The grumpy thread

[retrogeezer]

Does anyone else sometimes wish they just owned a 'nice' car? Problem is - I've been trying for years to find one, and wonder if such a machine actually exists.

You could do a lot worse than an old Mondeo.....went across the cat & fiddle pass to Buxton then back on the A54 to Congleton the other day in mine. Was so glad I had the power steering on the bends and the grunt of the 2.0 engine.

 

Also did over a 1000 miles in in last week with no issues and this is a 14 year old car with 118,000 on the clock. I've said before ( and I know Cavette disagrees!) but it's is smooth, quiet, big and comfortable......all for less than £500 3 years ago!

[dollywobbler]

I've always liked the Camry it must be said...

 

In the CX today. Apart from the left rear indicator packing up (it was the front left earlier in the week) it really is quite nice. Must remember though that I can't fill the tank or it pisses petrol everywhere. Hmmmm. Leaky Citroens. My driveway is a right state when you factor in the oil that both Austins drop everywhere!

[dollywobbler]

You should have got a new Fiesta, I am currently driving one and its great.

Odd one this. Drove one for the first time and thought it was great. Had a second trip out in one (lots of miles) and decided it was uncomfortable with horrible, crashy suspension, hideous blind spots and an engine that you have to rag mercilessly if you want to move (which seeing as I hated the thing by the end of the trip, was absolutely fine!).

[retrogeezer]

Police, Camera, Action.....braking from 50mph or 58mph 'test'.

 

What a load of tosh.

[The Moog]

Grrr Bernard is throwing a wobbly. Supposed to be going on holiday today at 3 pm. So what does she do ? Decide not to start. If you start her and floor the accelerator she will catch and run but then die without idling.

 

Looks like HT leads are really loose and not a good fit so tried finding a new set yesterday. Could I find any .. could I bugger. Even vauxhall dealers dont have anything bedford on their system.

So having to get a set couriered this morning, along with cap and rotor arm.

 

I reckon it is because we packed a day early so she is having a fit..

 

Oh and put the mazda in to get work done yesterday but the garage decided they didnt fancy doing it and put it off until today. So have to try and get that before i go !

[Mr Lobster]

I wonder how much discount they got off a fleet of those!

From my recent experience - enormous. They won't have paid more than about 6k each for them.

 

There were a load of Astras that Enterprise defleeted a few months back. All were decent spec (SRi) generally but had a reasonable amount of damage but mainly cosmetic - the sort of stuff that costs between £500 - £1000 to fix. A dealer group bought them for around £4k each and retailed them at slightly over double that. Theres a lot of money in them there old Astras...

[seth]

The fucking local post office. I'm a calm, placid kind of guy but I DETEST going down there now. It was run by a wonderful Chinese family when we first lived here but about 5 years ago they moved on and a new family moved in. Its funny how it went from a pleasant experience to one where you are pretty much guaranteed a total jobsworth type experience every fucking time. At least 50% of transactions lead to an argument of some sort and you get to see quite a few as they are so inefficient you will queue for ages. They have absolutely no concept of nice customer service, customer is always right etc. I was waiting just now and a lady in front of me had been mis-sold a huge number of stamps yesterday for invitations. The palaver she had to go through to try and return the extras! And then she was told it was partly her fault. Whether it was or not you just don't say that.

 

[dollywobbler]

Grrr Bernard is throwing a wobbly.

Ah, nowt like ol' motors to keep you guessing. What's your choke/throttle routine when starting? I tended to go for slightly less than full choke and not touch the throttle.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The fucking local post office. I'm a calm, placid kind of guy but I DETEST going down there now. It was run by a wonderful Chinese family when we first lived here but about 5 years ago they moved on and a new family moved in. Its funny how it went from a pleasant experience to one where you are pretty much guaranteed a total jobsworth type experience every fucking time. At least 50% of transactions lead to an argument of some sort and you get to see quite a few as they are so inefficient you will queue for ages. They have absolutely no concept of nice customer service, customer is always right etc. I was waiting just now and a lady in front of me had been mis-sold a huge number of stamps yesterday for invitations. The palaver she had to go through to try and return the extras! And then she was told it was partly her fault. Whether it was or not you just don't say that.

 

Next time they give you a load of hassle, point out that you are counting the days till the PO is privatised!! They will love that.

[trigger]

My garage is making me humpy, The owner before me had it build but the silly twat never quite build it long enough to fit a normal sized car in, 187" from wall to door isn't long enough for most the stuff I've been looking at, Yes i guess i could park it on the rear driveway but I hate the idea of leaving old cars out in all weathers getting rusty.

 

 

My dreams of getting something like Pete's SD1 or any other large family sized classic cars are now shattered because of this, and all the stuff like i like Dolly Sprints and Escorts are just to overpriced for me.

 

I guess the hunt continues, Mind you i might need the money now I've saved to go towards a modern car depending what i get paid out which is another grump...

[Angrydicky]

An Austin A55 would fit at 167"

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Theres plenty of cool motors around that will fit in there if your BMW went in OK.

[trigger]

The BMW fitted nicely, even with the old kitchen work top behind so it's not the end of the world, Just frustrating.

[AnthonyG]

An Avenger is a cheaper equivalent to an Escort and handles just as well, and how about a Dolly 1850 instead of a Sprint?

