Grizz’s OCD Awesome ASTRO Van 🚙 Megane SCENIC 1.5dci 🚙 MX5 JEEP For Sale.🚨 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 USA Road Trip

[grizz]

But I may have bought another car tonight. 
 

Just need to figure out how to get myself to Portsmouth 

[grizz]

SOUTHAMPTON 

Anyone driving down there Today, Tomorrow or Monday? 

I need a ride to go collect a car. 

Before I try get onto the trains. 

SO18 2JN  area is where I am headed 

Messenger, Text or post here please. 

Thank you.

[CraigRK]

3 hours ago, grizz said:

SOUTHAMPTON 

Anyone driving down there Today, Tomorrow or Monday? 

I need a ride to go collect a car. 

Before I try get onto the trains. 

SO18 2JN  area is where I am headed 

Messenger, Text or post here please. 

Thank you.

Oh dear, here we go again!!  So what is it?  Seeing as it isn't a Cube!!

[grizz]

One way ticket…….

 

Think Boney-M

[grizz]

Next stop. 
 

Clapham Junction 

[jim89]

Pez/diz shot por favor ?! ⌚⌚

[jim89]

8 hours ago, CraigRK said:

Oh dear, here we go again!!  So what is it?  Seeing as it isn't a Cube!!

🔮🔮

[grizz]

14 hours ago, jim89 said:

Pez/diz shot por favor ?! ⌚⌚

1.5 dCi

[jim89]

3 minutes ago, grizz said:

1.5 dCi

d is for diz innit?

[grizz]

More pics just to satisfy some. 
 

Mickey next door took me to the station 7 miles away. £10.00

One way, three hour train trip. Ticket £52.00

 

Rochester

Victoria

Clapham Junction 

Basingdtoke

Southampton

 

Perfect flow of trains. Never waiting more than 5 minutes. 

[grizz]

Just now, jim89 said:

d is for diz innit?

Common rail injected. 
106bhp

 

[grizz]

1 minute ago, jim89 said:

d is for diz innit?

Diesel yes. 

[grizz]

Collected in a brown car. 
 

Sellers mum is 89 and awesome. 
 

Car had 60880 miles on the clock at collection. 
 

Full service history. 
 

More than 3/4 tank of diesel.  Well, near full. 
 

Trip home was 135 miles and took three hours. 
 

Really pleased. 

[grizz]

Lastly. 
 

FOR SALE ad

 

And pics posted  showing damage where a skip truck went by while it was parked   

 

My 89 year old mother’s car (she took the pictures!)
She’s had it 17 year, it’s just about to turn 61,000 miles, full service history, still drives really well, feels tight.
Big scratch along the near side where she didn’t quite squeeze through a gap with a skip lorry, inside door handles and dashboard are sticky, it’s a bit scruffy here and there. But well worth £700, car is in Southampton and can be viewed pretty much anytime.

[grizz]

I see this car as the spiritual successor to Prozac the Berlingo. 
 

Just with less stickers. 

[Westbay]

A well known phrase or saying springs to mind, "If you fell in a barrel of sh*t you'd come out smelling of roses ! "

 

Well done ...

[grizz]

21 hours ago, Westbay said:

A well known phrase or saying springs to mind, "If you fell in a barrel of sh*t you'd come out smelling of roses ! "

 

Well done ...

 

Thanks mate. 
 

But you know I an risk averse, so mostly dither and allow things to pass me by. 
 

This could turn into a shitfest at any moment. 
 

I live in hope. 

[grizz]

Right.

 

 

So just to wrap this up for the uneventful collection story. 

 

 

A car from outside the Autoshite stable but firmly inside the realm of AS. Those who know will know. 

 

 

Skip truck damage to two doors, sil and rear quarter worth more than I paid for the car to repair without me getting a quote. So I will drive it like that.  It will make my eyeballs hurt every day.

 

 

Couple of random, not so random photos.

 

 

So looking out in the morning and seeing the double glass sunroofs made me smile. 

 

This is so much car out there. And I suspect it will make me grin and grimace in equal measure like Prozac the Berlingo did. It, also was battle scarred from a much older drivers ownership but always delivered. 

