Europe in a shed? Good idea or bad.
Discussion
I'm having one of those nagging doubt moments.
Booked two weeks wandering around France in the Summer, hotels booked, time off booked, Euros bought, I just don't know if I can trust a £1000 11 year old ford to be our steed for the 2000ish miles we will be covering. Not to mention the fact that big road trips isn't what the Puma was built for.
So the question is do I risk it in the name of adventure and proving cheap cars are good, use the excuse to buy something new (though budget will be tight and I'm good at procrastination), try and borrow something else, or spend the £400 a decent sized hire car will cost me?
I don't know why I don't trust the Puma as it has a clean bill of health, has been reliable since I got it and feels fine.
Booked two weeks wandering around France in the Summer, hotels booked, time off booked, Euros bought, I just don't know if I can trust a £1000 11 year old ford to be our steed for the 2000ish miles we will be covering. Not to mention the fact that big road trips isn't what the Puma was built for.
So the question is do I risk it in the name of adventure and proving cheap cars are good, use the excuse to buy something new (though budget will be tight and I'm good at procrastination), try and borrow something else, or spend the £400 a decent sized hire car will cost me?
I don't know why I don't trust the Puma as it has a clean bill of health, has been reliable since I got it and feels fine.
Christ man, where's your sense of adventure?
Is the Puma all up together - recent MOT, recent service etc...how good are you with cars and spanners?
If you know your onions mechanically - get under the bonnet, and get the car in the air and get underneath it.
Give it a total service if you haven't done so already - all new fluids and filters throughout.
Check all the suspension arm bushes, mounts, wheel bearings for play, brake discs and pads, brake hoses, cables (especially throttle if it has one and clutch if it's not hydraulic) and general chassis integrity - including exhaust and it's mounts.
Check all the coolant hoses and radiator for leaks or evidence of leaks.
Check the engine block for oil weeps / leaks. Same for the gearbox. And check the gearbox oil level - something that is often overlooked.
Check the driveshafts' rubber CV gaitor boots - any splits or cracking might bite you on the arse.
Finally tyres - are they in good condition, no splits, bulges or damage - and are they gonna last you? If not - a new set of boots.
If you do all that, I promise your Puma will be fine.
Is the Puma all up together - recent MOT, recent service etc...how good are you with cars and spanners?
If you know your onions mechanically - get under the bonnet, and get the car in the air and get underneath it.
Give it a total service if you haven't done so already - all new fluids and filters throughout.
Check all the suspension arm bushes, mounts, wheel bearings for play, brake discs and pads, brake hoses, cables (especially throttle if it has one and clutch if it's not hydraulic) and general chassis integrity - including exhaust and it's mounts.
Check all the coolant hoses and radiator for leaks or evidence of leaks.
Check the engine block for oil weeps / leaks. Same for the gearbox. And check the gearbox oil level - something that is often overlooked.
Check the driveshafts' rubber CV gaitor boots - any splits or cracking might bite you on the arse.
Finally tyres - are they in good condition, no splits, bulges or damage - and are they gonna last you? If not - a new set of boots.
If you do all that, I promise your Puma will be fine.
Suspension checked and dodgy bits replaced, Oil and filters done last month, need to do the fuel filter in the next couple of weeks, MOT booked for next Tues but was given to a mechanic with a mandate to fix anything broken and all he did was some suspension parts so I'm confident.
Rear tyres are 5000 miles old, brand new front pair are sat in the garage.
Rear tyres are 5000 miles old, brand new front pair are sat in the garage.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Christ man, where's your sense of adventure?
Is the Puma all up together - recent MOT, recent service etc...how good are you with cars and spanners?
If you know your onions mechanically - get under the bonnet, and get the car in the air and get underneath it.
Give it a total service if you haven't done so already - all new fluids and filters throughout.
Check all the suspension arm bushes, mounts, wheel bearings for play, brake discs and pads, brake hoses, cables (especially throttle if it has one and clutch if it's not hydraulic) and general chassis integrity - including exhaust and it's mounts.
Check all the coolant hoses and radiator for leaks or evidence of leaks.
Check the engine block for oil weeps / leaks. Same for the gearbox. And check the gearbox oil level - something that is often overlooked.
Check the driveshafts' rubber CV gaitor boots - any splits or cracking might bite you on the arse.
Finally tyres - are they in good condition, no splits, bulges or damage - and are they gonna last you? If not - a new set of boots.
If you do all that, I promise your Puma will be fine.
I'm sure I once heard a saying along the lines of you should never service a car just before a long journey. I assume the logic is that due to human error/disturbing something you might actually make it less reliable. I can see the logic in doing all the above though but with the proviso that you do it a couple of weeks in advance so everything can 'settle in'Is the Puma all up together - recent MOT, recent service etc...how good are you with cars and spanners?
If you know your onions mechanically - get under the bonnet, and get the car in the air and get underneath it.
Give it a total service if you haven't done so already - all new fluids and filters throughout.
Check all the suspension arm bushes, mounts, wheel bearings for play, brake discs and pads, brake hoses, cables (especially throttle if it has one and clutch if it's not hydraulic) and general chassis integrity - including exhaust and it's mounts.
Check all the coolant hoses and radiator for leaks or evidence of leaks.
Check the engine block for oil weeps / leaks. Same for the gearbox. And check the gearbox oil level - something that is often overlooked.
Check the driveshafts' rubber CV gaitor boots - any splits or cracking might bite you on the arse.
Finally tyres - are they in good condition, no splits, bulges or damage - and are they gonna last you? If not - a new set of boots.
If you do all that, I promise your Puma will be fine.
I have taken my old 1999 E39 to Italy once, which was a 2400 mile round trip and she was fine. It will be going to Germany, Switzerland and Austria soon, and later on up to Scotland (I live in Dorset, so it's the same as driving to Switzerland again). Fix anything that's broke, take spare oil, coolant and a jack, make sure you have a decent spare wheel and European breakdown cover. Puma's are tough old beasts anyway.
Good idea - do it!
In 2001 I went on a camping holiday with my uni housemates round France for 2 weeks during the summer. We went right down to Nice and back (covering around 2,000 miles) in a 265k mile diesel Cavalier (ex-taxi) and an old Renault 19. We cooked the Cavalier's brakes crossing the Alps, but other than that it was fine and we had a brilliant time.
As long as the car is well serviced beforehand I can't see why it would be a problem. It's worth arranging breakdown cover just in case though
In 2001 I went on a camping holiday with my uni housemates round France for 2 weeks during the summer. We went right down to Nice and back (covering around 2,000 miles) in a 265k mile diesel Cavalier (ex-taxi) and an old Renault 19. We cooked the Cavalier's brakes crossing the Alps, but other than that it was fine and we had a brilliant time.
As long as the car is well serviced beforehand I can't see why it would be a problem. It's worth arranging breakdown cover just in case though
Chrisw666 said:
I'm having one of those nagging doubt moments.
Booked two weeks wandering around France in the Summer, hotels booked, time off booked, Euros bought, I just don't know if I can trust a £1000 11 year old ford to be our steed for the 2000ish miles we will be covering. Not to mention the fact that big road trips isn't what the Puma was built for.
So the question is do I risk it in the name of adventure and proving cheap cars are good, use the excuse to buy something new (though budget will be tight and I'm good at procrastination), try and borrow something else, or spend the £400 a decent sized hire car will cost me?
I don't know why I don't trust the Puma as it has a clean bill of health, has been reliable since I got it and feels fine.
what a pussy, do itBooked two weeks wandering around France in the Summer, hotels booked, time off booked, Euros bought, I just don't know if I can trust a £1000 11 year old ford to be our steed for the 2000ish miles we will be covering. Not to mention the fact that big road trips isn't what the Puma was built for.
So the question is do I risk it in the name of adventure and proving cheap cars are good, use the excuse to buy something new (though budget will be tight and I'm good at procrastination), try and borrow something else, or spend the £400 a decent sized hire car will cost me?
I don't know why I don't trust the Puma as it has a clean bill of health, has been reliable since I got it and feels fine.
You'll be fine, we did 1600 miles to Bavaria via the Nurburgring and back in a 150,000 mile 1972 classic mini clubman (plus two friends also in classic minis but not as old and worn out as mine!) every day was an adventure but we had no breakdowns at all thankfully. We did spend quite a few evenings in the shed making sure that everything was looking ok for the trip beforehand though.
iva cosworth said:
What in merry hell happened there ?
A branch fell from a tree at exactly the right time for me to be able to do nothing but watch it hit my windscreen and then bounce onto the roof crushing it just enough to pop three of the 4 side windows and then continued to shatter the rear windscreen too. I'm still not certain how I managed to stop in a perfectly straight line (keeping it out of a huge ditch), or how the most serious injury either of us got was a tiny cut on the side of my face.
Chrisw666 said:
iva cosworth said:
What in merry hell happened there ?
A branch fell from a tree at exactly the right time for me to be able to do nothing but watch it hit my windscreen and then bounce onto the roof crushing it just enough to pop three of the 4 side windows and then continued to shatter the rear windscreen too. I'm still not certain how I managed to stop in a perfectly straight line (keeping it out of a huge ditch), or how the most serious injury either of us got was a tiny cut on the side of my face.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff