End of year Tat Accounts.

[Justwatching]

On 06/12/2023 at 22:17, Justwatching said:

IN:

OUT:

CARRIED FORWARD:

Whoops, forgot the Saab!

Had my 9-3 estate for just over five years, but sold it for scrap in the summer. A good workhorse, but pretty unremarkable otherwise. 

 

[N19]

In:

I bought the Focus in May, in urgent need of day-to-day ULEZ compliance. A well kitted out competent car which is very well looked after and, although it had been laid up for 6 months before I bought it, had no problems getting straight into service.

 

Out:

A casualty of ULEZ, the Bluebird left in June. Definitely missed, was surprisingly nippy for pottering around town, there were some challenges with age and with parts being quite difficult to come by. In another world I'd have kept it and given it attention, but sadly not practical.

 

Staying:

The Capri's driven a grand total of a mile this year according to the odometer, but it's now solid and simply* needs painting to go back together.

 

Mondeo has survived the ULEZ expansion, there are a few trips I make which don't get counted, and I do fairly-regularly do long trips outside the zone which are much easier in this. Most useful for sitting on the motorway, occasional towing, carting around dismantled bits of car to/from lockup.

  

[Volksy]

OUT: 

Mr reliable, had for three years, without it putting much of a foot wrong. If I had any parking I would have kept it. Stayed within the forum for now. 

IN 

The Big. One of my bucket list cars. 

It's a bit of a sorry old dog, but it's rather charming and a bit of fettling seems to be keeping on top of things. Currently my daily, and it seems to be coping. 

Need it to f*cking stop raining for more than a day so I can get the interior leaks and other bits sorted. 

It's on planned refurbishment with my tame garage so goes in once a month for various bits and pieces doing. 

IN 

Current work hack. No one in the office seems to like it, they prefer the petrol Merc A Classes.

So I've adopted it as my daily, and I really like it.  

[High Jetter]

21 minutes ago, Volksy said:

 

Someone's put a bit of effort into the design of the graphics, I bet it looks really good on the move.

[wesacosa]

Time to call it for the year as there wont be any more incomings for sure and I not had any luck with outgoings

I had expected a busy year of "outs" this year due to the ULEZ scam making it difficult to keep so many non compliant cars but in the best spirit of AS it didn't turn out quite like the 😳

OUT

None.  Despite my best* efforts advertising semi broken non ULEZ compliant cars they are all still here

IN

There was always going to have to be a ULEZ compliant in this year, and no more unsuitable stuff or projects until at least one was moved out.  So May brought this

1990 Skoda Estelle 120L 5 Speed

The eagle eyed amongst you will note that its neither ULEZ compliant nor a non project but hey ho. I still haven't driven it, its currently in various pieces on the drive

2004 Mercedes C180K

I was already thinking that commuting in my only complaint car (M3) was not going to be a long term/winter thing but when it decided to lose its brake fluid one day I had to bring in car #7 

the ex @Volksy C class mentioned in the post above, but via a short stay with @Pat Earrings   Enjoying cruising around in it, need to find some time to sort the lumpy idle , abs light,. give it a service and fit a Bluetooth receiver then its ready to serve as my WBOD

Non Movers

Noooo, sadly not the Lada , and most definitely not the Tesla

2004 BMW M3 E46

Still don't use it enough, still looking cool. Still really needs someone with more time and a garage as its looking a bit tatty now.   As above a still TBD brake fluid leak

1994 Skoda Favorit LXiE Plus

Got it back MOTd this year after sitting a little while in the queue for work and ran around in it a bit before ULEZ.  Parked up since then. Didn't take Khan's £2000 bribe for it . Probably should have. 

1997 Citroen XM 2.1 TD VSX

Started the year continuing its service as my daily.  It really is a fabulous thing, quirky, comfortable, economical, cool.  Did FoTU in it again

Tried to sell it post ULEZ but I think the leaky fuel pump is putting people off despite me pricing it about £500 less than it's probably worth so its sat outside my house since. I really should try and fix it but car post ULEZ depression/mojo loss hasn't fully gone yet

1988 Fiat Panda 1000S

Had an interesting half year with the Panda. Went to the AS southern meet up in it where it decided to FTP due to a broken dizzy cap

took it to the Bromley Pageant where it ran faultlessly

took it for its MOT where it shat its gear linkage for second successive year so its sat outside my house in shame since 😂

