The new news 24 thread

[IronStar]

I left 156 sitting outside without driving it for a bit too long. Went to pick something up from it the other day…oh, no remote unlock. Right, nevermind I’ll just jumpstart it

Nope. Battery completely flat. 
Left it like this for 5 minutes, tried to start. Nope. Try locking with no cables. Nope. Tried a few more times. Nope.

So I set there idling for half an hour, and the result is it can lock and unlock on remote. Took the battery out, plugged in Lidl charger expecting it to say no as usual. It’s actually detected and charging! 
Let’s see if it actually gets charged to start the car.

[stuboy]

For 2 months I've been tell er'indoors I think the battery is dying but ignored (typical female not listening to the man/expert [ joking before the soap boxes get took out the cupboard ] and now suddenly she's taking notice and saying think there something wrong )..

 

[plasticvandan]

My dad's sent me a picture of his back garden this morning 😟😢

[ruffgeezer]

Fuck.

1 hour ago, plasticvandan said:

My dad's sent me a picture of his back garden this morning 😟😢

 

[plasticvandan]

Obviously no idea as to extent of the damage,it may have snapped the chassis in half,it may equally have just stuck two fingers up at the tree and barely done anything,unlikely though.it has saved the house and conservatory where the dogs sleep by being there though. Poor Somerset:-(

[Dyslexic Viking]

Thats sad, hope the car can be saved.

But it shows the importance and not have trees close to the house or other things. Here, all trees that were a danger were cut down shortly after the purchase for that reason.

[Angrydicky]

3 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

My dad's sent me a picture of his back garden this morning 😟😢

Fuck that is a horrible sight. 
I have sent you the details of a chap who has loads of panels and absolutely everything else for Somersets. 
On the plus side it looks like it’s missed the roof so if you’re really lucky the nose cone might have taken the bulk of the damage. For those that don’t know, the entire front end unbolts on a Somerset and can be changed, Graham whose details I have sent over has several good secondhand ones, perhaps even a nos one.

[Zelandeth]

36 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Thats sad, hope the car can be saved.

But it shows the importance and not have trees close to the house or other things. Here, all trees that were a danger were cut down shortly after the purchase for that reason.

Sadly it's way more difficult to get that done over here in many cases than it should be.  We'd love to get shot of the ones on one of our boundaries (and re-plant something more appropriate) as they're way, way too big.  However the local authority say no.  Imagine plenty of folks across the country are in a similar boat.

[plasticvandan]

Not his trees either,he will enjoy sticking this one on his log burner though I'm sure

[Dyslexic Viking]

56 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

Not his trees either,he will enjoy sticking this one on his log burner though I'm sure

Then the owner of the tree should be responsible and compensate for the damage?

[chadders]

2 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Then the owner of the tree should be responsible and compensate for the damage?

It's classed as an 'Act of God' or something like that so the owner isn't responsible unless they're considered to be negligent. We had a very large branch from a conifer just graze a new house that was built behind us, it was supposed to be at least 10ft or more from our boundary but was built about 1ft away.

He paid for the damage and removal, presumably through his house insurance.

A lot of our trees have preservation orders on them so even getting them trimmed can be a bit of an ordeal.

 

[plasticvandan]

Yes something like unless can prove they were rotten and dangerous,which they weren't,house insurance would only cover the fence panel.

Knowing my dad he will either spring into action and fix it as a matter of not being beaten,or it will sit for a while while he works out what to do with it.crap time of year for doing much though.

[Zelandeth]

Couple of small branches down in the garden so far, the power has blinked out a few times and our broadband seems to be struggling, but so far we're still in one piece.  Lot of crap landing on the conservatory roof and making a godawful racket though!

[Split_Pin]

Changed the thermostat on the red Audi (again). Made 100% easier with the tiny ratchet set my 2 doors down neighbour Peter gave me. They might be a bit rusty but they did the job splendidly. 

I'm just waiting on it bleeding down overnight and to check for leaks then it's back on the road with it.

