Car history, and current car VW Lupo

[CatfishCKY]

Hi all! Just bought myself a newish car, and thought I'd bring you up to date on what cars I have had!

First car was a Nissan Micra 1.0LX - served me well for 4 years!


I put obligatory stickers and bubbles on it of course! Unfortunately the black alloys didn't stay on too long though! Very reliable little car though, couldn't fault it

Next up was another Micra, this time a 1.3 March Cabriolet jap import (going up in the world eh?) I had this car for over a year, and had incredible amounts of fun in it, including taking it to JAE! I only got rid of it as I felt the need for speed, and wanted something that went faster for the same fuel economy.



Currently owned by my mum, and being sold on Wednesday.

I bought this MX5 with the proceeds of mum buying my car! I adored the car,so lavished a fair amount of money on it. In the 9 months I owned it, I got a new roof for it (which it needed), had to be taxed and tested, and I bought some new seats for it as well from a Mk1, as the Mk2 cloth seats paid havoc with my back! I loved the simplicity of it all, and as my first foray into RWD, it was brilliant for being predictable, but still fun! I had lots of fun in it, and took it for the long jaunt up to JAE, chock full of luggage and a friend!
I had to get rid of it after only 9 months ownership, because the 30mpg economy was killing me with my new job and daily 26 mile round trip. Plus the £200+ bill to fix the broken ABS sensor after all I had paid out for so far was hard to stomach



Has paved the way for the hope of owning another MX5 in the near future, although I'll probably go Mk1 this time! Currently owned by an old friend, who traded it with me for this...



A 1.4 NON-vtec Civic 'Inspire'. It was reliable, did what it said on the tin, and was frugal to own; just not fun or rewarding to drive on the daily commute! It was ok, but has now gone to my mum after almost a year ownership as she wants a more sensible car for her retirement! (She wanted to buy it, believe I tried to dissuade her, she doesn't always buy my old cars! )
A good 'no-nonsense' car, but just not a car that was 'me', if you get what I mean!

Now I own this, a VW Lupo 1.4E. Pretty basic, but with the bright blue interior and the soft blue exterior, much more 'me'. It's not quite the Del Sol or MX5 I wanted to own, but thanks to my current insurance company, I was pretty limited on choices! I intend to enjoy it as a stop gap until I get a new ins. co. and get another 2 seat convertible!







Apologies for the rubbishly edited pictures - It's just that I live on a fairly busy main road, and I don't fancy people dropping round unexpected for tea :P
I'm enjoying it so far, handles fairly well, is quite nippy for what it is, and it's nice and basic so little to go wrong. Saying that, the stereo needs new speakers, so they've already been ordered...
I intend to tidy it up a little, get rid of the horrible trims/steels and give it a little Tlc, but other than that, just a stopgap until my next Jap car.

I have the husbands car to get a little bit of 'vert action in the meanwhile!



Well if you made it this far into my incredibly dire car ownership, I salute you and thank you for reading

Edited by CatfishCKY on Monday 15th August 17:55

[soad]

Nice MX-5, Micra cab looks interesting too

[Codswallop]

I really liked the March cabrio. Also, I had a Civic Inspire as my first car a couple of years ago

How does the TF compare to the MX5? Quite fancy one sometime soon, and they are temptingly cheaper than the Mazda.

[CatfishCKY]

soad said:

Nice MX-5, Micra cab looks interesting too

Thanks I loved that MX5, just couldn't afford to run it! Micra Cab was exactly that - very interesting! It turned a lot of heads, because a lot of people didn't even know what it was half the time!

Codswallop said:

I really liked the March cabrio. Also, I had a Civic Inspire as my first car a couple of years ago

How does the TF compare to the MX5? Quite fancy one sometime soon, and they are temptingly cheaper than the Mazda.

Thanks! It's a marmite car - you either like it or you don't - but I'm glad you appreciate it!
The Civic is good at what it does, and didn't handle too badly either, but I'm eccentric and like eccentric cars, so unfortunately it wasn't meant to be!

On the whole the TF is a really nice car - and ours has been a lot more reliable than people said it would be - but the build quality lets some of them down. The interior is pretty solid, but it can look dated quickly. It handles well, not quite as predictably as the MX5 but it's no monster.
If I were to choose between them though, the MX5 would be the winner. It's built a bit better, the driver sits lower down in the car, and it feels more involved - in the MG TF the driver sits a bit higher and it's not quite as involving. IMO of course.
The MG TF isn't a bad car at all though, and the 160 like we have is quite pokey enough! I would suggest you test drive both and see which one you like the most - After all you could prefer the MG to the MX5, I suppose it's all preference And don't get scared off by reliability rumours - They're fine if they're looked after properly!
HTH

[Codswallop]

Thanks for the reply

I test drove a mk2.5 Mx5 1.8 Arizona and whilst it was lovely to drive, I just felt the fuel economy people report is not good enough to justify the lacklustre engine. I sat in a TF to try it on for size, but haven't driven one, and really liked the interior and exterior. I actually prefer the design of the MG. As you say though, the quality didn't seem as good, but the better engine and lower prices offset that.

Probably wait a bit longer for the winter price drops before trying a few MGs, but I am hopeful of good handling. EVO certainly seemed to like it...

[CatfishCKY]

Codswallop said:

Thanks for the reply

I test drove a mk2.5 Mx5 1.8 Arizona and whilst it was lovely to drive, I just felt the fuel economy people report is not good enough to justify the lacklustre engine. I sat in a TF to try it on for size, but haven't driven one, and really liked the interior and exterior. I actually prefer the design of the MG. As you say though, the quality didn't seem as good, but the better engine and lower prices offset that.

Probably wait a bit longer for the winter price drops before trying a few MGs, but I am hopeful of good handling. EVO certainly seemed to like it...

Not a problem! I do agree with regards to fuel economy - I had a 1.8 and I struggled to get more than 30mpg, although the car DID feel fast for me as it had been the biggest engined car I have owned lol However my husbands MG TF (being traded in today ) gets about 35-37 according to him!
If you already prefer the MG to the MX5 I would say get out and drive one to see how you like it!
It's not any worse than the MX5, but being so low down in the MX5 does help with the sense of handling lol
Go for it, test drive one, it's a very rewarding car to drive - just don't push them to hard as they will bite as the husband found out lol

[va1o]

The Lupos aren't bad little cars, fairly sought after these days. Better in many ways than the Fox that replaced it. Is yours the 16v 1.4?

[CatfishCKY]

Yes it is I think the 75hp version!
I got this one at a fairly good price, I've been told, 86k miles, just needs a couple of bits sorted to make it perfect though! I've also been told I should have got the S and not the E, after I had put a deposit on it