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2009 - A year in shite. What have you had this year?


Mr Lobster

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So as we get towards the end of another year, what has passed through your shite fleet this year? For me we started the year like this -1985 R4 F6 van1985 R11 TXE Electronic1999 Suzuki Alto GL2004 SEAT Toledo 20VTR4 is a keeper so won't be going anywhere and is tucked up for winter now. Seat continues to be effortlessly quick and reliable so should be with us for some time to come as it's worth relatively little but is all the car I need.The Seat being so useful sort of made the Alto redundant despite it being a superb little car, so that went at the beginning of May. R11 was a project too far - I'd love to have got it running but just don't have the time so that has also departed to pastures new, pity really as I really do like R11's but time was as ever in short supply and I don't want to let it go rotten just sat here.However, as business is doing reasonably well, we need a van. So, it was a happy coincidence to be offered one - 2001 Sprinter 313 CDi at a very reasonable price. Picking it up next week or so! So, whats everyone elses shite high and low points of the year?

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A year of dreadful ups and downs in terms of domestic finances mean that shite has been on the back burner. Mrs_Pog was rewarded with a nice 04 reg Focus in the summer to replace her awful Picasso, and I bought the Maxi in late September, only for the second wave of OMG KREDIT KRUNCH to hit leaving me too skint to do anything but store it. Renault Kangoo came with the job in May, and stayed after the company went bust. Horrible, but thus far durable. My BMW 318iS remains for 'sunday special' duties. Impending MoT shouldn't cause too much issue (I hope).

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1996 Peugeot 405 GTX TDDaily veg oil slurping slogger. It has done 26k this last year not without hassles but no major ones and mostly caused by my mechanical ineptitude.1996 Subaru JustyI like these, I bought it to fix up. Knackered clutch, exhaust broken in two, but really tidy looking. I lost interest and sold it. Bit stupid really.1985 Audi Coupe GTCool car. Far too cool for me. Engine note was very addictive and it was good to drive but after I lost my job I couldn't afford 2 cars.Only three cars. Pathetic. But they do all have a different number of cylinders. I like variety.

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I've had a pretty epic year on the shite front to be fair, probably my best in fact.From memory:GMC Suburban.GMC Sierra.Two Transit vans.And honestly so many others I've forgotten!

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Fairly quiet year:Bought the Primera estate, sold the green Bluebird, donated Mrs SL's Carina E to father-in-law so I had to buy the silver Bluebird as a daily. Maroon Laurel had started the year with me and will be here for a long time/forever, and the dead '86 Laurel is still on on the driveway and occasionally still being a useful source of parts. I was hoping to get a Camry for winter use but finances don't permit right now, maybe after Christmas.

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Better than last year........worse than any other year since 1990new additions this year1.1 Fiesta...........scrappedOldsmobile Cutlass....V8 horror show 8) Folding Caravan....dont ask1.6 Sierra Saphire...her indoors daily..bloody thirsty though :cry: Crayford MK5 Cortina............back home where it belongsOrange Volvo....sadly couldn't collect it, so had to let it go :cry::cry: next year however, there should be a few subtractions.....then I am gonna add some real shite 8)

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Been a bit of a quiet year for me. Lots of stuff expired though!1998 Chrysler Sebring Convertable - Chicago daily - passed away in Feb (Piston Rings ate themselves, dead Thermostat)1993 Jeep Wrangler - exploded on the freeway, stuck a reman long block in it, the Sister in Law now runs it as her daily 2008 Kia Sportage v6 AWD - Cheap, safe, cross country transportation - and I haven't managed to get it stuck yet! :P 1981 Jeep CJ7 Laredo - picked it up this morning! The oil pressure gauge is broken (I hope so, it doesn't register any pressure :shock: ) I'll wobble it to work tomorrow and stick it on a ramp for a look. It's got no roof either.

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Wasn't really planning any interesting purchases this year but then this happened.

 

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And with the Herald undergoing works we bought the MGB of doom.

 

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MG will go early in the new year once the Herald is motoring again.

Seth, whats the wagon?
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Started the year with a '98 Saab 9-3 Coupe, bought for peanuts, cost nothing to run, then sold for the same price as I paid. Should never have got rid really.Replaced with a '96 Chrysler Neon LX auto. Which lasted about 3 weeks, impending epic HGF and the fact it was tatty meant it had to go, although got £50 more than I paid for it was a bonus.Was then given a 2000 Fiat Seicento SX by my Aunt. Which was ideal as I moved into the city centre and didn't really need a car. Was great fun for zipping about in, although a few fails, clutch cable and coil pack didn't inspire much confidence. Proved difficult to sell on though.A nasty skiing accident in March leaving me with a shattered left knee meant I was limited to replacing it with an auto, so the current '97 Volvo S70 2.5T arrived. Now it's sorted I think I'll be hanging on to it.Nearly ended up with a '64 Renault 8, but ended up being all a bit dodgy so had to walk away.