I had really hoped it might have moved on to its next AS custodian by now, it really needs someone who doesn't have to park it on a London street or in the ULEZ zone, and can give it more use than can. There was some interest when I mentioned it early last year but because I decided to keep it until post ULEZ situations had changed for those interested parties so its still here

If any trusted shiter fancies making an offer and giving it a loving home where it will get the same care @spartacus gave it then let me know 

1985 Sinclair C5

Still here. Still cool. Still terrifying to take on the roads, so I haven't

1999 Westfield SEiW

Still here, still not moved. Still no idea what on earth I will end up doing with it. I not sure I like driving enough anymore to keep it , the roads around here are so bad.  Needs a bit of fettling but the bulk of it was done in lockdown 

 

[Jenson Velcro]

15 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Ever-constant is the Fabia. Despite its one foot in the grave moment in July at Shitefest. Still running, slightly better than it was before it was stuffed in a ditch. Although, the MOT is due in this coming February, so I've got that to look forward* to. Still hanging about for towing, and for stoating about places the Vectra isn't allowed to be 

 

 

(Yes, the towing eye is still stuck in the front from July - I can't get it out)

Does the towing eye have a left handed thread? I’m sure our Polo does. Clockwise to undo. Just get a long bar in it and give it a good heave.

[AnnoyingPentium]

4 hours ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Does the towing eye have a left handed thread? I’m sure our Polo does. Clockwise to undo. Just get a long bar in it and give it a good heave.

Ah I'd forgotten about that! Will reinvestigate once it stops raining. Doh!

[RoverFolkUs]

28 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Ah I'd forgotten about that! Will reinvestigate once it stops raining. Doh!

🤣 I came here to say the same thing. Glad I didn't have to be the one

[jmsguzzi]

On 06/12/2023 at 23:14, Rust Collector said:

Thank god for my camera roll or I’d have no idea what happened and when.

In:

  

The first new arrival was the BX Leader. Having visited a house two streets away from my house to inspect the car for the BX club, I ended up buying it. I fettled this up to the point it could pass an MOT, used it for a bit and realised that I probably wouldn’t be the person to bring it to full potential. More on that later.

Second in was this beast, bought for scrap money with a fucked radiator and water pump. I had no space on the driveway (naturally) so I fixed it on the trailer at the side of the road I use as overflow. See my build thread for the full miserable experience. It has mostly been my partner’s car, and it is now at the point where I need to do stuff* to it and spend some money to make it nicer.

I picked this up from @calebaaront with a view to getting it back on the road. It had an overheating issue which I’ve fixed, a blowing down pipe which I’ve replaced, and I now need to cut loads out of the offside sill and weld in less rusty metal. I keep saying it’ll be done soon, but I’m only lying to myself. But it will be done soon.

The Disco of Doom (tm). As I repeatedly drone on about, this belonged to my mate who died just over a year ago now. His son was left with this, but (sensibly) didn’t want to run it. It sat for months and developed some exciting faults, and so a deal was struck. It didn’t fit on the trailer so it got driven home whilst the electronics went mental. Cleaning the TCCM and connectors fixed that, and since then it’s just been a Land Rover. I use this mostly as my daily now.

@Stinkwheel is an enabler and offered this XM up for free just before I went on my holidays. This obviously had to come for a ride on the trailer, and is what I’m mostly focussing on getting back on the road currently.

I bought this LS430 in a deal with @rob88h. I then drove it across Europe a couple of days later, as this made sense at the time. It did the job admirably besides from me having to replace the rear discs and pads in Bratislava. It’s not a holiday without working on the car though, so this was fine. Since then it’s had a replacement air strut, and the starter has gotten lazy so I need to swap that out. I absolutely love it though, but sadly my partner loves it more and this became her daily after she briefly borrowed it.

I got the Pontiac Trans Sport in a swap with @Weird Car in what will possibly my last vehicular transaction of the year. This car has probably made the biggest impression on me out of everything I’ve taken in to date, I’m besotted with it. Sadly my love is unrequited and it has shit out its water pump - that’ll be a job for next year now.

Fostered:

I was graced by the presence of the Xantia of Not Many Shiters during the summer, after I collected it from Brighton for @purplebargeken. A combination of French engineering and my local MOT station tried to break my morale, but luckily that died ages ago and so I got the car up to a testable standard. It went through MOT eventually and I waved it off. It’s now lived with a number of shiters, in what could be a threat to its title.

