Modern cars are GR8...

[Albert Ross]

03 plate. Older......................... Bloody hell.

[Father Ted]

57 plate Zaira has just chewed up EGR number 3, this one has lasted just 10 months.

Pile of shite.

Would I buy another Vauxhall? It will be a cold day in Hell before that happens again.

[Pete-M]

03 plate. Older......................... Bloody hell.

 

I meant it as the Pug being a modern... and reliable.

 

Having said that, there's a 1980 Merc 380SL in work and that started today after about a month with no problems, but it was indoor. The Pug actually impressed me because it's not easy starting a diseasel that's been stood in the cold for months.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

My Golf diesel started first time* after weeks under 2 ft of snow, temperatures down to -20C, and a semi-soid mixture of vegetable oil and petrol in its fuel tank.

It did take about 2 minutes of cranking though...

 

[Richard]

My Golf diesel and a half started instantly after a couple of weeks under the snow, though I did wait until the temperature had gone above zero because I wasn't sure about the state of the antifreeze.

 

I've seen quite a few old shitters starting instantly after an extended lay-up. The most impressive was a Citroen AX diesel that had been sitting outside a garage with a failed head gasket for years. We put a battery on it and it started before I had time to register the sound of the starter motor.

[Split_Pin]

Dont they do, like 70mpg or something?

 

We have 3 Vauxhalls. Both mine and the Mrs cars started on the button in temps approaching -20 last week. They are both over 10 years old, but the batteries, radiators and oil are all new, and the anti-freeze is 50/50. The Astra was the same but that doesnt count as its a relative youngster on an 03 plate and lives indoors

 

The main reason people have problems with sensors is because they dont by the correct Delphi brand when replacing them. If you buy those, its a 5 minute job to replace most sensors and there is no reason why they should fail again.

 

Anyway, the above aside, I am looking forward to the challenge of fiddling with points, condensers and rotors in cold weather. Just have to find the right shite first!

[warren t claim]

Dont they do, like 70mpg or something?

 

The main reason people have problems with sensors is because they don't by the correct Delphi brand when replacing them. If you buy those, its a 5 minute job to replace most sensors and there is no reason why they should fail again.

 

The Delphi factory is in Kirkby and due to close soon. I can't see the ones made in a sweatshop in Indonesia by a 12 year old (with 6 years experience of the job) being of any worse quality.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Modern cars can be okay but it depends on how you value yourself. £15'000 can buy a brand new Astra if you have no self worth at all, or a five year old Mercedes CLS 500. But you need a good extendable warranty because you're not fixing it yourself when it goes wrong. The latest Mondeo is a superb car and the Insignia would be almost as good if the controls for the radio could be fathomed out - like the Vectra though, there's something slightly colourless about it but unlike the Vectra, it's at least competent and pleasant to drive.

Most impressive new car? Apart from BMW's and Mercs, I have to say the Mark 6 Golf is a lovely package. It just does everything so well and the 140 GT TDi is a fantastic car.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Oh, I had a Vectra five years ago, a 1998 2.0LS Hatchback. It was every bit as shit as the ones I suffered when they were new hire cars. But it was £150 and it had a nice Sony CD changer and head unit, my real interest in the sad shitheap.

It was the automotive equivalent of an armpit and despite having a mere 120'000 on the clock it rattled like a skeleton wanking in a closet, handled like a double bed and the engine fucked itself (oil light and death rattle) just after I MOT'd the turd and replaced the cambelt. Fucking rubbish - I should have driven it straight onto the scales. But like a mug I thought it could be useful and practical transport albeit in a rather 'council' way. Well it was, for 12 miles.

 

It did have an huge boot though.