 

[comfortablynumb]

5 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Sadly it's way more difficult to get that done over here in many cases than it should be.  We'd love to get shot of the ones on one of our boundaries (and re-plant something more appropriate) as they're way, way too big.  However the local authority say no.  Imagine plenty of folks across the country are in a similar boat.

Ahem . Copper nails. Ahem

You didn't hear that from me 🙏

[AnthonyG]

While heartbreaking to look at, that Somerset pic does show how basically strong those cars are, if the tree had landed on something from about 1970 onwards, it would be whatever the height of the engine block would be off the ground, not lying across the bonnet and front wings…the tyres haven’t even burst. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

Lazy collection collage from yesterday:

Hairdresser's 4x2 has landed.

The AS Bad Idea Bears were at it again (Mr. @Stinkwheel in the eBay Tat Thread 👍) and, seeing as we 'needed' something with a towbar - why not?

A leggy, 2 door,  FreeLoader td4 (note the small type, I have now learned that in LandySpeak TD4 and td4 are not the same thing). 
Needs a little TLC - exhaust blow, brakes a bit 'meh' (maybe TADT), no windscreen washer and front tyres almost on the wear marks. 
'Sport Premium' 🙄 model which just means it gets full leather, lowered springs, 235/50/18 tyres on decent looking alloys. Missing propshafts and vicious viscous coupling - no surprise at 164,000 miles .
Blatted it home A14 > M6 > M54 > civilisation with no untoward bangs or leaks. Corners well.  Audibly has an M47 diesel under the bonnet.
£25 off to DVLA for logbook/SORN and the car is now sitting outside waiting for some decent weather to give it a proper lookover/oil/filters etc.
Earliest MOT is 14th Jan - if it sails that then fit 13 pin electrics, dog guard behind rear seats, stick two decent tyres on the front and I reckon it'll handle 750kg of Freedom Caravan just fine.

 

[wuvvum]

It's been pretty windy here but we haven't had it as bad as some parts of the country.  It was quite amusing though being outside in the garden and watching a flight of geese go over at about 150mph...

[Snake Charmer]

11 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

It's been pretty windy here but we haven't had it as bad as some parts of the country.  It was quite amusing though being outside in the garden and watching a flight of geese go over at about 150mph...

Lol at the geese! We had a fair bit of high wind near Heathrow, one minute it was cold rain then quite a warm breeze when the wind dropped, bizarre.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Snake Charmer said:

Lol at the geese! We had a fair bit of high wind near Heathrow, one minute it was cold rain then quite a warm breeze when the wind dropped, bizarre.

I thought that this afternoon when I went outside. I expected it to be cold after the wind and rain but it was actually oddly warm. 
 

[wuvvum]

The elusive stereo I bought for the Merc finally got delivered on Thursday, and I fitted it yesterday.

 

It's an Android unit but specific fit to the car and it looks similar enough to the original Comand system as to not be too noticeable.  I'm not sure what version of Android it runs but it's modern enough that I can still download and install apps from the Play Store.  It sounds decent enough too, at least on the radio - I haven't tried it with CDs yet.  It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and it also has the ability to take a SIM card, although that needs an adapter that didn't come with it.  Overall though it's rather more capable than the Comand system was.  One oddity is that it seems to be expecting a reversing camera to be installed - when I engage reverse the radio goes off and the screen goes black.  I might install a camera if I can find out how to connect it to the unit (there's no port on the back so presumably needs another adapter) - it'd be a useful thing to have given that the car doesn't have parking sensors (a bit of an odd omission given that it's generally quite high spec).

I've just reassembled the dashboard loosely for now as I have a GPS antenna adapter on the way - the unit came with a plug-in antenna that would sit on the dash top, but as the car came with sat nav from the factory it has a built-in antenna which will be neater, but the connector is different.  So once that turns up I'm going to pull everything back out to fit that and the hands free mic which also came in the box.

I've also now got a replacement exhaust section to fit between the turbo and the cat, but it wasn't really the weather to be scrabbling around under the bonnet this weekend, so that's going to have to wait a bit longer.  I'm not particularly looking forward to it - it's one of those jobs that should take 10 minutes but is almost certainly going to be a right pain in the arse.

