The new news 24 thread

[RayMK]

On page 1325, 22nd June, I mentioned that my Stellar was in for its MOT.  Well, it is still at the garage.  The replacement caliper ordered by the garage arrived and, as I expected, it was the wrong type (the piston in the old one would not retract to allow fitting of new pads).  My Stellar, being an '88 model, requires calipers suitable for a vented disc, not the twin piston type for the thinner solid disc which ebay sellers, most motor factors and even some Hyundai dealers assume were fitted to the entire production run.  My caliper was therefore sent away for refurbishment and its return is awaited.  Presumably, with the extra time required to refurbish the caliper, I may have to pay for another MOT when everything is back together and working despite it being left with the garage to sort out after failure on 22nd.  Oh well.  I like the car and the garage which is doing the MOT + rectification.  I'll grin and bear it    .

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Found my caliper rattle - it's the anti rattle spring not doing its job. I arsed around trying to bend it into all sorts of shapes but I think it's given up on life.

 

I can't find them for sale anywhere either. Bum hats.

 

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[twosmoke300]

Try the APEC braking catalog

[Fat_Pirate]

Been car shopping again today.  After yesterday's wasted trip to Wales to look at a hurriedly-bodged CLK,  we went back to our original plan of a Saab 9-3.  Quite a lot of miles on the clock but it looked good in the photos, surely worth a trip to deepest Croydon?

Fuck me, London is horrible and somehow even more depressingly bleak on a summers day.  Anyway, we eventually find the garage (a grim rabbit warren off a street full of fast-food joints and payday loan places), and initially it looks good.  Then I start it up, and straightaway there's a warning light for failed traction control.  Apparently the owner 'personally tests all vehicles to ensure customer satisfaction', how did he not notice that big flashing light?  Perhaps he was distracted by the broken aircon.  It did have lots of history though... but only 1 bill was for this car.

 

We went home, but not without getting stuck in traffic on the M25 which is how I like to spend a sunny afternoon.

 

I'm now thinking of buying a car privately, it seems scarcely any more risky than buying from these shyster dealers.  I've never spent this sort of money though (£3K), but I suppose I can always threaten to burn the seller's house down if a sidelight blows on the way home.  

[Ghosty]

As I mentioned, E36! For £3k you'll probably get one of the best out there, probably less.

[cobblers]

at 3 grand you might as well buy private, any backstreet 3 grand car dealer is going to be time served fobbing off much angrier customers than you are, any warranty is about as good as the paper it (probably isn't) written on.

Buy private and put the 500/1k you'd save in your pocket for when it does go wrong. It'll be a lot easier and less hassle to just fix the bugger yourself than it would be to get a slimey backstreet dealer to sort it, and you know any "warranty" work would be done at the absolute bottom "put a coat of hammerite on it and reuse the headgasket" sort of level.

[barmatt]

After 2 ftp's in the Bedford camper in the last few weeks I got royally pissed off with it and sold it today to a woman in Aylesbury. She seems very nice and has asked if I could deliver it. So we're delivering it on Wednesday with a stop over on Tuesday night to say goodbye to the old bugger. 

 

Obviously this isn't the end of our campervaning, I've already found a 1987 Talbot autotrail that I'm buying in the next coupe of weeks. I'm sure that'll be more reliable* than the Bedford.

[trigger]

I randomly bumped into a friend this evening whilst collecting a Indian who bought this super fit Camero, i had a sit in it and everything, ok it's big and macho and very American but what a car, it sounds amazing too.

 

 

 

 

[DeeJay]

^^^Bugger me", you're not going to lose that in the car park.

[Kiltox]

That Camaro is fit.

 

I am knackered. Another 4am coach journey!

[bramz7]

Bought this yesterday. Tired of broken cars so paid more for this then I've ever paid before.

 

 

It's lovely! Full report later. Maybe.

[stuboy]

Being crippled up unable to drive i wobbled out to the car and leather dye my drivers seat.

[oldcars]

Being crippled up unable to drive i wobbled out to the car and leather dye my drivers seat.

That looks good. Need to do mine soon too.

[tooSavvy]

^^^Bugger me", you're not going to lose that park it in the car park spaces.

 

EFA

 

TS

[Fat_Pirate]

I want your AX, Bramz7!  

[beko1987]

I want your AX, Bramz7!

Give it 2 months then send him a pm!

[bramz7]

Unfortunately* this one is for keeps. Bored of selling stuff now.

[bramz7]

Not revealed it yet. I still have it though! Dunno why I decided to make it a secret...

