Em177's Monaro

[em177]

So last night I bought Rytaylors old 2004 Monaro 5.7 VXR. Have to say you couldn't buy a car of a more decent bloke.

Done my first few hundred miles in it and in love already.

Am going to try get involved in as many meets as possible. For now I'm just enjoying driving

[em177]

Thanks guys and gal

Not had a chance to get some proper pics sorted yet so just got the one from my crump iPad so apologies for the quality. Will get the slr out soon.

[em177]

mv6 said:

Hello. Where in Scotland are you? There are quite a few of us up here dotted about!

I'm based near Dundee and work up in Aberdeen. I have a company car as well so it'll mainly be used at weekeneds only for the time being.

[em177]

Took the car the long way to collect a curry tonight. Just smile whenever I switch the thing on! A beer shop has proven I need to get some Aussie drinking habits mind...didn't quite fill it!

Edited by em177 on Tuesday 30th September 19:44

Edited by em177 on Tuesday 30th September 19:47

[em177]

So today I had at good gander under the car to make sure everything was all ok. Apart from the exhaust needing a new rear hanger, it's all looking good. Clutch occasionally smells/judders though, weird as it had an upgraded LS7 version only a few months ago. None of the mechanics believed the car was mine.... The joys of being 23

[em177]

Birdster said:

Nice. I will pick one of these up one day. I don't even want to look at the classifieds , as I'll start trying to justify one and I've no idea what these go for now. What's your insurance like?

I'm in 3 figures, @ 23 with 5 years NCB and a couple of naughty points

[em177]

Cheers for the kind words guys. Taking it to Brands next week for the BTCC if anyone is heading down? :

[em177]

So the weekend marked my 2 week anniversary with the 'Ro. Which naturally I celebrated with an 1800 mile trip to Belgium!

Pics and info to follow

Ps can a mod please change the title of the thread to something like 'em177's Monaro" ?

Edited by RichieSlow on Thursday 16th October 09:55

[em177]

ARAF said:

007 VXR said:

em177 said:

So the weekend marked my 2 week anniversary with the 'Ro. Which naturally I celebrated with an 1800 mile trip to Belgium!

Pics and info to follow

Ps can a mod please change the title of the thread to something like 'em177's Monaro" ?

just start a new thread

Or don't bother. We'll all find it.

Cheers guys

[em177]

So. This weekend I ended up doing a completely unplanned 1800 mile trip in the 'Ro. A perfect way to celebrate my second week of ownership

It all started when an email came through stating our Friday Croft track day had been cancelled. This left us in a pickle as I now had a long weekend booked off work, with nothing really planned.

Naturally the decision was made to head to Oktoberfest in Edinburgh. Off I went from Aberdeen down the A9. Arriving in Edinburgh a rough plan was outlayed, 4 of us would make the trip with the intention of leaving Edinburgh around 11pm. A friend (bicycleshorts on here) decided he wanted to buy a Subaru Legacy. In Waymouth :facepalm: Meaning an overnight 11 hour drive, meaning I'd be staying sober. For the other 3 at least the beers started to flow, and the night progressed into something pretty manic. Summed up perfectly by this.....




11 O'clock arrived and with 3 barely legible passengers we set off. Luckily a combination of Monster and coffee meant the night and the miles flew by easily, I have to say I'm lucky enough to have done similar trips this year in some fairly fantastic machinery (new 640d, 730d's etc) through work, and the Monaro performed perfectly, it's in it's element doing this sort of thing. And a fairly healthy 31mpg showed on the trip by the time dawn arrived. A fantastic feat 4 up full of luggage IMO.

We arrived in Waymouth and collected the Legacy. Which within minutes became the perfect location for a 15 minute power nap while everyone else who'd slept through the night got a Tesco breakfast. It was at this point my passenger seat decided it fancied breaking. It's now stuck in the full back position (helpful for rear access!) The back rest still tilts correctly, it just won't move the base back or forward. Any ideas?



