The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T(Vol XVIII)
Discussion
Cmoose - а friend was in a similar predicament with a FFRR TDV8 - one of the turbos was borked. He elected to continue to drive it, rather than pay up for recovery as he did not have any in place. It got so bad, the turbo peed a ton of oil down the intercooler that he managed to hydrolock the engine. End result - a lot of S shaped conrods and one very empty wallet, instead of one slightly less empty wallet.
As for the hoon - I will follow the lists collective wisdom and turn right at the A20/Chislehurst roundabout and point the Ass-engined Hitler wagen in the direction of Ze Kontinent
I did Northern Spain in a E46 M3 Convertible three years ago and I loved it a lot (spent a whole week between Santander and Porto without touching a motorway) but I think the GT3 is crying for a cheeky squirt up the Col de l'Iseran and a few Swiss passes too.
As for the hoon - I will follow the lists collective wisdom and turn right at the A20/Chislehurst roundabout and point the Ass-engined Hitler wagen in the direction of Ze Kontinent
I did Northern Spain in a E46 M3 Convertible three years ago and I loved it a lot (spent a whole week between Santander and Porto without touching a motorway) but I think the GT3 is crying for a cheeky squirt up the Col de l'Iseran and a few Swiss passes too.
It all depends on the failure mode of the turbo. Is it definitely the turbo, even?
If it still drives, could you not swing by a local garage for an opinion?
Assuming it is the turbo, the cost to fix will be knocking on the upper limit of what you've deemed viable to invest in the car.
If it were me, I'd find somewhere safe to park it, fly home and pay to get it repatriated. Can't imagine that's more than a few hundred quid, and it's worth more in parts.
If it still drives, could you not swing by a local garage for an opinion?
Assuming it is the turbo, the cost to fix will be knocking on the upper limit of what you've deemed viable to invest in the car.
If it were me, I'd find somewhere safe to park it, fly home and pay to get it repatriated. Can't imagine that's more than a few hundred quid, and it's worth more in parts.
I'm with (the real) 'Flange
Seriously, moving it back to blighty can't be more than £500 - I've moved cars across the whole of the UK for less than half that and even if not strictly comparable, it can't be significantly more hassle (for now) to move one from France.
Shiply or sum such? Other sites / providers available!
Beefmeister said:
Don't expect much I'm afraid. An MX-5 it ain't. It'll be perfectly acceptable to drive around in, roof down. But it's far from dynamic in any way. Awful engine too.
You were right. I wasn't expecting great things but even so I was still disappointed. The engine is surprisingly poor off boost. It doesn't boost till 2000+ which would be fine if it didn't feel choked by 5500. At idle I swear it sounds like a diesel too. I managed to get a bit sun burnt which is to be expected with the roof down for extended periods in 30c heat.
Overall I managed to impress a few kids and that's about it. Was it worth paying an extra 50 quid per day over a vanilla economy diesel city car - not sure.
I saw an Alfa 4c at the hire car pick up and I think I was a bit envious so maybe next time I'll price up the 4c instead. That's an Alfa so it surely trumps a fiat.
I don't get that AA story. When you buy breakdown recovery, you pay for the eventuality of such a thing happening and the value of the car should be irrelevant. Or if it is, do they buy the car off you like an insurance company would do in a write off?
I've left the UK a few years ago and such stories make me glad to have left such "services" behind me too. I pay slightly more here in CH, but they will always recover the car to a garage of my choice, and cover the costs of repatriating me if the car cannot move including overnight stays at a hotel if needed.
If I were you I'd look at breakdown covers from other EU countries for at least the next ~two years, after Brexit who knows if that will still work. German ADAC gets often quoted as being great value for money but I'm guessing they're not alone.
Glad it all worked out though
I've left the UK a few years ago and such stories make me glad to have left such "services" behind me too. I pay slightly more here in CH, but they will always recover the car to a garage of my choice, and cover the costs of repatriating me if the car cannot move including overnight stays at a hotel if needed.
If I were you I'd look at breakdown covers from other EU countries for at least the next ~two years, after Brexit who knows if that will still work. German ADAC gets often quoted as being great value for money but I'm guessing they're not alone.
Glad it all worked out though
Diesel Meister said:
ATM - please tell me that wasn't the result of some eejit tossing debris out of a car. Please.
NoI interfaced with a rock. I saw it flick up from a truck's tyre just in front of me. I even ducked - you know when you see an object heading your way and you react.
I had to drive all the way from Milan to Manchester like that because the bestest European road side assistance does not cover the windscreen. And I couldn't get a new screen for days.
When I first left uni I did some agency van diving work. I remember driving along the M26 when a Disco with a box trailer fish-tailed on the opposite carriageway, and went trailer first into the central reservation.
A 12" shard of wood flew across and embedded itself into the windscreen of my van, about 4" to the left of where my head was. All happened too fast to react, but the finished article was like something out of a film!
A 12" shard of wood flew across and embedded itself into the windscreen of my van, about 4" to the left of where my head was. All happened too fast to react, but the finished article was like something out of a film!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff