My Car history- Vauxhalls,Peugeots,WRX,TypeR,Saab
Discussion
I’ve posted a couple of Reader’s cars threads in the past about my recent cars but always quite enjoy reading threads detailing peoples’ car history. So here is my contribution! Sorry for the googled pics, particularly of the 1990s cars but I’m not sure I had a camera back then.
1990s
I passed my driving test in August 1990 in Ipswich. I had started lessons in the March of that year with a highly recommended instructor by the name of Erwin Bynoe. His car was a silver Renault 19 and I remember thinking it was huge, compared with other driving school cars at that time (Fiestas, little Peugeots and similar).
In addition to this, my mum bought me a beige 205 1.1 to hone my skills in. I think it was a B reg, so MY1984. I always remember the day I passed my test, heading home, loading my dog onto the back seat of the 205 and heading the 12 miles or so to Aldeburgh on the coast so I could walk him on the beach. At last, my first solo drive and freedom!
The 205 was a fine first car – nimble and light, easy to park, reliable. At the time my mum was driving one of these -
Bought from new, a green 1.6 which I’m pretty sure was a G reg (1989). Anyway, I was in 6th form at school, just sitting my A levels. I must have moved the 205 on not long after passing my test and replaced it with one of these –
Can’t remember the year (1974?) but it was special edition ‘Jeans’ Beetle. The rather quirky feature here was the denim upholstery. I also loved the bright orange and ‘jeans’ logo. Who’d have thought 30-40 years later Ford would have a hugely popular Focus ST in orange with black decals.
Anyway, in 1992 I went off to Bedford College/De Montfort Uni for 3 years of higher education but returned to Norfolk most weekends. Therefore, the beetle had to go in favour of a more comfortable commuting car. I think the beetle sold for around 1200 quid, around a quarter of what you might pay today.
This was the replacement –
A dark blue D Reg VW Golf Driver. It was purchased from Simpsons VW in Great Yarmouth. It had a 1.6 engine and I don’t remember a great deal beyond that. The Driver was a special edition made to look a little like a GTI, with the red trim around the grill. Notable points – the first car I ever crashed, rear ending an elderly couple in Ber Street, Norwich. Nothing on the Golf was damaged but their boot wouldn’t close so they were none too pleased. The Golf was also my most thieved from car – I’m sure anybody who drove in the 90s remember that sinking feeling of getting back to your car and finding a window smashed and wires where your lovely Pioneer stereo once was! Happened about 4 times to this car.
Not sure how long I had that car, but probably 5 + years.
2000s
Around the late 90s- early 2000s the Golf was replaced by this.
A green N reg VW Polo with the 1.4 engine. Like the Golf, this served me well over a number of years. In 2002-05 I was a student nurse in Essex/East London and I had the car throughout this time right up to when I finished my course in May 2005.
I wasn’t really a petrol-head back then so I struggle to remember much about what these cars were like to drive but they never seemed to let me down, despite covering many miles between my student digs and my mum’s in Norwich.
2005 to 2009 was the most interesting period for me in terms of car ownership. I started working full time but with no family/mortgage/big bills I had a bit of cash to spend. Therefore, in May 2005 I went out and invested around £11,000 of my savings in one of these –
A 2004 Peugeot 206 GTI 180! It was black, nearly new (about 15-20k miles I think) and bought from a Peugeot dealer in Norwich. I have no idea why I did this or why I did not look at any other cars, but I really didn’t know much about cars at the time.
Compared with anything I had driven before, this felt lightening quick. Probably 0-60 in sub 7 seconds. It also looked pretty good, and had a nice interior with recaro seats. I still look at these nowadays on AT, usually around the £1k mark for a tidy car and think it’s a lot of car for the cash. Anyway, I think having a hot hatch really kick started my interest in cars and I realised there were so many much more interesting cars out there.
Therefore, within the year, the pug had been part ex-d for this –
A silver 52 plate Honda Civic Type R. I never did learn much about its history but it was certainly the most blinged up car I have owned – illegal tints on the windows, a huge bucket exhaust, weird after market light clusters, covered in Mugen stickers… This came from an interesting dealer called Route 16 on the high street in Northfleet, Gravesend. On collection day I actually had to go to G & M motors, the Honda dealer in Gravesend to complete the paperwork and collect the car. In my years of buying cars I’ve never experienced a strange set-up like that (buy from one garage, collect from another) but I didn’t think to ask, and all went smoothly anyhow.
The car itself was very amusing to drive, takes a while to get the hang of these things as they can feel slow. But once you discover that amazing zone where the vtec kicks in you just feel like a bit of a boy racer/hooligan whenever you go out for a drive. I think the reg was GF52LVS and a quick check shows it’s still on the road today, albeit coming up as ‘white’. Maybe I got the reg wrong or maybe it has had a colour change. Unfortunately I can’t find any pics showing the number plate clearly.
Prior to buying the Type R, the car I really had in mind was an Impreza WRX. The Civic kind of caught my eye and intrigued me but within the year I found myself back on the look out for Scoobys and thus ended up with this –
Purchased for £9995 from the Ware Renault garage just outside Hertford (just googled them on streetview and the site is now empty/closed). I think it was on around 30,000 miles when I bought it and it was a standard WRX, albeit with the STI spoiler and an aftermarket exhaust. The dealer actually had some interesting cars and a Clio 182 TROPHY sitting in the show room really caught my eye (same price) but the Impreza just won the day.
