missing back boxes made it a fairly straightforward job...

That might even help with the MPGs/acceleration a bit.

With all the above going on I still haven't had a look at the Murena. Hopefully I find a moment tomorrow!

[Schaefft]

Update time!

The XJ8 still is doing stellar service. I've been using it as daily over the last few weeks and aside from a weak battery it's been mostly trouble free. It even went through the car wash the other day (it's already filthy again).

I will put it up for sale relatively soon though. It replaced the X-Type (of which parts are selling slowly, so probably going into the crusher soon) as this year's winter beater. With winter hopefully over not long after this is likely to depart the Phaeton is already waiting in line. It still doesn't have an mot. Why you ask?

Due to the constant rain it got stuck in the paddock almost immediately beginning of the month. Even the Range Rover struggled pulling it out, sliding all over the place, eventually resulting in the Phaeton slipping down a shallow ditch. I got it out of there relatively quickly but the torn up ground and slight incline out of the paddock meant no chance of it getting out of there until the rain stopped for more than a day.

Fortunately we had a night of frost last Friday so the ground was just about firm enough in the morning to drive it out of there again. Lesson learned, even a front heavy, front wheel drive car won't be able to deal with ground this wet. That didn't stop me from buying it some essential parts though:

This should make a nice difference to the ambiance inside.

I used the same opportunity to pull the Honda Legend out of its parking spot. Remember that one?

With @aotb picking up the Matra Murena here recently an opportunity came along to pick up a few parts for the Legend on the journey up. The front seats were shredded to bits since I bought it, despite the low mileage. It was finally time to replace them!

And yes, they were moldy too. More about that in a moment.

Since the side bolster on my driver seat had hardly any wear I only replaced the bottom cushion on that side. Shout-out to Honda for making pretty much every fastener on this car a Philips head screw or 10mm bolt! It all came apart relatively easily. It could have been even easier if the cover wasn't attached to the foam but you can't have it all.

I used the opportunity to have a look underneath the carpet. I didn't like what I found. I then remembered that I must have kept the window on that side slightly open for a little while last year. The last few days confirmed that there doesn't seem to be a leak from anywhere else (there better not be).

There are definitely leaks on both sides of the boot though and this time there's noone else but Honda to blame. In all their wisdom engineers decided that it was a clever idea to drill several holes into the rain channels around the bootlid opening:

Why? To fit the most pointless plastic beauty covers known to man. At age all these holes have started to leak now. Absolute geniuses at work there. I honestly would have expected a lot more from Honda.

I've dried it all out, removed the plugs, siliconed the hell out of them, stuck them back in and added more silicone. I tested my work today and it still leaked so I added even more silicone. If that doesn't fix it I could try the Audi way and just stick some tape over the hole...

The state of the car earlier today:

I removed the glovebox as well as they have a tendency to form lebra, one of the many odd material deteriorations Legends seem to suffer from:

Replacement glovebox installed:

Seats installed:

Much better. The interior finally looks like that of a 77k mile car, money well spent.

The next job is to replace the faulty crash sensor in the front to get rid of the pedestrian safety hood pop error the car always had. That means the bumper has to come off but that's part of the modern luxury car experience nowadays.

If anyone needs any parts off of the old seats or the X-Type, let me know. They won't be around forever.

[IronStar]

37 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

 

I will put it up for sale relatively soon though.

What year is it mister? 😄

[Honey Badger]

Glovebox envy is an unusual feeling 😄

 

I have the same issue as you with the leaking plastic bungs, I've tried using non setting silicone in the holes and taping the plastic covers down with waterproof body tape, with limited success.

My Legend is at 86k and the seats look like your new set, god knows what happened to leave the leather torn up like that..

 

Looking forward to the bumper removal, i need to take mine off and see if i can improve the way it looks. Do you have a set of Honda workshop manuals to explain it all?

[Schaefft]

33 minutes ago, IronStar said:

What year is it mister? 😄

It's a '99 4.0.