Out:

The Leader, now MOT’d and in use, went to live with @rob88h. He’s made great progress with it, and I’m glad to see it has found a great home with the bonus of it being on the forum still.

The Clio, which is possibly the one car I should have kept and used, wasn’t doing much for me anymore and wasn’t used by my mrs. It went in a swap with @Weird Car for the Pontiac, and is hopefully being a useful an car.

Crashed:

The Insight had a bad year. I shunted a Hyundai in it, and it’s now sitting in the field behind the stables waiting for some love.

Non movers (some quite literally):

Do we have to?

Go on then…

Most of these are sat appreciating* behind the stables.

The Bottom Line:

I make that 22. I desperately want to get that number down, but everything keeps breaking and I only really want to send stuff out in a useable condition. I’m also a fucking idiot and I keep getting more cars.

How many work? Enough that we can normally find a car to use. Up until December it was about 6, which seems to be the natural balance of things. In true winter form however, everything has now broken at once and I’m spending my evenings in the dark and the cold wondering if I should’ve chosen jigsaw puzzles or making ships in a bottle as a hobby.

 

I'm looking for one of those 3.0 Outback's for when/if I ever manage to sell this W124, what's up with yours just out of interest?

[jmsguzzi]

Out: 

BMW 523i 

Mercedes 230TE

In/out/in:

Subaru Forester All-Weather (current daily)

in/out:

Peugeot 205 GTX

SAAB 9-5 2.3t 

BMW Z3

Citroen Xantia 

In: 

Mercedes 300E (it’s for sale though)

[barrett]

Normally I make jokes about people adding to this thread so early on when there are three weeks of car-buying time left (and I do tend to buy cars in December or January - everybody's broke so it's the best time to do a deal I find) but for the first time since I started driving there has been NO MOVEMENT in the Barrett fleet in 2023! In fact it's been about 18 months with nothing happening, which is absolutely ridiculous. I did come quite close to buying something but the day I went to look at it I was in the middle of a bit of a health issue where I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it to the end of the year and it felt like another stupid thing somebody else was going to have to deal with so I walked away (it was also exceedingly rusty). I am going to try my hardest to atone for this cowardly decision in 2024, as long as I can remain employed reliably enough to get some money together.

[Rust Collector]

3 hours ago, jmsguzzi said:

I'm looking for one of those 3.0 Outback's for when/if I ever manage to sell this W124, what's up with yours just out of interest?

It's doing the typical Subaru thing where rampant corrosion is causing the body shell to make a bid for freedom from the floor pan. Its rear inner arches don't attach to the outer arch at any point now, there's just an inch wide gap of jagged edges and tetanus; it's quite impressive.

[Datsuncog]

19 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

It's doing the typical Subaru thing where rampant corrosion is causing the body shell to make a bid for freedom from the floor pan. Its rear inner arches don't attach to the outer arch at any point now, there's just an inch wide gap of jagged edges and tetanus; it's quite impressive.

Ah yes, sounds remarkably similar to what my Forester did.

It was like someone had gone round the perimeter of the floorpan with a can opener; it was indeed quite impressive in a way.

I'd been under there fitting new discs and pads barely a twelvemonth earlier and all seemed ok, so for it to just dissolve over the course of a year must have involved some serious overtime for the rust bug - even more so since it was off the road for the duration of the previous winter.

Great cars otherwise, but by cracky they like to crisp up.

[dozeydustman]

1 out

Cracking to drive but became unreliable. 
 

2 in

gutless but fun to drive.

madam loves it. Goes pretty quick but handling is stodgy.

 

Also sold 2 Corsas on behalf of friends, but I know that doesn't count as they didn't get my names on the log book.

 

[RobT]

Only two purchases for me this year (both In and Out) which must be some kind of record.  I end the year on three.

In/Out

Fiat Marea.  Low millage ex-giffer car that drove really well.  Ticked a box and sold it to a bloke who wanted the world for £400.  I genuinely think I'm done with selling cheap cars to the masses.

 

In/Out

Polo project that I bought off my postman.  It'd sat unused for two years and I thought I was on to a nice little earner, but nope.  I spent a few months doing some jobs, acquired a new MoT and then the head gasket went after a celebratory drive on the motorway.  Wasn't sure if I could be arsed fixing it but I took my time and got there in the end.  Sold via a classic auction at a loss.  But at least I got one road trip out of it as the auction house was 200 miles away.

