The next sensible step, a 2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Discussion
Lovely car
For some reason we did not bond with the 4.7 that we had and recently sold, always felt too wide for the Shropshire / North Wales roads we enjoy (the A110 is much better) and always felt uneasy about a potential unexpected big bill - strangely I never suffered the same fear with the Tuscan
Horses for courses - hope you enjoy it as much as we hoped we would
For some reason we did not bond with the 4.7 that we had and recently sold, always felt too wide for the Shropshire / North Wales roads we enjoy (the A110 is much better) and always felt uneasy about a potential unexpected big bill - strangely I never suffered the same fear with the Tuscan
Horses for courses - hope you enjoy it as much as we hoped we would
As you might be aware, there has recently been a need for me to use hire cars for work. This has been a great oppourtunity to test drive some of the good the bad and the ugly and this time was just as bad as most of the others.
I needed to travel from Plymouth to about 20 miles north of Glasgow. And back. In 2 and a half days
Waze suggested it was going to take me 9 hours starting at 8am on sunday morning. That was always going to be closer to 9:30 with a few stops for some over priced protein bars and coffee.
With that in mind, I went to the collection point and was greeted with a less than exciting prospect for the 1000+ miles round trip.
I present to you the 73' Plate BMW 118i in Deano Grey:
I've had one or two BMWs in the past as hire cars and i've never been hugely impressed with them. I'd have taken more pictures of the thing but i was aware youd probably be as unimpressed as i was to look at it.
It does everything a new car should... It moves forward when you press the pedal, stops when you press the other and is fairly quiet. The android auto connects quickly and the sound system is alright. And thats about it.
I'm not familiar with whatever sport/ fake fast line they make these things in... I assume because the stiching was fancy colours and it looked somewhat sporty that it was some itteration of added extras bundled into a overpriced package.
First impressions were that the car seemed well built. You'd hope as mass produced cars go it would be. It didnt rattle and it felt new but that was probably due to it only having 3k on the clock. Not sure if it was because of the BMW something line w
kery, but as a 3XL t-shirt wearing man with a nominal medium waist, the seats were at best snug. The thought of spending 9 hours in this thing was daunting so it quickly became apparent that there would have to be several stops just to reconfgure my skeleton.
Leaving Plymouth, the A38 presented itself as a fair proving ground for the Death-by-boring hatch, so with sport mode selected, i went for the slip road.
If it wasnt for a weird digital meter that told me i was using 100% power id have thought the auto box was stuck. The car was extremely underwhelming and did of course eventually make it to 70 mph but with the haste of a mining community to vote Tory.
About 3 hours into the drive, the seat was becoming pretty uncomfortable. Even with the bolster supports at maximum extension, this was going to be a test of determination to make it up north. Around the same time i noticed that the tank was also 1/4 full. The trip computer claimed 40mpg which led me to believe this thing was either lying to me or the tank was tiny. I pulled in and filled up the car and carried on.
The rest of the trip consisted of several stops to prevent scoliosis and to yet again fill the tank. The trip back on Tuesday was thankfully broken up by an overnight stay at home but Wednesday saw the continuation of the trip and a grand total of 4 filling stops, or £220 worth of petrol to make the trip.
I think its best i sum up the trip with a list of points:
The Good:
It goes forward
It stops
It has Android Auto
I didnt get wet
I didnt die
The Bad:
Wafty
Slow
Tiny Fuel Tank
Cheap feeling interior
Very uncomfortable seats
Terrible, terrible colour
In Summary, i really dont understand why anyone would pay a premium to own one of these things, let alone pay more for it to have some extra plastic and thread put on it to try and jazz it up. Perhaps that is the paradox that is this stbox?
Anyway, as i was saying.... the trip ended and for the time being i wont need to get any more hire cars. With the week coming to an end, time for some AM work
The stop home had allowed me to rummage around and pick up some supplies i had left over from my days with the lotus:
I had no immediate need for any of these things but theyre not doing much in the loft. Always good to have a few fuses and Cap heads around when you need them. Plus, they cover a little more of HM finest cabin carpet so i wasnt going to complain with less of that to look at.
Id been noticing on occasion that the ambient air temp indicated in the car would read all over the place. Some times it would read high 30s and others would read nerly nothing. This wasnt at all what id expect when coming to the car for the first time after a while so i happily managed to source one online for £10 and went about replacing it. Theres no point in posting any photos of the job because it was extremely simple with the sensor located at the front of the engine bay. It uncliped and was swapped in less than 10 minutes:
One of the biggest gripes i had with the car is that the number plates had been changed. The thing had been de-badged and i quickly rectified this but some people like that look, i hate it. I prefer the thing to look standard for the most part. AM pay qualified designers a lot of money to make this thing look good so unless it glaringly needs changing, or in the case of my lotus, was put together with old Astra parts, I want to keep it looking as its supposed to.
