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Mar 30, 2015 15:32:24 GMT
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Two experiences I can remember. One bad, one good.
Bad: Back in the days of small adverts, literally, in Practical Classics. "Citroën Visa Decapotable, £1200, full MOT". It was in Lyskeard, I was in Scotland. Got a lift to Milton Keynes, a train to London, another train to Lyskeard, all overnight without sleep. Got there, and the black windscreen surround was gaffer taped over, the car had a screwdriver for ignition, I'd paid half up front and was essentially stuck there, ended up forking out the rest, the car got halfway up the M5 when the wipers and lights went, then it just died with a flat battery. It restarted, and off it went again, did the same in Wales. Stayed with people, then drove the rest of the way in rain not using the wipers because if I did the car would conk out.
Found the thing was full of filler. If Simon from Lyskeard remembers ripping off some stupid 20-something prat who parted with a CX GTi Turbo 2 to buy that bodged up heap of curse word, I hope it is with regret at identifying that as the moment their entire life fell apart in karmic retribution.
Good: First eBay purchase was a Buick Regal Limited - 3.8 V6 coupé. It was in Tulsa. I was in Scotland. Up all day, went to Edinburgh airport around 1am, stayed up until 6am for check-in, flew to Dallas on some antique plane, got off plane after 13 hour flight, took car keys off friend at airport and drove to Tulsa in their car, handed over cash for the Buick and drove it back to OKC. And it ran pretty well for a $400 car.
Bonus: I really couldn't do the drive to Essex for my SLK, so I told Paul I'd buy it for the asking price if he could deliver it and it was all as it appeared on the advert. He did, it was, so I did, and have been happy with the car ever since (even if times do sometimes force me to try and sell it).
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polo6n1600i
Part of things
All I need is WD40 & Duck tape!
Posts: 405
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Mar 30, 2015 17:23:07 GMT
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Ive done several road trips from my home in Crieff (20 miles west of Perth in Scotland) to collect random project cars, parts etc.
I travelled to the south of Wales (410 miles each way) to strip a Scirocco that just happened to be the same colour as mine, so i could get a spare bodykit, wings, bumpers & Bonnet!
Picked up a Mk2 Golf GTd from Manchester - an Audi 100 Avant Quattro from Barnsley & I Delivered a set of alloy wheels to a guy in Birmingham. 580 mile round trip - just for a drive!
If you want it there is no such thing as too far!
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2002 Vw Polo 1.9 TDI sport - Daily Diesel 2006 Vw Passat 3.2 v6 estate - family wagon 1990 Rover Montego 1.6 LX - Project 41
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v8jim
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,304
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Mar 30, 2015 19:12:03 GMT
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I completely understand why people say "if only it was closer" I have to think hard about anything more than an hour away simply because I've beed lied to sooooo many times, been told time and time again how nice a condition a cars is looks almost like new, it's mint etc etc to then be faced with not much more than a breaker
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Max sig pic size: 80px
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Love that truck, it looks almost identical to a 32 Ford, doesn't it?
I've collected a couple of VW campers from Germany. Most epic was driving an aircooled Karmann Gipsy back from Berli, that was a lot further than I thought!
Worst was collecting a very cheap but very rusty cabriolet beetle from Shropshire. The head gasket blew on my passat towcar on the way down so I had to get recovered home, complete with empty hired trailer. I called the seller to explain but he didn't believe me and sold it to someone else. Probably a lucky escape in hindsight.
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67 VW Split bus 69 Beetle Cab 96 Jeep Cherokee XJ Sport
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Mar 31, 2015 15:24:31 GMT
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Fantastic thread enjoyed alot, i hope you enjoy your new truck and post lots of pictures of the revival
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Suzuki carry 2004 (retro ish)
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JC
Part of things
Posts: 815
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Gread read, beautiful truck!
Must admit I'm in the "if it's more than 30 miles away it's not worth it" crowd. That figure will increase if it's something harder to get, or I *really* need it. But then again I suffer with highway hypnotiim or whatever they call it - I get real sleepy on journeys much over an hour.
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Great story and car. Cars are for driving (and modifying) so why not drive them. I'm from Belgium, near Kortrijk somewhere, and drove to Rotterdam for some peaces of sheet metal of an H-van. Which was already a nice trip but last week I went for a Datsun and drove 1700kms in a day, with a borrowed van I had to get from Eede (the netherlands) so did about 2000km last weekend. A good (project) car is worth a good drive...
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Citroen HY 1962 Toyota CROWN MS75 1972 Toyoya CROWN MS75 1973 Toyota CROWN MS67 1972 Toyota CROWN RS56 1968 Toyota CROWN MS57 1969 Datsun 120a coupe 1975 VW LT31 1995 Volvo XC70 cross country 2007
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Sinky
Posted a lot
Run Baby Run......Please!
Posts: 1,395
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I went from Edinburgh to Copenhagen to pick up a SAAB 900 once many moons ago. A propeller plane ,a jet plane to CPH . Picked up the Saab then a small ferry and a big ferry.Oh and 200 quid fine from Ipswich finest lol Worth every penny. Retro cars .... youv gotta to love them.
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2001 Volvo XC70 wagon
2003 Piaggio X9 Evo
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,512
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Throughly enjoyed my road trip today. Saltburn - Middlesbrough - Darlington train, then change onto the Darlington to Glasgow Central train. Lovely comfy, quick, quiet ride up. Then maybe not quite so quick, but more comfy on the way back....
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CURRENT FLEET '91 Nissan Primera (41k miles, an early one and immaculate) '99 Ford Mondeo Ghia X (60k miles) '01 Mini (#869) '06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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I completely understand why people say "if only it was closer" I have to think hard about anything more than an hour away simply because I've beed lied to sooooo many times, been told time and time again how nice a condition a cars is looks almost like new, it's mint etc etc to then be faced with not much more than a breaker I drove from Glasgow to Portsmouth in a V8 Range Rover 3 speed auto pulling a trailer to view and pick up an E30 M3 described as "excellent overall condition". When I first saw it, I genuinely thought it was a spares car for the one in "excellent overall condition". That was a long run back.
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Today I learned HARDCORE is a viking and Dez is actually not called Des, but Derrick. I am? :S
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If you're after a 10 year old daily, there's no need to make a 2 day / mega-mile trip. For anything else, *ROADTRIP* "If only" : You were closer It was cheaper I was allowed to buy it I was old enuff to drive Can you hold it for a few months with no deposit until I win the lottery? Will you take a playstation in part-ex? *Delete as appropriate Top marks for the trip and writeup, looks like a fun beastie While I get the point... I did a lift, plane, plane, lift, overnight stay, ferry, 3hr drive, overnight stay, 6hr drive, ferry, overnight stay, 1 hr drive a couple of years ago to pick up a 16 year old BMW E39 from the Outer Hebrides which I used daily for a few months. Even dailies deserve a roadtrip! If you're not interested in cars, and just want "a car", then that's when it's not worth going any distance.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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For me it is about the lying which is why I try not to travel too far. I have been Dundee to get a car before (sorry, make that twice!). In a nutshell, here's my experience of far away car buying. Some of it has gone well, some not so well. -Mondeo TD from Dundee - it was cheap and described as being in great condition. It was to be fair bar a major hydraulic spillage in the boot (which the owner forgot to tell us about) and the front strut which was completely shot to bits it knocked that badly. But the rest wasn't bad at all and the car was fine! -Pug 106 GTi - This was also cheap and advertised as great. If the car had not been in Edinburgh I would have walked away, no questions asked. But of course this was not the case. This 'great condition car' had a very wonky front end as a result of an accident (the guy struggled the see this, until I put it next to his own new 106!), with gaps big enough in places for a bus to go through, and with a rattle can effect to top it off. To make matters worse the advisory slip had gone to say that the rear beam was shot to bits, and the car had zero heating, just what you want with the snow outside. It was clear the guy wanted rid, but why bother lying on the listing? I guess so that a muppet like me could go and buy it! -Escort XR3i Cabrio. This car was a laugh. It had 12 months MOT although the driveshaft was completely shot to bits with it vibrating more than Ann Summers' finest above 40MPH while accelerating, the doorcards being shot (no mention on this) and the car having an emulsion type paint effect (again, this was not mentioned). Oh, and the wipers and washers didn't work. Enough of the bad but with the good : The Dolly Sprint I bought a few hours away could not have come from a better seller, but TBH he really is a rarity. He was more than willing to let me prod around more than I did but I got the impression he had seen his share of timewasters and was sick of garages ripping him off about the car. The Spitfire was also a great buy from a distance away. I do expect a car to have a couple of flaws not mentioned but not a plethora of them! It reminds me of a certain Dolly sold on here from what the new onwer is saying ; I'd have been gutted to have wasted my time to have found that key bit of 'missing information' as opposed to simply glossing over such a major fact. Likewise I have seen cars locally for sale where I do wonder why people have bid blind despite many things not being mentioned...
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I will add though, i my experience ,is that no matter how much searching you do, no matter how much asking around you do, there will be nothing local to you, until of course you have spent time and money travelling to get the object of your desires .... Then of course there will be someone selling one just down the road, in better condition, for a better price, and will always say 'oh i didn't know you wanted one of these' And for the next couple weeks all you will keep hearing will be ... 'Are you still after ? I know where theres one going cheap etc etc Or is that just me ? .........
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benzine
Part of things
Posts: 333
Club RR Member Number: 87
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Or is that just me ? ......... Not just you! I drove to Cornwall for a volvo amazon windscreen. A week after I got home an amazon turned up in a local scrapyard, then another week later another amazon turned up in a another local scrapyard. Never seen any amazons in a scrapyard before or since then 2 come along on my doorstep.
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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I've enjoyed a good road trip to collect both my cars, part of the adventure!
Train up to Lancaster to collect my Defender then a long drive back to Coventry (169 miles) with the most terrifying steering wobble over 60 and train up to County Durham for my 924, sat at a faultless 70 all the way home (186 miles)
You definitely find any faults with a good 3 and a half hour motorway drive!
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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