STUNO

[Stuew]

My stepdad, a very early member of this forum, since “ retired”;     has asked me to publicly THANK Stuart, from the North Island, NZ, for his substantive & immeasurable assistance.

They had met, previously, in the Uk, & he was willing to hrlp with the purchase of a  reliable car,  then volunteered to meet  him at the Airport (200 mile round trip) delivered him to his hotel- exhausted after a very lengthy journey. &  got the bus home! 

Later,  they all had a lovely  day exploring out, in Stuno’s Caddie, and he helped again at the end of the break ( even flying down to the South Island) taking a great deal of stress out of what could have been a very real, long distance problem.

He couldn’t have been kinder, or more helpful & Nigel wanted it acknowledged, here ( where they first ‘ met’))

 

I’ll not be commenting further, or responding- because this isn’t ‘ my fight’.  So no snide comments please ( as is your norm here, now. 

[chancer]

Liked, because members helping other members, no matter where they are in the world, is a thing to be held in great regard. 

However, your closing comment about snide comments was just about as snide as it comes. 

Glad everyone had a good day out

[STUNO]

Aahh well it was a lot of fun in a very good way. Nigel initially asked me if I could help find a rental car at a reasonable price. No problem said I , but this is total peak time for tourists. We managed to find cars at about $2400 for the duration, with prices up to several thousands more. Then the killer, nobody wanted a car collected at Auckland Airport and left at Christchurch. They ALL said no. Next option was to buy a car for that money, but what to get at short notice that will last a few weeks,(cars are EXPENSIVE in NZ). So I looked at what was available near me and luckily a 2002 JDM Nissan March had just been advertised a few hours earlier. So a phone call and I was away to look, I had already made an offer of her full asking if It became mine. After s very short drive it did become mine for $1500 and had 2 months test remaining and about 10 months registration, so if it survived it would be legal. the plan was to do the trip and sell to a wrecker when Nigel left, giving him a cheaper than rent trip. The last test paperwork was with it which detailed underbody rust and all the tyres had to be replaced because of cracking, so lots to spend.

The next bit was to get it to them, so I masterminded a plan, drive to Auckland Airport, meet and greet at 9.30 am or thereabouts, deliver them to their hotel, walk a coupe of hundred yards and get on a bus at 12.30 for the 4 hour ride home. That worked well and the day was great.

The Bickles then proceeded to give the poor thing the thrashing of it's life. Nigel also climbed underneath to check the rusty bits and declared it to be completely rust-free, the tyres had no cracking and the completely white plastic  headlights that should have in my opinion failed the test meant that the test may have been a bit odd. I chose my words carefully there!!

The whole trip went well and the poor little 1400cc with a four speed auto that had covered 300,000 plus KM,s was returned to me at Christchurch airport on Friday morning as it had performed it's duties perfectly , not even using any oil . the trip covered the whole of NZ from Auckland to the very far south town of Bluff and back to Christchurch.  For some reason we had decided that I should keep this little gem and take it home ! 

So yesterday morning (sat.) I left Christchurch and drove north to Picton to catch the ferry to Wellington. Once  at Wellington at 10.30 PM  I was still feeling fresh so turned right off the ferry and headed north, instead of south to a comfy hotel, The Nissan just purredthrough the night and I arrived home at 5.00 am this morning and got some sleep. 

Some pics of the little darling taken a couple of hours agm.

 

Don't ask about the NISMO bits, I know NOTHING.........

[dean36014]

My daughter is in NZ at the moment and has just bought a what's known as a Toyota Yaris here to tour the south island with. It's having new brake pads and oil change Friday coming ready to spend 4 months travelling. She's planning on selling it at the end of her trip as it will still have 6 months test on it. 

[wuvvum]

Didn't realise you got those Saabillacs in NZ, I always thought they were just a Europe thing.

[silvercar]

On 21/01/2024 at 08:48, dean36014 said:

My daughter is in NZ at the moment and has just bought a what's known as a Toyota Yaris here to tour the south island with. It's having new brake pads and oil change Friday coming ready to spend 4 months travelling. She's planning on selling it at the end of her trip as it will still have 6 months test on it. 

This sounds a most excellent plan, i don't know why I've never considered it before as I have a hankering to spend some time in NZ,

I don't get the last line on the first post but i assume it is something in the past. So i'll just ignore it

[STUNO]

The little Nissan was put through its test on Friday . Only a couple of minor 2 second repairs needed.such as 1 windscreen washer not squirting and two larger. Front shock absorbers bad and a couple of suspension bushes and also the headlights a wee bit white. All easy fixes and not too expensive. The tester had a look for the bad rust noted on the last test and said it doesn't exist and there is only a bit of surface rust and not worth worrying about. So it is a keeper.