Off with the old:
As you can see, it looks like someone decided they wanted to attack the rear with a drill at some point. Having failed to secure the plates with a power tool they then decided to apply an unforseen amount of tape to secure it. A good hour of my life was wasted on removing the tape and making the surface clean and clear ready for the new plate. I will say, much like our across the pond cousins, i much prefer the car without a fron plate and see no reason why we couldnt do this in the UK, considering most cameras look at the rear of the car:
Anyway, a fresh batch of tape, new original dealer plates, a tape masure and a whiteboard marker to ensure proper alignment the job was done:
Having washed the car prior to doing the plates, i was reminded of something that has been bugging me for some time.
When it rains, or the car gets washed, the run off water was collecting and pooling along the bottom boot seal. I could see that there were a couple of drain holes that the water should drain down into the boot scupper from but they appeared to be blocked. I grabbed my finest air gun and went in from the top to little avail. The next place to try was the bottom, so i lined up and gave both a blast from the bottom.
What i'd failed to do is of course put anything ontop of the holes, ie a good rag, to catch the crap that was then jetted from the drain:
Which as you can see, threw crap all over the clean car. On the plus side, the drains now work so i dont fill the cabin with water when i open the boot!
Until next time.
I needed to travel from Plymouth to about 20 miles north of Glasgow. And back. In 2 and a half days
Waze suggested it was going to take me 9 hours starting at 8am on sunday morning. That was always going to be closer to 9:30 with a few stops for some over priced protein bars and coffee.
With that in mind, I went to the collection point and was greeted with a less than exciting prospect for the 1000+ miles round trip.
I present to you the 73' Plate BMW 118i in Deano Grey:
I've had one or two BMWs in the past as hire cars and i've never been hugely impressed with them. I'd have taken more pictures of the thing but i was aware youd probably be as unimpressed as i was to look at it.
It does everything a new car should... It moves forward when you press the pedal, stops when you press the other and is fairly quiet. The android auto connects quickly and the sound system is alright. And thats about it.
I'm not familiar with whatever sport/ fake fast line they make these things in... I assume because the stiching was fancy colours and it looked somewhat sporty that it was some itteration of added extras bundled into a overpriced package.
First impressions were that the car seemed well built. You'd hope as mass produced cars go it would be. It didnt rattle and it felt new but that was probably due to it only having 3k on the clock. Not sure if it was because of the BMW something line w
kery, but as a 3XL t-shirt wearing man with a nominal medium waist, the seats were at best snug. The thought of spending 9 hours in this thing was daunting so it quickly became apparent that there would have to be several stops just to reconfgure my skeleton.Leaving Plymouth, the A38 presented itself as a fair proving ground for the Death-by-boring hatch, so with sport mode selected, i went for the slip road.
If it wasnt for a weird digital meter that told me i was using 100% power id have thought the auto box was stuck. The car was extremely underwhelming and did of course eventually make it to 70 mph but with the haste of a mining community to vote Tory.
About 3 hours into the drive, the seat was becoming pretty uncomfortable. Even with the bolster supports at maximum extension, this was going to be a test of determination to make it up north. Around the same time i noticed that the tank was also 1/4 full. The trip computer claimed 40mpg which led me to believe this thing was either lying to me or the tank was tiny. I pulled in and filled up the car and carried on.
The rest of the trip consisted of several stops to prevent scoliosis and to yet again fill the tank. The trip back on Tuesday was thankfully broken up by an overnight stay at home but Wednesday saw the continuation of the trip and a grand total of 4 filling stops, or £220 worth of petrol to make the trip.
I think its best i sum up the trip with a list of points:
The Good:
It goes forward
It stops
It has Android Auto
I didnt get wet
I didnt die
The Bad:
Wafty
Slow
Tiny Fuel Tank
Cheap feeling interior
Very uncomfortable seats
Terrible, terrible colour
In Summary, i really dont understand why anyone would pay a premium to own one of these things, let alone pay more for it to have some extra plastic and thread put on it to try and jazz it up. Perhaps that is the paradox that is this s
tbox? Anyway, as i was saying.... the trip ended and for the time being i wont need to get any more hire cars. With the week coming to an end, time for some AM work
The stop home had allowed me to rummage around and pick up some supplies i had left over from my days with the lotus:
I had no immediate need for any of these things but theyre not doing much in the loft. Always good to have a few fuses and Cap heads around when you need them. Plus, they cover a little more of HM finest cabin carpet so i wasnt going to complain with less of that to look at.
