The Old Blokes Current Fleet + Ins And Outs, In MG ZS 120.

[High Jetter]

GIB!

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

Unfortunately the road tax is £710 and the cheapest insurance is £841 annually with a £600 excess. That's based on valuing the taxi at £1000 with an annual mileage of 3000, so I'm out.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

Bit more research today, the road tax cost varies between £415 to £710, as this one is a 2010 I expected it to be £415.
Quite how DVLA sets the cost I don't know.
For instance this one is a TX4 first registered July 2010 2499 cc diesel auto, euro 4 is £710.
Another currently for sale , TX4 first registered May 2012, 2499 cc diesel auto, euro 5 is £415.
And a 2004 2402 cc diesel auto, euro 3 is £415.

As I usually keep a vehicle for around 10 years the extra tax is a significant amount.

The insurance quote I could possibly get reduced by shopping around, this time last year I was quoted around £500.

Back in the market for one for the time being.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

Fleet update and some of my motoring history.

Agreed a deal on my Master van due to mot, insurance and road tax about to expire. Also will need four tyres, a front wheel bearing is whining and there is an intermittent banging noise from the front suspension. Also moving house again soon and will have nowhere off road to park it. Owned since January 2020, its been totally reliable and a very usefull vehicle, can recommend.

Now down to ten vehicles, my lowest count since I can't remember when.

Next week planning to start and move the MG, which has been parked at my Ex's house since last January, this may be up for sale if I can't find somwhere else secure to park it. Also preparing a Mk 2  Clio and Land Rover Freelander 1 for sale, both are projects.

Motoring history, a car I wish I had kept, which probably is not a model most people would regret selling.

From the early 80's to April 91 I ran numerous Morris Marina's, mainly saloons and esates, not because there was anything special about them.
However they did have a combination of several plus points that the Ford/Vauxhall/Rootes comparable models did not.
Dozens for sale locally at bottom end of the market prices, far more economical than the competition, full five seater, simple to work on at home with basic tools and as long as maintained correctly they were very reliable.
In 1988 I bought a W reg Ital 1.3 saloon, that was almost out of mot, average miles, nice interior, good mechanics.
This particular one needed two new front wings, the front panel and the boot lid were rotten, underneath it had a bit of surface rust which was easily fixable and needed all new tyres, I paid £20 and drove it home, which was cheap for a seven year old car.
Although the Marina models were prone to rot at an early age (same as all of the opposition at the time), Leyland had raised the rust bar with the redesign of the front end of the car to incorperate square headlights. This modification created a space between the wings to front panel area that filled up with mud, subsequently rotting away, that in advanced stages the headlights could fall out.
The bottom edge of both corners of the boot lid were also redesigned creating a rust trap that completely rotted away both corners beyond economical repair if not treated early on.
Anyway here's a partial view of the back end a few years into my use,
to be continued later.

 

[Matty]

Come on now, you've had 40 minutes

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

1 hour ago, Matty said:

Come on now, you've had 40 minutes

Daughter had sent me this link.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/695658119603820/?ref=marketplace_pdp_share

Been brokering a deal between me, her, the Ex and the ex-sister in law to buy it into joint ownership.

The Master van was the last of several jointly owned vans I have owned with a mate of mine for over 35 years. The amount of work it required to continue , the loss of secure parking, me no longer needing the regular use of a van.  and my mate due to move house 50 miles away made it uneconomic and logistically inconvenient to continue.

The camper could be parked at the ex-sister in laws house and running it between four of us makes for a cheap leasure vehicle, currently awiting their replies.

Pictured around the early 90's, our first van, Sherpa 1.7 petrol.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

Mot history on previous structural corrosion on the camper is of concern, may still be worth an inspection, depends on the standard of recent repairs.

Morris Ital continuation.

 

After market front wings were unavailable at the time, only option was new Leyland panels or find one in a breakers yard, a difficult task back then due to the newish age of the of the car.
Fortunately I found one locally with a rear end shunt that was being broken, had to remove the wings and front panel myself with a hammer and chisel then drill out all the spot welds and tidy up the edges, same proceedure for the the rotten ones on mine,that took about a day.
Then where I could access both sides of the wing, front panel and bodyshell, I secured them into place with 1/8 inch countersunk self tapers, melted the both ends of the self tapers with an oxy/acetelene torch and plug welded at the A-posts.
Several rattle cans latter it was done, a new set of Michelins, adust the brakes and it passed a mot.
Ran it for three years until with a growing family, it was replaced with a 1.8 Marina estate.
Selling the car was hard work, with the demise of family saloons in favour of hatchbacks the market was dead.
Eventually sold it to a pensioner who's wife had develloped mobilty issues and although he had given up driving several years previously, his wife could no longer walk much further than their front door to the road, so public transport was out.
We agreed a price of £100 and I delivered it to his house.
A few days later he phoned me and said that due to not having insured a car for over two years his previous no claims discount was no longer valid and the prices he was being quoted were unviable and would I consider buying back.
I took pity on his circumstances and bought it back for £80.
After I got the log book back I advertised it again with virtually no interest for a few weeks.
Then I had a phone call from a bloke who offered me £60 unseen, subect to inspection. I politely declined his offer.
The next day he phoned again and upped his offer to £80 subect to inspection and I said ok, but don't bother trying to knock the price down when you get here.
He duly turned up mob handed in an Avenger that looked like it was falling to pieces and all of his mates were hovering around the Ital.
I told him that only he and one of his mates were allowed to have a look and only one would be allowed a test ride in the passenger seat.
So after a bit of disscussion he gave it a quick look over and I took him for a run around the block.
A deal was agreed and I insisted on a trip to the local Post Office to pay his £80 in before we completed the deal.
The car had six months mot when sold and a bit of tax, it was in very good condition and in my oppinion would have had no problem passing another mot.
Looking at the DVLA data base I sold it on the 23rd April 1991 and it was last taxed on the 10th October 1991, so I assume it was sold on then or scrapped.
Anyway, why was it one of the cars I regreted selling, well I found it very comfortable, the handling was much improved with the fitting of the Michelins, very economical and I could leave it standing for days on end and it always started.
Pictured a few months before I sold it.

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