Kiwi Kar Konundrums - Parky2 adventures so far

[Parky]

Right then, out of quarantine for two days and bought a Suzuki Swift Sport Automatic.  Mrs P loves it, so that’s job done.

Next up is to explore Oxford where I am currently based.  It makes Emmerdale look like the west end of London but some useful chod sitting about in fields - these are all within 200m of where I am staying
 

 

It’s nice.  70000kms which is bugger all.  Problem with transferring the cash to the seller but he trusted us and let us take the car without paying for it!  Can you imagine that happening in Essex?

Someone’s daily.  Their house appears to be Mr Trebus’s shed

 

Wouldn’t mind having a go at getting this running but there is a massive sheep watching me suspiciously....

Bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the Levee but the Levee was full of sheep

[Parky]

Number eight wire mentality - this guys shed is epic and contains loads of it

[Parky]

Look at this smug fucker acting like he owns the place.  You want some?
 

[Parky]

Busy out.  Total gridlock.

Right, best go get myself a shagged Corolla or Civic for general duties...

 

 

[Parky]

Christ there’s loads of the bastards!
 

[Jerzy Woking]

For a country so full of sheep, when I toured there for 8 weeks back in 1995, I didn't see one stray sheep on the road.

[New POD]

1 hour ago, Jerzy Woking said:

For a country so full of sheep, when I toured there for 8 weeks back in 1995, I didn't see one stray sheep on the road.

I ran over one in the Yorkshire Dales in 1996. The bastard stood at the side of the road, looking like he was about to cross, so i slowed down to walking pace and he just stood there. And as I started to accelerate away, he suddenly l launched himself over the bonnet.  And then ran off.  

[Parky]

Some fine examples of the sun damage cars get here.  Something about the hole In the ozone layer.  And yet nobody worries about it - I would expect 2k clear coat to be in great demand but isn’t.

Swede with sun damage.  Lakkerpil as it is known in Ikea (next to the Besta cabinets)

Corolla.  Where we’re going, we don’t need topcoat

Yaris.  Or Vitz.  Or Echo.  Lots of Japanese imports.  Clear coat obviously not specified with this one.

Colin MacRae didn’t even have to crash this Impreza into a gully to implement this damage

 

Verdict?  Bring a DA polisher if moving over here.  And actually thinking about bidding on that Corolla as the rest of it is peachy.  And with knackered paint its A great opportunity to do a hand painting tutorial

[dollywobbler]

Oxford is lovely. I wish I'd been able to explore it more. Not a million miles from Stuno and JonNZ. Take the laquer peel as a serious warning though. NZ UV is harsh stuff!

 

[Parky]

The UV has done a good number on my head and arms today.   Hat and  long sleeves for sure tomorrow 

[Jon]

1 hour ago, dollywobbler said:

Oxford is lovely. I wish I'd been able to explore it more. Not a million miles from Stuno and JonNZ. Take the laquer peel as a serious warning though. NZ UV is harsh stuff!

 

Wrong island though, sadly. But welcome back @Parky! Hope you're making the most of ordinary daily life. And good luck with finding a car!

Rural south island NZ looks less gentrified than north island rural, so enjoy those decrepit buildings while they last! That may be pushing it a bit, though I have noticed NZ become distinctly slicker in the decade since we arrived.

[hairnet]

good thing about this time of year is yir nit gonna git wit

hence the suntan

sheepworld is in the northland if you want to look

@Jon update on holden please

[Parky]

Made my first cock up - the Swifts coolant reservoir looks a lot like a screenwash bottle.  So I inadvertently threw 30ml of concentrated screen wash in it.

Shit....

Reading a few forums suggested that the results of this would be anything from nothing at all to catastrophe so I decided the best thing was to get I out as best as I could.  So I siphoned out the expansion bottle with a tube.  The first 500ml or so was orange and soapy so I replaced it with clean water and tried again.  This time pale yellow and soapy.  Repeated that twice more until the water was clear and no soapiness was present so hopefully it’s out.  Or at least so hugely diluted that it won’t affect anything.  Mrs P wasn’t best pleased but i think I have shifted the odds in my favour.....

Off to look at this Civic later.  It’s a sensible heap choice.  Lots of interesting other opportunities though

 

[Parky]

Some others on my shortlist

A $2000 Prelude.  How can you not love a car with this interior?  Be like being back in the womb or Snoop Doggs imagination 

 

Paul Radisich special edition Telstar.  I remember watching him in the BTCC where he drove a Mondeo....

 

Ah, how very British.  Saggy headlining 2 litre V6 for added parts unobtanium down this way.  Makes a great and inevitable garden ornament when something fails and the local mechanics refuse to touch it

 

See ya man drivin a German whip, look like balla P’s an’ dat.  Shame it’s red of course, ideally should be shiny black with diplomatic plates.   I would wear a pea coat and carry binoculars for that authentic East German spy in the wrong county vibe with this one

 

Overall everyone says to buy the Civic but look at the prelude interior!  The Telstar has a 2.5l Mazda V6 motor! The Rover will be creamy smooth and creamy of coolant reservoir!  The red Merc has 65000 miles on it!  
 

Choices.  Too many choices.  Head says Civic, heart says Merc, right foot says Telstar, credit card company says Rover....

[hairnet]

telstar all day but civic

wouldnt buy a european car where its heavily asian vehcles

also honda - blend in with locals :D

 

[Parky]

Where I am the only way to blend in properly would be a battered Hilux.  But anyone can fix Japanese cars here which is a consideration.  I can always get service items for the Merc or Rover shipped over from Europe but any major repairs required means it’s pretty much game over for a European car here.