Id been noticing on occasion that the ambient air temp indicated in the car would read all over the place. Some times it would read high 30s and others would read nerly nothing. This wasnt at all what id expect when coming to the car for the first time after a while so i happily managed to source one online for £10 and went about replacing it. Theres no point in posting any photos of the job because it was extremely simple with the sensor located at the front of the engine bay. It uncliped and was swapped in less than 10 minutes:
One of the biggest gripes i had with the car is that the number plates had been changed. The thing had been de-badged and i quickly rectified this but some people like that look, i hate it. I prefer the thing to look standard for the most part. AM pay qualified designers a lot of money to make this thing look good so unless it glaringly needs changing, or in the case of my lotus, was put together with old Astra parts, I want to keep it looking as its supposed to.
Off with the old:
As you can see, it looks like someone decided they wanted to attack the rear with a drill at some point. Having failed to secure the plates with a power tool they then decided to apply an unforseen amount of tape to secure it. A good hour of my life was wasted on removing the tape and making the surface clean and clear ready for the new plate. I will say, much like our across the pond cousins, i much prefer the car without a fron plate and see no reason why we couldnt do this in the UK, considering most cameras look at the rear of the car:
Anyway, a fresh batch of tape, new original dealer plates, a tape masure and a whiteboard marker to ensure proper alignment the job was done:
Having washed the car prior to doing the plates, i was reminded of something that has been bugging me for some time.
When it rains, or the car gets washed, the run off water was collecting and pooling along the bottom boot seal. I could see that there were a couple of drain holes that the water should drain down into the boot scupper from but they appeared to be blocked. I grabbed my finest air gun and went in from the top to little avail. The next place to try was the bottom, so i lined up and gave both a blast from the bottom.
What i'd failed to do is of course put anything ontop of the holes, ie a good rag, to catch the crap that was then jetted from the drain:
Which as you can see, threw crap all over the clean car. On the plus side, the drains now work so i dont fill the cabin with water when i open the boot!
Until next time.
This week i are been mostly driving north!
I had a bit of time to take the car back home and enjoy some time up and around the midlands.
I bought a drone too, so standby for plenty of scenic wker shots of wherever i can park the car.
A couple of bits:
The regular service message has reared its head so im going to order the stuff i need to do the oil change.
I called Nicholas Mee who suggested i dont bother replacing the coolant unless it really needs doing. I've ordered and received the thermostat so i might prep myself for a change and see how i get on if i cant just top it up after replacing it and the concentration comes up fine.
The Spark plugs, which i was going to change having been done 12k ago are only a 70k item, so im going to hold off on that for now.
I will change the paper air filter because that just seems sensible.
The Sat Nav mechanism has broken. It seems like this is a common failure so i'm going to order the replacement gears for it and see how to go about fixing that.
On the subject of, im going to see how hard and or costly it is to source a head unit that is Android auto compatible. The old SatNav is so poor in todays market if i can find the correct one at the right price, im going to put it in.
I've noticed the drivers door seal is damp with condensation when i open it in the cold mornings. I've seen replacement door seals but im going to monitor it to see if it gets any worse.
The brakes, albeit dont fade too quickly do feel a little spongey. The replacement hoses are fairly cheap and its probably well overdue a brake fluid flush. I've looked at several sources online to see if they make steel ones but no one seems to do them. I may have to custom buld them and do the swap when i bleed the fluid.
More of a thoughts post than an update but if i don't write it down ill forget!
Ow, and a brief stop on the way back today made me feel like the poor relation for the first time in long while stumbling across these beasts in the car park:
I had a bit of time to take the car back home and enjoy some time up and around the midlands.
I bought a drone too, so standby for plenty of scenic w
ker shots of wherever i can park the car.A couple of bits:
The regular service message has reared its head so im going to order the stuff i need to do the oil change.
I called Nicholas Mee who suggested i dont bother replacing the coolant unless it really needs doing. I've ordered and received the thermostat so i might prep myself for a change and see how i get on if i cant just top it up after replacing it and the concentration comes up fine.
The Spark plugs, which i was going to change having been done 12k ago are only a 70k item, so im going to hold off on that for now.
I will change the paper air filter because that just seems sensible.
The Sat Nav mechanism has broken. It seems like this is a common failure so i'm going to order the replacement gears for it and see how to go about fixing that.
On the subject of, im going to see how hard and or costly it is to source a head unit that is Android auto compatible. The old SatNav is so poor in todays market if i can find the correct one at the right price, im going to put it in.
I've noticed the drivers door seal is damp with condensation when i open it in the cold mornings. I've seen replacement door seals but im going to monitor it to see if it gets any worse.
The brakes, albeit dont fade too quickly do feel a little spongey. The replacement hoses are fairly cheap and its probably well overdue a brake fluid flush. I've looked at several sources online to see if they make steel ones but no one seems to do them. I may have to custom buld them and do the swap when i bleed the fluid.
