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Dec 15, 2021 19:21:30 GMT
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^^^^ This! I put nearly 100K on my Amazon (it already had more than 200K on it to begin with) over 14 years of everyday use and during that time it went on the back of a recovery truck once due to breakdown (caused by the failure of a poor quality replacement part). It was driven all year round, including in snow. Think the Amazon must be a candidate for most relable classic of all time. I had one the visual twin of yours, Estate, same colour and all. Mine was a LHD French market 122S twin carb and O/D example (a model not available in the UK, but easy enough to convert) and came to me with 129,000 km on the clock and a bill showing the original speedo was replaced at 64,000 km. So something like 120, 000 miles before I even got my hands on it. I owned it 29 years and another 100k +miles and still regret selling it to this day. I used it as a mobile workshop for more than 15 years, towed twice it's own weight all over the country on several occasions and brought both my kids home from the hospital in it after they were born. On one memorable day, it got me home towing a trailer full of tools, engine crane and a 6 cylinder iron engine with NO lining on one side of the clutch disc and a wafer thin 1/4 of the lining on the other! The thing was completely and utterly indestructible, never EVER failed to get me home. It's also the best 2wd drive vehicle i've ever owned as far as snow is concerned, especially with a big box of tools in the boot! Why did I ever part with it? (Sob ) Steve
Yes, they are tough old heaps. Mine wasn't always impeccably behaved, but it would usually still drag itself home. Also, wen it did misbehave, it was also usually considerate enough to give advance warning. My father owned it for eight years before it became mine and the only time he had it on the back of a recovery truck was when the fibre timing gear started breaking up. The car was still drivable, but we were in south Devon so would not have made it back to London before failure. He bought it primarily as a workhorse, not as a classic car, and still has a lot of fond memories and respect for it. When a later, modern car threw a rod on the motorway, when they were on the hard shoulder awaiting recovery, my step mother who has no interest in cars was quoted as saying that the old Volvo (i.e. the Amazon) would never have done that! I really must get it going again - currently sitting under a cover in the front garden, waiting to be put back in the car port, whilst I build up the necessry parts & skills etc to really do it justice. As for parting with it... it is of far too much sentimental value. Like yours, mine brought my children home from hospital and when it was my father's, also my two half-sisters (one was nearly born in it on the drive to the hospital). Also, as it arrived in the family when I was 13, I can remember it being around for nearly three times as long as I can remember it not being there, so it is essentially part of the family.
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Dec 15, 2021 21:57:46 GMT
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My money will go on the car that was rep thrashed from day one! These cars are well maintained (cos the driver isn't paying) a bad one will blow up in short order and any left after that will go like a bat outta hell forever! Forget your "one little old lady, only used it to go to church on Sundays" I knew one of those, Greek she was and drove her beat up and souped up 997 Mini Cooper flat out everywhere! Steve
I did 30 + years of getting new work vans, driving the t*ts off of them and, aside from scheduled maintenance, have them in for issues only as a last resort. That is how many many commercial vehicles are used and I don't assume that company cars are going to be any different. Both used as tools of the job, driven by people that are not paying much towards them, for them or the upkeep of them so don't really care if they hand the things back after three years with the engines hanging off the chassis frames. If you buy second hand you may as well by something that is 20 years old rather than three purely on the basis that for it to still be around after 20 years it must have had a metric sh*t ton of looking after in its recent history. I knew someone in the motor trade, a wide boy that sold 3 year and a bit older cars out of his successful dealership and most were s**t heaps, ragged to death and bought cheap at auction. It is a minefield and why so many people do PCP deals on new cars, many have been bitten once but never again. It alll depends on what suits the individual anyway. There's a world of difference between fleet vans and fleet cars. Fleet vans DO get abused, there's always the "time is money" factor and employers encourage their drivers to spend as little time off road as possible. But even that attitude is changing as they can be held responsible for mishaps that they have contributed to. Cars have always been easier, leased cars invariably provide a loaner if the main car is in for repairs and most firms with 5 cars or more have a backup or "pool" car for similar purposes. So it's no skin off the driver's nose to get them serviced or sorted, as you rightly pointed out, they aren't paying! Since the 70s i've had experience of how company cars get treated, from the garages point of view and my opinion holds. Rep thashed from day 1 makes a good buy and always performs well.