I'd been lucky enough to get a couple of tickets to Brands from BMW for the BTCC, so we made an uneventful trip back up North West. We arrived and found a wet and soggy circuit, but luckily 2 of us at least had a fantastic dry view of the days erm, interesting track action!



Leaving Brands I imagine most would go get a nice hotel near London somewhere and have a much needed early night. We decided this was rather boring and heading down south to the Channel Tunnel, location of choice being Belgium. More specifically a city we know well, Ghent. We arrived around 10, and to be honest I'd love to give you an itinery on what happened but apart from the fact I know we had a curry and hit the pub... it's a little hazy

The next afternoon we awoke to find a dry(ish) day:





We arrived at Calais and decided to get some beers for back home, was glad at this point I'd gone for an '04 big boot model

The convoy then headed back up to Scotland, stopping off at much less of these than I predicted! Overall MPG was around 29mpg for the 1800 miles.... I'd budgeted for it being in the high teeens so can't complain!



Returning home late Sunday night, I had the chance to reminisce on what a great car I've bought, what ace mates I have, how awesome Belgium is and how tired I was.

Still.... am looking forward to the next one already

[em177]

Cheers for the comments guys, Means the cars done nearly 4k miles in a month Richard

[em177]

So naturally 2 weeks after buying the Monaro I've got the chance to get a stonking deal on another car.... anyone want to make me a bid?

[em177]

preciousmetal said:

em177 said:

So naturally 2 weeks after buying the Monaro I've got the chance to get a stonking deal on another car.... anyone want to make me a bid?

didnt see this post coming .................

It's not 100%, I love the car. It's just if someone was to come along in the next 48 hours with a sensible offer I might have to accept it. If not I'll be in the 'Ro club for a long time

[em177]

rytaylor said:

em177 said:

So naturally 2 weeks after buying the Monaro I've got the chance to get a stonking deal on another car.... anyone want to make me a bid?

Hmm I haven't bought a new car yet and have been missing the Monaro...

Car or house, car or house? I must be getting old - that would have been an easy choice a couple of years ago.

What is the other car you're considering? Must be something pretty nice.

Essetially I've been offered a lovely Z4 on a staff deal which, coming upto winter is crazy cheap and makes financial sense. I'm going to get the 'Ro alloys refurbed and get the 'leccy seat fixed. Will then make a decision after that. I absolutely love the Monaro so I will do whatever I can to try keep both. But like I say if an offer came along then I would have open ears.... sorry mods. This isn't going to become a sale thread :P

[em177]

SturdyHSV said:

A Z4? That's quite a staff discount the salon are offering you!

I've had 12 Mx5's.... I've got more than one salon now

[em177]

ARAF said:

stigmundfreud said:

The lust for build quality is strong with this one

The don't make 'em like they used to though.

Haha as you'll see from my previous car history it's not always been like that! I think it's something that comes naturally when you work with new cars day in day out. Suddenly every little niggle with a 10 year old 100k car gets annoying. My company car is never more than 2 months old by the time it's handed back.

[em177]

So the Z4 arrives in too weeks, which means I've got to make an effort to move the Monaro on. I'm not going to be cheeky with the price, and will be organising getting a wheel refurb and the electric seat fixed before sale. I'll not post a link to keep the mods happy but you know where to find the ad

[em177]

ARAF said:

This one?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...

I thin you should change the end to read "Company car forces reluctant sale."
Saying that another car has come up smacks of "The Monaro is pretty good, but I've found something better" and prospective buyers will also want that instead.

That's the one. Don't feel as bad if you post it! Fair point, maybe I'm too honest will update it in the morning.,,. Am off for a beer!

[em177]

So I've narrowed the problem with the passenger seat down to this control unit. Any ideas where I could get a replacement?

[em177]

Cheers guys, have put the word out so will see what I can find. I've updated the ad to include some more pics and have reworded it.