 

Remainers

Morris and Metro.  Both are runners, more or less, and I'm trying to use the Morris as often as possible over the winter.  I keep wondering whether to sell it and replace it with more historic chod, like a Saab 96 or something.  

 

Xedos.  Still here on main car duties.  Future jobs are a pair of tyres and the exhaust centre section.  I keep patching it up but might have to bite the bullet before MoT time in March.  Not looking forward to that!  I keep bodging it with silicone sealant, and yes I don't care.  Does a better job than the paste shit.

 

[wesacosa]

still a lot of love for that Xedos 😍

[Schaefft]

Yeah, if it wasn't an automatic I'd totally want dibs on it!

[MrGTI6]

Started the year with just the 306 GTI 6, which has been my faithful servant for several years now. 

 

I fancied a change from the Pug, so I treated myself to a Megane 225. I'm sure it must have been chipped/mapped or something, it went like a rocket! Despite the Renault being better in every measurable way, I couldn't bring myself to sell the Pug, so I sold the Renault instead. I hope to buy another one at some point in the not-too-distant future.

 

Meanwhile, I bought my first bike, a Triumph Sprint ST 955i. I haven't used it as much as I'd have liked due to poor weather conditions and a bad back. I'm planning to make up for that in 2024!

 

The missus wanted us to have a modern car that she could drive from time to time, and decided we should get a Hyundai Kona because her parents have one. She drove it once, decided that the (admittedly awful) lane assist system was trying to kill her, then refused to drive it anymore, but also didn't want to get rid of it. I used it for a while but soon became bored with it. In the end I sold it through Motorway, and only told her after it got collected. 

 

Replaced that with a lovely CLK320 CDI. Probably the best long-distance cruiser I've ever owned. I sold this to make way for my first Alfa.

 

Another ULEZ refugee, this time a diesel Giulietta. A gorgeous car with a stunning red leather interior. £35 annual tax and capable of 70mpg+! I ought to have kept this one really.

 

Last month, I allowed both my car and bike MOT to lapse and found myself in need of some wheels urgently. This little Picanto appeared on Facebook Marketplace within walking distance of my house. Despite having a habit of getting stuck in third gear, it did an excellent job at keeping me mobile for a couple of weeks. I was toying with the idea of keeping it as a cheap back-up car. It's now sold and its new owner will be collecting it in a couple of weeks.

 

Despite already having too many cars at this point, I took on yet another ULEZ victim, this time a (very) green Audi A3. However, since I bought it, it's just sat around not being used. I put it up for sale last weekend, and tomorrow it's getting Roffled off to a lucky* new owner.

 

I'm posting this now in the hope that I don't buy anything else in 2023. Wish me luck... 🤣

[mk2_craig]

1 hour ago, MrGTI6 said:

Triumph Sprint ST 955i

Great bikes. And yours is in a great colour. Well bought! 

[RobT]

3 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Yeah, if it wasn't an automatic I'd totally want dibs on it!

Well, the auto 'box threatens to go full bork every now and again by holding the gears and flashing the HOLD light on the dash.  Dodgy solenoid?  Either way I'll keep using it until it by becomes a bigger problem.  There's no pattern and it doesn't happen for months on end.

[captain_70s]

No change.

'77 Triumph Dolomite 1300, on fleet since 2012
'83 Triumph Acclaim, on fleet since 2018
'89 Volvo 740, on fleet since 2021

The entire fleet is even roadworthy. This may be in part due to my not buying any new tat to distract me...

[rob88h]

Hmmm. 2023’s not gone exactly to plan, but some interesting motoring nonetheless!
I was hoping to reduce my numbers and focus on some of the ones that have been here a while.

Instead I acquired the following: 

Rav4 (now with @BorniteIdentity)

Mk2 Focus (now with @red5, maybe)

LS430 (now with @Rust Collector)

BX Leader, still here.

Rusty Mk1 Focus (now with Benfleet Scrap)

 

The cars that still hang round with the BX, the ones that I should have worked on are:

The Mini

The Granada

The MX-5

(oh, and the Moped Collective, x3 Raleigh Runabouts)

The others are:

The other mk2 Focus

The 440

In=5, Out=4, Non movers=5(+bikes). New total=6(+bikes)

I don’t mind if 2024 brings more cars in churn, I just hope to be holding fewer in total at any one point!