[oldford]

The Vectra, advertised as the car for the next millenium. When they first came out in 1995 (N plate), I thought that they were good and still think that they are. One interesting minor fault with the early ones, was their ability to leak gearbox oil, apparently it was a manufacturing defect with the gearbox casing so we had a few that had new gearboxes. A side effect of this leaking gearbox oil was that it was spread about the nearside front wheelarch and under the car, where it tended to deposit itself all over the nearside rear brake disc. It's an experience braking moderately from 70mph to find yourself drifting towards the middle of the road with the steering wheel dead straight.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

There was a real billy basic version called (I think) the Club which used to be called Club Foot by the staff at Enterprise. It had the 8v 1.6 engine which somehow was better than the 16v Ecoshite version.

 

There is a car that was worse than the Vectra - step forward the 1993-97 Passat 1.8CL. What an utterly gruesome vehicle that was - tinny, poorly equipped, painfully slow and just horrid.

My most fondly remembered hire cars were the original Mondeos, nearly always a red or dark blue 1.8LX but occasionally the much underrated TD which was a great motorway car if a little laggy off boost. I genuinely enjoyed driving them, and I'm not really into Fords.

 

With regard to Vauxhall reliability - my next door neighbour is on his second Zafira which is as utterly fault free as the first one. All modern cars are built the same and there is no real difference in reliability/quality.

[Espacetic]

I went to my 03 plate Pug 406 HDi yesterday. It hasn't been touched since I parked it up in August (Possibly Sept). It has been parked outside.

 

Walked up to it, pressed button on the key to open it, opened the door, turned ignition key and it started like I'd just returned from nipping to the shops.

 

That ain't too bad. I don't know many older cars that could be left outside for months and then, even after a week of subzero temperatures, start first turn of the key.

 

Wish my 51 plated 806 HDi would do that! Can't even leave the fucker 5 hours in this weather without it refusing to start.

Left my old 94 Espace TD standing since September, went to it the other night when it was still -11 and as soon as the glow plug light went out, it fired first time. Great car! no sensors everywhere, mechanical pump, bags of power and bloody good MPG. HDi has no power, is shit on diesel and has sensors for the sensors. Amazing though, looking on the net non starting from cold is a fairly common fault but there's no common cure like you'd get for older shite.

Decided to fire up the 02 plated Multipla I've got sat outside and it stripped it's cambelt lol.

[Pete-M]

I get a weird feeling the reason my 406 is reliable is down to its ex-taxi life. The clutch is a bit slippy, but other than that the thing is spot on. The only thing in it that doesn't work is the radio volume dial - but the remote works fine so it's not an issue.

 

I don't know why being a cab would make it more reliable than a normal one, other than it appears to have been serviced properly, and it has had to work for a living so it has had to be reliable.

[Pillock]

It seemed silly to start another new car thread on an old car forum, so i did a bit of thread ressurection.

 

Got another hire car from work today. Last one was an "old" 10-reg Astra SXI, which looking back through this thread will show itself to be a bit crap. Well, a lot crap.

This one was a 10-reg Astra, so had a bad feeling as I wandered around a carpark of 450+ cars plipping the key looking for it. Cheers for that Thrifty, I did ask for a phone call on delivery! But then.....oooooh! It's a new shape.

 

1.6 SRI it was. Looks OK. Get in and the quality of interior is MUCH nicer, almost Audi. In fact I suspect with the red lighting to everything, the designers have been sat in a fair few Audi showrooms. Clutch down to start catches me out but soon on way, feels quite gutless for a 1.6 but picks up above 4000rpm to make decent progress. Sounds nice too.

Very solid feel when driving around, much better quality than the last generation. I was quite impressed with all the touches, the menu system to set the car up is nice and there's little red lamps everywhere like under the gearstick cowl, look nice at night. Very comfy drive, using the cruise control all the way back from Salford I felt fine at the end.

 

Only grump? Still no heated washer jets!

 

Still, it's actually a new car that I'd quite fancy owning. As a company car like, I'd not pay the bazillion quid they're likely to want for one.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I had an Insignia 2 months ago for a long weekend. It was pretty good I must say.