I kept the WRX for around 2 years and 40,000 miles. It remains my favourite car to date, faultlessly reliable with fantastic acceleration. I am sure I will own one of these again at some point. Sadly, WR03 DFN has not been taxed since November 2010 and possibly only did another 10,000 or so miles after I sold it. I guess many cars of this ilk ended up wrapped around a tree or upside down in a field…
I actually part-ex’d the Subaru for this, around April/May 2009 –
A 2005 Vectra 1.9 CDTI (150) with around 50,000 miles on the clock, from a large dealership in Bedford. In February 2009 I bought my first house and after seeing a couple of purchases in London fall through I thought bugger it, and moved to Luton. I still had to commute to work in West London though and after a few weeks of commuting in the WRX (and becoming rather familiar with petrol stations) I concluded the WRX had to go.
This Vectra is easily my most hated car. It was economical enough, and the performance was decent- the only diesel I have ever owned, I found the mid range poke impressive, having been used to maybe dropping a gear to exploit the power of the Impreza.
However, the reliability was just shocking. Too many issues to list but one that sticks in the memory – a cold winter evening, I had just picked up my wife and our then baby son from in-laws in South Ruislip after a late shift and we began the drive back to Luton. Heading towards Northwood Hills on a dimly lit road the EML came on, the power steering felt heavy, the headlights started to fade. I’m not sure how I managed to get the bugger back to the warmth of the in-laws but we just about made before the car died a death and free wheeled towards their place to await the AA low loader. I seem to remember the AA man helpfully commenting that I should buy Japanese as the alternator would not need replacing at such an early stage on those.
Ironically, this car is still alive and kicking on around 194,000 miles last time I checked online. I must have fixed just about everything that could possibly go wrong.
2010s
After such a frustrating experience with the Vectra, I bought this –
I have no idea why, I guess around this time I was less Petrolhead and more family man, just trying to find something sensible, comfortable, with a big boot and this kind of ticked the boxes. This was a 2.2 Direct in Elite trim, had done around half the miles of the previous Vectra when I got it (30,000). I actually kept this for a couple of years and took it beyond 80,000 miles. I think these had a well known issue with the fuel pumps and this reared its head in the first month of ownership. Anyway, it was returned to the dealer (Northridge Cars, Hemel Hempstead) by the AA, they fixed it, and thankfully it proved a solid car for the next couple of years. I think this remains the only car I have ever owned to have leather seats and a sat nav (not that I used it much).
After 2 years and 50,000 miles it was time for a change and it was part exchanged for this –
I actually spent months looking for something but (as above) ended up with a very sensible family car rather than anything interesting. It came from the main Ford dealer in Royston and was a very tidy 20K mile car with the 1.8 zetec engine. This car was sensible but really dull. It didn’t give me any trouble in the year or so of ownership but is about as ‘white goods’ as a car can ever be.
A few weeks into ownership this happened –
Driving to work one Sunday morning at 06.40 I was following an Audi A6 along a really quiet residential street in Isleworth (in sight of my work) and he pulled in to the left, I went to pass him and he promptly swung out attempting a u-turn. It was heck of a thump and I could barely bring myself to look at the damage but was amazed when I was able to drive the car away. The Audi bloke was a reasonable eastern European fella called Vince who happily took 100% of the blame so I was quite lucky.
While the Mondeo was repaired one of these iffy accident management companies kindly provided me with this –
A Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI (123) which had only the delivery mileage (42 miles) on the odometer when it was left with me. As somebody who has never owned a car from new, this was a little bit of a novelty. I probably did around 1-2k miles in this over 2 or 3 weeks – I remember around this time the 2012 Olympics was in full flow so I generally avoided passing Wembley/ the North Circ on the way to work and did a few extra miles by approaching work via the M25/M4.
Also in 2012 my wife was learning to drive, so I purchased ‘POB’ as I affectionately refer to him –
He actually cost me around a grand from an exceedingly dodgy dealer in Dunstable (he had a few cars for sale out the back of his takeaway). It was only after I’d paid the deposit I realised the chap didn’t have the v5 document in his possession. Anyway, we eventually got it through (with the wife’s name hopelessly misspelled) and the car served its purpose. Mrs P got to practice her driving, I got a second car to hurtle up and down the M1 to work in. It actually had the 1.25 zetec engine and coupled with the reasonably light, nimble car, it really wasn’t bad to drive. A year later though, it wasn’t getting used so much, the MOT was allowed to lapse and I ended up letting a kind scrap man take it away for £130. That’s a heck of a lot of depreciation in a year, I guess.
POB was not replaced for a while as Mrs P didn’t really get the hang of this driving lark, but the Mondeo was traded in after about a year for Vectra number 3 –
No, I haven’t posted the wrong pic, I really did buy one that looks very much like the last Vectra. Anyway, this is the 2.0 Turbo version in SRI trim. The Readers’ Car thread is here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=130...
The 2.0 T engine has a reasonable reputation for reliability and it certainly did okay for me in the 2 years I owned it. Though not especially quick, it was a step in the right direction after the Mondeo and probably my most enjoyable drive since the Impreza. The Vectra was part exchanged in February 2015 and I’m surprised to see that its MOT and tax expired a few weeks back, suggesting it’s no longer on the road.
Anyhow, this is the current car –
Thread here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=148...
