Rubbish cars you just bonded with
Discussion
CDP said:
ChiggyWiggy said:
I mean it had done a fair few miles, it was a 1.8 CL Automatic with a chunk missing from the body, and cost £200.
We joke about it, but in reality it did fare well and I was proud of it.
My MINI Cooper R50.
It has high miles (223k of them). It's tatty. It's dented. It's scraped. It's been to the garage four f**king times in three months for overheating issues. It has a Union Flag roof. It has no aircon. The engine is utterly gutless below 2k rpm. The power steering pump whines. The driver's door won't open from the inside.
And yet... it's just glorious to punt down a B-road, the engine makes a lovely noise with a menacing rumble to the exhaust, it's small enough to manoeuvre into the tightest parking space, and it's economical enough for my 65 mile a day round trip of a commute. I've bonded with it because every trip it makes it to the end of without overheating and without the fan coming on after parking up is a bonus.
It has high miles (223k of them). It's tatty. It's dented. It's scraped. It's been to the garage four f**king times in three months for overheating issues. It has a Union Flag roof. It has no aircon. The engine is utterly gutless below 2k rpm. The power steering pump whines. The driver's door won't open from the inside.
And yet... it's just glorious to punt down a B-road, the engine makes a lovely noise with a menacing rumble to the exhaust, it's small enough to manoeuvre into the tightest parking space, and it's economical enough for my 65 mile a day round trip of a commute. I've bonded with it because every trip it makes it to the end of without overheating and without the fan coming on after parking up is a bonus.
My old Clio 1.6 RXE shed in rusty orange, which we called Rexo. I got it as a present to my then girlfriend as she started a job 30 miles away. Rexo wouldn't always start the first time, or the second time, or the 15th time (buggered crank sensor). The sunroof switch was broken so it could not be open, unless you were going above 60, in which case it would crack open by itself by a fraction of a milimetre and would start whistling. The central locking on one of the doors didn't work. The driver side headlight came on only when in the mood. The aircon didn't work. You needed to steer left so that it would keep straight. The steering wheel was enormous and quite indirect, so 3 point turns were a nuisance. Even the fuel consumption wasn't that good. By all definitions, this was a rubbish car.
But I just loved driving it. The engine was surprisingly punchy. The ride was very comfortable. The handling was really fun on a B-road. And the stereo was amazing, I really didn't expect that from a £500 18-year old car. I just loved the fact that I could park it anywhere without having to care, or that I could thrash it like there's no tomorrow without any remorse. This car had more character than almost anything else I've ever driven and I ended up swapping my 10 years newer Clio with my ex for her rusty Rexo. I kept it for a year and sold it to fund the purchase of my current 172. Unfortunately, it seems that Rexo didn't pass his last MOT and has undoubtedly been scrapped. Rest in peace, my old friend.
But I just loved driving it. The engine was surprisingly punchy. The ride was very comfortable. The handling was really fun on a B-road. And the stereo was amazing, I really didn't expect that from a £500 18-year old car. I just loved the fact that I could park it anywhere without having to care, or that I could thrash it like there's no tomorrow without any remorse. This car had more character than almost anything else I've ever driven and I ended up swapping my 10 years newer Clio with my ex for her rusty Rexo. I kept it for a year and sold it to fund the purchase of my current 172. Unfortunately, it seems that Rexo didn't pass his last MOT and has undoubtedly been scrapped. Rest in peace, my old friend.
first shed was a old austin a40 that i bought for just £40 in about 1988 just before Christmas ran it for a month and loved it
so put it in for a MOT it passed 1st time so ran it for a year drove it like i stole it great car
next was a blue 1982 talbot solara 5 speed with power steering bought for £200 thrashed that about 4 years and then sold it for £150
crap car rattled and scabybody but drove better than a cortina
so put it in for a MOT it passed 1st time so ran it for a year drove it like i stole it great car
next was a blue 1982 talbot solara 5 speed with power steering bought for £200 thrashed that about 4 years and then sold it for £150
crap car rattled and scabybody but drove better than a cortina
Well, if you believe most people on here, my RX8.
It lacked the 600 BHP essential for getting to the shops and consumed 3 gallons of oil for every gallon of fuel, which it used one of for each 3 miles it travelled, and of course, it could only go three tanks of fuel before requiring an engine rebuild.
In reality, it was comfortable, fast enough to see off most cars on a twisty road and quick enough to keep up with motorway traffic.
It did need an engine rebuild at around 70,000 miles and I got next to nothing for it when I sold it, but I was actually no worse off than if I'd bought an M3 for twice the price with 3 times the mileage at the time (the option and not a great one at the time as I did travel a fair bit then) and, aside from the engine rebuild, the running costs were pretty manageable (not true of an E46 M3, no matter how much I liked the idea of one and still do)
Yes, it only did 25 MPG, but I didn't go that far in it in recent years and even when I did, the fact it was paid for many times over meant it was many, many times cheaper than buying something half as much fun, but more economical. It seated 4 adults in reasonable comfort, it didn't use any more oil than many 16 valve engines I've owned and insurance, servicing and tax were all pretty affordable for a car of that kind of performance.
I replaced it with a new Golf R Estate - It's more modern, faster, much more economical, more practical (which was the compelling reason for changing) and a lovely car in many ways, but I miss the sense of occasion driving the RX8 had and I miss, most of all, the fact that it felt like I was driving even at perfectly legal speeds, rather than being driven at anything but high speeds.
People talk about autonomous cars in quite negative terms, but really, many modern cars are pretty remote already, so for most people it'll be a small step from that to a car where you sit and drink coffee and read a book on the way to work...
The enlightened will know an RX-8 is far from a 'rubbish' car, but I'm sure many will still believe it, so, for them, it's the 'rubbish' car I bonded with!
M
It lacked the 600 BHP essential for getting to the shops and consumed 3 gallons of oil for every gallon of fuel, which it used one of for each 3 miles it travelled, and of course, it could only go three tanks of fuel before requiring an engine rebuild.
In reality, it was comfortable, fast enough to see off most cars on a twisty road and quick enough to keep up with motorway traffic.
It did need an engine rebuild at around 70,000 miles and I got next to nothing for it when I sold it, but I was actually no worse off than if I'd bought an M3 for twice the price with 3 times the mileage at the time (the option and not a great one at the time as I did travel a fair bit then) and, aside from the engine rebuild, the running costs were pretty manageable (not true of an E46 M3, no matter how much I liked the idea of one and still do)
Yes, it only did 25 MPG, but I didn't go that far in it in recent years and even when I did, the fact it was paid for many times over meant it was many, many times cheaper than buying something half as much fun, but more economical. It seated 4 adults in reasonable comfort, it didn't use any more oil than many 16 valve engines I've owned and insurance, servicing and tax were all pretty affordable for a car of that kind of performance.
I replaced it with a new Golf R Estate - It's more modern, faster, much more economical, more practical (which was the compelling reason for changing) and a lovely car in many ways, but I miss the sense of occasion driving the RX8 had and I miss, most of all, the fact that it felt like I was driving even at perfectly legal speeds, rather than being driven at anything but high speeds.
People talk about autonomous cars in quite negative terms, but really, many modern cars are pretty remote already, so for most people it'll be a small step from that to a car where you sit and drink coffee and read a book on the way to work...
The enlightened will know an RX-8 is far from a 'rubbish' car, but I'm sure many will still believe it, so, for them, it's the 'rubbish' car I bonded with!
M
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