The new news 24 thread

[Split_Pin]

9 hours ago, bunglebus said:

(it's been found now)

"Witnesses say after the break-in they watched the Minor drive away for 3 days"

[richardmorris]

One of the remoter neighbour's gardens here. 

[Pat Earrings]

Serviced the new steed today, it won’t be pressed into full use until the timing belt is done this week. I’ve got that booked into a Vauxhall specialist I’ve used before who are brilliant.

It’s a 2016 VX line Nav model. Updated B20DTH engine so it’s euro 6. Drives absolutely spot on, quite low miles at only 106k. I’ve always liked these and the improved engine is actually smooth. The filter is on the top unlike its predecessor. Larger screen with built in Apple car play and the body kit and 19” wheels really suit the styling and colour. 
 

previous owner put 4 brand new all season tyres on and a new quality battery. Came with some decent history too. The servicing  on this was incredibly easy.

[lesapandre]

Fleamarket find.. box of these tea and cigarette cards. Was worth getting out in the cold.

[lesapandre]

5 hours ago, richardmorris said:

One of the remoter neighbour's gardens here. 

When can I move in?  Looks a great location.

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, Pat Earrings said:

Serviced the new steed today, it won’t be pressed into full use until the timing belt is done this week. I’ve got that booked into a Vauxhall specialist I’ve used before who are brilliant.

It’s a 2016 VX line Nav model. Updated B20DTH engine so it’s euro 6. Drives absolutely spot on, quite low miles at only 106k. I’ve always liked these and the improved engine is actually smooth. The filter is on the top unlike its predecessor. Larger screen with built in Apple car play and the body kit and 19” wheels really suit the styling and colour. 
 

previous owner put 4 brand new all season tyres on and a new quality battery. Came with some decent history too. The servicing  on this was incredibly easy.

How’s your experience with Ceratec?

[Pat Earrings]

2 minutes ago, IronStar said:

How’s your experience with Ceratec?

I have been using it religiously for at least a couple years now all the cars I’ve had. It’s brilliant stuff. Really is worth the money. Engines sound smoother and just gives added piece of mind

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

When can I move in?  Looks a great location.

Any idea what model/year the caravan is? I’m guessing 1940s? 
I’ve seen it for years but first decent photo I’ve had with the winter hedges. 
 

ps. One of the neighbouring places is coming up for rent soon.

 

pps. This is the view in the other direction..

[lesapandre]

Article highlighting to watch out for the scam 'charging sites' for tolls or all the other zones and things we pay for on the road these days.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jan/11/dartford-crossing-drivers-scam-websites-fines-dart-charge-penalty-charge-notice

[lesapandre]

15 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Any idea what model/year the caravan is? I’m guessing 1940s? 
I’ve seen it for years but first decent photo I’ve had with the winter hedges. 
 

ps. One of the neighbouring places is coming up for rent soon.

 

pps. This is the view in the other direction..

I'd guess a little later - possibly 1960's. 

[Metal Guru]

29 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

I'd guess a little later - possibly 1960's. 

More importantly, how many bodies are inside?

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Article highlighting to watch out for the scam 'charging sites' for tolls or all the other zones and things we pay for on the road these days.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jan/11/dartford-crossing-drivers-scam-websites-fines-dart-charge-penalty-charge-notice

Round here we've been warned about fake QR codes on RingGo car park signs - apparently RingGo don't use QR codes.

[Dyslexic Viking]

How not having Mots is like.

 

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

M6 opens half a day early after successful railway bridge installation

[Metal Guru]

2 hours ago, Momentary Lapse Of Reason said:

M6 opens half a day early after successful railway bridge installation

But wasn’t it closed further down due to a car on fire?

[lesapandre]

Out and about in London today in the rain - and saw this Honda Coupe.

Got me thinking that there was a time when Honda's were cool - or maybe they just get old and become cool - or maybe they are cool these days and I've not noticed...But anyway it was a nice car that prompted me to stop, take a look and grab a pic. 😎 

[richardmorris]

@Six-cylinder

 

[Brigsy]

Engine and box sold off the megane breaker today which give a slight bit of motivation to do some more car stuff.  Got small heater on in garage and mocked up my new turbo setup for 500hp kangoo.

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

@Six-cylinder

 

I didn't get anything like that even for my 50k mile convertible!

[ruffgeezer]

Freelander gone, replaced with an XC90 - it's not perfect but I know roughly what I'm on with a Volvo, it certainly wants engine mounts checking. 

[grogee]

On 08/01/2026 at 16:42, Wibble said:

Yes, it’s being replaced with a main dealer part. I’d seen examples of repairs to the strip but I’m not up for that. Yep, coding sounded dear to me but I’m stuck with it now. Needed the car fixed asap too.

You could buy your own diagnostic kit and the part for less, Shirley? 

