The new news 24 thread

[Fat_Pirate]

I've sold my MX5... to someone on here, but it's yet to leave the premises.  

I've had this 12 years but have decided not to have long term relationships with cars anymore.  I'm going to be a lot more Bramz and experience as much interesting stuff as possible.  So I've already started considering replacements; I saw a Previa and it looked really big, so that's where I started looking:

Doesn't look too awful, £1500 from a dealer with the word 'Kar' in their name. That's good isn't it? Fun.  I look at the feedback - three 1-star reviews, followed by a barrage of 5-star ones, all 'verified purchases' but oddly all with the same grammatical and spelling errors.  I decide to look for something different.

How about this?  A very large, orange, American sack of shit - but that's enough about the president. It's just £1000, but the engine is fucked.  I held a rally in the front room to drum up support for it and promised my wife it could be fixed, and MEXICO would pay for it, but we both knew it'd still be on axle stands in 4 years time.

Nothing else on my radar yet but I'm watching the Shite for Sale forum very closely.

[xtriple]

Holy hell! I have just won a car on eBay. I never bid blind on cars but have just now and on a car with 212000 miles on the clock. Oh well, I have 'previous' for doing stupid shit...

 

Now, who wants to own a 'pristine' Mercedes CLK 320? Cheap... Actually, might have to do a 'for sale' thread as I will need to get rid.

[dieselassist]

...ive had a bit of a dose of glandular fever this last few weeks which im just recovering from; on the 'virus foreplay' initial stages of it, I ended up  agreeing to buyi this aul 90s scene relic - 'shite unsheened'having told my old man 'if its solid just put a deposit down on it' - I had to go half way up the country n collect it one Saturday morning about two weeks ago with my shitty car skateboard/ transporter job I have for much instances of folly... anyways its a 75 1300 that's been buttered up a bit with filler but its solid with some old 'could be worse' patches - drives nice n stops n steers well n was taxed n in use up till last year.... ...annoyingly to me the neighbours seem to love it, N it drew a bit of crowd during the unloading... I was jiggered with glandular fever, so let them at it; rev it up etc... not sure if its staying or I'll use it a 2nd classic car- time or common sense will tell; tho only one of them is a given...

[dieselassist]

...BTW that's a mk2 mondeo 'eggshell bumpers' turbo diesel on what looks like escort cossie style rims in the next door neighbours gaff- to the right of the beetle on the trailer; 2000 era, if any of the irish shiters are looking for  a 'life sea anchor' - its got flat tyres n is filled with bags of clothes n the interior is full of mould; south tipp area....

[gadgetgricey]

7 hours ago, xtriple said:

Holy hell! I have just won a car on eBay. I never bid blind on cars but have just now and on a car with 212000 miles on the clock. Oh well, I have 'previous' for doing stupid shit...

 

Now, who wants to own a 'pristine' Mercedes CLK 320? Cheap... Actually, might have to do a 'for sale' thread as I will need to get rid.

Not been sleeping, so just had a quick gander on eBay to see if I could find the replacement. Which I may have done. NTU.

If I'm right looks awesome.

[brownnova]

The queue for attention on my driveway... 

The van needs an oil change urgently too.... 

[egg]

12 hours ago, dieselassist said:

a dose of glandular fever this last few weeks

You have my sympathy - I had that when I was 21, knocked the stuffing out of me for weeks. Bloody horrible illness.

[Tenmil Socket]

Just had a crisp butty.

Golden Wonder cheese and onion...

[Datsuncog]

I think me and car mechanicking are reaching a parting of the ways...

Yaris failed its MOT on Friday. Rear o/s brake binding, front o/s caliper sticking. Should be simple enough. Bought a new set of shoes and pads, plus a pair of handbrake cables, thinking I may as well replace everything since they're still the factory originals - after 106k and fourteen years.

A two-spanner rating in the HBOL. Meaning any old chump should be able to do it. So I got the kit out. I've been at this shit for twenty-odd years now, I know the drill.

Did I?

No.

Not just because of mechanical ineptitude.

I couldn't even manage to get the fucking rear wheel off. Yep. That's right. I failed to even get as far as accessing the drum.

Took the nuts off, and the wheel appeared to be welded to the hub. So that was an hour of pry bars, rubber hammers, Plusgas and aggravated swearing, while the damn thing rocked and tipped on its axle stand. No movement. Solid.

Fuckit. Fuckitall.

I ended up just putting the nuts back on, and took it down to the garage this morning.

£212 to let them swear and skin their knuckles.

As others have said, fuck old cars.

I think I may be turning into a spectator rather than an active participant on these pages.

[crapcarcollector]

Been there. Sometimes it the little stuff that fucks up our mojo.

[shoddybanger]

Ya. About the only positive aspect of having to deal with a seasonal tyre change is the fact that wheels very seldom have a chance to weld themselves onto the hub.

[SiC]

Had the wheel welded to hub thing on the Boxster. I solved it with a cardboard box on the floor and whacking the backside of the tyre as hard as I could with a mallet. Took some doing but I won in the end. My theory was that there wasn't much more a garage would have done to what I was doing. 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

I couldn't even manage to get the fucking rear wheel off.

I've got round that in the past by putting the nuts back on but not tightening them, and moving said vehicle around on the drive for a short distance.

[shoddybanger]

I wonder if a spritz of penetrating oil twice a day for one week before trying to wrestle it would help.

Edit: ^^that's a good one, too

[Cavcraft]

Just won a complete, modern (2004), running Vauxhall diesel for 99p on eBay that was listed in the wrong section. What are the chances of the vendor honouring it? Non-existent, at a guess. 