 

You can always dress it up with Sprint alloys etc. You might even find a 1972 tax exempt one.

[The Moog]

Grrr Bernard is throwing a wobbly.

Ah, nowt like ol' motors to keep you guessing. What's your choke/throttle routine when starting? I tended to go for slightly less than full choke and not touch the throttle.

Fixed now (see happy thread). Mixture of about 3 different things ! Isnt is always.

[Angrydicky]

An Avenger is a cheaper equivalent to an Escort and handles just as well, and how about a Dolly 1850 instead of a Sprint?

 

You can always dress it up with Sprint alloys etc. You might even find a 1972 tax exempt one.

Toledo FTW.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRIUMPH-TOLEDO-BL ... 45f44f7380

[wuvvum]

it was uncomfortable with horrible, crashy suspension, hideous blind spots and an engine that you have to rag mercilessly if you want to move

I think you could apply the above statement to pretty much any modern petrol-engined car though.

[cms206]

Bugger... !

 

[greengartside]

Dammit! You gonna get her fixed then?

 

What were the advisories on it?

[retrogeezer]

Honestly, you really wonder why you bother with car insurance. Our main car is a 14 year old Mondeo worth about £700. 2 years ago it cost £206 for a years insurance.

This year renewal comes through at £404!!!

 

I've done a bit of confused.com'ing and the cheapest I can get it is £290...despite having 15 odd years since claiming. The insurers say that although I haven't claimed in 15 years the most I can have is 9 years as thats whats on the renewal (and apparently some only give 5 years)

Also someone hit me on a roundabout nearly 3 years ago.... no claim made but this still puts my premium up as I have 'had an accident'!! So it seems no claims bonus and protected ncd mean pretty much sod all.

 

So here I am, aged 41, no 'at fault' accidents, no points, do less than 5000 miles a year and paying virtually half the cars value for a years cover - and there is fook all you can do about it.

[eddyramrod]

Exactly, retro! It's all a big racket. I don't know what the solution is, as it's something we have to have, by law, so they have us by the s&c's really. Bar stewards.

[dollywobbler]

Is this a bad time to say that I've just renewed the classic policy for my lot for £137 unlimited mileage with class 1 business cover? You do have to shop around though. This is the same company that was charging me £190 a few years ago, then suddenly decided that £250 was a reasonable amount. So I left for a year. Now it's cheap again!

[Angrydicky]

Bugger... !

 

That's not too bad. My A35 had a whole page full of failures and another page full of advisories!

 

What is the rear brake setup on these? How many clicks are there at the handbrake?

 

Could be duff cylinders or stretched handbrake cables. Corrosion doesn't sound too serious, couple of small patches needed I'd imagine.

[barrett]

Last night the Italian students we have staying with us ate all my dinner, so I had to walk to asda in the PISSING rain just so I could eat

 

Today I am blasting some Czech prog VERY LOUDLY. Being 19yr old girls, i'm almost certain that they will hate this more than anything. I hope it puts them off their studies so much they fail and go home to Italy in disgrace.

[retrogeezer]

If I had 19 year old Italian girls staying with me I'd be posting in the what makes you grin thread!

[autofive]

you have two 19 year old italian girlys staying with you and yet your grumpy?

[barrett]

If I had 19 year old Italian girls staying with me I'd be posting from prison

EFA

 

 

&

They're rough.

[Cavcraft]

1) Noisy, chavvy scumbag wankers in a cafes. What hope we had of a nice quiet breakfast pre-drive from hell back home lasted all of about seven twatting minutes when the Yorkshire edition of the Jeremy Kyle roadshow descended upon us.

Oddly enough I wasn't especially interested in how if Kale (or whatever the little bastard's name was) wouldn't get to go to the amusement arcade if he didn't eat his breakfast as I was more concerned with how many years I'd get if I threw the snotty little cunt through the window, closely followed by his entire whining, dole-cheat-looking wanker family.

Funny how your big, fat sweaty bastard grandma could scoff food down like it was going out fashion and walk perfectly well to the bog yet still have am electric spac chariot isn't it?

 

I wouldn't vote Tory if they were the last political party on earth but I pray to God Cameron lives up to his word and cuts the benefits of scum like them.

 

 

2) Old duffers in Toyotas. I'd have a fairly epic trip back despite the turbo packing up again. I'd actually overtaken caravans on hills and even caught an Aston driver napping on a roundabout. But you had to fucking spoil it didn't you? You had to pull out in a rush despite there being nothing behind me and then then sit there at 30mph for absolutely fucking miles over the snake pass. I hope you get cat Aids of the eardrum and drive off a cliff you stupid old fucking twat.

[autofive]

2) Old duffers in Toyotas. I'd have a fairly epic trip back despite the turbo packing up again. I'd actually overtaken caravans on hills and even caught an Aston driver napping on a roundabout. But you had to fucking spoil it didn't you? You had to pull out in a rush despite there being nothing behind me and then then sit there at 30mph for absolutely fucking miles over the snake pass. I hope you get cat Aids of the eardrum and drive off a cliff you stupid old fucking twat.

thats my idea of hell

[ChinaTom]

If I had 19 year old Italian girls staying with me I'd be posting from prison

EFA

 

 

&

They're rough.

With all due respect, we should be the judge of that. I'm off to the fridge now and I hope to see some pics when I get back and hit refresh.