From a purely personal viewpoint, i'm a great fan of "bangernonics", I tend to buy cars at absolute rock bottom, rarely spending more than £500 per car and often a lot less. But i'm in a position to fix almost anything, know which cars are most reliable to start with and also buy a lot of junker project type cars where a collection of rusty panels and a V5 is what I actually buy, the investment comes later!
Steve
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∆∆∆∆absolutely this carledo, couldn't agree more 👍 I have been known to buy a complete car just to get a part which o need for one I already own, so in effect I'm buying one part which comes with a load of free stuff, and a v5
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Dec 16, 2021 16:17:49 GMT
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∆∆∆∆absolutely this carledo, couldn't agree more 👍 I have been known to buy a complete car just to get a part which o need for one I already own, so in effect I'm buying one part which comes with a load of free stuff, and a v5 If you do that many times though you basically then become a scrap yard
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Dec 16, 2021 16:25:21 GMT
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You've seen my yard then? 😁
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Dec 16, 2021 19:56:56 GMT
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It is not possible to have too many spare parts.
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Dec 16, 2021 20:41:34 GMT
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∆∆∆∆absolutely this carledo , couldn't agree more 👍 I have been known to buy a complete car just to get a part which o need for one I already own, so in effect I'm buying one part which comes with a load of free stuff, and a v5 I bought a GT6 from a scrapyard (back in 1982 when there WERE Gt6s in scrapyards) just to get the front bumper for a customer car I was restoring. Then threw a Spit 1500 tub on the Gt6 chassis and mechanicals and drove it for about 5 years! Unfortunately the only pix I have are prints and my scanner is playing up. Will post some when I can!
Below is my Dolomite Sprint as bought (in 2012) and now. It has the engine and trans from an X reg Omega 2.2. Guess who bought a complete, street legal Omega to do the swap?
The Sprint, not running, a bit rusty and not taxed since 1994 cost me £375. I made that back by selling the original engine and trans which I got running. The Omega cost £395, taxed and tested for 5 months in 2013. I drove it around till the tax ran out. After I pulled the motor, trans, prop and every scrap of electrical equipment and wiring, I sold the alloy wheels for £100 and the shell and leftovers for £150!
I thought I needed a Carlton gearbox for the Carledo. Rather than buy a gearbox for £200, I bought a complete Carlton for £180 and drove it home. As it happened all I needed was the Carlton flywheel so I sold the gearbox for £200, kept the engine and all ancillaries and weighed the shell (which was pretty rough) in for £100. That's what I call proper bangernomics!
Steve
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Last Edit: Dec 16, 2021 20:53:34 GMT by carledo
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It is not possible to have too many spare parts. Although as I have said several times before, I can never find the part I already have, and usually end up buying another, or another car, to get the same bit because it's easier than spending a week sorting through stuff 🙄
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Dec 17, 2021 15:23:10 GMT
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It is not possible to have too many spare parts. Although as I have said several times before, I can never find the part I already have, and usually end up buying another, or another car, to get the same bit because it's easier than spending a week sorting through stuff 🙄 I can sympathize with this - a bit! I muddled along in similar fashion for better than 20 years, I had a large workshop with a 4 poster ramp, a big refrigerated truck body stuffed to the roof with parts and a yard that would comfortably hold an additional 16 cars. Plus a double garage, a 10'x8' shed, a greenhouse tunnel and off street parking for another 10 cars at home.
Even so, junk invariable expands to fill available space (+10%) so I was often forced to junk a car or 2, purely to make space for the latest aquisition. I doubtless dumped things I should have kept in my rush! But mostly, I didn't worry about space.
Then, in late 2019, the landlord of my yard died suddenly and his widow had me and other tenants on 2 months notice to leave before the poor old sod was cold! I was due to retire in May of 2020 anyway, so I just quit a bit early and spent the entire 2 months tidying and sorting both home and rented yard/shop. Trying to fit the proverbial quart (more like a gallon) into the pint pot at home.