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Started the year by buying a Saab GM900s Viggen replica back in January. It's still going strong but the lowered suspension and 17" wheels conspire to make my knackered back ache like buggery every time I drive it!Sold an old Astra Mk3 1.4 auto having stripped the shell completely and selling most of its parts for more than the car cost us.Just ended the car purchase year by buying my Citroen Xantia 2.0 VSX last month. No problems as yet, smooth ride is to die for and fuel consumption has been a wallet friendly surprise.

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I seem to have bought another car every year for the past five or so years but 2009 sees the fleet like this:1967 Triumph 1300 - stood idle most of the year as needs engine rebuild.1968 Datsun 1000 - on top form, enjoyed driving it a lot this year.1974 Datsun 140J - ditto.1984 Mazda 323 GT - new acquisition this year, drives ace but burns a bit of oil. In daily service at present.1985 Nissan Sunny - blew head gasket twice, currently stood awaiting its fate. Shame as the car is really nice.1985 Honda Accord - enjoyed owning it but sold on as surplus to requirements and started to cost a bit in parts and labour.At present I'm wrestling with going out and getting something about 10 years old as a daily driver and my parents have offered to help out with this which is great but it just goes against the grain. However, having 25 year old cars that need constant fettling has not been a lot of fun this year so I may have to relent. I think 2010 will see the fleet rationalised and get sorted out mechanically and no new purchases for the forseeable future.

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trouble I find with 10 yeare old cars is...........fine for a few months or a year...then just when you think its reliable it breaks down and you either cant fix it yourself because you need XYZ specialist frame, tool eons of time or whatever, or they are too expensive for the parts and you then are as cheap buying a replacment car, which for me is just a tragic waste and gives no plesure as a result, I'd rather have a repairable older car than an expensive throw away car :wink:

 

 

PS.. this is just my opinion and experience not a hard and fast rule of motoring facts

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2009 is the first year for a decade where I haven't bought at least one car.Net movement of -1 in our fleet this year; the 405 saloon, 500 miles shy of 200k on it's odometer, decided to blow it's head gasket across the oil feed between the block and head in April, leading to slicks of Exxon Valdez proportions. Due to a lack of time and skill, the cost of fixing was not deemed economic (especially when combined with a number of MOT advisories that required rectification), so the ol' girl was scrapped.Honda continues to run like a Swiss watch, and will get new front shocks over the Xmas break. Monumental improvement to smoothness and economy since I flushed the cooling system and changed the thermostat. The 405 estate tried to set fire to itself a couple of weeks ago (melting part of the wiring loom), but continues to grumble on, although scraping ice off both sides of the windscreen this morning was a bit of a grind.

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Started off with:65 Singer Chamois 87 Scirocco02 Citroen XsaraCrashed the Xsara into the back of a stationary taxi whilst giving an evil look to a Porsche driver who had cut me up twice.At first i felt like a bit of a twonk, but then the insurance company gave me £1200 more than i paid for it (as thir first offer) and i cheered up substancially. Decided to just use the Rocco and pay off some credit cards. However wass bored at work one day so decided to log onto car and classic, saw a GT6 i liked went and looked at it the next day and bought it.Have done a lot of work on the Imp too so whilst it was probably half a car at the beginning of the year i have added that much metal it is nearly a whole car now, and hopefully will be welded up completely by the end of next week (i have takes the week off for a happy harcore weldathon, glowsticks and whistles are on standby).

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Start of year:2CVMiniRover 2000 P6Subaru LegacyRover and Subaru were got rid of during the year. Didn't really gel with either.First incoming motor was the Bond. Wasn't a planned purchase, but it needed saving from scrappage. So I bought it. Emotions can be expensive...Then another shambolic emotional save - the Bedford CF.Then the Morris Minor which came and sadly went in rather dramatic circumstances.Then a sensible purchase - the Citroen BX in September. It's done almost 7000 miles since then!Now, with a mere month of the year left, I find myself in the precarious position of almost buying a Volvo 340 Vario, a Vauxhall Victor and a Skoda Estelle. I reckon I could well end up with none of 'em!

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Only one new arrival, this Accord.

 

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I did MOT a few things though - Galant, Charmant and Cuore. Hopefully some more MOTs will follow, who knows, that 626 might have a test on it before the year is out.

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Not a great year for shite for me.. more out than in!

