Bought myself a Bull
Discussion
As I mentioned in the previous posts, I bought the car after extensive conversations with Ricky at RE Performance in Swindon, there's no substitute for an actual inspection though, so the week after collection I drove the 30 miles to RE and left the car with them with instructions to perform a full inspection (about 2hrs) as well as compression test and borescope.
Happy to report that the engine is tight, the car has only a couple of minor areas that may need looking at in the medium to long term and overall the consensus is that I've got myself a good car.
The £658 cost included a fresh MOT which it went straight through with no advisories.
I celebrated by attending the first car show I've been to in many years, organised by the son of a PHer in a school about an hours drive away.
It was a nice way to get to know the car a little.
Happy to report that the engine is tight, the car has only a couple of minor areas that may need looking at in the medium to long term and overall the consensus is that I've got myself a good car.
The £658 cost included a fresh MOT which it went straight through with no advisories.
I celebrated by attending the first car show I've been to in many years, organised by the son of a PHer in a school about an hours drive away.
It was a nice way to get to know the car a little.
TheJimi said:
mat205125 said:
Nice new toy Mr M. We'll have to get the pair of toys out for a meet up 
Whoa!This needs it's own thread
Hopefully he'll get a thread together on here, I'd say it's worth it.
Annoyingly I didn't know it was finished and being used in anger otherwise I'd have popped along.
Time for a 2023 update.
For various reasons I dropped the car at RE performance a few months ago, a slight misunderstanding meant that I didn't pick it up again until last weekend, a shame to miss all the good weather of late, but I only have myself to blame so am quite sanguine about it.
The car went to RE for a number of jobs, the usual annual service & MOT as well as a few things I'd spotted over the first 9 months of owning the car that i wanted attended to, some of which included:
A second key - this is a pain on the G, with the fob and blade needing to be ordered from Italy and then the coding being possible only at Pangbourne, my local Lambo main dealer.
Removal of various bits of illegal tint that had been applied by a previous owner.
Removal of various bits of stick-on fake carbon applied by a previous owner
Replacement of a few broken plastic trim parts and missing screws
Removal and repaint of the wiper arms as I'd spotted some bubbling under the paint
When I dropped the car off Ricky had noticed that the front quarter window seals had perished and were in danger of causing an issue with the windows so I asked for these to be changed as well - this turned out to be a properly expensive job, making up almost 1/3rd of the eventual bill.
I'd also spotted a little bit of bubbling to the wiper arms so I had those stripped and repainted.
The total bill of approx. £3.5k was what I had budgeted and I thought pretty reasonable for the amount of work carried out
Collection of the car was not a particularly great day, it seems that one of the release latches for the roof has decided to cry "enough" whilst the car has been away, so the roof was unable to be lowered and I also had an awful grinding noise where a wire had somehow become disconnected from the spoiler motor bypass, which is fitted as a result of me having the carbon Superleggera-look spoiler.
A way forward with both of these agreed, I removed the car and prepared to take a colleague's son to his prom in it on Tuesday night......
A Tuesday night that (here at least) turned out to be beyond biblically wet, driving toward home on flooded roads was a perfect example of a time when you don't want the offside windscreen wiper to decide to part company with its spindle, leaving me with no wiper (and no tools, light or coat with which to fix it) I image a few people got a laugh that night at the sight of the flashy supercar following behind the old corsa (my sister) in order to get home safely!
I always believe that how a company deals with issues is the best mark of their quality and RE stepped up to the plate completely on this, a call the following morning lead to an invitation to bring the car in on Thursday, at which time the wiper arm was repaired, the spoiler motor connection re-made and the roof lowered so that I can enjoy the sunshine until the replacement latch arrives. No cost to myself for any of these remedial works.
A second prom this evening for a friend from motor club's daughter went off completely without a hitch, the car running better than ever.
Next up (weather permitting) is the Under 17 car club's Magic Day at Castle Combe track this Sunday where the car will be used for passenger laps raising money for charity as well as any U17 member who has reached the required grade being able to drive the car round the track themselves.
Unfortunately the roof being stuck open means that if the weather is inclement I won't be able to take the car this year which will be a shame as it's always a good day and raises a lot of money for Teenage Cancer Trust and other charities.
For various reasons I dropped the car at RE performance a few months ago, a slight misunderstanding meant that I didn't pick it up again until last weekend, a shame to miss all the good weather of late, but I only have myself to blame so am quite sanguine about it.
The car went to RE for a number of jobs, the usual annual service & MOT as well as a few things I'd spotted over the first 9 months of owning the car that i wanted attended to, some of which included:
A second key - this is a pain on the G, with the fob and blade needing to be ordered from Italy and then the coding being possible only at Pangbourne, my local Lambo main dealer.
Removal of various bits of illegal tint that had been applied by a previous owner.
Removal of various bits of stick-on fake carbon applied by a previous owner
Replacement of a few broken plastic trim parts and missing screws
Removal and repaint of the wiper arms as I'd spotted some bubbling under the paint
When I dropped the car off Ricky had noticed that the front quarter window seals had perished and were in danger of causing an issue with the windows so I asked for these to be changed as well - this turned out to be a properly expensive job, making up almost 1/3rd of the eventual bill.
I'd also spotted a little bit of bubbling to the wiper arms so I had those stripped and repainted.
The total bill of approx. £3.5k was what I had budgeted and I thought pretty reasonable for the amount of work carried out
Collection of the car was not a particularly great day, it seems that one of the release latches for the roof has decided to cry "enough" whilst the car has been away, so the roof was unable to be lowered and I also had an awful grinding noise where a wire had somehow become disconnected from the spoiler motor bypass, which is fitted as a result of me having the carbon Superleggera-look spoiler.
A way forward with both of these agreed, I removed the car and prepared to take a colleague's son to his prom in it on Tuesday night......
A Tuesday night that (here at least) turned out to be beyond biblically wet, driving toward home on flooded roads was a perfect example of a time when you don't want the offside windscreen wiper to decide to part company with its spindle, leaving me with no wiper (and no tools, light or coat with which to fix it) I image a few people got a laugh that night at the sight of the flashy supercar following behind the old corsa (my sister) in order to get home safely!
I always believe that how a company deals with issues is the best mark of their quality and RE stepped up to the plate completely on this, a call the following morning lead to an invitation to bring the car in on Thursday, at which time the wiper arm was repaired, the spoiler motor connection re-made and the roof lowered so that I can enjoy the sunshine until the replacement latch arrives. No cost to myself for any of these remedial works.
A second prom this evening for a friend from motor club's daughter went off completely without a hitch, the car running better than ever.
Next up (weather permitting) is the Under 17 car club's Magic Day at Castle Combe track this Sunday where the car will be used for passenger laps raising money for charity as well as any U17 member who has reached the required grade being able to drive the car round the track themselves.
Unfortunately the roof being stuck open means that if the weather is inclement I won't be able to take the car this year which will be a shame as it's always a good day and raises a lot of money for Teenage Cancer Trust and other charities.
Edited by K50 DEL on Friday 7th July 22:28
I've not updated this thread for a while, mostly as having fixed the roof the weather kept the car in the garage for most of the next few months.
The nicer weather and lighter evenings encouraged me to wake the sleeping bull, unfortunately it was a little reluctant to start, it seems the starter is on its way out, producing an awful screech when used!
A little Internet research seems to indicate that the starter is the same unit that's fitted to many diesel VW cars and hence available without Lambo tax.
Accordingly there's one in my garage now and some ramp time booked with a mate on Tuesday to swap it over.
Service and MOT time follows early next month.
The nicer weather and lighter evenings encouraged me to wake the sleeping bull, unfortunately it was a little reluctant to start, it seems the starter is on its way out, producing an awful screech when used!
A little Internet research seems to indicate that the starter is the same unit that's fitted to many diesel VW cars and hence available without Lambo tax.
Accordingly there's one in my garage now and some ramp time booked with a mate on Tuesday to swap it over.
Service and MOT time follows early next month.
Starter swap on a G has to be one of the easiest DIY tasks ever -
Part number 02A911024X (Officially for a Golf I think) fits perfectly and cost me £55 instead of over £800 for the (identical) Lambo part.
All fitted and working this afternoon in about 20 minutes.
Only curveball is that the remote key needs resynchronizing once the battery is reconnected (easy to do, just start the car with the unlock button held down)
Part number 02A911024X (Officially for a Golf I think) fits perfectly and cost me £55 instead of over £800 for the (identical) Lambo part.