Also need to consider insurance.  Whatever I get will be for Junior to use too and the insurers will have a fit if I go for anything more potent than that Civic

[High Jetter]

Prelude would be more fun though. Gwan (etc)

[hairnet]

ex police d max or holden ute

 

[LightBulbFun]

how far are you from the Southward Museum Trust? Just curious for no particular reason...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Datsuncog]

It's gotta be the Telstar, surely - what other opportunity will you have to smoke about in a car that's named after (apparently) Margaret Thatcher's favourite pop song?

 

[sloth]

find some primo bmc chod, they built it there after all. 

 

big trummys all over apparently. 

 

and le swift should have flurro green coolant....

[dollywobbler]

21 hours ago, Jon said:

Wrong island though, sadly. But welcome back @Parky! Hope you're making the most of ordinary daily life. And good luck with finding a car!

Rural south island NZ looks less gentrified than north island rural, so enjoy those decrepit buildings while they last! That may be pushing it a bit, though I have noticed NZ become distinctly slicker in the decade since we arrived.

Oops. I got Oxford and Cambridge mixed up! I failed to get to Oxford because of many landslides...

 

 

 

 

[Angrydicky]

That Corolla looks pretty hot! And should have intact sills and arches, unlike the UK ones.

[Parky]

The Corolla is smoking.  Have some more images including an adults only “arch” shot for all you no rust perverts.  Am sure you will agree this is XXX stuff.  Small ginger cats look on in amazement having never seen that model of Corolla with so little rust 

 

 

[Parky]

Anyhoo I went to see that blue civic and you know what, considering it’s got the equivalent of 140000 miles on it, it drove pretty well.  Engine and box were lovely, interior largely intact, aircon and windows all worked fine.  Only black mark for the interior was literally just that, a black mark from a cigarette on the back seat.  Brakes were a bit weak but pads and  fluid are easy and cheap to do.  No need for a Cambelt for a couple of years yet too.  One of the air vents was jammed but it was jammed where I would have wanted it to be so it’s not a problem

Cosmetically it’s bad but some clear coat repair, Headlight polish, a couple of small dents pulled out and some paint here and there it will look much better.  I am going to bid on it Because it will fulfil the roles of being acceptable to Mrs P, practical as a family bus, but has just enough wrong to keep me busy for a couple of weekends.  In fact I may just improve it and flick it straight on as I reckon I could make some money on it.

Tomorrow I need to tighten up the rear mirror on the Suzuki as it vibrates on the move along with a piece of trim on the door which buzzes at 100kph.   It looks as if I have to twist the mirror off, tighten a screw underneath, and then twist the mirror back on.  This is goIng to go so badly wrong I know it.  Two new front tyres and an alignment wouldn’t go amiss but the price of those here is unbelievable.  I think it would be cheaper for me to buy two tyres on Blackcircles In the uk and get a courier to pick them up from my dads place and deliver them here.  Anything “designed in Europe for the discerning motorist” is inflated.  Marshal tyres are budget cheapies in the UK but here they are premium European technology.  They aren’t, they are budget Kumhos.  In fact they look a lot like the Solus tyre so I wouldn’t be surprised if Kumho just gave the moulds for a previous version to Marshal and told them to pop in some hard compound rubbery stuff. The European link is because they are designed and produced in Birmingham.  

Yeah, exotic, cafe cultured liberal Birmingham.  Sign me up for that European Sophistication!!

[Parky]

5 hours ago, sloth said:

 

and le swift should have flurro green coolant....

Yeah.......nah.....

It wasn’t green, still isn’t.  Comma recommend G30 Coolant in the UK which is pinky/orange.  Might go get a flush and minor service done

[Parky]

11 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

how far are you from the Southward Museum Trust? Just curious for no particular reason.

 

 

Regrettably nowhere near it - not even the right island sadly

[hairnet]

Lol that's round the corner

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Parky said:

Regrettably nowhere near it - not even the right island sadly

but you are on the same island as Invercargill which caused me to double take when @dollywobbler first mentioned it on his NZ trip LOL

[Jon]

16 hours ago, Parky said:

Where I am the only way to blend in properly would be a battered Hilux.  But anyone can fix Japanese cars here which is a consideration.  I can always get service items for the Merc or Rover shipped over from Europe but any major repairs required means it’s pretty much game over for a European car here.

Also need to consider insurance.  Whatever I get will be for Junior to use too and the insurers will have a fit if I go for anything more potent than that Civic

 

5 of our 7 cars are European, including my daily Mk3 Mondeo, which will click over to 426000km tomorrow on the way home from work, so don't fully rule out a Euro, if you buy right. That said, all our cars are manuals, which is not standard fare in NZ - and also 3 of them haven't turned a wheel in years! Though one of those is an Aussie, which will hopefully hit the road again next year.

Mick's Garage and Ebay are big helps if you need obscure bits, as are forums; who knows how someone kept a Mk2 Cavalier SRi driving about the place (and much of it living in rural south island) before I bought it and sourced bits from the lads on mk2cav.com.

You're also right that tyres can be pricey but often national tyre branches have multi buy offers on and I've used hyperdrive.co.nz a couple of times and found them competitive.

But it's all a trade off; my Mondeo is £11 a month to insure, a smidge over £60 to tax for a year and a litre of petrol is about 90p 'round these parts. Mrs_Jon's Clio 172 insurance may be a hefty £225 a year but we've claimed 3 new fancy UV protected OEM windscreens from road chip damage (and a rear window from the same!!) in the 6 years we've had it, which far exceeds those 6 years of premiums alone.

Keep us posted!