Polish Shiting

[davehedgehog31]

So when buying from the continent France is the obvious option, plenty nice cars there too. Scouring the Polish classifieds though has me looking at the Polski Fiat 126p, they are abundant there but still a quirky thing here. 

Buying in France has been well covered on here, but has anyone bought a car from Poland or indeed live there? 

Then we'll worry about the logistics of driving an air cooled Fiat 1400KM across the breadth of Poland, Germany and the Netherlands to the ferry at Ijmuiden. 

[New POD]

I owned one once. 

They are shit. 

Like a mini, but more shit. Like an imp but worse. 

Not invacar shit, and not 2cv shit and slightly less shit that a fiat 500.with suicide doors, and clearly better that any bubble car, (never been in any of those but i can assume), but shit all the same. 

I look forward to the video on you tube (a continuous 3000 hour recording unedited) to document your return trip via Italy to buy spares. 

 

 

[davehedgehog31]

Sounds like exactly what I'm after.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Actually if it's Poland, the way to do this would be to take over some VAG shite from here to sell / swap for the fiat.

Seems to be reasonable profits to be made in shipping Audis / Passats / Octavias etc over there. A lot of sub £500 VAG stuff over here seems to be snapped up by local Polish lads and thrown in a container

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[Spiny Norman]

25 minutes ago, They_all_do_that_sir said:

Actually if it's Poland, the way to do this would be to take over some VAG shite from here to sell / swap for the fiat.

 

Buy a 300k mile 60 plate Octavia ex-taxi for sub- £1000, and drive it al the way there at 1800rpm.

[Peter C]

My background is Polish and I visit family in Poznan (western Poland) regularly.

The main problem with old cars in Poland is the poor condition that they are usually in, having suffered decades of abuse on poorly maintained roads and often in proper wintry conditions. Use of salt to treat roads causes massive corrosion issues.

Also bear in mind that 1970/80/90s FSO or FSM products were shit when new and didn’t last long. The good quality stock is either in hands of enthusiasts or sells for strong money. There are “bargains” out there but most are money pits. Parts are also getting expensive.

Back in the early 1980s my dad had two then new FSO 1500s. I am very fond of them and I am not skint and have good connections to make purchase of one viable but I don’t want the hassle. Keeping a pair of old Mercs going in the UK is much easier.

[lesapandre]

UAZ 2206 looks interesting and pretty usable? These can be bought new still I believe?

[loserone]

Phwaorrr.  You'll win if you rock up to Toft Hill in one of those dude

[davehedgehog31]

48 minutes ago, Peter C said:

My background is Polish and I visit family in Poznan (western Poland) regularly.

The main problem with old cars in Poland is the poor condition that they are usually in, having suffered decades of abuse on poorly maintained roads and often in proper wintry conditions. Use of salt to treat roads causes massive corrosion issues.

Also bear in mind that 1970/80/90s FSO or FSM products were shit when new and didn’t last long. The good quality stock is either in hands of enthusiasts or sells for strong money. There are “bargains” out there but most are money pits. Parts are also getting expensive.

Back in the early 1980s my dad had two then new FSO 1500s. I am very fond of them and I am not skint and have good connections to make purchase of one viable but I don’t want the hassle. Keeping a pair of old Mercs going in the UK is much easier.

Exactly the type of advice I'm looking for, a local head to warn me off... I had thought it's probably not the kindest of climates for old tat. 

30 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

UAZ 2206 looks interesting and pretty usable? These can be bought new still I believe?

Be still my beating heart.

[Iamgroot]

The polish lads I work with say don't buy a car in Poland unless you absolutely have to.

They are actual car guys and buying a car in Poland scares them, so as a foreigner I definitely wouldn't bother.

[Peter C]

3 hours ago, Iamgroot said:

The polish lads I work with say don't buy a car in Poland unless you absolutely have to.

They are actual car guys and buying a car in Poland scares them, so as a foreigner I definitely wouldn't bother.

Agreed.

99.9% of the imported stock has been involved in one form of incident or another and has been repaired to dubious standards whilst 100% of cars have been clocked and sold without any history.

My FIL (in Poland) bought a nearly new Megane imported from France a couple of years ago, which apparently has not been involved in any accidents. I appreciate that Renault panel gaps were never perfect but I’ll bet anyone my right testicle that his car has been heavily rear ended.

Complete fucking mine field.

[MaluchMan95]

Greetings. 

First time poster, joining specifically due to a friend that lurks here, and knows my love for the Polish 126p. So I decided it was finally time to make. myself presentable here. 

 

I just returned from a trip to Poland last week, and since I was a child I LOVED the look and sound that chirpy little 126p makes when it fires up. So much to the point, that I would love to buy and ship one back to the US with me. So whilst I was on my trip I HAD TO test drive a few candidates to possibly take with me. 

As the previous posters stated above, finding a nice example is rather difficult. I've noticed throughout my month long trip that there are two types of 126p owners. Those that beat the living out of them and neglect to give them the proper care, and the very rare owner that cares so much so for his 126, that you can pry it from their cold dead hands. 

I test drove 3 different examples, one of which I actually drove around the block for two weeks as a personal friend owned it and I loved helping him fix it, after it had sat for 4 years under a tree. (The white one posted down below). It had its share of rust specifically on the rockers but despite sitting it was not that bad. 

 

You mainly have to worry about rust infecting the bottom, the rockers, and the metal inside and around the engine bay. Make sure the engine is healthy, and is not spitting oil everywhere. And ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE. If you plan on doing that long a trip. PLEASE make sure that front leaf spring is strong and safe. Took the last 126p on my trip for a test drive, and that leaf spring snapped at 15km/h around a corner (Photo below). On a longer trip at higher speeds, that might spell out a mess of issues. 

