Dollywobbler's Consolidated Tat Thread

[Mrcento]

What you need....is one of these.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101318529949?radius=1501&price-to=2500&postcode=dd36qu&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&make=NISSAN&include-delivery-option=on&model=MAXIMA QX&sort=relevance&page=1&modal=photos

Something i don't think anyone has ever said about a Maxima QX before, but there we are 😂

Perhaps not this one, just using it as an example.

Rare ✅

Odd ✅

Undesirable to the masses ✅

Reliable ✅

Wafty ✅

Auto ✅

[wuvvum]

  On 04/04/2021 at 15:38, dollywobbler said:

Problem is, older relaxing cars tend to be pretty horrific on fuel.

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Standard Vanguard diesel?

[colino]

I knew a trader who bought a perfect QX at the auction and proceeded to tell everybody about its quality, how it was Nissans campaign for the urban executive and how he would have to beat buyers off with a shitty stick.  He still had that boring, dull squib when he retired 3 years later. 

[dollywobbler]

I drove a Maxima QX in New Zealand. Was definitely short on comfort compared to an AU Falcon. Very firm. Nice cars though.

[Remspoor]

  On 04/04/2021 at 10:48, ETCHY said:

As the Primera is on the way out & modern (ish) motors do seem to be pissing you off due to being a pig to work on, have you considered going older ?

If you like wafting & comfort, what about, A55 or  Austin Westminster, Vauxhall Cresta etc etc ? You were considering a 4 figure sum I recall for buying a better Oltcit, so I'd have thought a tatty ish one of those might be possibly in budget ?  Would be  difficult getting one not totally rotten, but maybe worth a thought ?

Or what about P6 or Triumph 2000 ??

 

 

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There is a need for rear seat belts. Cars of that age do not have any reinforcement metal for them. That means welding and I cant recall there being any welding undertaken on the channel. It is all set way. Besides my Westie would be doing around 10 MPG on a run. No power steering. I know he has drivne one in Australia or was it NZ?

[MJK 24]

How about a dull as dishwater early noughties Passat TDI for travelling the length and breadth for your road tests etc?

Cheap to buy, cheap to run.  More monies left over for the needier members of the fleet.

[dollywobbler]

  On 04/04/2021 at 17:10, MJK 24 said:

How about a dull as dishwater early noughties Passat TDI for travelling the length and breadth for your road tests etc?

Cheap to buy, cheap to run.  More monies left over for the needier members of the fleet.

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Not sure they're as reliable as folk believe. Also, tedious in the extreme! That's always the rub for me. I want boring reliability, but not a boring car to drive.

[Skut]

Didn't Rover 600s come in L series flavour.  Big, wafty & frugal. 

[dollywobbler]

  On 04/04/2021 at 17:30, Skut said:

Didn't Rover 600s come in L series flavour.  Big, wafty & frugal. 

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They did. Been there, done that, blew the gearbox...

[Rocket88]

Fabia 1.9 tdi of the same vintage....can be re-mapped to 150 BHP very cheaply.... 

[ETCHY]

Late model Granada or the grinning Scorpio that followed it ?

[MJK 24]

I’d suggest X-Type 2.2d but I don’t think you’d find the seats and to a lesser extent, the ride quality agreeable.

Peugeot 607 HDI?

[OM646]

Always heard that C5 2.0 HDi manuals, of any gen, are pretty good cars

[Talbot]

  On 04/04/2021 at 17:27, dollywobbler said:

That's always the rub for me. I want boring reliability, but not a boring car to drive.

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Can relate to this.  Unfortunately the two often go hand-in-hand.

Sounds to me like you need to try another large wafty diesel mercedes.  A 210 E320 might be an idea.  45/50 mpg is on the cards, but is also 200hp, automatic and is old enough now to not be at all common on the roads and is at least slightly interesting.

[wuvvum]

  On 04/04/2021 at 17:36, MJK 24 said:

Peugeot 607 HDI?

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Had one of those.  Definitely wafty.  Bit thin on the ground though.

I had a 3-litre QX, really rather liked it.  Quite incongruously rapid for such an anonymous-looking giffer box.

[OM646]

  On 05/04/2021 at 12:40, Talbot said:

Can relate to this.  Unfortunately the two often go hand-in-hand.

Sounds to me like you need to try another large wafty diesel mercedes.  A 210 E320 might be an idea.  45/50 mpg is on the cards, but is also 200hp, automatic and is old enough now to not be at all common on the roads and is at least slightly interesting.

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Or even a late run W202 C250 Turbodiesel, in Elegance trim obviously 

[Talbot]

  On 05/04/2021 at 13:53, OM646 said:

Or even a late run W202 C250 Turbodiesel, in Elegance trim obviously 

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Possible, although being an OM605 they're not as economic.  Also, they seem to command a bit of a price premium over a W210/S210.

[RayMK]

  On 05/04/2021 at 13:12, wuvvum said:

Had one of those.  Definitely wafty.  Bit thin on the ground though.

I had a 3-litre QX, really rather liked it.  Quite incongruously rapid for such an anonymous-looking giffer box.

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I had a 2 litre '96 QX, still with the incredibly refined V6, but lacking the performance of it's larger engined brother.  I can't remember ever being uncomfortable in it although I would rate the suspension as poor on country roads - a bit before its time because nearly all cars are now designed for smooth surfaces, whereas suspension should endeavour to make all surfaces feel smooth - like my CX GTi Turbo 2.