It’s a 3 Series E90 325i SE manual in Monaco (I think blue). It came from a dealer in Downham Market, Norfolk by the name of Bees Motors. What really sold it for me was the low mileage – 22,000 miles when I got it. In just over a year I’ve taken it to 31,000 miles but for a car that will be 10 years old in December the mileage is still remarkably low. The car itself has served me well – I’ve replaced a headlight bulb and paid around £250 for a ‘silver’ service last month but that’s it. The only negative I can think of is the pretty appalling economy around town – I now live in the middle of Norwich - I often do the school run and have just a 2 or 3 mile drive to work so fuel economy of 20mpg or lower is the norm.
Though that’s my current daily, the story does not end there. Mrs P decided to rekindle her interest in driving so I bought her this –
A 1999 Saab 9-3 2.0 T, B204E engine which is the low pressure turbo with 154 bhp. The thread is here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=148...
This was my first real venture into shed territory (650 quid) but it didn’t end well. I actually took it to a local indie Saab place as the roof was playing up and they produced a list of faults I couldn’t believe including a crack in the bulkhead (a common and usually terminal fault in these, due to the cost of fixing. Anyway, we used it for a few months and a couple of thousand miles but I eventually decided to stick it on ebay for £450 (no offers) and sold it to the first person who came to look. Despite all the issues they took it and to my amazement it recently went through an MOT and the new owner seems to have done best part of 10k miles since they took it off me.
I do have a soft spot for Saabs and along with the Impreza, it’s another car I fancy owning again in the future.
Finally, to bring this thread up to date, this is the other car currently on our driveway –
A Pug 307 1.6S semi-auto. Following the departure of the Saab, I was happy to venture back into shed territory but my mother kindly decided to help out with the purchase. Considering she only ever buys small engined new cars (usually a Jazz, currently an Audi A1), she was never going to be happy to fund a remotely ‘petrolhead’ car, particularly for a learner driver.
Anyway, the Pug has served its purpose – bought last June with around 52k miles on the clock, it’s now done around 58k. My wife actually passed her test in it during September. I probably drive it more than her at the mo – I actually fired it up for the first time in a week to pop along to Sainsburys earlier and it started and ran just fine. It’s actually been from Norwich to Manchester as well as various destinations around London /SE since getting it and it really isn’t that terrible to drive!
As for the future, there are no plans to replace the current two, though I still have a small fund to finance a shed purchase should anything I fancy turn up on Gumtree or ebay so watch this space!
Finally, thanks for reading my ramblings - if you read even a quarter of the above I'm seriously impressed!
ETA - a pic of the Saab as the one uploaded above does not seem to be showing
1990s
I passed my driving test in August 1990 in Ipswich. I had started lessons in the March of that year with a highly recommended instructor by the name of Erwin Bynoe. His car was a silver Renault 19 and I remember thinking it was huge, compared with other driving school cars at that time (Fiestas, little Peugeots and similar).
In addition to this, my mum bought me a beige 205 1.1 to hone my skills in. I think it was a B reg, so MY1984. I always remember the day I passed my test, heading home, loading my dog onto the back seat of the 205 and heading the 12 miles or so to Aldeburgh on the coast so I could walk him on the beach. At last, my first solo drive and freedom!
The 205 was a fine first car – nimble and light, easy to park, reliable. At the time my mum was driving one of these -
Bought from new, a green 1.6 which I’m pretty sure was a G reg (1989). Anyway, I was in 6th form at school, just sitting my A levels. I must have moved the 205 on not long after passing my test and replaced it with one of these –
Can’t remember the year (1974?) but it was special edition ‘Jeans’ Beetle. The rather quirky feature here was the denim upholstery. I also loved the bright orange and ‘jeans’ logo. Who’d have thought 30-40 years later Ford would have a hugely popular Focus ST in orange with black decals.
Anyway, in 1992 I went off to Bedford College/De Montfort Uni for 3 years of higher education but returned to Norfolk most weekends. Therefore, the beetle had to go in favour of a more comfortable commuting car. I think the beetle sold for around 1200 quid, around a quarter of what you might pay today.
This was the replacement –
A dark blue D Reg VW Golf Driver. It was purchased from Simpsons VW in Great Yarmouth. It had a 1.6 engine and I don’t remember a great deal beyond that. The Driver was a special edition made to look a little like a GTI, with the red trim around the grill. Notable points – the first car I ever crashed, rear ending an elderly couple in Ber Street, Norwich. Nothing on the Golf was damaged but their boot wouldn’t close so they were none too pleased. The Golf was also my most thieved from car – I’m sure anybody who drove in the 90s remember that sinking feeling of getting back to your car and finding a window smashed and wires where your lovely Pioneer stereo once was! Happened about 4 times to this car.
Not sure how long I had that car, but probably 5 + years.
2000s
Around the late 90s- early 2000s the Golf was replaced by this.
A green N reg VW Polo with the 1.4 engine. Like the Golf, this served me well over a number of years. In 2002-05 I was a student nurse in Essex/East London and I had the car throughout this time right up to when I finished my course in May 2005.
I wasn’t really a petrol-head back then so I struggle to remember much about what these cars were like to drive but they never seemed to let me down, despite covering many miles between my student digs and my mum’s in Norwich.