All fitted and working this afternoon in about 20 minutes.
Only curveball is that the remote key needs resynchronizing once the battery is reconnected (easy to do, just start the car with the unlock button held down)
K50 DEL said:
Starter swap on a G has to be one of the easiest DIY tasks ever -
Part number 02A911024X (Officially for a Golf I think) fits perfectly and cost me £55 instead of over £800 for the (identical) Lambo part.
All fitted and working this afternoon in about 20 minutes.
Only curveball is that the remote key needs resynchronizing once the battery is reconnected (easy to do, just start the car with the unlock button held down)
Lordy that's a mark up and a half...Good work avoiding it!Part number 02A911024X (Officially for a Golf I think) fits perfectly and cost me £55 instead of over £800 for the (identical) Lambo part.
All fitted and working this afternoon in about 20 minutes.
Only curveball is that the remote key needs resynchronizing once the battery is reconnected (easy to do, just start the car with the unlock button held down)
trails said:
K50 DEL said:
Starter swap on a G has to be one of the easiest DIY tasks ever -
Part number 02A911024X (Officially for a Golf I think) fits perfectly and cost me £55 instead of over £800 for the (identical) Lambo part.
All fitted and working this afternoon in about 20 minutes.
Only curveball is that the remote key needs resynchronizing once the battery is reconnected (easy to do, just start the car with the unlock button held down)
Lordy that's a mark up and a half...Good work avoiding it!Part number 02A911024X (Officially for a Golf I think) fits perfectly and cost me £55 instead of over £800 for the (identical) Lambo part.
All fitted and working this afternoon in about 20 minutes.
Only curveball is that the remote key needs resynchronizing once the battery is reconnected (easy to do, just start the car with the unlock button held down)
I'm doing it again this weekend, my tender reports that the battery currently fitted to the G is not operating at the level it should be so I'm going to replace it.... almost £400 through my local specialist, £120 from Euro Car Parts so that's a no-brainer!
Has anyone compiled an Excel spreadsheet that lists the alternate part numbers? I know a mate with an older Ferrari that has obtained one and its been a superb resource to identify parts when needed. Seem to recall the fuel pump was a generic Bosch one that would have been 4 times the cost as a Ferrari sourced one despite being a generic manufacturer one.
K50 DEL said:
I got into the habit with the Ferrari of always checking if a part was used on another "normal" car before stumping up the inevitable supercar tax.
I'm doing it again this weekend, my tender reports that the battery currently fitted to the G is not operating at the level it should be so I'm going to replace it.... almost £400 through my local specialist, £120 from Euro Car Parts so that's a no-brainer!
It's great to see these cars being run and enjoyed with some of the supercar tax removed I'm doing it again this weekend, my tender reports that the battery currently fitted to the G is not operating at the level it should be so I'm going to replace it.... almost £400 through my local specialist, £120 from Euro Car Parts so that's a no-brainer!
trails said:
K50 DEL said:
I got into the habit with the Ferrari of always checking if a part was used on another "normal" car before stumping up the inevitable supercar tax.
I'm doing it again this weekend, my tender reports that the battery currently fitted to the G is not operating at the level it should be so I'm going to replace it.... almost £400 through my local specialist, £120 from Euro Car Parts so that's a no-brainer!
It's great to see these cars being run and enjoyed with some of the supercar tax removed I'm doing it again this weekend, my tender reports that the battery currently fitted to the G is not operating at the level it should be so I'm going to replace it.... almost £400 through my local specialist, £120 from Euro Car Parts so that's a no-brainer!
I'm almost finished with the planning and booking for a 15 day, 2500 mile 7 country road trip through Europe....
I always buy my cars to use, sometimes life gets in the way!
K50 DEL said:
Part of the driver for the works that I'm doing here is that I'm aiming to really use the car later this summer.
I'm almost finished with the planning and booking for a 15 day, 2500 mile 7 country road trip through Europe....
I always buy my cars to use, sometimes life gets in the way!
Look forward to some road trip pics, hopefully some V10 videos too I'm almost finished with the planning and booking for a 15 day, 2500 mile 7 country road trip through Europe....
I always buy my cars to use, sometimes life gets in the way!
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