Well I finally have in my possession the car I've always wanted. A mk3 fiesta xr2i! I know it may be a bit of a strange car to lust after but I think growing up as a young lad in the 80's & 90's lead me to develop a passion with hot hatches!
I just used to think they were so cool, plus I was probably swayed by my uncle having a white xr3i and red xr3i cabriolet. Which to a young lad of 7 or 8 was far more interesting than my dads brand spanker Renault 19 (not seen one of them for some time).
Anyway I always keep an eye out for xr2i's and the like. Missed a couple of chances about 8 years ago when you could pick up good examples of most of the hot hatch brigade for well under a grand but as always the prices have been rising and rising and the good cars getting fewer and more expensive. But despite keeping an eye out I have never had the cash at the right time or they were always too far away (think mystery machines thread) or a wreck.
Well whilst browsing the RR classifieds a couple of weeks back a saw a simple advert for a mk3 xr2i at a very reasonable price. No pictures and very few words but I had to send a message straight away to see if it was available. Properly my last chance to own one, and all at a price that I could afford well kinda...
You see I have a mk3 focus as a company hack which is great and does everything you'd want a modern car to do. But I always need a bit on the side to have a play with. Well back in the summer we had our first child so the play thing had to go. Somehow I couldn't convince my wife that a mk1 mx5 was a practical weekend family car for 3?
? So with my wife thinking she may want to learn to drive we decided the quickest route would be swap the mx5 for an auto so the test would be a quick win and the wife would be on the road. So I swapped this
For this
Straight swap with a fellow Retro rides member. 330i auto perfect. Was a great car good for the family fast as you like. The missus even didn't mind it. But I never really got the bug. I had a play and repaired/replaced a few things and generally enjoyed the car but, a persistent electrical problem that would drain the battery over night started to annoy me, and it got used less and less. The problem was I still had the BMW when the xr2i came up but I managed to sweet talk my wife in letting me dip into the savings to borrow the money for the fiesta which would be paid back with the sale of the BMW. So frantically putting the BMW up for sale on every facebook group going anywhere I could advertise for free I managed to sell the car for a healthy sum which I wasn't expecting. But it always helps when the buyer hasn't seen that the price has recently dropped by 25%? 
Anyway I had the new car lined up only problem I hadn't really thought about where it was. I'm in Sheffield and the xr2i was south of bath. Hmm going to need someone to collect this for me. All arranged, then on day of collection.....nothing, no contact with the driver, profile deleted not answering calls. How odd! At least make up an excuse not just try to disappear. But I hadn't paid him anything so he probably got an easier job more local. Not fussed just annoyed that I wasn't going to be getting the car home when I thought. Right now I will arrange one properly through Shiply so I don't get mugged off! Oh how wrong could I have been. 6 days after the first failed effort I was let down again, same story no contact, but everything was cool the day before he even spoke with the seller about collection. But more importantly this time he has my money the robbing curse word!!! Anyway this is being pursued so I may get something back but I'm not counting on it.
After all this and I still haven't got my dream car back home I'm getting seriously curse word off. Have to say though, the seller Matt Adams was quality and even tried to arrange transport himself top bloke. Right I'm curse word off. So is the wife as its all I'm talking about.
A frantic evening of calls and txts sees me lined up with a mates trailer and my dad on towing duties. He tows caravans so is more suited to it. Plus wouldn't let me near his car on my own but I'm grateful as its good to spend time with the old man and it's another pair of hands. So we are all lined up for today (Monday 25th January 2016)
I didn't take many photos of the day to begin with as I was running on less than 4 hours sleep as the little one has taken to not sleeping at the present so I kinda forgot The day started with me and my dad wondering round my mates yard at 5:50am trying to find the keys for the trailer which he had kindly left under a cone. The problem is there appeared to be about 100 cones in his yard (probably more like 10) but it was a challenge I didn't require at this time of morning. Anyway we hitched up and attached our shonky laminated A4 number plate and hit the road
After about 4 and 1/2 hours we found ourselves at the sellers property with the XR2i there in all its mossy/bird curse word/tree sap glory mmmm tasty unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this but it was pretty much as I had expected. Here is one from the seller but it's a bit worse now.