More of a thoughts post than an update but if i don't write it down ill forget!
Ow, and a brief stop on the way back today made me feel like the poor relation for the first time in long while stumbling across these beasts in the car park:
Bit of the old Bank Holiday sesh!
Albeit i'm working tomorrow
There have been a few jobs recently that i've been meaning to crack on with but time without the car hasnt been an option so i went for the least invasive little bits i could think of sorting.
Although i am fully aware that a car of such age will wear a few imperfections, this one had been bugging me for a while. I present the poorly designed, aston specific and probably biggest waste of £7 i could come up with... The Intake hose to throttle body connection clip:
As you can see, the top of the clip had broken off and although it still seemed to secure the hose correctly, i felt it was no bother to change.
And refit:
The second job was going to be a bit more hands on.
Some time ago, the Satnav mechanism failed. It would make the standard motor whirrr but it wouldnt open. I'd had it open a few times before so i knew it wasnt seized but had either come loose or had broken. It seems as though this is quite a common failure point because a simple search revelaed several repair kits for another wallet busting £7. The package arrived and it was time to get to work.
With redpants on my lap i got to work with the trim removal tool. His video was very useful because it pointed to where the release clips were for the waterfall panel. Not something i wanted to break given how expensive these things can be. A slight plastic pry and the panel released. I unclipped the start button and it was away:
The satnav unit was held on by 4 screws. Using my finest Halfords red bit box, i of course firstly dropped the bit into the trim. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to find the bd before i realised it had fallen on the passenger footwell through the side trim. Time to use a proper Screw driver:
But alas! whats this? someones been here before i suspect:
I think when the bluetooth module was fitted, the expert fitter must have been a bit keen and broke the retaining hole. This surely wasnt the reason it was failing to open as i haven't had this panel off since owning the car so time to disect the unit.
It came apart pretty quickly and after about 7-8 small screws the reason the unit was opening was obvious:
Looks like the gear had completely given up.
New parts installed:
The reinstallation went very smoothly. I did everything in reverse, fired the car up and like that i had a working satnav once more.
Given that the summer seems to have arrived down here, i of course gave the car a good clean:
Although in a cruel twist of fate recently, i went to indulge in one of Saltashs' finest chicken kebabs. The curbs are extremely low and i ended up with probably the most expensive kebab of my life:
Thankfully it was only the one wheel. This will of course be added to the list of things i need to sort with the car however for now, that is all!
Albeit i'm working tomorrow
There have been a few jobs recently that i've been meaning to crack on with but time without the car hasnt been an option so i went for the least invasive little bits i could think of sorting.
Although i am fully aware that a car of such age will wear a few imperfections, this one had been bugging me for a while. I present the poorly designed, aston specific and probably biggest waste of £7 i could come up with... The Intake hose to throttle body connection clip:
As you can see, the top of the clip had broken off and although it still seemed to secure the hose correctly, i felt it was no bother to change.
And refit:
The second job was going to be a bit more hands on.
Some time ago, the Satnav mechanism failed. It would make the standard motor whirrr but it wouldnt open. I'd had it open a few times before so i knew it wasnt seized but had either come loose or had broken. It seems as though this is quite a common failure point because a simple search revelaed several repair kits for another wallet busting £7. The package arrived and it was time to get to work.
With redpants on my lap i got to work with the trim removal tool. His video was very useful because it pointed to where the release clips were for the waterfall panel. Not something i wanted to break given how expensive these things can be. A slight plastic pry and the panel released. I unclipped the start button and it was away:
The satnav unit was held on by 4 screws. Using my finest Halfords red bit box, i of course firstly dropped the bit into the trim. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to find the b
d before i realised it had fallen on the passenger footwell through the side trim. Time to use a proper Screw driver:But alas! whats this? someones been here before i suspect:
I think when the bluetooth module was fitted, the expert fitter must have been a bit keen and broke the retaining hole. This surely wasnt the reason it was failing to open as i haven't had this panel off since owning the car so time to disect the unit.
It came apart pretty quickly and after about 7-8 small screws the reason the unit was opening was obvious:
Looks like the gear had completely given up.
New parts installed:
The reinstallation went very smoothly. I did everything in reverse, fired the car up and like that i had a working satnav once more.
Given that the summer seems to have arrived down here, i of course gave the car a good clean:
Although in a cruel twist of fate recently, i went to indulge in one of Saltashs' finest chicken kebabs. The curbs are extremely low and i ended up with probably the most expensive kebab of my life:
Thankfully it was only the one wheel. This will of course be added to the list of things i need to sort with the car however for now, that is all!
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