The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[CDP]

Joey Deacon said:

Jaguar steve said:

Cheap enough to buy and run and throw away when you're done is enough reason to buy one, but the fact they're reliable, superbly comfortable and practical and car people and Powerfully Built Cocks absolutely detest them because they have no status at all is a massive bonus.

Totally agree with you, to me French cars seem to have the suspension just right, not wallowy but not stiff so you flinch every time you see a speed hump or imperfection in the road. Plus, as I stated earlier they just don't seem to rust.

Any tiny issue with a French car means it is rubbish, yet a German car can do this to it's big end shells and this is put down to a minor inconvenience

There seems to be this attitude about British cars too. Italian stuff can be pretty decent as well.

[greenarrow]

Joey Deacon said:

Totally agree with you, to me French cars seem to have the suspension just right, not wallowy but not stiff so you flinch every time you see a speed hump or imperfection in the road. Plus, as I stated earlier they just don't seem to rust.

Any tiny issue with a French car means it is rubbish, yet a German car can do this to it's big end shells and this is put down to a minor inconvenience

Yes I'd agree with that, I bought a brand new Audi A3 in 2002 and a 13 year old 205 GTI for my wife 7 months later. The Audi had numerous trips to the dealer during the first year and broke both front springs before it was 5 years old and had done 50K miles. The Peugeot we threw a bit of money at to begin with, getting a full service and a few other bits and it then had very few trips to the garage until it got really old in around 2013. It was a dependable, reliable and roomy second car which we could all fit in, plus a weeks shopping. Also, no rust. Totally agree french cars are generally very rust resistant.

[Jaguar steve]

greenarrow said:

Joey Deacon said:

Totally agree with you, to me French cars seem to have the suspension just right, not wallowy but not stiff so you flinch every time you see a speed hump or imperfection in the road. Plus, as I stated earlier they just don't seem to rust.

Any tiny issue with a French car means it is rubbish, yet a German car can do this to it's big end shells and this is put down to a minor inconvenience

Yes I'd agree with that, I bought a brand new Audi A3 in 2002 and a 13 year old 205 GTI for my wife 7 months later. The Audi had numerous trips to the dealer during the first year and broke both front springs before it was 5 years old and had done 50K miles. The Peugeot we threw a bit of money at to begin with, getting a full service and a few other bits and it then had very few trips to the garage until it got really old in around 2013. It was a dependable, reliable and roomy second car which we could all fit in, plus a weeks shopping. Also, no rust. Totally agree french cars are generally very rust resistant.

Back in the day of the Renault 12, 5 and 16 they used to rust very well indeed. When I was a Renault spanner monkey in the early 80s we had half a dozen not really that old R16s in the yard out back with the bumpers on the floor and the rear wheels lifting the back seat squab up because the entire rear floor pan had rotted away.

We had a modified 205 GTi that Mrs JS used to absolutely spank the nuts off everywhere. It had about 140k miles on it with absolutely no drama at all before we had to get rid of for something a bit bigger.

Probably the best fun car we've ever had.

[aaron_2000]

As above, my 1.6 205 GTI had over 180k on it then when run on the dyno it ran an indicated 101bhp, evidently a well put together car despite feeling like it was made of tin.

[greenarrow]

aaron_2000 said:

As above, my 1.6 205 GTI had over 180k on it then when run on the dyno it ran an indicated 101bhp, evidently a well put together car despite feeling like it was made of tin.

Ironically the engine is the one thing I didn't think lived up to expectations, fabulous low down torque aside. Our 1.9 never felt like it had close to the 130 ponies advertised ( I think in fact most made around 120-125 from new) and to be fair probably needed the valve stem seals doing by the time we got it. It was on about 90,000 miles when we bought it, so not exactly high mileage.

By contrast our current Fiesta ST150 which is now approaching the mileage the Pug had on it when purchased still feels strong and unlikely to have lost many of its original horses. Definitely quicker in a straightline than the GTI, despite having an inferior power to weight ratio. Also, you rarely get smokey engines these days. Petrol engines have definitely improved in that area since the 1980s!