2005 to 2009 was the most interesting period for me in terms of car ownership. I started working full time but with no family/mortgage/big bills I had a bit of cash to spend. Therefore, in May 2005 I went out and invested around £11,000 of my savings in one of these –
A 2004 Peugeot 206 GTI 180! It was black, nearly new (about 15-20k miles I think) and bought from a Peugeot dealer in Norwich. I have no idea why I did this or why I did not look at any other cars, but I really didn’t know much about cars at the time.
Compared with anything I had driven before, this felt lightening quick. Probably 0-60 in sub 7 seconds. It also looked pretty good, and had a nice interior with recaro seats. I still look at these nowadays on AT, usually around the £1k mark for a tidy car and think it’s a lot of car for the cash. Anyway, I think having a hot hatch really kick started my interest in cars and I realised there were so many much more interesting cars out there.
Therefore, within the year, the pug had been part ex-d for this –
A silver 52 plate Honda Civic Type R. I never did learn much about its history but it was certainly the most blinged up car I have owned – illegal tints on the windows, a huge bucket exhaust, weird after market light clusters, covered in Mugen stickers… This came from an interesting dealer called Route 16 on the high street in Northfleet, Gravesend. On collection day I actually had to go to G & M motors, the Honda dealer in Gravesend to complete the paperwork and collect the car. In my years of buying cars I’ve never experienced a strange set-up like that (buy from one garage, collect from another) but I didn’t think to ask, and all went smoothly anyhow.
The car itself was very amusing to drive, takes a while to get the hang of these things as they can feel slow. But once you discover that amazing zone where the vtec kicks in you just feel like a bit of a boy racer/hooligan whenever you go out for a drive. I think the reg was GF52LVS and a quick check shows it’s still on the road today, albeit coming up as ‘white’. Maybe I got the reg wrong or maybe it has had a colour change. Unfortunately I can’t find any pics showing the number plate clearly.
Prior to buying the Type R, the car I really had in mind was an Impreza WRX. The Civic kind of caught my eye and intrigued me but within the year I found myself back on the look out for Scoobys and thus ended up with this –
Purchased for £9995 from the Ware Renault garage just outside Hertford (just googled them on streetview and the site is now empty/closed). I think it was on around 30,000 miles when I bought it and it was a standard WRX, albeit with the STI spoiler and an aftermarket exhaust. The dealer actually had some interesting cars and a Clio 182 TROPHY sitting in the show room really caught my eye (same price) but the Impreza just won the day.
I kept the WRX for around 2 years and 40,000 miles. It remains my favourite car to date, faultlessly reliable with fantastic acceleration. I am sure I will own one of these again at some point. Sadly, WR03 DFN has not been taxed since November 2010 and possibly only did another 10,000 or so miles after I sold it. I guess many cars of this ilk ended up wrapped around a tree or upside down in a field…
I actually part-ex’d the Subaru for this, around April/May 2009 –
A 2005 Vectra 1.9 CDTI (150) with around 50,000 miles on the clock, from a large dealership in Bedford. In February 2009 I bought my first house and after seeing a couple of purchases in London fall through I thought bugger it, and moved to Luton. I still had to commute to work in West London though and after a few weeks of commuting in the WRX (and becoming rather familiar with petrol stations) I concluded the WRX had to go.
This Vectra is easily my most hated car. It was economical enough, and the performance was decent- the only diesel I have ever owned, I found the mid range poke impressive, having been used to maybe dropping a gear to exploit the power of the Impreza.
However, the reliability was just shocking. Too many issues to list but one that sticks in the memory – a cold winter evening, I had just picked up my wife and our then baby son from in-laws in South Ruislip after a late shift and we began the drive back to Luton. Heading towards Northwood Hills on a dimly lit road the EML came on, the power steering felt heavy, the headlights started to fade. I’m not sure how I managed to get the bugger back to the warmth of the in-laws but we just about made before the car died a death and free wheeled towards their place to await the AA low loader. I seem to remember the AA man helpfully commenting that I should buy Japanese as the alternator would not need replacing at such an early stage on those.
Ironically, this car is still alive and kicking on around 194,000 miles last time I checked online. I must have fixed just about everything that could possibly go wrong.
2010s
After such a frustrating experience with the Vectra, I bought this –
I have no idea why, I guess around this time I was less Petrolhead and more family man, just trying to find something sensible, comfortable, with a big boot and this kind of ticked the boxes. This was a 2.2 Direct in Elite trim, had done around half the miles of the previous Vectra when I got it (30,000). I actually kept this for a couple of years and took it beyond 80,000 miles. I think these had a well known issue with the fuel pumps and this reared its head in the first month of ownership. Anyway, it was returned to the dealer (Northridge Cars, Hemel Hempstead) by the AA, they fixed it, and thankfully it proved a solid car for the next couple of years. I think this remains the only car I have ever owned to have leather seats and a sat nav (not that I used it much).
After 2 years and 50,000 miles it was time for a change and it was part exchanged for this –
I actually spent months looking for something but (as above) ended up with a very sensible family car rather than anything interesting. It came from the main Ford dealer in Royston and was a very tidy 20K mile car with the 1.8 zetec engine. This car was sensible but really dull. It didn’t give me any trouble in the year or so of ownership but is about as ‘white goods’ as a car can ever be.
A few weeks into ownership this happened –
Driving to work one Sunday morning at 06.40 I was following an Audi A6 along a really quiet residential street in Isleworth (in sight of my work) and he pulled in to the left, I went to pass him and he promptly swung out attempting a u-turn. It was heck of a thump and I could barely bring myself to look at the damage but was amazed when I was able to drive the car away. The Audi bloke was a reasonable eastern European fella called Vince who happily took 100% of the blame so I was quite lucky.
