Bramz fleet. The ever changing procession of mediocrity. Disaster time....

[bramz7]

Fucking hell, obviously something bad had to happen. Don't worry though, the Marea is still okay (despite me discovering the front mask is pretty oxidised, vactan time approaching....)

 

Took the 156 SW to my garage today for the front bearing. I also asked them to check it over as it was meant to be going to a new owner shortly...

 

Receive a phone call a few hours later.

 

'Hello, do you want to come down and have a look at the car please?'

 

Agh. Now obviously garages don't tend to ask you to come and look at a car with no issues, I was expecting floorpans and sills hanging off but....

 

Richard (of course i know his name) produces a list one full length of a size of A4. Oh fuck. 

 

-Both front discs are fucked.

-Many, many bushes and balljoints are dried up and toast.

-Track rod ends worn out.

-Passenger side rear tyre has worn down to the canvas on the inner edge. Looks like the rear suspension needs adjusting as well.

-BOTH front bearings are absolutely shot. 

-Diesel leak from the filter.

-All the coolant has vanished in two weeks, there is some residue on the outside of a pipe feeding into the engine.

-Heavy soot on the front of the exhaust, as I had wondered if there was a leak...

-Gearbox mount on its way out.

 

other items include wipers...not a huge fuss as i knew they were crap anyway.

 

Oh dear. Obviously I now can't sell it like this (sorry Colc, I didn't mean to disappoint you) but it's left me a bit meh about it now. Thing is, yes I could spend all this money on it, but is sinking what could be £1000 or more going to be worth it? Yeah it's nice enough to drive and cruises nicely, but that's a shit ton of money for something which could then blow up tomorrow. 

 

At least it's a nice colour?

 

FYI for anyone wondering, he showed me all the problems with the car on the car itself.

 

As it was lowered down on the ramp, a rear numberplate light fell out of its holder. Cool.

[sierraman]

Bumtree it.

[bramz7]

I don't really to gumtree a broken car. Last time I sold a broken car I had the worst buyer I had ever come across...

[fairkens]

Sounds like auction fodder to me

[hairnet]

forget where you leave alfa

 

burn wing off fiat quickly

 

engine video please

 

steels for sleeeeeeper

[500tops]

Bramz aka Jimmy Cauty

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Clean it up and bang it through your local Copart.

 

It's basically scrap, so getting as much £££ as possible is key.

[dollywobbler]

Cannock!

[bramz7]

So...the general consensus is scrap/auction it?!  

[HMC]

How much mot is left?

[bramz7]

November 14th is when it runs out. So that is 40 days, or 5 weeks and 5 days....

[Rocket88]

Sorry Bramz..........

[bramz7]

Sorry Bramz..........

 

Please don't apologise, it's not your fault or anyone elses, bar my own. Bit of a wake up call really. 

[HMC]

FWIW knowing when to bale out can be quite difficult when it’s your own car, fair play to you, unless it’s a keeper obv it’s a question of which route to take. Why not list it on e bay, start at scrap value and give a brutally honest account of it.

[bramz7]

FWIW knowing when to bale out can be quite difficult when it’s your own car, fair play to you, unless it’s a keeper obv it’s a question of which route to take. Why not list it on e bay, start at scrap value and give a brutally honest account of it.

 

 

I suspect that is the best/only route worth taking. As much as I despise eBay, it can have it's uses.

[HMC]

The fact it’s got some mot, however small,that it’s together and drivable are big incentives amongst other stuff starting at that price.

[AnthonyG]

If you do go down the Ebay route I would make very clear it’s spares or repairs in the ad, ideally you want a breaker buying it, rather than a dreamer thinking he can bodge it through another MoT for £30....these people often fail to complete Ebay purchases once confronted with reality.

[Jim Bell]

Take it to WBAC. They fucking deserve it. Also, sorry it turned out sour man.

[Split_Pin]

Shit chap sorry to hear this. I would not feel bad about selling it to some random, up to them to check stuff on an old Alfa before buying, imo.

[RobT]

That's a pain in the balls. Are there any Alfa/Italian car specialists near you that might want it? As HMC Bjorn says, a brutally honest eBay ad might be the best route.

[bramz7]

I've slung it on eBay. I think my tenure as a cheap Alfa owner is over now...at least Fiat bits are usually a bit cheaper...

 

Now the struggle is on to find a replacement. There's some cars on the forum I've registered an interest in.

[Datsuncog]

-Both front discs are fucked.

-Many, many bushes and balljoints are dried up and toast.

-Track rod ends worn out.

-Passenger side rear tyre has worn down to the canvas on the inner edge. Looks like the rear suspension needs adjusting as well.

-BOTH front bearings are absolutely shot.

-Diesel leak from the filter.

-All the coolant has vanished in two weeks, there is some residue on the outside of a pipe feeding into the engine.

-Heavy soot on the front of the exhaust, as I had wondered if there was a leak...

-Gearbox mount on its way out.

 

other items include wipers...not a huge fuss as i knew they were crap anyway.

 

Oh dear.

 

As it was lowered down on the ramp, a rear numberplate light fell out of its holder. Cool.

Ah, bollocks. Sorry to hear that, dude. It's a list not dissimilar to what saw off my 156 JTD a few years back - brakes, suspension and gearbox issues, unstemmable coolant and oil leaks, plus quite a lot more corrosion underneath than I'd have liked, topped off with a delicate garnish of irritating electrical maladies and a snapped-off doorhandle providing the turd-flavoured cherry on top. £1500 straight down the khazi.

 

I'm told a well-sorted 156 is a marvellous thing, and the styling is indeed superb; but I'll be a mongoose's merkin before I'd have another one on the drive.

 

I was quoted £1600 to sort the issues on mine. WBAC offered me £120. So I did the only sane thing.

 

I swapped it for a beat-to-shit Laguna.

[Kringle]

EBay probably best bet but id certainly entertain the idea of bombing round a track day before sacking it off.

[Brodders]

Sorry to hear about the Alfa, however I just have to say the Fiat looks great, especially the interior.

[bramz7]

Ah, bollocks. Sorry to hear that, dude. It's a list not dissimilar to what saw off my 156 JTD a few years back - brakes, suspension and gearbox issues, unstemmable coolant and oil leaks, plus quite a lot more corrosion underneath than I'd have liked, topped off with a delicate garnish of irritating electrical maladies and a snapped-off doorhandle providing the turd-flavoured cherry on top. £1500 straight down the khazi.

 

I'm told a well-sorted 156 is a marvellous thing, and the styling is indeed superb; but I'll be a mongoose's merkin before I'd have another one on the drive.

 

I was quoted £1600 to sort the issues on mine. WBAC offered me £120. So I did the only sane thing.

 

I swapped it for a beat-to-shit Laguna.

 

Funnily enough I have an odd hankering for a MK1 Laguna estate, but all of them for sale currently are far too far away.......And I'm picking up another XM tomorrow. Do we share too many negative automotive parallels?

[bramz7]

 

It has bags (literally) of history with it.

[uk_senator]

Fingers crossed with this bastard..

[Six-cylinder]

20181006_180805.jpg

 

It has bags (literally) of history with it.

 

Nice I like that.

[Matty]

Looking on the upside you've ended up with a much more interesting car in the marea. Properly interested in following your progress with this!

[Skizzer]

20181006_180805.jpg

It has bags (literally) of history with it.

Have I turned over two pages at once? Is that XM new? Whoosh.

 

Nice, anyway. Like XMs.