[Bobthebeard]

Yay!

The Saab still has an unblemished MOT history. No fails in eleven years. WooHoo.

Bit mystified by the oil leak advisory though, couldn't find one, but am happy nontheless.

[stuboy]

i want to hover my car out but dont live near enough to the road unless use multiple extensions..

[Bobthebeard]

i want to hover my car out but dont live near enough to the road unless use multiple extensions..

Errr....

Eh?

[stuboy]

*hoover

[Matt]

i want to hover hoover my car out but dont live near enough to the road unless use multiple extensions..

 

That one extra O totally transforms that entire sentence. Buy a new extension? I've got a 30 meter one and I could wrap it around the house at least three times so unless you live in a country mansion and park your car at the gate house...

[MorrisItalSLX]

News from the upside-down world of Jaguar daily driving:

 

1) Passenger side wiper packed it in - Any suggestions?

2) Drove it at night for the first time (only after a year of ownership!)

3) Turns out the headlights need realignment and cut out occasionally when on high beam - Any suggestions?

4) Much dirt road driving completed, desperately needs a wash

5) Temperamental air conditioning fixed with cable ties and sticky tape

6) Went over some bumps, an air vent & the rev counter fell out, yet to be reinstalled

 

all-in-all, a typical week in the drivers seat for me.

[SiC]

My parents have offered me their car - 2010 Audi A4 2.0 tdi for £3k. Currently has a lumpy idle but they're going to try getting that fixed before selling it to me.

 

I'm no VAG fan, it's done 160k miles and really don't want another diesel. However it's a pretty smart looking car still and cartakeback will pay £2.1k in scrap as a non-runner.

 

I'll probably will go for it, as a replacement for the Laguna. Laguna is far less a liability mind!

So far its looking like the Pressure Regulator Valve - some valve that lives on the fuel rail that controls the fuel pressure to it. To cut a long story short, the garage working on it disconnected the valve and the running massively improved. Waiting on the part to come from Audi to know for sure.

 

Looking at this Picoscope thread, it appears a fairly common problem: https://www.picoauto.com/support/topic14041.html

 

Might be one for the mechanics in this thread to remember and keep in the back of their minds.

[Matt]

Just sold this tonight. £50 with a few days MOT left but scrap were only going to offer maybe £30. Went to a friend and a trader friend of his so remarkably this shit heap is going to live for another year.

 

2004 Renault Clio Authentique (1/2) by MattLikesCars, on Flickr

[RayMK]

Picked up my Stellar this evening, MOT'd for another year.  Instead of driving straight home (3 miles), I had a pleasant 40 miles trip around the lanes to quell my withdrawal symptoms.  Just the rusty rear wheel arches to tidy up before winter starts eating them again. 

[trigger]

This evening i went to view this BMW 525e which was advertised on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132248822683

 

It was very local and really caught my eye so it was worth a look, it turned out that it belongs to a local garage owner who i know who buys cars to sell, he didn't really want to sell this but said i could have it for £2800, it drove really bloody lovely for a old car with nearly 200k, it honestly felt like it had done less than half that mileage and the 2.7 6 cylinder sounded amazing.

 

 

 

The interior was remarkable too, the leather had no damage, everything works other than a rear window and apparently its a rare spec with heated leather seats and switchable auto?.

 

 

Sadly thats were things started to go down hill, the rust was worse than i hoped, a rear door had a hole and the front door was rotten inside the shut and inside base.

 

 

The rear valance was quite soft and snotty with a small hole in the inside rear arch base and one arch was bubbling.

 

 

And other sills with scabby and looked a bit soft, especially the wing bases.

 

 

That said none of it looked awful and all seemed relatively straight forwards to tidy up. He said he would service it for £2800 too, I'm really quite tempted as i was taken too it but it just seems a bit expensive considering the rusty bits?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Just sold this tonight. £50 with a few days MOT left but scrap were only going to offer maybe £30. Went to a friend and a trader friend of his so remarkably this shit heap is going to live for another year.

 

2004 Renault Clio Authentique (1/2) by MattLikesCars, on Flickr

Why are these clios worth the square root of fuck all?

 

Do a search in gumtree for sub £300 cars and a mountain of them appear. My brother is currently looking at one near him for £170 with a years ticket...

 

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[dollywobbler]

Oh Jeepers. I felt actual disappointment with the rusty Beemer pics, and I wasn't the one who was looking to buy it. I've loved those cars since I was about seven.