While the Mondeo was repaired one of these iffy accident management companies kindly provided me with this –
A Vauxhall Astra 1.7 CDTI (123) which had only the delivery mileage (42 miles) on the odometer when it was left with me. As somebody who has never owned a car from new, this was a little bit of a novelty. I probably did around 1-2k miles in this over 2 or 3 weeks – I remember around this time the 2012 Olympics was in full flow so I generally avoided passing Wembley/ the North Circ on the way to work and did a few extra miles by approaching work via the M25/M4.
Also in 2012 my wife was learning to drive, so I purchased ‘POB’ as I affectionately refer to him –
He actually cost me around a grand from an exceedingly dodgy dealer in Dunstable (he had a few cars for sale out the back of his takeaway). It was only after I’d paid the deposit I realised the chap didn’t have the v5 document in his possession. Anyway, we eventually got it through (with the wife’s name hopelessly misspelled) and the car served its purpose. Mrs P got to practice her driving, I got a second car to hurtle up and down the M1 to work in. It actually had the 1.25 zetec engine and coupled with the reasonably light, nimble car, it really wasn’t bad to drive. A year later though, it wasn’t getting used so much, the MOT was allowed to lapse and I ended up letting a kind scrap man take it away for £130. That’s a heck of a lot of depreciation in a year, I guess.
POB was not replaced for a while as Mrs P didn’t really get the hang of this driving lark, but the Mondeo was traded in after about a year for Vectra number 3 –
No, I haven’t posted the wrong pic, I really did buy one that looks very much like the last Vectra. Anyway, this is the 2.0 Turbo version in SRI trim. The Readers’ Car thread is here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=130...
The 2.0 T engine has a reasonable reputation for reliability and it certainly did okay for me in the 2 years I owned it. Though not especially quick, it was a step in the right direction after the Mondeo and probably my most enjoyable drive since the Impreza. The Vectra was part exchanged in February 2015 and I’m surprised to see that its MOT and tax expired a few weeks back, suggesting it’s no longer on the road.
Anyhow, this is the current car –
Thread here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=148...
It’s a 3 Series E90 325i SE manual in Monaco (I think blue). It came from a dealer in Downham Market, Norfolk by the name of Bees Motors. What really sold it for me was the low mileage – 22,000 miles when I got it. In just over a year I’ve taken it to 31,000 miles but for a car that will be 10 years old in December the mileage is still remarkably low. The car itself has served me well – I’ve replaced a headlight bulb and paid around £250 for a ‘silver’ service last month but that’s it. The only negative I can think of is the pretty appalling economy around town – I now live in the middle of Norwich - I often do the school run and have just a 2 or 3 mile drive to work so fuel economy of 20mpg or lower is the norm.
Though that’s my current daily, the story does not end there. Mrs P decided to rekindle her interest in driving so I bought her this –
A 1999 Saab 9-3 2.0 T, B204E engine which is the low pressure turbo with 154 bhp. The thread is here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=148...
This was my first real venture into shed territory (650 quid) but it didn’t end well. I actually took it to a local indie Saab place as the roof was playing up and they produced a list of faults I couldn’t believe including a crack in the bulkhead (a common and usually terminal fault in these, due to the cost of fixing. Anyway, we used it for a few months and a couple of thousand miles but I eventually decided to stick it on ebay for £450 (no offers) and sold it to the first person who came to look. Despite all the issues they took it and to my amazement it recently went through an MOT and the new owner seems to have done best part of 10k miles since they took it off me.
I do have a soft spot for Saabs and along with the Impreza, it’s another car I fancy owning again in the future.
Finally, to bring this thread up to date, this is the other car currently on our driveway –
A Pug 307 1.6S semi-auto. Following the departure of the Saab, I was happy to venture back into shed territory but my mother kindly decided to help out with the purchase. Considering she only ever buys small engined new cars (usually a Jazz, currently an Audi A1), she was never going to be happy to fund a remotely ‘petrolhead’ car, particularly for a learner driver.
Anyway, the Pug has served its purpose – bought last June with around 52k miles on the clock, it’s now done around 58k. My wife actually passed her test in it during September. I probably drive it more than her at the mo – I actually fired it up for the first time in a week to pop along to Sainsburys earlier and it started and ran just fine. It’s actually been from Norwich to Manchester as well as various destinations around London /SE since getting it and it really isn’t that terrible to drive!
As for the future, there are no plans to replace the current two, though I still have a small fund to finance a shed purchase should anything I fancy turn up on Gumtree or ebay so watch this space!
Finally, thanks for reading my ramblings - if you read even a quarter of the above I'm seriously impressed!
ETA - a pic of the Saab as the one uploaded above does not seem to be showing
Edited by andy118run on Sunday 20th March 00:51
3 years later... and back by popular demand (only joking).
Thought I would spend a little time updating this.
So here's part 2 -
Alfa Romeo GTV Twinspark
Anyway, it's around October 2016 and I'd been looking for an interesting second car for a while when this popped up on gumtree for £1495.
I communicated with the seller – he seemed a decent chap and was within walking distance of where I live. I passed the car a couple of times and it looked pretty smart, but didn’t get round to viewing it properly as I thought the price was a little steep.
A week later it pops up on ebay – same description and pics, 7 day auction I think. I watch it and join the bidding with about 10 seconds left and only go and win it!