19 minutes ago, Honey Badger said:

Glovebox envy is an unusual feeling 😄

 

I have the same issue as you with the leaking plastic bungs, I've tried using non setting silicone in the holes and taping the plastic covers down with waterproof body tape, with limited success.

My Legend is at 86k and the seats look like your new set, god knows what happened to leave the leather torn up like that..

 

Looking forward to the bumper removal, i need to take mine off and see if i can improve the way it looks. Do you have a set of Honda workshop manuals to explain it all?

I've taken the bumper off last year to bend the lower crash bar shield back into shape, the elderly owner must have driven into a bolder or something. Maybe that's what set the crash sensor off as well. I think it's just a few screws at the wheel arches, bolts underneath the bumper and the grille that easily comes out without much head scratching.

[IronStar]

11 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

It's a '99 4.0.

3 years too new for historic import 😢

[Schaefft]

8 minutes ago, IronStar said:

3 years too new for historic import 😢

It'll be cheap! You can always (re)store it somewhere until the time comes😄

[hairnet]

someone asked if rico has a list of all his tat

being german and methodical

he has a 3x3 inch (oh sorry 75mmx75mm) square of laminated paper which reads

BARGES.

ALLES.

ENDE.

*runs

[Schaefft]

19 hours ago, CGSB said:

Does your partner drive your fleet too? Or does she have her own fleet, or a single motor?

Normally that wouldn't be a problem. I tried to insure her on the Legend for a month as second driver and the charges were nuts though. Also bigger bills at the petrol station compared to the Fiat although she doesn't seem to understand the concept of tanks that are larger than 35l when paying for a full one.

More updates on the Legend. I took the bumper off and replaced the crash sensor, unfortunately without success as the pedestrian safety system warning remains on. I can't clear the codes without a more advanced scanner so who knows if it'll clear, I'll find out eventually. I'm also not sure if dropping a sensor would render it useless...

However, my SnapOn Solus Pro I bought for my pre-OBD2 cars arrived today! I plugged it into the Legend as it's modern enough to enter the most important modules to check why I suddenly had an airbag light after swapping the seat.

I thought I'd be clever and swap all the modules under the seat into the new seat to avoid coding issues before I install it. Turns out Honda was clever enough to hide the occupancy detection control module (why does this need a separate module in the first place?!) in the backrest...

Finding it took a little while, replacing it with the seat in the car was a right faff, too. Fortunately the code cleared and the airbag light is off again.

Modern cars ehh?

[Schaefft]

Update time, and I think this one is quite exciting!

Yesterday was the first time I've taken the Oldsmobile Aurora I brought back from Germany for an actual drive above 5mph, albeit a short one. The empty roads around here allow me to take the risk and I needed to make sure that the gearbox actually does gearbox things before possible spending a ton of time on it for nothing. It was reluctant to shift up before and stayed reluctant for a moment this time around as well. However, I'm happy to report that it eventually decided to shift into 2nd, and then 3rd, and finally 4th! And quite smoothly as well! We have a confirmed fully working gearbox!

A big relief as anything else would have meant future progress grinding to a halt. In general the car was driving fairly well considering it's been off the road for easily a decade. The lack of power steering is its biggest issue now (aside from a ruined wrap) so that will need looking into next. I'll have to confirm whether the garage's diagnosis of a leaking rack is true (subframe would need partial lowering) or whether it is something comparatively easy.

However, that's a job for another day so I started giving the Lexus LS400 (also 4.0l V8 powered) some attention, at long last:

Yes, it has working bonnet struts for the first time in a very long time, essential for when I start removing the failing alternator (and probably the power steering pump) soon.

For whatever reason Lexus decided that the ball studs the struts are mounted on are non-removable. I thought I had to destroy the old struts to transfer them over, fortunately I then discovered that the new struts came with new hardware. Very odd.

It looked like rain so I moved on to inside the Phaeton:

Removing the airbag could only mean one thing:

It had to be done. The car might not even have an mot yet but the difference a wooden steering wheel does to the ambiance of a car is something special! I love how it looks and it wasn't even that expensive either.