G73 ELJ is still going and looking at the MOT history, it still doesn't look to have been welded at 30 years old now, despite rust advisories. Its passed every MOT first time since 2012. Also pretty good for an old 'un! We sold it in late 2014.

[200Plus Club]

My grand Vitara task today is a new MAF which has cost 25 quid delivered. Not sure yet if the engine warning light will clear of its own accord or if I'll need an obd2 reset.if this works then I've just front drop links to sort, still waiting on them from ecp.

[tomble22]

With my Accord off to pastures new as a result of needing more spent on it than i could justify, I was on the hunt for another Accord Tourer ideally. Unfortunately they are few and far between, especially down here in the West of Cornwall and in shed range.

During one of my 4 hour car browsing sessions I noticed a Mondeo ST TDCi estate for sale, about 20 miles away from me, up for £1,495, 12 months MOT, 1 owner from new and only 94k on the clock. It was obviously too good to be true, scrolling down through the ad it mentioned a DMF rattle...…Obviously this put me off completely!!

So the day after i went to view it, bodywork was a bit rough here and there but generally ok and the interior was spotless. Started it up, couldn't hear much in the way of a rattle, took it out for a test drive and although the clutch is a bit snappy, it pulls well and no issues with slipping etc.

As such, I offered the guy £1,300 which he accepted and I'm now driving around in it. All completely original but was owned by Ford in Chelmsford originally so has a decent spec, Recaro electric leather seats, electric folding mirrors, parking sensors etc along with the normal ST spec.

This is only my 3rd Ford I've owned and the first for 15 years but pleasantly surprised so far, drives really well, engine is nice and smooth and i do love the look of these.

Probably against shed rules to buy something which will likely need several hundred pounds spending on it in the near future but you only live once!!

Will get a better picture at some point but this is from the ad:

[A500leroy]

tomble22 said:

With my Accord off to pastures new as a result of needing more spent on it than i could justify, I was on the hunt for another Accord Tourer ideally. Unfortunately they are few and far between, especially down here in the West of Cornwall and in shed range.

During one of my 4 hour car browsing sessions I noticed a Mondeo ST TDCi estate for sale, about 20 miles away from me, up for £1,495, 12 months MOT, 1 owner from new and only 94k on the clock. It was obviously too good to be true, scrolling down through the ad it mentioned a DMF rattle...…Obviously this put me off completely!!

So the day after i went to view it, bodywork was a bit rough here and there but generally ok and the interior was spotless. Started it up, couldn't hear much in the way of a rattle, took it out for a test drive and although the clutch is a bit snappy, it pulls well and no issues with slipping etc.

As such, I offered the guy £1,300 which he accepted and I'm now driving around in it. All completely original but was owned by Ford in Chelmsford originally so has a decent spec, Recaro electric leather seats, electric folding mirrors, parking sensors etc along with the normal ST spec.

This is only my 3rd Ford I've owned and the first for 15 years but pleasantly surprised so far, drives really well, engine is nice and smooth and i do love the look of these.

Probably against shed rules to buy something which will likely need several hundred pounds spending on it in the near future but you only live once!!

Will get a better picture at some point but this is from the ad:

Good purchase Sir, but buy some shares in texaco..

[STIfree]

tomble22 said:

Very nice! Looks like a good buy, don't see too many ST estates.

[Bumblebee7]

Regarding the Citroen C4 I'm looking at today I would appreciate some feedback. I've taken a closer look at the MOT history and something weird/dodgy went on around 2013-2015. Mileage went up for a few MOT's and then went back down, also appears to have been some chassis damage. On top of that it missed its 2013 MOT entirely.

Can anyone have a look at the history and tell me if they'd run a mile from this?

CK06RXZ

Thanks!

[anonymous-user]

Mileage was :

24-APR-2012 = 34,627
02-APR-2014 = 62,479 (States KM using Vehicle Smart)
04-APR-2014 = 62,479 (KM? = 38822 Miles)
30-MAR-2015 = 62,998 ((States KM using Vehicle Smart)
29-MAR-2016 = 47,283 miles

Could it be possible that at those MOTs the odometer was reading in kilometers for some reason for a while?