I possibly got a little carried away (£1200) but still well short of what he originally wanted. I’ve certainly seen these sell for a few hundred less on ebay and AT but not local to me so you could say it’s a case of supply and demand…
Anyway, the car –
It’s an early phase 1 Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0 Twinspark which had done 83800 miles. Registered in August 1996 – these cars came to the Uk in April 1996 I believe so it’s certainly one of the earlier ones.
I was the 9th owner – nothing remarkable for a 20 year old car I guess – the last owner only acquired it in June but the owner before that had it for around 6 years. The chap I got it from said he has back problems and could not get along with it – I got the impression he was genuine rather than just selling me a lemon!
The chap actually spent around £700 on it in July at one of our local Alfa specialists – full service, cambelt, balance belt, brake disks and pads all round. The full thread is here, including lots of pics -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/aMZqZsZn.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/kYAwdBmt" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/kYAwdBmt.jpg)
In common with many of my shed buys, this did not prove easy on the finances - many niggly issues followed, most notably the alternator (leaving the car abandoned at work for a few days following a night shift at one point, before I could be bothered to have it recovered). Eventually it was sold on via ebay, to a very pleasant chap from west Norfolk (I think within the year and at a considerable loss).
I still look at these on ebay/gumtree etc, and though I probably wouldn't do it again, think they are really nice cars. Rather heavy and not the easiest to manoeuvre, impractical as a family car, and not even that impressive to drive they still hold a certain charm for me. Anyway next up -
BMW E46 325i auto
A Gumtree buy from a lady a few miles away (£1100 I think). The thread is here -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...
This one was ran alongside my E90 325i for a while. Main selling point for me when I got it was that it had done a meagre 46,000 miles during it's lifetime. Another car I did not keep for long and probably lavished a little too much money on brake work and auxiliary belts. It also developed an occasional gearbox issue and was eventually sold on to a chap locally, within the year. I see it's now on 57k miles and had a recent MOT so I assume all is good for the current keeper.
Must admit It was a car I didn't really enjoy - never felt like a 190bhp car and the whole package just felt a bit underwhelming compared with the quality of the E90 version. Next -
Volvo S60 T5
Registered in 2001, it had 2 previous owners. The chap I got it off (unseen via an ebay auction - eek!) had paid 10995 for it in 2005. Nicely specced with a winter and premium pack, rear blind, upgraded Dolby stereo. It had done about 72000 miles when I bought it (and less than 74000 when I sold it). It had never failed an MOT and it's only 2 advisories were in 2012.
Headline figures for these are 250bhp/330Nm, a top speed of 152mph, 0-60 - 6.9secs. However, Info from the previous owner - In October 2006, it was remapped with a RICA 775 remap, ITG panel air filter and TME stainless steel Cat back exhaust system, along with Koni FSD dampers, Brembo discs and Ferodo DS 2500 pads fitted all round. According to the last owner when it was tested on the rolling road, it was producing 260BHP and 380Nm torque at the wheels. Top engine mount has been fitted with Viva performance type mounts to act as a strut brace to further improve handling.
The problem with this car was that the previous owner also had a V70 D5 and hardly ever used the S60. I thought this was a good thing but after a trouble free trip from Ely in Cambridgeshire back to Norwich, just about everything went wrong thereafter. Broken front spring, battery, alternator, changed the cambelt just to be safe. All completed courtesy of a local Volvo specialist and probably costing somewhere between £2-3k.
Makes my eyes water just typing that. Anyway, a bit like the 325i and GTV before, I think I reached a point where I was anxious just driving it in case another bill came along so it was sold via ebay. I think I bought it for about £1300 and sold for about £1750ish but the losses were significant. It was bought by a couple from near Uxbridge in West London - looking at the recent MOT they appear to have done about 11000 miles in the year since I sold it.
A year or so on, probably the one car I would regret selling in my recent car history. The stats were nothing remarkable but that car always felt pretty rapid, my Subaru would be the only thing I've driven possibly a shade quicker. Next up was -
Lexus IS 200 sport manual
After selling the Volvo I spent a few months half heartedly looking at gumtree and similar. One day this very tidy looking Lexus popped up - 62000ish miles, present owner since 2005, and 0 miles away from me, according to gumtree. A quick email exchange with the seller and a 2 minute walk down the road later and a deal was agreed. Think it was £900 if I remember correctly.
Anyhow, I did a little research on the Lexus Sport and realised they have a little bit of a reputation for being a drivers car, compared with the softer and more common SE version which lacks the limited slip dif. Not to mention the Lexus reliability and the rather smooth 6 cylinder engine in these cars. I spent a couple of months using it on and off but in reality it didn't really excite me. The engine was smooth but lacking the thrust of the BMW straight 6 I was familiar with. It probably did handle quite nicely but still didn't feel like a car I wanted to drive for the sake of driving.
Nothing went wrong though and I moved it on via ebay for a very small amount more (£1100)than I paid to a chap who travelled from Portishead to Norwich to complete the deal. Apparently good examples of these are hard to come by so they are worth travelling for.
Ford S MAX 2.0TDCI (163ps) Powershift (auto)
(& the end of the E90 325i).