Quite a bit worse! Well the xr2i had been sat for a while but we reconnected the immobiliser and jump started it from my dads Passat as the battery was/is goosed and it coughed and splurged into life and sounded quite healthy. We left it running for a while so we could sort out the trailer and maybe get a bit of charge into it and drive it into the trailer to save pushing it. Well the little xr2i was having non of this as it precedes to run out of fuel and I hadn't stopped to fill up the Jerry can before getting to the sellers house d'oh! So a push it was. Got her loaded up and tied down and headed for home. Stopping at a services on the M5 is where I managed to take a couple of shots which might show the states the car is in.
Interesting J performance sticker on the boot??? But at least it has a piper cross induction kit and nice stainless steel exhaust which looks and sounds pretty good so I'm pleased.
Found some pictures the seller sent that ended up in my junk emails. This was how the car greeted me
This repair will need seeing too at some point
After this we head back to Sheffield where the intention is to get it running again and drive it up my drive which is about as steep as the north face of Everest! We arrive back as the light is fading and rush hour is getting started! Such a pitty that I live on a small busy main road, with very little space to park up a trailer and unload. So we pick a street up the road where we can get it going. Here's when the problems started. As there was no room to offload and get the Passat inline on jump start duties I thought I'd get the job done with the focus, but....not a chance barely had enough juice to illuminate the bulbs in the dash. This can't be right but it certainly was. So with nowhere to unload and no chance of being able to push the car up my drive. We head back south to my parents who live in a quiet village about 15 miles away, which isn't busy and have a sensible drive to push up if required.
By this time it's dark and wet but we have made it and managed to unload the car without to much hassle.
Time to get the Passat back on jumping duties. Once connected the xr2i fired into life and and moved under its own steam and i drove it up and parked on my parents drive. Finally!
Now I've just got to get it back to Sheffield and on my drive but before I can "book it in for an MOT test" so I can drive it I need to reassemble the door locks as at the minute they are held shut with high security zip ties haha. Not too safe for the open road. Oh and give it a good wash so that it doesn't attract too much unwanted attention.
Apologies for rambling but watch this space for the next instalment when hopefully the xr2i will make it back home
I just used to think they were so cool, plus I was probably swayed by my uncle having a white xr3i and red xr3i cabriolet. Which to a young lad of 7 or 8 was far more interesting than my dads brand spanker Renault 19 (not seen one of them for some time).
Anyway I always keep an eye out for xr2i's and the like. Missed a couple of chances about 8 years ago when you could pick up good examples of most of the hot hatch brigade for well under a grand but as always the prices have been rising and rising and the good cars getting fewer and more expensive. But despite keeping an eye out I have never had the cash at the right time or they were always too far away (think mystery machines thread) or a wreck.
Well whilst browsing the RR classifieds a couple of weeks back a saw a simple advert for a mk3 xr2i at a very reasonable price. No pictures and very few words but I had to send a message straight away to see if it was available. Properly my last chance to own one, and all at a price that I could afford well kinda...
You see I have a mk3 focus as a company hack which is great and does everything you'd want a modern car to do. But I always need a bit on the side to have a play with. Well back in the summer we had our first child so the play thing had to go. Somehow I couldn't convince my wife that a mk1 mx5 was a practical weekend family car for 3?
? So with my wife thinking she may want to learn to drive we decided the quickest route would be swap the mx5 for an auto so the test would be a quick win and the wife would be on the road. So I swapped this For this
Straight swap with a fellow Retro rides member. 330i auto perfect. Was a great car good for the family fast as you like. The missus even didn't mind it. But I never really got the bug. I had a play and repaired/replaced a few things and generally enjoyed the car but, a persistent electrical problem that would drain the battery over night started to annoy me, and it got used less and less. The problem was I still had the BMW when the xr2i came up but I managed to sweet talk my wife in letting me dip into the savings to borrow the money for the fiesta which would be paid back with the sale of the BMW. So frantically putting the BMW up for sale on every facebook group going anywhere I could advertise for free I managed to sell the car for a healthy sum which I wasn't expecting. But it always helps when the buyer hasn't seen that the price has recently dropped by 25%
? 