I found some better examples, but did not get a chance to drive or call the owners. According to family members who lived and used these cars during their "prime eras" the original 600 series (still from Italy) where the best ones for quality (hurting my own people here) So if you find a really old one, props. As for the 650's they improved with the last models (again according to my family) . 

 

Good luck on your search, have fun, and please check the leaf spring. 

 

 

[Iamgroot]

Yeah I was going to add that they basically say it will be stolen from another country, made of more than one car, heavily clocked and previously badly damaged, or if you are really really amazingly lucky, just one or two of the above.

Cars also aren't that cheap in Poland considering, I was really surprised.

Each of the polish lads I work with actually own a paint depth measuring thing (forget the name) that tells you the situation doesn't it ?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

2 minutes ago, Iamgroot said:

.....Each of the polish lads I work with actually own a paint depth measuring thing (forget the name) that tells you the situation doesn't it ?

One of these?

[AnthonyG]

They sold them here until circa 1992 if you want one you want probably be better off buying a UK reg RHD example. The cost of a less-than-mint one here won’t be much more than a half decent example from Poland.  I would guess these will mainly be the water cooled ones from around 1986 onwards - known as ‘126 BIS’. 

I know it’s a boring answer...

[New POD]

The bis isn't a real.126 though. No external push rod tubes. For a start. 

[Iamgroot]

1 hour ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

One of these?

That sort of thing, yes, to check for any "repaired" areas

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

One of these?

it would probably explode if you took it near an Invacar LOL!

[LightBulbFun]

3 hours ago, MaluchMan95 said:

Greetings. 

First time poster, joining specifically due to a friend that lurks here, and knows my love for the Polish 126p. So I decided it was finally time to make. myself presentable here. 

 

I just returned from a trip to Poland last week, and since I was a child I LOVED the look and sound that chirpy little 126p makes when it fires up. So much to the point, that I would love to buy and ship one back to the US with me. So whilst I was on my trip I HAD TO test drive a few candidates to possibly take with me. 

As the previous posters stated above, finding a nice example is rather difficult. I've noticed throughout my month long trip that there are two types of 126p owners. Those that beat the living out of them and neglect to give them the proper care, and the very rare owner that cares so much so for his 126, that you can pry it from their cold dead hands. 

I test drove 3 different examples, one of which I actually drove around the block for two weeks as a personal friend owned it and I loved helping him fix it, after it had sat for 4 years under a tree. (The white one posted down below). It had its share of rust specifically on the rockers but despite sitting it was not that bad. 

 

You mainly have to worry about rust infecting the bottom, the rockers, and the metal inside and around the engine bay. Make sure the engine is healthy, and is not spitting oil everywhere. And ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE. If you plan on doing that long a trip. PLEASE make sure that front leaf spring is strong and safe. Took the last 126p on my trip for a test drive, and that leaf spring snapped at 15km/h around a corner (Photo below). On a longer trip at higher speeds, that might spell out a mess of issues. 

I found some better examples, but did not get a chance to drive or call the owners. According to family members who lived and used these cars during their "prime eras" the original 600 series (still from Italy) where the best ones for quality (hurting my own people here) So if you find a really old one, props. As for the 650's they improved with the last models (again according to my family) . 

 

Good luck on your search, have fun, and please check the leaf spring. 

 

 

quoting this to bring it to the front as it looks like when someone post gets approved by a moderator it gets slotted into where it was originally posted rather then as a new post

(as such it could easily be missed)

[Vince70]

I’ve got a few Polish mates I work with and most have Volvos now for some reason but I was told by them that you never buy a car that originally comes from Poland as most are run on a shoestring and apparently it’s quite a regional thing as some parts of Poland prefer their VAG shite and in other regions they prefer a BMW and that’s why they like buying cheap stuff over here as it’s maintained a bit better and cheap although RHD

A Polish mate of mine said he bought a car without back brakes and when checked the hoses had been clamped up and apparently most cars with air con in Poland get the gas used in your fridge freezers rather than the correct gas so are quite flammable in a crash or so I’m told not that really affects a 126p

[stuboy]

bird i lived with 20 odd years ago, she had a 126 was fun to drive, slow and crap up hills..

[Saabnut]

11 hours ago, stuboy said:

bird i lived with 20 odd years ago, she had a 126 was fun to drive, slow and crap up hills..

But what was the car like?

[sierraman]

You’ve got to wonder how bad the local Polish cars are when they’re buying dead 10 year old Passats at Copart and filling wheelbarrows full of bits of engine at U-Pull it. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

17 hours ago, MaluchMan95 said:

.....You mainly have to worry about rust infecting the bottom, the rockers, and the metal inside and around the engine bay. everywhere.....

EFA

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

22 hours ago, lesapandre said:

 

YTHO?

[Fumbler]

UAZ would be a brilliant vehicle to have!

 

Then again I suspect the vehicle comes with tinworm from the factory.

[lesapandre]

21 minutes ago, BoggyMires said:

YTHO?

"We choose to buy unfeasible cars, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept" JFK-ish

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Not that YTHO, this YTHO: https://autoshite.com/topic/26917-y-tho/

 

[shedenvy]

56 minutes ago, BoggyMires said:

Not that YTHO, this YTHO: https://autoshite.com/topic/26917-y-tho/

 

If one of the number plate screws fell out it would look like this scene from Terminator 2:

[stuboy]

10 hours ago, Saabnut said:

But what was the car like?

compact, taught little rear end, but dont push up the tailpipe..