Believe it or not, I threw very little away! but I managed (just) to vacate in time and get everything tucked away at at home. The bonus was, unsurprisingly, that I found a ton of stuff, sometimes with several duplicates, that i'd lost or forgotten I had. The very act of concentrating all this stuff in a much smaller space meant I not only found the stuff, I also got the chance to catalogue it and store like items together. Barring an earthquake, I now actually know what i've got and can now find anything I need to in minimal time.
An unexpected upshot is that I have successfully sold quite a lot of the duplicate stock, so i'm better off financially too.
I suggest you do something similar, I was forced by events, but I reckon it would be worth treating it like a project. If I can do it (and i'm not a naturally tidy person, far from it!) i'm sure you can too!
Steve
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Dec 17, 2021 15:59:03 GMT
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I am currently driving a B5 S4 that's had a g string pulled up its to make nearly 500bhp. It's not IF it will breakdown it's WHEN, they're known for being really unreliable and that's part of the charm I guess. I'm currently having enormous fun using it to help me move house but the lumpy idle at traffic lights is a bit unnerving. especially when the car is full of chod and I have no tools on board, most of my older cars I could fix with a tooth brush and some velcro but not this one. I have RAC so the only thing I have to loose is money and time if it does go and whilst I don't have a lot of money, I hope I do have enough time for neither of those things to be a real drag.
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,984
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Dec 20, 2021 13:53:31 GMT
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It is not possible to have too many spare parts. It is, and it's well worth a listen.
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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... the lumpy idle at traffic lights is a bit unnerving. I'm now having similar issues with my daily driver TT - intermittent poor running, followed by some time running just fine, but never being sure what'll happen next - although yesterday it's escalated somewhat and so I find myself running the Firenza for a few days while I try to figure out what's wrong with it and how to sort it. And of course just as we run up to four days with parts suppliers closed, and a busy time of the year for posting things. I knew it was a mistake posting earlier in this thread - I've tempted fate and paid the price. It's irritating how much it's giving me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, even though all I had yesterday was a minor inconvenience and for a few days I'll have to risk getting my other car dirty. I try to remember that for a lot of people, losing their reliable car for a few days at this time of year would be a massive headache, but it's not making me feel better.
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Dec 21, 2021 11:22:13 GMT
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... the lumpy idle at traffic lights is a bit unnerving. I'm now having similar issues with my daily driver TT - intermittent poor running, The standard coil packs are known to go on them, had a similar issue on my 20v converted mk2 Golf a few years back, my S4 has had the 034 coilpack conversion done which I have faith in, I think my issue is that the 630 injectors don't like running at the lower end of the scale, car's really juicy and runs fantastically on boost but it should with over 700NM, it's like a cammed V8. Was mapped and fettled by MRC so should be good, when I have more time I'll get the injectors flow tested to make sure they're all balanced. I'm worried about driveshafts and gearbox to be honest
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Dec 21, 2021 12:00:09 GMT
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I think mine is more fuel-related, based on the responses I'm getting on the forum and FB. I've had a coil pack go before, and had to run it on three cylinders for a bit, and it feels quite different to that. It's a bit reminiscent of running a Stromberg carb with a split in the diaphragm when it goes, but then it comes back. It's that sinking feeling that I don't know when it's going to do it, or whether it'll come back. Mine's entirely standard.
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Dec 21, 2021 13:38:32 GMT
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I'm now having similar issues with my daily driver TT - intermittent poor running Look for air leaks in the vac pipework, they cause no end of hassle on the 1.8t motor and the pcv system isn't the best either.