 

Sold:

 

 

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Cool as feck. However being a tad fiscally challenged meant this had to go. Now in Germany

 

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Bought for bits for the blue one. Robbed of bits, weighed in. A shame as there was next to nothing wrong with it!

 

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Lots needed fixed on this, so waved it bye bye a few weeks ago. Now in Aberdeen.

 

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Looked great - was shite. Lots wrong with it courtesy of its previous owner Michael Fish the weatherman, who clearly didnt believe in doing any maintenence whatsoever on his saab. Now in Suffolk i think.

 

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LPG Probe. Got Bored with it so sold it.

 

BOUGHT:

 

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1999 Ford Cougar. Bought to replace the probe in feb. This has been a great car, apart from its leaky bloody sunroof. For some reason this is the only pic of it i can find at the moment!

 

And the SD1 V8

 

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Plus still got the Cortina

 

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Early 20091986 Ford Escort - sold to someone who likes Fords and Escorts but didnt want to pay billions for the MK1 and 2'sthat just left the Beetle which is the keeper.Then comes crappage scheme which meant as a unplanned purchaseMK I Ford Fiesta - didnt think I would like these but just love it and rot free too, and then a 2CV Dolly - thats my bit done, sorry can't save any more.

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Well, started the year with the white boy racer of matching white bumpers hell, had a smash up with a bastard Leeds taxi driver on his phone and said my goodbyes.Still happily motoring in my fantakka Maz 323. Although owing to insane money (or lack thereof) hassles, and recently even having my dole stopped in time for xmas, STILL haven't changed the oil/oil filter etc for winter, and am hoping against hope it forgives me and carries on driving til the new year of hopeful money joy!!Defo best car I've had in years tho! (Don't tell Retrogeezer that we smoke in it!!)

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Only have relatively recently got myself got back in financial balance and the missus has been off work since the start of the year so the cars have really had to take a back burner.

 

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I lost my storage for the 100A so the key thing was to get that under cover asap. I've started rubbing it down (underside mostly) as Fergus's car in Practical classics and resto thread got me motivated to get this great little car back in shape - shouldn't take much effort.

 

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I finally managed to pay off the installements for the 510, after buying it off a very patient and understanding seller. For the time being however, I'll have to leave this one as a long term project. I'm aching to get started on it....

 

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The carina is in the process of getting some welding done. I'd like to actually attend a show next year and as the car proved its reliability 2 years ago (with a recently added new radiator, pipes and water pipes) it should be an ideal rolling resto.

 

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My previous daily driver was being killed by those manic 500 mile dashes up and down the country - it was also starting to behave like a peugeot and electrical glitches and head gasket issues made me retire the car early last year. I plan to replace what I can, get it legal and start using it for my commutes again.

 

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I bought this last year out of necessity and to be honest I don't regret it at all. Its been a useful hack and has probabily saved me backpain, fuel costs, time and possibly my life over the year. Typically I fitted these ATS Classics for it - and the missus kerbs them slightly last week. I was very restrained in my opinions....does anyone who can repair a low speed scuff?

 

 

 

 

I count myself lucky that not only did I managed to keep the fleet but also found a means to sustain and enjoy them - just. Hopefully I'll be celebrating the new year with something stronger than my usual glass of cordial Vimto and some real plans for 2010 - if things pan out in my favour!

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Hyundai Sonata 3.0V6,- amazingly good,and missed!Kia Pride, -mint wee thing,far better than you'd thinkFiat Marea Weekend- SHITEVolvo 850 estate, -mint and lovleyMerc 190D- a keeper.Citroen Xsara estate -forgettableFiat X1/9- No1 car in the world.VW Golf TDi- amazing on fuel, but had been barried. Too old for this now.Lancia HPE- Left me cold,in more ways than one.BMW R1100RS. german efficiency, bike of the year 1993.Suzuki RF900. licence loserPiaggio X9 500.... hahahahahahaha. No.Been a quiet year all in all!2010?Fiat 126more bikesmaybe another Yank.

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1989 - BMW - 750il - Sold after MOT expired1991 - Rover Montego SLXI - sold after i got annoyed with the lowered suspension1995 Ford Transit LWB minibus - Bought for a holiday and sold on return - Miss it already!1999 - Renault Megane Sport Alize - urgh1978 109lwb S3 land rover.1995 - Mercedes c200 w202 auto.not a bad year :)

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Bought this (statue not included), spent too much on it as always, found out I don't really like driving biggish cars with boots... sorry, but it will go soon if all goes well, to a Dutch enthusiast/nutter, with a slight loss for me.

Will try not to buy anything next year (which would please the gf, and it gives me the opportunity to save up for something better and even more interesting in 2011) but we'll see how it goes.

 

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Bought this as well to replace the Starlet, works well and I quite like it.

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