I'll transfer the insurance from the Jag over to the Phaeton once that's gone and then book it in for a test. I'm looking forward to driving it more!

[Westbay]

What difference the steering wheel makes ! well done ... 👍

[tooSavvy]

36:02 is your place 😎

🚙💨

[Schaefft]

Great news, the Phaeton passed its MOT! The bootlid loom was the obvious issue that caused it to fail last year (and therefore be very cheap to buy), however it's getting a little stranger than this. The advisories at the last MOT turned out to seemingly not be an issue at all. Torn ball joint boots and worn drop links simply weren't there despite looking original.

Good news then! This would be all good and well if the car didn't throw several "oil pressure low, stop engine immediately" warnings on the way there! Now this would normally imply immediate doom. However, similar to the Audi S8, there is no indication whatsoever (valve train clatter or failing timing chain tensioners) that the oil pressure really is low. It also doesn't make sense that the message would come on all over the rpm range, only to completely disappear again at identical oil temperature numbers minutes later. The oil level and viscosity seem perfectly normal as well.

If anyone has any experience with the 3.2 VR6 and the likelihood of the pressure switch failing, please let me know! It seems a bit of a pain to reach but at least I got an OEM replacement already waiting here...

[Schaefft]

Replaced the oil pressure sensor, on the VR6 it's just sitting on top of the oil filter adapter which you can just about reach from the top with a few extensions and a swivel:

It's down there somewhere. The hardest thing was getting the connector off.

It's the same switch you find in a million other VAG products, including my V10 S8 where unfortunately it isn't quite as easy to replace it. That's why I had a new OEM switch still laying around. The old one didn't leak, no apparent issues with the connector either...

We'll see if it's making a difference or not. Considering it took quite a few drives to trigger the message (and then quite frequently until it stopped again) it might take a few weeks to find out! Nothing unusual at the first start.

On a side note, check out the insanity that is this quad reg plate illumination setup. Looks like Piéch demanded ultimate readability...

Funnily enough VW did offer self illuminated reg plates, at least in Germany. No idea what kind of magic made that happen but I doubt you'll find many of those nowadays.

[hairnet]

piech went to the opera a lot.............

[TrabbieRonnie]

I've got to catch up on this thread in detail, but thought I'd share this eBay seller...

I looked back through my purchase history and these folk provided the third (and final) ABS pump I ended up buying for my early 3.7 A8.  It's been perfect since, although mightily expensive.  They're in Poland I think.

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

I've got to catch up on this thread in detail, but thought I'd share this eBay seller...

I looked back through my purchase history and these folk provided the third (and final) ABS pump I ended up buying for my early 3.7 A8.  It's been perfect since, although mightily expensive.  They're in Poland I think.

A seller on eBay ended up accepting an offer, I think I paid 230 for a replacement in the end. I might find some time this week to replace it.

[Schaefft]

In other news, now that we have a replacement for the Fiat 500 (to see what it was replaced by, see the thread here) it was time to see if the intermittend clutch issues can be sorted before it gets sold. A plan was conceived to deliver it to @scaryoldcortina's garage while also finally getting the 350 quid Buick Riviera out of there!

It's good to be able to continue getting more use out of the trailer. Too bad I still don't have a winch for it, something that would come in handy for when cars aren't able to make it on there on their own. Like the Riviera...

We got it on there in the end. It'll probably stay on the trailer for a little while to make dropping the tank a little easier. The fuel pump is most likely seized and with GM cars of this age there's little hope of finding an access door inside to reach it from the top...

Two of GM's finest* fwd luxury car offerings. The Aurora replaced the Riviera's sister car (Toronado) only 2 years after both were discontinued. The last generation Riviera also shared the Aurora's platform, although that one was only available with the venerable 3800. You probably would have seen both of these quite frequently on US freeways in the mid to late 90s.

I'll confirm my fuel pump suspicions soon, a replacement is 20 quid so it shouldn't take long to have this 200k mile Buick running again!

[Asimo]

Calendar material is that last photo!