Anyway I had the new car lined up only problem I hadn't really thought about where it was. I'm in Sheffield and the xr2i was south of bath. Hmm going to need someone to collect this for me. All arranged, then on day of collection.....nothing, no contact with the driver, profile deleted not answering calls. How odd! At least make up an excuse not just try to disappear. But I hadn't paid him anything so he probably got an easier job more local. Not fussed just annoyed that I wasn't going to be getting the car home when I thought. Right now I will arrange one properly through Shiply so I don't get mugged off! Oh how wrong could I have been. 6 days after the first failed effort I was let down again, same story no contact, but everything was cool the day before he even spoke with the seller about collection. But more importantly this time he has my money the robbing curse word!!! Anyway this is being pursued so I may get something back but I'm not counting on it.
After all this and I still haven't got my dream car back home I'm getting seriously curse word off. Have to say though, the seller Matt Adams was quality and even tried to arrange transport himself top bloke. Right I'm curse word off. So is the wife as its all I'm talking about.
A frantic evening of calls and txts sees me lined up with a mates trailer and my dad on towing duties. He tows caravans so is more suited to it. Plus wouldn't let me near his car on my own but I'm grateful as its good to spend time with the old man and it's another pair of hands. So we are all lined up for today (Monday 25th January 2016)
I didn't take many photos of the day to begin with as I was running on less than 4 hours sleep as the little one has taken to not sleeping at the present so I kinda forgot The day started with me and my dad wondering round my mates yard at 5:50am trying to find the keys for the trailer which he had kindly left under a cone. The problem is there appeared to be about 100 cones in his yard (probably more like 10) but it was a challenge I didn't require at this time of morning. Anyway we hitched up and attached our shonky laminated A4 number plate and hit the road
After about 4 and 1/2 hours we found ourselves at the sellers property with the XR2i there in all its mossy/bird curse word/tree sap glory mmmm tasty unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this but it was pretty much as I had expected. Here is one from the seller but it's a bit worse now.
Quite a bit worse! Well the xr2i had been sat for a while but we reconnected the immobiliser and jump started it from my dads Passat as the battery was/is goosed and it coughed and splurged into life and sounded quite healthy. We left it running for a while so we could sort out the trailer and maybe get a bit of charge into it and drive it into the trailer to save pushing it. Well the little xr2i was having non of this as it precedes to run out of fuel and I hadn't stopped to fill up the Jerry can before getting to the sellers house d'oh! So a push it was. Got her loaded up and tied down and headed for home. Stopping at a services on the M5 is where I managed to take a couple of shots which might show the states the car is in.
Interesting J performance sticker on the boot??? But at least it has a piper cross induction kit and nice stainless steel exhaust which looks and sounds pretty good so I'm pleased.
Found some pictures the seller sent that ended up in my junk emails. This was how the car greeted me
This repair will need seeing too at some point
After this we head back to Sheffield where the intention is to get it running again and drive it up my drive which is about as steep as the north face of Everest! We arrive back as the light is fading and rush hour is getting started! Such a pitty that I live on a small busy main road, with very little space to park up a trailer and unload. So we pick a street up the road where we can get it going. Here's when the problems started. As there was no room to offload and get the Passat inline on jump start duties I thought I'd get the job done with the focus, but....not a chance barely had enough juice to illuminate the bulbs in the dash. This can't be right but it certainly was. So with nowhere to unload and no chance of being able to push the car up my drive. We head back south to my parents who live in a quiet village about 15 miles away, which isn't busy and have a sensible drive to push up if required.
By this time it's dark and wet but we have made it and managed to unload the car without to much hassle.
Time to get the Passat back on jumping duties. Once connected the xr2i fired into life and and moved under its own steam and i drove it up and parked on my parents drive. Finally!
Now I've just got to get it back to Sheffield and on my drive but before I can "book it in for an MOT test" so I can drive it I need to reassemble the door locks as at the minute they are held shut with high security zip ties haha. Not too safe for the open road. Oh and give it a good wash so that it doesn't attract too much unwanted attention.
Apologies for rambling but watch this space for the next instalment when hopefully the xr2i will make it back home
