JT’s low cost big liability fleet - Big Cat Rescue (Me)

[J-T]

Shit man, one’s enough!!

I actually quite fancy another GF8 Impreza but from a quick perusal it would appear they are all gone and those that aren’t are ruined.

[J-T]

Holy thread revival!

If you often visit the For Sale section, you may have seen I'm flogging my beemer. I did write about it a bit in this thread but no one really seemed arsed so I gave it its own in the moderns section. This is a questionable decision, as it really is brilliant car, so much so I've kept it for 2 and half years which is eons for me, mainly because I could not think of anything that would be better. So naturally, I've bought something that, on most levels, is worse. But it has personality, which is the one thing bimmer lacks. 

@Crispian_J_Hotson's most recent purchase clearly had an effect on me, because I've gone and ripped him right off.

Some fancy pants images there from its advert. I bought via a Car & Classic auction which proved very painless, would recommend, picked it up today. Initial impressions are...well if I'm honest at first I was a bit underwhelmed. It's a 400bhp supercharged V8 and at first the bimmer felt quicker. However, it's mega deceptive. Because it's quite a big, heavy lump and set up for refinement, you just don't realise how much speed it's picked up until you look down and 'OH SHIT'. It's a very progressive power delivery as well - I was expecting more of a thump, but that's not really its style at all. Once I'd figured it out a bit, we were wafting along in harmony.

I stuck a full tank in it and was expecting it to chew through much of that on the 100 mile drive home, but it used exactly a quarter of a tank and returned 28.5mpg according to the trip computer! That was with the cruise set at 70 (where it's doing 1500rpm) and the odd bit of naughtiness. It was mostly motorway though, so I'm sure once I get on my hideous stop/start East Lancs road commute that will half. So far I'm really liking it, but it's MOT is due next month so we'll see how long that lasts! Sills have already been done apparently.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Well gawd dang it son! What was it like to buy one and actually do some driving in it?

Did you get the phone pack with it?

Would you be needing those front wings there?

Hope that it's of minimal financial ruin for you. 

Welcome to the world of S Type ownership... Now that's two people that like it in the R's... Any more?

[J-T]

I’ll let you know… so far I’ve only driven it home 😄

It does indeed have an ancient Nokia hiding in the glovebox. I need to look into if anything can be done to update it to Bluetooth. I doubt it like

[J-T]

I’m up in the Scottish highlands in this thing. It’s proven really lovely for this sort of trip. I’ve been a bit underwhelmed up to now but it’s really come into its own on the roads up here, whilst swallowing loads of luggage and general life paraphernalia. I’ll post a photo of the rear tyres once I’m back. They were barely legal when I left but I thought they’d be ok to leave until we’re back - I was wrong! 

It’s not been plain sailing though. On the way up, coming out of Pitlochry I booted it up a slip road and got an MIL. I now have this mantra permanently displayed

It’s not happy and won’t rev past about 2500rpm, though thankfully can be driven normally below that. At that point it feels as though it’s hitting the rev limiter but I don’t know if that’s an artificial limiter it has imposed on itself or if it’s a coil breaking down or something. How heartening with a 350 mile drive home tomorrow. I rang a jag specialist local to me to book it in next week but he can’t fit it in until 15th March. I’m hoping that’s a good sign. I’ve a feeling this is about to wallet rape me, I definitely need 2 rear tyres at around £350, its MOT is due next month and it’s throwing a wobbly about something. Great purchasing by me as always. Still, this fella seemed quite taken with it 

And finally, if you’ve never been up here, please do. It’s our 3rd time now and the roads and scenery are like nowhere else 

[J-T]

Well it’s gotten us home. Albeit it would appear to have chucked half the fuel it’s used out of the exhaust. MPG went down from 27/28 to 21. Hopefully it’s not shagged the cats.

I might buy a code reader and see what it’s saying before it goes in to Mr Jag. I’m thinking MAF/coils.

Oh, and it has utterly and totally LUNCHED the rear tyres in 1000 miles. It would appear when Kumho tyres get low, they have fuck all left to give. I’m not posting a photo as they’re embarrassingly bad, as in they are now semi-slicks 😳 never seen degradation like it in such a short time 
 

[J-T]

After a two week wait, it’s finally been code-read and smoke tested. It has an air leak around the throttle body at the back of the supercharger. Common apparently.

”OK, when can you fix it?”

”That’ll be another 2 weeks”

So that’ll be a month it’s sat there broken. It’s the thirstiest driveway ornament I’ve ever bought. Fuck’s SAKE. Oh, and the MOT runs out this month.

Meanwhile the BMW that I’m supposed to be getting rid of for this continues giving absolute sterling service day in day out, never having caused me an issue in 2.5yrs. Why do we do this?

[Dave_Q]

I've concluded that I like the fixing as much as the driving. Yes it's inconvenient at times, I just had to drive my van to Sheffield 2 days in a row at £10 a time for CAZ charges as the Audi is off the road waiting for me to replace the oil pickup.

But the satisfaction of putting it all right keeps me going. I don't put things into garages though, think I would have been buying a smoke machine and trying to do it myself before waiting 1 month + but your supercharged V8 is a bit more complicated than my golf engine with a turbo.

Keeping the 335 long term or just until this one is sorted*?

[J-T]

6 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

I've concluded that I like the fixing as much as the driving. Yes it's inconvenient at times, I just had to drive my van to Sheffield 2 days in a row at £10 a time for CAZ charges as the Audi is off the road waiting for me to replace the oil pickup.

But the satisfaction of putting it all right keeps me going. I don't put things into garages though, think I would have been buying a smoke machine and trying to do it myself before waiting 1 month + but your supercharged V8 is a bit more complicated than my golf engine with a turbo.

Keeping the 335 long term or just until this one is sorted*?

I think usually I’d agree with you. I did consider trying to sort it myself, but I’d need to buy an appropriate code reader, buy a smoke machine, find the time  to actually do it…I could see it taking just as long, costing almost as much and me ending up giving it to a man to fix anyway. Just don’t really have the appetite for spannering at the moment.

I’ve just got a bit of a shitty on with it, as it was supposed to be a treat for myself to help get through a crap time at work but it’s just turned into another thing to stress about. To insure it, when I collected it, I took out another policy and cancelled it within 14 days as the BMW,s policy doesn’t allow you to add a temporary car. That has now long since run out, so each time I take it anywhere I need to day insure it. Also at the moment I’m able to leave it on next door’s drive as the house is empty. It soon won’t be which will leave me with nowhere to put it.

But what can you do, that’s old cars for you. The plan was to sell the BMW, then swap the jag on to the same policy. I just haven’t got that far yet as I need to get it running properly first.