June 2018 - staying in West London ahead of a trip to Legoland Windsor, the E90 325i met an untimely end, colliding with a rather large Lexus as we were making our way to our hotel near Heathrow. Dashcam footage -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUAEll1ecfA
And the offending Lexus -
The Dutch lady driving the Lexus was very apologetic and her insurance settled the claim with minimal hassle - I think the BMW was valued at 4,500. I had a choice of having it back plus a cheque for 3,000 which was tempting, but opted not to. It was a category N, and has since appeared on ebay for 2995, appearing fully repaired, but didn't seem to sell and was not MOT'd last time I looked.
Think there is a thread, or possibly just a discussion in the s
t driving thread somewhere on the footage - some saying I was slow to recognise the danger etc. I can see that view but looking at the video there was 2 seconds between the Lexus braking and then making their move across me and I really just didn't see it coming.
While the 325i was away being assessed I was given a like for like courtesy car via the local Enterprise rental people -
Think it was the bottom of the range XE 2.0d, probably around 160bhp. However, I was really impressed with how it drove and it got me looking at Jags as a replacement for the BMW. I actually had a really nice approved used 3.0d XF with 35000 miles and a 2 year warranty on my shortlist but my wife was being a bit 'difficult' ('no more silly little cars' - apparently the 325i was one) so a bland people/kids carrier won the day -
This came from a local Ford specialist and cost around £12k, with just under 40000 miles on the clock. 18 months on, it sits on around 57.000 miles. It basically does what it says on the tin. Transports 4/5 people in comfort (7 people a little less so but we barely use the extra seats). With the extra seats folded away the boot is huge. It's reasonably specced - the glass roof (not something I'm a fan of really) is a hit with the kids. It's been totally reliable, just jump in and drive really. Considering the ok BHP and torque it never feels very quick, even in sport mode, but neither do I feel the urge for something quicker as a daily. The powershift box seems to have a reputation in some circles but its been fine for me. I think the key maybe regular flushing/oil changes and that was part of the deal when I purchased the car. Not sure if I'm nearing a cambelt interval, will need to look into that one again soon.
So there we have it. The current drive way/fleet is the Pug 307 (not far short of 5 years in our ownership and sitting on 67.000 mile-ish) and the S Max. There isn't really a plan to change these two in the near future as they are both serving their purpose.
Very dull, but I have a small (very) fund for an additional purchase after selling the Lexus a while ago. Current cars on my ebay/gumtree watch lists include a vel Satis 3.5 (just over 100,000 miles/£1095), an Accord 2.4 (99,000 miles/£995), an iffy looking MR2 for £800, and a Merc Slk320 (83000 miles/£1599) plus a few others.
To be continued...
Thought I would spend a little time updating this.
So here's part 2 -
Alfa Romeo GTV Twinspark
Anyway, it's around October 2016 and I'd been looking for an interesting second car for a while when this popped up on gumtree for £1495.
I communicated with the seller – he seemed a decent chap and was within walking distance of where I live. I passed the car a couple of times and it looked pretty smart, but didn’t get round to viewing it properly as I thought the price was a little steep.
A week later it pops up on ebay – same description and pics, 7 day auction I think. I watch it and join the bidding with about 10 seconds left and only go and win it!
I possibly got a little carried away (£1200) but still well short of what he originally wanted. I’ve certainly seen these sell for a few hundred less on ebay and AT but not local to me so you could say it’s a case of supply and demand…
Anyway, the car –
It’s an early phase 1 Alfa Romeo GTV 2.0 Twinspark which had done 83800 miles. Registered in August 1996 – these cars came to the Uk in April 1996 I believe so it’s certainly one of the earlier ones.
I was the 9th owner – nothing remarkable for a 20 year old car I guess – the last owner only acquired it in June but the owner before that had it for around 6 years. The chap I got it from said he has back problems and could not get along with it – I got the impression he was genuine rather than just selling me a lemon!
The chap actually spent around £700 on it in July at one of our local Alfa specialists – full service, cambelt, balance belt, brake disks and pads all round. The full thread is here, including lots of pics -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
In common with many of my shed buys, this did not prove easy on the finances - many niggly issues followed, most notably the alternator (leaving the car abandoned at work for a few days following a night shift at one point, before I could be bothered to have it recovered). Eventually it was sold on via ebay, to a very pleasant chap from west Norfolk (I think within the year and at a considerable loss).
I still look at these on ebay/gumtree etc, and though I probably wouldn't do it again, think they are really nice cars. Rather heavy and not the easiest to manoeuvre, impractical as a family car, and not even that impressive to drive they still hold a certain charm for me. Anyway next up -
BMW E46 325i auto
A Gumtree buy from a lady a few miles away (£1100 I think). The thread is here -
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...
This one was ran alongside my E90 325i for a while. Main selling point for me when I got it was that it had done a meagre 46,000 miles during it's lifetime. Another car I did not keep for long and probably lavished a little too much money on brake work and auxiliary belts. It also developed an occasional gearbox issue and was eventually sold on to a chap locally, within the year. I see it's now on 57k miles and had a recent MOT so I assume all is good for the current keeper.
Must admit It was a car I didn't really enjoy - never felt like a 190bhp car and the whole package just felt a bit underwhelming compared with the quality of the E90 version. Next -
Volvo S60 T5
Registered in 2001, it had 2 previous owners. The chap I got it off (unseen via an ebay auction - eek!) had paid 10995 for it in 2005. Nicely specced with a winter and premium pack, rear blind, upgraded Dolby stereo. It had done about 72000 miles when I bought it (and less than 74000 when I sold it). It had never failed an MOT and it's only 2 advisories were in 2012.