[Bear]

On 20/02/2026 at 20:22, Schaefft said:

For whatever reason Lexus decided that the ball studs the struts are mounted on are non-removable. I thought I had to destroy the old struts to transfer them over, fortunately I then discovered that the new struts came with new hardware. Very odd.

Quite common on Japanese cars I've had - though you can detach the struts with the right pick, they have an internal spring clamp much like the external ones  on some BMWs where instead of a flat spring, there's a thin metal wire that hooks in and around the socket.

I suspect it's in case the old ones shear off or wear though.

[Bear]

❤️ that Riviera. I'm sure if I had bought it, it would have ended badly, but I still think it's awesome.

[Schaefft]

Update time, and it's another great one!

With the Riviera finally here where I can actually work on it it was time to see if I can get it running. We previously established that the car would fire with a bit of flammable liquid sprayed down its intake so it was fairly obvious that we had a fuel supply problem.

With stuck fuel pumps seemingly such a common issue after not running for years around here I felt like jumping straight to that and see if the pump was in fact working. The crowds were eager to find out, too:

There's no access hatch so I had to drop the tank. I jacked up the rear and ended up lowering the rear sway bar just to drop it enough to get the pump out.

The pump assembly wouldn't clear but I was able to just remove the pump itself. Note the unnecessarily long hardlines that are part of the assembly, making it impossible to remove the thing without dropping the tank completely...

Well, the fuel pump actually worked... How about that! I did however find wires that were clearly having a rough time and had been fixed inappropriately before. So I had to cut the damaged length out and replaced it.

Here's where things really got strange. There was a constant supply of 5V to the main power supply of the pump. I thought it must be resistance in the wires from corrosion or a bad earth but even after fixing the loom and having earth right at the battery the low voltage supply would remain. It was also a bit odd for that supply to be there permanently.

Additionally, confusion about the location of the fuel pump relay and any relevant fuses, none of which matched what was stated in the owners manual, only complicated things. I was eventually able to identify the correct relay (not inside the car or in the relay block but completely on its own behind the engine...) and confirmed that jumping it would supply 12V to the pump. The relay worked as well, I swapped it several times to be sure. It just wouldn't supply 12V to prime the pump with the key on. What's even stranger, the pump would get 5V even with the relay removed completely!

I still can't explain the latter (unless there's a short with a signal line somewhere) but replacing a blown fuse related to the ignition system (probably ECM) eventually restored full functionality of the fuel system. The car still wouldn't start despite good fuel pressure and working injectors, I also checked the spark plugs, finding one snapped off so I replaced that one as well. I put 2 liters of fresh fuel in it and finally, at long last, we had a result!

It's actually running really well there. The power steering reservoir was low on fluid, hence the screeching in the vid above.

It was time to see whether it would drive. I've unloaded the car, the car died (probably because of hardly any fuel in the tank) and then wouldn't crank anymore. I was fairly sure it was the neutral safety switch that must have given up now that I've had it in gear for the first time in a long time. 30 mins of trying to get it to crank again later and I noticed that the shift linkage just came loose and the transmission was still in reverse... I popped it back on and the car started straight away! Time to go for a drive then!

Well, just a few meters in and the space saver spare I still had on the car dug a hole for itself... I inflated the tyre on the fullsize wheel, swapped it with the spare and off we went, as far away from the sheep turd infested minefield as possible before the next issue would crop up...

Only that there weren't really any further issues! The car runs great now (as long as there's juice in the tank) and the gearbox shifted as smooth as could be! The front shock absorbers are probably blown judging by the bouncy nature of the frontend but after 5 years off the road the Riviera now runs, drives, shifts and stops without anything indicating that it's been 2 wheels into the scrapyard, ignoring cosmetics anyway. I've started tidying it up today and it's looking so much better already. This post is long enough though so stay tuned for the next update!

[grizz]

Of course I love this thing. 
 

Nice. 

[Bear]

I still want it. 😂 But had I got it the way you did the dropping the tank aspect would have defeated me then.