[xtriple]

I have, dropped a right bollock today! I was all geared up to buy an SL350 and so advertised the CLK.  So far, so good. Went to pay for the SL and it was rough, and I didn't trust the car or the seller, to much hidden, bad vibes man so I made an excuse and left.  In the meantime, some wise and generous soul had bought the CLK and wanted to collect tomorrow which I had agreed to... Argh!

So new car no good, old car going to a good home in 24 hours time. I need transport and in a hurry!

Much perusing of eBay, Autotrader, Gumtree and a sickening sense of despair begining to sink in. Went and looked at a car locally, rougher than a rough thing on a rough day even though advertised as mint (perhaps he meant a Polo?)  so walked and made more phone calls. One car I rang about had been sold and another had just gone wrong and was in being repaired which didn't bode well. So rang another guy who had some seriously nice cars for sale and one SLK 350 that was nearly in budget.

Could I live with being a hairdresser again?

Too right...

But, he wasn't available until 5 today. Sodding hell fire!

So I went and pestered car dealers and found an SLK 200 that was cheap, tidy and an auto (much needed as legs are optional) but showing the beginins of rust again (bubbles festering under the paint as with all old Mercs) and so went to see the out of budget but newer SLK 350.

All was going well until the dealer drove the car out for me and straight into a low bollard! Front right side of bumper a tad deranged!  What a shame as the car is absolutely mint (without a Polo's hole) with a full MB history. Still, took it out for a drive and it goes like a rocket and really, REALLY nice without a mark anywhere on the body and no paintwork previously done. So, the car is going in for a bumper repair and I should get it Thursday/Friday with some luck.

[Cavcraft]

Is that the newer (2005?) onwards SLK, Dave? Bloody nice looking cars them.

[xtriple]

58 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Is that the newer (2005?) onwards SLK, Dave? Bloody nice looking cars them.

It is indeed   Goes like a rocket and it's got.... wait for it.... 7 gears! Loads of toys to play with and buttons to press and things to break or generally fook up! Which I'm sure I will manage admirably  

I am looking forward to getting it to be honest I do like a mint motor car. I think (sadly) that my car defines me, so I guess an SLK defines e as a ladyboy in hiding!

[Bren]

The carpetof the passat has SD1 levels of water. Not coming in through the scuttle but via the doors - in particular the front. Rainwater is getting past the seal used between the door and the plate that holds all the furniture. Purists would buy new sealing cord from VW however purity was never my stronpoint so black silicone was used. Just need to dry the foam out under the carpets.

 

[HMC]

^ At least you’ve found the cause. Unhappy memories here flooding back (ahem) of my Passat. One desperate measure on my part being to seal that plastic cased set of relays in the passenger footwell in its own watertight Jiffy bag. Fuck you water ingress.

[GBJ]

On 8/10/2019 at 10:57 PM, Tadhg Tiogar said:

To be fair, readjusting it (which these cars seem to require at regular intervals) isn't the easiest so I've kind of left it as it is.... ....and this handy Norwegian CX guide only slightly simplifies the process.

The MoT tester may fail it this year (he sort of blanked it last year) for that reason, so it will have to be done again.

They certainly look very French in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwnSR7BF-x0

[Cavcraft]

51 minutes ago, Bren said:

The carpetof the passat has SD1 levels of water. Not coming in through the scuttle but via the doors - in particular the front. Rainwater is getting past the seal used between the door and the plate that holds all the furniture. Purists would buy new sealing cord from VW however purity was never my stronpoint so black silicone was used. Just need to dry the foam out under the carpets.

 

Get used to it, M8, they're fucking awful for this.

[xtriple]

I have started the long winded clean of the CLK... well, washed it. That's a start right?

[Christine]

11 minutes ago, xtriple said:

I have started the long winded clean of the CLK... well, washed it. That's a start right?

Get Specialist Cars to do it  for you .

[iainrcz]

Well my mental brain has kicked in again.
Went for a piss at 1am, got back in bed and off it went "blah blah blah, work, mortgage, mum Ill, football tomorrow"
Laid listening to it for an hour and then thought bollocks, so phone and tea it is.

Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk

[Split_Pin]

Pretty much my sleep pattern for the past 3 or 4 months. I used to love my scratcher, now it's just a place I lie with my mind churning over like my maw's old Twin Tub.

[mitsisigma01]

12 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Just won a complete, modern (2004), running Vauxhall diesel for 99p on eBay that was listed in the wrong section. What are the chances of the vendor honouring it? Non-existent, at a guess. 

I thought that is the going rate for old vauxhalls nowadays with 12 months ticket of course ??

[stuboy]

Saw loads of foreign minis traveling back to the docks, was there a show on?

 

Only managed to snap a few.

[SiC]

11 minutes ago, stuboy said:

Saw loads of foreign minis traveling back to the docks, was there a show on?

 

Only managed to snap a few.

There was the Mini international show on in Bristol at the weekend. Kept seeing minis all over Bristol on the weekend. 

Given the amount of rain and bad weather we had over the weekend, I imagine there will be far less making the trip back. Rusted away over the weekend from being sat in a soggy field. Just one big pile of rust sitting in the middle. 

[Kiltox]

25 minutes ago, stuboy said:

Saw loads of foreign minis traveling back to the docks, was there a show on?

 

Only managed to snap a few.

When I was in Perthshire in April I saw an absolute FUCKTON of Minis from the Netherlands - not afraid of a bit of travel clearly!