Renault 20s are in the same wafty comfortable class as the 607 but equally scarce. 

 

 

 

 

[Zelandeth]

I should have been doing something useful this last evening...instead I managed to lose several hours trundling around in Euro Truck Simulator.

I entirely blame you, @dollywobbler as I'd have never would have come across it until you mentioned it. 

...So close to being able to afford to buy my first truck.

[OM646]

I have like 100 trucks right now, and never used cheats. The "switch driver" function is the best thing ever when you have more than 5 drivers

[dollywobbler]

I've barely played Euro Truck Simulator lately. A mix of being ridiculously busy, and discovering Beam NG Drive... 

But also because I've been on the road a lot. After meeting the Brownnovas yesterday, I headed to the Midlands today, left the Matiz for fettling and drove home in this.

Fair to say it has divided opinion on the old social medias! It's a project car from Car Mechanics magazine, that I'm borrowing for a bit, for both magazine and video reasons. Initial impressions are that it has a horrible gearchange (I think it's broken) but is otherwise mostly inoffensive to drive. Not sure why they have such a crap reputation thus far. 

Also, there may be further fleet changes next week...

[gadgetgricey]

My old man had a PT in black. Looked like more of a taxi than the TX2 I currently have.

Can just remember steering wheel being massive, and the thing having the turning circle of the titanic.

[Blake's Den]

I remember back in the very early 2000's one of my school teachers traded in his 1.0 K11 Micra for a PT Cruiser. He thought it was the best car ever and couldn't stop talking about it. We all thought that he was mad!

[Zelandeth]

  On 06/04/2021 at 20:01, dollywobbler said:

I've barely played Euro Truck Simulator lately. A mix of being ridiculously busy, and discovering Beam NG Drive... 

But also because I've been on the road a lot. After meeting the Brownnovas yesterday, I headed to the Midlands today, left the Matiz for fettling and drove home in this.

Fair to say it has divided opinion on the old social medias! It's a project car from Car Mechanics magazine, that I'm borrowing for a bit, for both magazine and video reasons. Initial impressions are that it has a horrible gearchange (I think it's broken) but is otherwise mostly inoffensive to drive. Not sure why they have such a crap reputation thus far. 

Also, there may be further fleet changes next week...

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Had a couple of those through the garage when I was there, seemed nice enough.  Interior felt a bit thrown together compared to the competition at the time - but nothing that would really be an issue in the real world, and I think was more a sign of how much a lot of other companies had really upped their game in that department in the late 90s/early 00s.  Comfy and quiet were the two main features I remember.  The headlights were bloody awful on the red one I picked up from Inverness - but that could have just been that one car!

Seem to recall there was one random thing in the interior which didn't match the rest of the dash lighting...Window switches?  Which bugged my OCD.  Though I might be confusing it with the Voyager in my brain there too.  It was 2004 when I was last in one!

[Schaefft]

You should get a PT Turbo with the drivetrain of the Neon SRT-4. Now that would be a hilarious car to drive!

[Remspoor]

  On 06/04/2021 at 20:01, dollywobbler said:

I've barely played Euro Truck Simulator lately. A mix of being ridiculously busy, and discovering Beam NG Drive... 

But also because I've been on the road a lot. After meeting the Brownnovas yesterday, I headed to the Midlands today, left the Matiz for fettling and drove home in this.

Fair to say it has divided opinion on the old social medias! It's a project car from Car Mechanics magazine, that I'm borrowing for a bit, for both magazine and video reasons. Initial impressions are that it has a horrible gearchange (I think it's broken) but is otherwise mostly inoffensive to drive. Not sure why they have such a crap reputation thus far. 

Also, there may be further fleet changes next week...

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Did not your friend Drive with a Tea Shelf  (or something like that) recently make a video with one of these? I recall he felt the driving dynamics are not great.

[dollywobbler]

He did, though I haven't seen it.  I tend to avoid reviews of cars I'm going to test as I don't want to cloud my judgement. I'll have a video with my own thoughts out tomorrow.

[Cord Fourteener]

  On 07/04/2021 at 18:59, dollywobbler said:

He did, though I haven't seen it.  I tend to avoid reviews of cars I'm going to test as I don't want to cloud my judgement. I'll have a video with my own thoughts out tomorrow.

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I'm sure car reviewing is like wine tasting; once someone with good credentials says something it becomes true, whether or not it is in fact true. 

[Talbot]

  On 06/04/2021 at 20:01, dollywobbler said:

mostly inoffensive to drive.

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The same not being able to be said about it's looks.

I'm sure the reputation comes more from it's appearance rather than any aspect of it being crap to drive/unreliable etc.  If the same drivetrain were in something less  "interestingly" styled, it would probably have been completely forgotten by now.

[Cord Fourteener]

  On 08/04/2021 at 06:43, Talbot said:

The same not being able to be said about it's looks.

I'm sure the reputation comes more from it's appearance rather than any aspect of it being crap to drive/unreliable etc.  If the same drivetrain were in something less  "interestingly" styled, it would probably have been completely forgotten by now.

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Rational brain: styling doesn't really affect the car practically (apart from perhaps a few tenths of a % Cd) and you can't see the outside when you're driving anyway. Therefore it shouldn't matter one tiny bit.

Rest of brain: There's no way I'm going to get seen in that!!! I don't like the outward styling and besides, what will other people (anonymous road users) think???