[wuvvum]

32 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I thought that this afternoon when I went outside. I expected it to be cold after the wind and rain but it was actually oddly warm. 
 

The Ampera was showing an extra 5 miles of electric range tonight over what it was saying on Thursday (it hasn't been charged in the meantime).

[High Jetter]

Temp was 18 degrees here at 8pm. Still bloody windy tho.

[Snake Charmer]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

The elusive stereo I bought for the Merc finally got delivered on Thursday, and I fitted it yesterday

There's a whole new world to explore when you enter the Chinese Android rabbit hole. 🐇

[Split_Pin]

I thought Storm Bert had passed on Saturday morning but a fresh yellow warning was issued running from midnight to 10am on Monday. It's ten past 3 in the morning and I'm currently lying awake listening to my house moving.

[Split_Pin]

A year ago today I collected this from Newcastle.

Its not often I keep a car for this long  these days but it served Mrs_Pin faultlessly until September when the grey one came on fleet. It is continuing to provide the same good service to me. Regularly returns 45-50mpg. I forget to fill it up sometimes as it goes so long on whatever amount I put in the tank.

All its needed in the year I've owned it is a wheel bearing, 2 driveshafts and a couple of thermostats. I had the belts done when I got it as well.  I also replaced the driver's seat base, cupholder (still doesn't work but at least the facing is intact) armrest (old one fell to bits, so did this one about a week later 😂) and passenger mirror glass. Ideally needs a wing but they are unavailable anywhere.

Good times!

[Westbay]

7 hours ago, wuvvum said:

The Ampera was showing an extra 5 miles of electric range tonight over what it was saying on Thursday (it hasn't been charged in the meantime).

Ambient temp affects the 'range' ...

[wuvvum]

Speaking of anniversaries...

18 years ago today I was sat at home idly browsing eBay when I received a message from a user going by the moniker Mouseflakes.  He said that he'd noticed I was bidding on a lot of the same cars as him (this was back in the good old days when you could actually see who you were bidding against), and he thought I might enjoy a web forum dedicated to obscure old cars, called autoshite.com.  I was dimly aware of the site's existence (I think I'd seen it mentioned in Practical Classics) but I'd never visited before.  I had a look at the site, liked what I saw and signed up.

I can't remember exactly what was in the fleet at the time.  I had the Volvo 164, obviously, and I think my daily was a Mk1 Jetta automatic.  There would have been at least one Saab in the mix, a van of some sort and I think I also had a Spacy, although not my current one.  The Mobylette was still in storage in France at the time.

A child born on that day would now be celebrating their arrival into adulthood, which does make me stop and wonder what I'm doing with my life!  Some cars now considered AS fodder weren't even built at the time.  In those 18 years I've had one house move, one new job and probably 400 cars (many of them bought from shiters, many more sold on to shiters after I'd finished with them).  Autoshite has changed almost beyond recognition in that time, but there's still a few of the original members around and actively posting, and there are still enough occasional flashes of the traits which originally attracted me to the forum to keep me hanging around like a bad penny...

[Yoss]

Even when I'm not in a Škoda I seem to attract other Škodas. 

 

I know it's been said many times before about the size of modern cars but these are just about the smallest modern cars you can buy, yet it towers over my Triumph which was considered a medium sized family car at the time. A Herald is smaller than this. 

I must admit if I ever have to move in to the 21st century I quite like the idea of one of these. Not necessarily a Škoda but any of the Up! family. 

[Split_Pin]

My grey Audi, built in March 2008 was one month old when I joined up. I would never have thought that I would buy something like that , even two of them, from here for a shade over a thousand pounds each many years later.

Glad that you are still posting and that a few of the others are too. We've moved with the times from when you could easily get an MOT'd Renault 9 or a Maxi for £500, through the MK1 Laguna phase and now even electric cars, a type almost unheard of in popular motoring, back in the mid to late 2000s are regularly cropping up in the For Sale thread for under £5k.