 

 

Then I moved out into the back yard to give a first full valet.

 

This thing is actually deceptively wide compared to the Astro van. I should Google the dimensions. 

 

 

Rain and cold windy weather only let up in the afternoon at which time I went out in three layers and shorts to start cleaning every nook and door hinge, door shut and all rubbers etc. 

 

Much to do. 

[jim89]

21 minutes ago, grizz said:

 

Does the toad go any faster with the extra stripe?

Thinking on, will we refer to this as @grizz's "French period" ?

[Westbay]

Some diy repairs will tidy that up and be well in keeping with the spirit of AS !

 

Can't see your OCD living with that for long 😁

[grizz]

25 minutes ago, Westbay said:

Some diy repairs will tidy that up and be well in keeping with the spirit of AS !

 

Can't see your OCD living with that for long 😁

TRUTH

 

[grizz]

 

Day one of owning a 19 year old car. 

 

Because I do copy and paste for the text on the various forums where I contribute, and the last 48 hours have been disjointed, I will start with this from the beginning. 

 

 

I saw this 2005 Renault Megan Scenic AKA Renault Scenic advertisement in the “other cars and bikes for sale” section on UKGSER 

Always liked them for many reasons. Including practical, slightly quirky and looks on this model. 

 

ADVERTISEMENT 

 

My 89 year old mother’s car (she took the pictures!)

She’s had it 17 year, it’s just about to turn 61,000 miles, full service history, still drives really well, feels tight. 

Big scratch along the near side where she didn’t quite squeeze through a gap with a skip lorry, inside door handles and dashboard are sticky, it’s a bit scruffy here and there. But well worth £700, car is in Southampton and can be viewed pretty much anytime.

 

Initially I just looked and smiled BECAUSE I do love a cheap basement priced car but I really don’t need one. Right? 

 

Then someone commented about wishing it were in Manchester, which made me reply to try sell it. 

 

 

My reply posted at 16.09 

 

 

I just checked…….. At 16.10 seriously, I sent a private message to Danny the advertiser asking if I could call him. 

 

 

 

My reply to this: Doh, why can't it be in Manchester....!

 

 

 

Take a train, taxi, grab a lift, hitch hike. 

 

Fetch it

 

Drive it home. 

 

None of my last three cars were closer than 100 miles. 

 

All driven home. 

 

Two via train to collect and 206CC my mate gave me a ride in exchange for a liter of Jamesons best. 

 

Make it an adventure. 

 

This hijack was me fetching the Astro van 200 miles away. 

https://youtu.be/5-mHFYu0USM?si=MpMA-xZSrMGJ3PTx

 

 

So the seller replied and gave me his number a while later. 

 

I called him, we spoke for 14 minutes, then he called his 89 year old mom to confirm something about the car. Following that we spoke for another 27 minutes. 

 

He sent me his banking details by 21.08  and I transferred the cash by 21.13 

Job done. 

 

Figuring out collection was not yet a thing…… that was reserved for 03.50 when I woke up. 

Danny was available Thursday, Friday or Monday. 

 

So I did a quick ask around in case someone was headed down to Southampton 130 miles from me…….

No luck. 

 

So I asked Mickey next door for a lift to the station 7 miles away. £10.00 for two pints of beer paid for the ride. 

 

I also texted Danny to check if he could collect me at a station which he agreed to do. In a brown Mercedes Benz. Bonus. 

 

Train ticket was £52.00 one way. 

 

Trip was amazingly fast. Never waited more than 5 minutes for the next train. 

 

Got to Southampton, collected by @diplomaticdanny and whisked off to his mums home. Car as described. Did paperwork, wrestled the keys from his mums hands after 17 years of ownership and set off homeward. 

 

Three hours and 130 miles later, I pulled up on my drive. 

 

Happy. 

 

Really happy. 

 

Mickey popped around to give it his wholehearted approval. 

 

I did not tell Sally, but she saw it when driving by to take Bonnie to the vets for vaccines. 

 

That concludes the finding, buying, collecting of the Scenic. 

 

 

 

[grizz]

Did a quick photo montage for those interested. 
 

 

I really do hope it continues to be successful in making me happy. 