[Six-cylinder]

2023 – In 6

There was always a plan to buy one car in 2023 and I had been selling cars through 2022 to achieve that. Yes I bought a pre-war 1933 Rolls Royce 20/25 with Park Ward bodywork. Still a touch of Autoshite about it being the cheapest I could find running, it has slightly dodgy paint work, broken fuel gauge, a dragging clutch and missing the spirit of Ecstasy!

It was not long into 2023, “the year of no more random purchases” I got a message did I want to save the Mitsubishi Sigma 3.0 estate I had admired when it visited me in 2016 as the clutch was gone. Big Thanks to Talbot, Andyrew and Morrissital SLX it is now MOTed.

I had a message from Andyrew offering me a pick from his collection and I chose to buy the MX5 MK2, random yes but I knew how much work had been done under that scruffy exterior. I only kept it 4 months. I struggled a bit with getting in under the full size airbag steering wheel after my small Momo wheel on the MK1, but the real reason was the £365 road tax on a car I was going to use occasionally for less than 1,000 miles a year.

A further message came from Andyrew offering me his Discovery MK1 300 TDi manual before he offered it to the world. The yes reply was by return, after all I had only owned one other MK1 Discovery and that was a V8 Auto! Andyrew has done a lot of work to it but it needs more and I have found somebody who loves MK1 Discos to do it so next year it should be out and about.

The MG TF 1.6 was rather strange, Mrs6C came into my office one evening and asked if I had seen the yellow MG TF for sale and that could be my new winter beater. I pointed out it only had 2 days MOT left, needed some work and was in North Norfolk. When Mrs6C offered to take me next day to collect it I knew I was beaten! It is all MOTed and running now and I like it, but not as a winter beater.

The Ad for the Volvo 480ES was sent to me and like a moth to a flame I was attracted to it.  

2023 – Out 2

1986 Mercedes 230TE W123 - I loved that car but the job list was long and the straw that broke the camel's back was not being able to find a rear arm that supports the spring at a reasonable price.

2002 Mazda MX5 1.6 – fitting under the steering wheel could have been sorted with a new steering wheel but the £365 road tax was just too much.

[Schaefft]

Liked for the Sigma, the efforts undertaken to get it on the road are praiseworthy.

[MarinaJosh]

In and out:

Morris Ital 1.7 HLS. A mate and I bought this early in the year as we liked the look of it. Got it back on the road, used it daily for most of the summer, went to North Wales for the Marina Club annual weekend. Had our fun, but overstocked on Itals..

Out:

Waved goodbye to my 405 which I had owned since 2017. Loved this car dearly, but I hadn't really used it in four years. It was a waste to leave it parked up gathering dust. Genuinely shed a tear when it went, but it's found a good home.

In:

Back in April I took loan of this Ford Model Y through the Classic Car Loan Project. Sadly I haven't had time to use it quite as much as hoped, my loan has been extended so hopefully more adventures next year.

In May I acquired this Ital as a rolling shell from a mate of mine. It hit the road in October.

In May I also ticked off a car I have always wanted, a Triumph Herald. Not been touched yet and won't be for a while yet!

In September I bought my Bedouin Marina 1.3 saloon

In October I took delivery of another rolling shell Ital which was too good to be scrapped

Non-movers:

The oldest surviving* Marina is still awaiting restoration, awaiting a date for it to go in for bodywork as it's beyond our skills!

My Limeflower Marina, my dream Marina, now owned for 8 years and I have still never driven it. Hopefully 2024 will see it finished off and back on the road, if I stop being distracted by other cars...

The black Ital, a joint project. Should be back on the road next year.

The Traveller, which has been in semi-regular use going to work and we went on holiday in it back in May

There's also the DGAF 206, although despite four years of ownership I'm not sure I have a proper photo of it... you can see a bit of it behind the Herald. It keeps doing what it was designed to do.

Not sure what else 2024 will bring. I really have too many, the rolling shell red Ital will probably be the first to go. Toying with selling the Traveller, I don't really want to but it would be one less car, and would probably pay for a respray on the Limeflower Marina. Decisions...

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, MarinaJosh said:

overstocked on Itals..

Not something you hear everyday! Limeflower looks great, though personally I'd go back to stock wheels on that.