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,843
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Dec 21, 2021 15:27:58 GMT
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Looks like I'm the exception to the no van before the recovery truck. I escalated 3 times at the call centre (very politely) and the AA did eventually send one out. I was able to confirm I could see the remains of a piston poking through the block after there was a bang at high revs and the back wheels locked up and a large puddle of oil under the car with lumps of metal in it. Apologies to the Mini Cooper I'd just overtaken who got showered in bits of engine and oil. RAC turned up for the modern (11yrs old) when the crank sensor played up in 30 mins at which point the poxy thing started... James
PS as for worrying about breaking down I’ve got used to Honda’s so I don’t worry ! LR is a simple thing that would appear to keep going too, but tools / spares are carried. Only ever used them on other peoples cars though. Odd thing about owning a LR is that people assume you will have tools and knowledge so may expect it
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Last Edit: Dec 21, 2021 18:54:49 GMT by jamesd1972
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Dec 26, 2021 11:43:34 GMT
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Just thought I'd add an interesting* concept that happened to an acquaintance the other day. Electric car, driver hit a deer and killed it, car ended up in a ditch. No injuries to occupants. Driver has been AA member since Moses was a lad. . Police attended, wanted vehicle moved. AA contacted, refused to attend, apparently they won't recover after an accident, car was no longer on the road, and since the police were in attendance ' It's their problem!'?? Not sure if it being an electric vehicle had any bearing on their decision?? Any thoughts anyone?
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Dec 26, 2021 12:51:45 GMT
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Just thought I'd add an interesting* concept that happened to an acquaintance the other day. Electric car, driver hit a deer and killed it, car ended up in a ditch. No injuries to occupants. Driver has been AA member since Moses was a lad. . Police attended, wanted vehicle moved. AA contacted, refused to attend, apparently they won't recover after an accident, car was no longer on the road, and since the police were in attendance ' It's their problem!'?? Not sure if it being an electric vehicle had any bearing on their decision?? Any thoughts anyone? Can’t imagine it would. If their policy is not to attend after a RTC then that’s their policy. Seems simple enough. My guess is you call your insurance company to arrange recovery after a smash
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Dec 26, 2021 14:51:17 GMT
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Just thought I'd add an interesting* concept that happened to an acquaintance the other day. Electric car, driver hit a deer and killed it, car ended up in a ditch. No injuries to occupants. Driver has been AA member since Moses was a lad. . Police attended, wanted vehicle moved. AA contacted, refused to attend, apparently they won't recover after an accident, car was no longer on the road, and since the police were in attendance ' It's their problem!'?? Not sure if it being an electric vehicle had any bearing on their decision?? Any thoughts anyone? AA policy has always been that accident damage is not covered by your breakdown policy. I believe that the RAC is the same. Specialist equipment is usually chargeable too; definition of specialist is anything extra from pushing or winching out of a parking space. So that's wheel skates, winching off walls(I did an insurance job out of a swimming pool), jammed ignition locks(try not to use them, and ALWAYS park with the wheel straight), stolen keys, inoperative electric handbrakes(a truly curse word stupid idea), towing out of multi-storey car parks, etc etc
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cjhillman
Posted a lot
1979 Capri (Rolling Project) 1985 Escort mk3 (Daily)
Posts: 1,588
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Dec 26, 2021 17:32:00 GMT
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Just thought I'd add an interesting* concept that happened to an acquaintance the other day. Electric car, driver hit a deer and killed it, car ended up in a ditch. No injuries to occupants. Driver has been AA member since Moses was a lad. . Police attended, wanted vehicle moved. AA contacted, refused to attend, apparently they won't recover after an accident, car was no longer on the road, and since the police were in attendance ' It's their problem!'?? Not sure if it being an electric vehicle had any bearing on their decision?? Any thoughts anyone? AA policy has always been that accident damage is not covered by your breakdown policy. I believe that the RAC is the same. Specialist equipment is usually chargeable too; definition of specialist is anything extra from pushing or winching out of a parking space. So that's wheel skates, winching off walls(I did an insurance job out of a swimming pool), jammed ignition locks(try not to use them, and ALWAYS park with the wheel straight), stolen keys, inoperative electric handbrakes(a truly curse word stupid idea), towing out of multi-storey car parks, etc etc I found that out with the AA about 13 years ago doing handbrake turns in the snow in my old Escort mk5. Got it wrong and nackard all the suspension. had to pay £100 to get it towed to a garage. One of the last times I was towed earlier this year with my current Escort. The bloke had a call asking him if he had some skates for a job, he said no and declined the job. He told me last time he used skates it was under a Porsche and the thing rolled away into something cost him £3k of damage that he was still paying off.
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