To be honest it doesn't seem the best looked after example from the MOT history

[tomble22]

Bumblebee7 said:

Regarding the Citroen C4 I'm looking at today I would appreciate some feedback. I've taken a closer look at the MOT history and something weird/dodgy went on around 2013-2015. Mileage went up for a few MOT's and then went back down, also appears to have been some chassis damage. On top of that it missed its 2013 MOT entirely.

Can anyone have a look at the history and tell me if they'd run a mile from this?

CK06RXZ

Thanks!

When you look at the gap in the MOT and then the front end damage it makes me think it's been in a smack somewhere along the line.

[anonymous-user]

tomble22 said:

When you look at the gap in the MOT and then the front end damage it makes me think it's been in a smack somewhere along the line.

Totally agree, 2014.

Offside Headlamp Insecure
Offside front subframe attachment bracket bolt missing
Offside Front Body of Chassis is damaged seriously affexting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings

Then 2015

Battery Insecure
n/s bonnet hinge insecure

I personally would not want my mum driving a car life that, remember no good deed goes unpunished.

[tomble22]

STIfree said:

Very nice! Looks like a good buy, don't see too many ST estates.

No there don't seem to be many for sale either.

Has a few bits that need tidying up but generally drives really well. I'm hopeful given the low mileage that it won't throw up too many issues for a minute. Will give it a service in the next couple of weeks anyway.

[Bumblebee7]

Joey Deacon said:

tomble22 said:

When you look at the gap in the MOT and then the front end damage it makes me think it's been in a smack somewhere along the line.

Totally agree, 2014.

Offside Headlamp Insecure
Offside front subframe attachment bracket bolt missing
Offside Front Body of Chassis is damaged seriously affexting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings

Then 2015

Battery Insecure
n/s bonnet hinge insecure

I personally would not want my mum driving a car life that, remember no good deed goes unpunished.

Thanks for all the comments.
So general consensus is walk away and find something else?

[A500leroy]

Bumblebee7 said:

Joey Deacon said:

tomble22 said:

When you look at the gap in the MOT and then the front end damage it makes me think it's been in a smack somewhere along the line.

Totally agree, 2014.

Offside Headlamp Insecure
Offside front subframe attachment bracket bolt missing
Offside Front Body of Chassis is damaged seriously affexting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings

Then 2015

Battery Insecure
n/s bonnet hinge insecure

I personally would not want my mum driving a car life that, remember no good deed goes unpunished.

Thanks for all the comments.
So general consensus is walk away and find something else?

Absolutely, plenty of good cheap cars about to risk bothering with a possible dodgy one.

[Bumblebee7]

A500leroy said:

Absolutely, plenty of good cheap cars about to risk bothering with a possible dodgy one.

Thanks everyone, will cancel the viewing and keep looking. Just found out from my mum that admiral will honour a 3 year gap between insurance without losing NCB so that time pressure is off.

Will take my time to find a nice car.

[Captain Answer]

Joey Deacon said:

Mileage was :

24-APR-2012 = 34,627
02-APR-2014 = 62,479 (States KM using Vehicle Smart)
04-APR-2014 = 62,479 (KM? = 38822 Miles)
30-MAR-2015 = 62,998 ((States KM using Vehicle Smart)
29-MAR-2016 = 47,283 miles

Could it be possible that at those MOTs the odometer was reading in kilometers for some reason for a while?

To be honest it doesn't seem the best looked after example from the MOT history

Yeh was probably in KM if the owner didn't know hope to cycle it back to mph... The one we have had history like this

[Touring442]

Joey Deacon said:

Touring442 said:

No idea. Do they?

I have suffered a couple of Meganes. No thanks.

Edited by Touring442 on Tuesday 8th September 14:37

Yes,

Nice paint job....Halfords rattle can job and a bodged screen replacement.

Mine didn't do that. 2006.

German stuff is crap. That looks like a BMW chain guide failure.

I suffered two Meganes, thankfully not mine. Never, ever again.

[loskie]

recently interested in a Roomster Scout, Kangoo car and Doblo car all around the £1500 mark on facebook, they looked decent buys and sold like shirt of a shovel before I had chance to blink.