[jonny69]

I was about to say no movements in garage 69 in 2023 but actually ULEZ meant I had to change dailies from my Insight to something newer, smaller and less fuel-efficient. 

Just as I was planning to sell it the hybrid battery carked it. However, I went through a really in-depth testing regime with multiple packs and matched up a really strong set of sticks to make a very strong pack. Got a fresh MOT on it just before the insurance and tax ran out, but as you can see it’s still sat on the drive waiting for me to put it up for sale…

Dragged the Anglia out the garage earlier in the year and converted it from mechanical fuel pump to electric. This meant I could leave it unused for many months (as I do) and it didn’t matter if the fuel ran back into the tank, because the leccy pump would just prime itself on the key and fill the carb up without having to crank the living shit out of it. That worked a treat but I’ve now got a leak to fix and the fuel gauge still isn’t working.

As dragged out:

And washed for the first time since 2018:

I’ve used it a massive 3 times this year. 

[MarinaJosh]

7 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Not something you hear everyday! Limeflower looks great, though personally I'd go back to stock wheels on that.

Sadly looks were deceptive. I bought it sight unseen from Glasgow. Despite having been restored twice, it has all needed doing again. I suspect mostly because it was used for rallying for a while, there was a lot of mud in the wings/arches! So far it's had new wings, headlamp panels, front valance, repairs to inner valance, complete A posts (that was scary!), repairs to front floors/inner sills and doors. Still needs rear arches, boot wells and backs of sills... The slots are one of the reasons I bought it, not that they came with it!

[grogee]

@MarinaJosh let me know if you ever want to sell any of the Itals.

Alternatively let me have a test drive so I can talk myself out of it. 

[brownnova]

No further movement planned before the year end so… I thought it had been a quiet year… 

Out 

First out was the MGTF sold to a guy on marketplace, I enjoyed it but it wasn’t getting much use. Of course, not long after I sold it my commute changed to commuting alone not with my kids so I would have likely used it much more… 

The hardest one to part with was the Pontiac… Bonk the magic wagon had been on the fleet a good few years, but the looking welding meant I knew it was beyond my capabilities. I really really miss the car, more than I’ve ever missed a car before, but letting go was the right thing to do for the cars survival…. Obviously been though a few owners since! But now with Rust Collector.

In and out

Accidental Kangoo acquireage happened. Was my BiLs we said we’d store it and he said we could have it if we wanted. Lack of time meant it went off on the back of a wagon.

In

Acquired in a swap with Richard K for the Pontiac, was only supposed to stay a few weeks… but is still here. Really really like it… but can’t keep them all. Will be first out in January.

And 

Bought in a double deal, we only went to help the fella sell them… several months later he offered them to us for a price we couldn’t refuse. D-reg is very viable, A-reg will need lots of welding. No rush on either of these. But might tinker with the D reg one next as I think it’s not too far off the road. 

Had a number of close shaves with other incoming vehicles this year… but resisted. 

Turds that won’t flush

Longest serving fleet member, just had new brakes and now doing 50/50 daily duties. An absolute keeper. 

2CV which started the obsession, currently broken… not running right and ht lead boot is stuck in the engine… I really miss driving a 2CV so want this back asap

Another year rolls by with the Yugo still dormant. Debating whether to let this go due to lack of progress and proliferation of other projects.

The brown nova is still here… and like the Yugo the lack of progress is worrying. Some small fettling done… but I did say if I hadn’t made meaningful progress by the end of the summer it would be sold… it’s now December. Might be out this year too.

The other project 2CV made decent progress and now has stopped. Just really needs some finishing off to get it roadworthy again… but one or two jobs are foxing me as I’m a pretty crap mechanic.

The XC90 still rolls on! Now sporting the Bonk numberplate this is the other half of the 50/50 daily split with the 9000. It’s literally the most competent vehicle we own, it does everything and no plans to move it on for a good while.

And the one we don’t talk about…. 

The wife’s modern. EV motoring at its cheapest. Genuinely perfectly competent and does all that my wife requires. Can’t fault it… well bar the bumpy ride, and those annoying self activating main beam lights… 

Plans for ‘24… Maybe cut down the number of projects and buy things I can actually drive. Maybe not. I think I’m between paying someone to get the Nova roadworthy as I’m just not going to or selling it and buying a Saab convertible, an XM a Jaguar S Type, a Rover 75 or something else that piques my interests at the time.