[grizz]

Another quick n dirty video of photos I took at Hawk Classics in Gravesend yesterday. 

 

 

Hopefully some entertaining footage or a waste of 5 minutes of your life. 

[grizz]

 

Too much stuff happening here. 

I am a week behind on some things. 

Back to Craigs golf cart. 

Mickey came around to do a nosey. 

I removed a load of the melted damaged plastics. 

Then made up a rear cover from some old plastic pallet separator sheet. 

Liking that. 

Parked up the cart and did an awesome BBQ.

 

 

 

[grizz]

Following on the basic cleaning up of the golf cart, I got petrol, checked oil etc 

Also ensured a charged spare car battery as mate John was coming around to look at the destroyed wiring. 

 

In the mean time I decided to paint and decorate the temporary rear cover with some masking tale and couple of cans of spray paint. 

 

So a can of cheap wheel silver thst I had bought for Sally’s sons little van, which it turned out he was too lazy to disassemble and give me the wheels to refurbish and also a 50p can of paint bought years ago when a store discontinued some brand. 

 

So I scuffed and scoured up the plastic after cutting 40mm off both sides. 

 

Laid down some green to create s contrasting stripe. Followed by masking the green in stripes. 

 

Then I added all the silver and a name badge, denoting the model of Yamaha petrol cart - G9 

 

Pics below. 

 

 

Startup video. 

 

 

We have compression, churn, fuel, but no spark. 

 

Time to step away and leave it to the real owner (Craig) to have more fun with his tool/toy. 

[grizz]

Another progression on something that I started and realised needed more, was the go faster stripe covering the paint damage on the 206CC

 

Captured in Time Lapse.

 

I am ambivalent about the look. I think it looks better plain but thr strip covers damage on the hood, so a case of funtion over form.

 

Also……

 

The rear deck, trunk lid, bootlid is so complex with humps, bumps, curves and egg shaped to boot that choosing how to lay the 5 stripes, was a challenge. 

 

I think the choice I made was correct. 

 

 

 

 

 

Judt need someone to buy and enjoy it.

[grizz]

Continuing the series on the kindness of strangers. 
 

Large brown  envelope came through the door. 
 

With a lovely hand written note. 
 

No Signature. 
 

No clue. 
 

Thank You. 

[Liggle]

Just read the last few pages, love the Astro van!

[grizz]

Bit out of sync but here goes. 
 

Sooooooooo

 

 

Today I went to Tesco to look for a bottle of Smirnoff Tamarind Vodka. 
 

Dont…!!!!

 

Don't slam it till you try it. 
 

Anyway. 
 

FAILED on the vodka. I am not a vodka drinker. 
 

BUT……..

 

I saw some Elbow Grease. 
 

Brought it home  

 

Been polishing the proverbially named turd that is this Scenic yesterday and today  

Trying to fix as much of the damage the skip truck had managed to do to the one side of this car  

 

More of that in my OCD thread  

 

In the meantime I eventually found time by 4.00pm  to start on the tacky, sticky soft touch plastics  

Tried cleaning the gearshift section in position  Kinda failed  

So pics below  

 

40 minutes and two thumb nails later I could go reassemble that section  

I can vouch for the elbow grease results  

Actually an easy job made easier by the product  

 

Mojo boosted, I decided to get on with the door handles and window switches  another 30 minutes later I was done  

 

The seller posted this elsewhere on another forum: 

 

Good to meet you today and thanks for taking that car away, I’ve hated it for years, was so pleased to see the back of it. I think I started hating pretty much when she bought it, I was away on holiday and she’d driven her beautiful (bit much for a Peugeot I know) 307 diesel through floods and killed it, she’d bought it new, I still miss that car, light silvery blue metallic, quick, quiet and economical. She panic bought the scenic from a dealer who (in my opinion) ripped her off because he sensed her desperation at getting a car quick and then when the internal trims got sticky it was the last straw. Having said that, 17 years of relatively trouble free motoring counts for something. Glad it’s gone to a good home. It was actually a high mileage car when she bought!

 

Finger nails work really well but don’t have longevity. 
 

So I switched to a teaspoon. 
 

Really chuffed this job is done.