That said if you need it in a hurry, they have you over a barrel. 

Could an indy not do a clockspring for less £? 

[Wibble]

22 minutes ago, grogee said:

You could buy your own diagnostic kit and the part for less, Shirley? 

That said if you need it in a hurry, they have you over a barrel. 

Could an indy not do a clockspring for less £? 

Probably but irrelevant now as all fixed. Needed the car back for work. Like a numpty, I posted the outcome on the grumpy thread, instead of being consistent and putting it here🤦‍♂️

[IronStar]

On 12/12/2025 at 16:11, IronStar said:

It's a good fucking thing I dropped it off in the shop today before I buy more shit for it. 😆

The shop called to tell me that they want to get engine out, which is always a good sign that everything is mint* 🤣  Also we can do this, but am…you have…some welding needed here. 

It’s fucking fucked m8, totally. Initial estimate over 2k, or as my friend puts it “ah, so they’re preparing you to tell you 3 once they tally it all up”.  That’s without bodywork.  Way more than the car is worth, even as a low mileage minter, not at 360k km.

So, end of the road then? Fuck no, it’s getting fixed! I authorized the repairs, and I’m popping by for a chat tomorrow.

I really love that car, I would be very very sad if it ever went away and I could help it. 

[wuvvum]

On 10/01/2026 at 11:44, richardmorris said:

One of the remoter neighbour's gardens here. 

Is that where Andrew is living now?

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, IronStar said:

It’s fucking fucked m8, totally. Initial estimate over 2k, or as my friend puts it “ah, so they’re preparing you to tell you 3 once they tally it all up”.  That’s without bodywork.  Way more than the car is worth, even as a low mileage minter, not at 360k km.

So, end of the road then? Fuck no, it’s getting fixed! I authorized the repairs, and I’m popping by for a chat tomorrow.

[wuvvum]

The Rover got a new battery today.

The battery on the Toyota died a while ago and I was just going to buy it a new 063, but then I thought for the sake of an extra tenner I might as well do things semi-properly, so I bought an 096 for the Rover and put the 075 from the Rover in the Toyota.  (If I'd been doing it "fully" properly I would have bought an 019 for the Merc and then stuck the 096 from that in the Rover, but am I bollocks going to manoeuvre an 019 into the cramped battery housing buried deep at the back of the engine bay under the cabin filter.  Getting the old 019 out nearly put my back out.)

On the subject of the Merc, it pinged up a message on Friday night advising me to check the oil level at the next fuel stop.  I checked it on Saturday and it was indeed just above the minimum level, so I tipped a litre in which brought it back up to just below max.  It's done just under 3,500 miles since I changed the oil - 1 litre per 3,500 miles is more than the Rover uses but still within the limits of what is considered "normal" for a high mileage OM642, so I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Not much else has happened on the fleet as it's been too bloody cold.  I gave the Leapmotor a wash and treated the paint with some Diamondbrite ceramic coating stuff to try and give it a sporting chance against seagull shite, but that's about it.  It's still a little odd to me to have a car that not only needs no fettling, but that I technically wouldn't be allowed to fettle even if I wanted to...

[EyesWeldedShut]

CLK - that'll do nicely. Aiming for the 200,000 mile club for next MOT then?  🤔
Advisories on arse end rust (as usual), inner track rod (cheap as chips) and the two rear tyres are at 2.2 and 2.9mm.
Full set of tyres ordered for fitting this week, track rod from CarPartsInMotion (will fit once W203 is alive)  and I may chuck some fluids around the rear subframe in better weather.  Other than the aircon condenser it's not needed any parts since the last MOT - Happy days

[goosey]

when Screwfix said relaxed fit they wasn’t wrong 

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 minute ago, goosey said:

when Screwfix said relaxed fit they wasn’t wrong 

Chillout trews?

[IronStar]

On 12/01/2026 at 21:14, IronStar said:

The shop called to tell me that they want to get engine out, which is always a good sign that everything is mint* 🤣  Also we can do this, but am…you have…some welding needed here. 

It’s fucking fucked m8, totally. Initial estimate over 2k, or as my friend puts it “ah, so they’re preparing you to tell you 3 once they tally it all up”.  That’s without bodywork.  Way more than the car is worth, even as a low mileage minter, not at 360k km.

So, end of the road then? Fuck no, it’s getting fixed! I authorized the repairs, and I’m popping by for a chat tomorrow.

I really love that car, I would be very very sad if it ever went away and I could help it. 

Got a call back, new* injectors are good, clutch is away to get reinforced. New* high-pressure pump is being checked for leaks, and they're asking for approval to send it away for resealing if they suspect anything.

The engine is out.
Is there a seal that isn't leaking and fucked?
We're bathing the fucker in degreaser so we can see what exactly is leaking, but probably not. Jesus man, this car was seriously neglected. 
Sorry? 🫣

To be continued