Headline figures for these are 250bhp/330Nm, a top speed of 152mph, 0-60 - 6.9secs. However, Info from the previous owner - In October 2006, it was remapped with a RICA 775 remap, ITG panel air filter and TME stainless steel Cat back exhaust system, along with Koni FSD dampers, Brembo discs and Ferodo DS 2500 pads fitted all round. According to the last owner when it was tested on the rolling road, it was producing 260BHP and 380Nm torque at the wheels. Top engine mount has been fitted with Viva performance type mounts to act as a strut brace to further improve handling.
The problem with this car was that the previous owner also had a V70 D5 and hardly ever used the S60. I thought this was a good thing but after a trouble free trip from Ely in Cambridgeshire back to Norwich, just about everything went wrong thereafter. Broken front spring, battery, alternator, changed the cambelt just to be safe. All completed courtesy of a local Volvo specialist and probably costing somewhere between £2-3k.
Makes my eyes water just typing that. Anyway, a bit like the 325i and GTV before, I think I reached a point where I was anxious just driving it in case another bill came along so it was sold via ebay. I think I bought it for about £1300 and sold for about £1750ish but the losses were significant. It was bought by a couple from near Uxbridge in West London - looking at the recent MOT they appear to have done about 11000 miles in the year since I sold it.
A year or so on, probably the one car I would regret selling in my recent car history. The stats were nothing remarkable but that car always felt pretty rapid, my Subaru would be the only thing I've driven possibly a shade quicker. Next up was -
Lexus IS 200 sport manual
After selling the Volvo I spent a few months half heartedly looking at gumtree and similar. One day this very tidy looking Lexus popped up - 62000ish miles, present owner since 2005, and 0 miles away from me, according to gumtree. A quick email exchange with the seller and a 2 minute walk down the road later and a deal was agreed. Think it was £900 if I remember correctly.
Anyhow, I did a little research on the Lexus Sport and realised they have a little bit of a reputation for being a drivers car, compared with the softer and more common SE version which lacks the limited slip dif. Not to mention the Lexus reliability and the rather smooth 6 cylinder engine in these cars. I spent a couple of months using it on and off but in reality it didn't really excite me. The engine was smooth but lacking the thrust of the BMW straight 6 I was familiar with. It probably did handle quite nicely but still didn't feel like a car I wanted to drive for the sake of driving.
Nothing went wrong though and I moved it on via ebay for a very small amount more (£1100)than I paid to a chap who travelled from Portishead to Norwich to complete the deal. Apparently good examples of these are hard to come by so they are worth travelling for.
Ford S MAX 2.0TDCI (163ps) Powershift (auto)
(& the end of the E90 325i).
June 2018 - staying in West London ahead of a trip to Legoland Windsor, the E90 325i met an untimely end, colliding with a rather large Lexus as we were making our way to our hotel near Heathrow. Dashcam footage -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUAEll1ecfA
And the offending Lexus -
The Dutch lady driving the Lexus was very apologetic and her insurance settled the claim with minimal hassle - I think the BMW was valued at 4,500. I had a choice of having it back plus a cheque for 3,000 which was tempting, but opted not to. It was a category N, and has since appeared on ebay for 2995, appearing fully repaired, but didn't seem to sell and was not MOT'd last time I looked.
Think there is a thread, or possibly just a discussion in the s
t driving thread somewhere on the footage - some saying I was slow to recognise the danger etc. I can see that view but looking at the video there was 2 seconds between the Lexus braking and then making their move across me and I really just didn't see it coming. While the 325i was away being assessed I was given a like for like courtesy car via the local Enterprise rental people -
Think it was the bottom of the range XE 2.0d, probably around 160bhp. However, I was really impressed with how it drove and it got me looking at Jags as a replacement for the BMW. I actually had a really nice approved used 3.0d XF with 35000 miles and a 2 year warranty on my shortlist but my wife was being a bit 'difficult' ('no more silly little cars' - apparently the 325i was one) so a bland people/kids carrier won the day -
This came from a local Ford specialist and cost around £12k, with just under 40000 miles on the clock. 18 months on, it sits on around 57.000 miles. It basically does what it says on the tin. Transports 4/5 people in comfort (7 people a little less so but we barely use the extra seats). With the extra seats folded away the boot is huge. It's reasonably specced - the glass roof (not something I'm a fan of really) is a hit with the kids. It's been totally reliable, just jump in and drive really. Considering the ok BHP and torque it never feels very quick, even in sport mode, but neither do I feel the urge for something quicker as a daily. The powershift box seems to have a reputation in some circles but its been fine for me. I think the key maybe regular flushing/oil changes and that was part of the deal when I purchased the car. Not sure if I'm nearing a cambelt interval, will need to look into that one again soon.
So there we have it. The current drive way/fleet is the Pug 307 (not far short of 5 years in our ownership and sitting on 67.000 mile-ish) and the S Max. There isn't really a plan to change these two in the near future as they are both serving their purpose.
Very dull, but I have a small (very) fund for an additional purchase after selling the Lexus a while ago. Current cars on my ebay/gumtree watch lists include a vel Satis 3.5 (just over 100,000 miles/£1095), an Accord 2.4 (99,000 miles/£995), an iffy looking MR2 for £800, and a Merc Slk320 (83000 miles/£1599) plus a few others.
To be continued...
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