The Car Thread

[RobinJI]

I really like the idea behind it, and completely 'get' the concept, but bloody hell it's ugly. Sorry.

I bought a car yesterday. Well, agreed to buy, I'll be collecting it next weekend. Unfortunately it's very dull and has many miles on it. On the other hand, it was stupidly cheep, has a huge boot, a diesel engine and (hopefully, not 100% as I haven't actually seen it yet) cruise control. 'One mode of transport please'.

The Scirocco will still be going back on the road soon though, this will just be useful for getting to the hills with bikes and general getting from A to B use, plus it'll mean when the Scirocco's rear seats get replaced with some climbing frame I'll still have a car I can use for normal person stuff.

[Muel]

How much Robin?

I've been looking at various pugs for my first car. I just want a cheap, reliable diesel estate, preferably a smallish one. So far looking at 206SWs, as the standard sort of price from a dealer for one with no issues with ~80k on the clock is £1250, which is a lot of car for not much money IMO. Don't want anything with millions of miles as I'm planning on keeping it for a while. Any german equivalent is double the money from what I've seen.

[RobinJI]

How much Robin?

I've been looking at various pugs for my first car. I just want a cheap, reliable diesel estate, preferably a smallish one. So far looking at 206SWs, as the standard sort of price from a dealer for one with no issues with ~80k on the clock is £1250, which is a lot of car for not much money IMO. Don't want anything with millions of miles as I'm planning on keeping it for a while. Any german equivalent is double the money from what I've seen.

£250. It's a 90bhp HDI, so it's bound to be very slow and it's on 190k with an engine management light on, but apparently it runs sweet and drives fine. My housemate's a car salesman and this came into the garage he works at as a part ex, I'd been saying to him I wanted to get a diesel estate sooner or later for tooling around in so he offered it to me. I know 406's are pretty tough, the boot's huge and it should be good on fuel. I can't really loose for £250.

Personally I'd be tempted by a v40 if I was spending £1000-2000 on a small-ish estate, that was my plan for the end of this summer, and might still be as an upgrade over this.

[Pashley26]

I think the Panda looks like a whale at the front.

[Ash-Kennard]

So after hitting a pothole finally got a quote for a new wheel. £650

Also been buying the random bits of trim which have disappeared over the years. £100 worth! Need to get a new glovebox handle too whilst i'm at it. then the car will be looking basically standard again.

s3 front anti roll bar is probably my next investment found them on egay for 30-50 so not too bad.

Plan after that is a new stainless manifold, sports cat and rear end so I can get a fresh remap up to a more suitable BHP.

Got myself a cheap diagnostics kit and found a couple of fault codes, erased them and hoping they don't return, I think it was the cold and bumpy route to work that sparked them.

Put 4k though the car since owning it already fuel economy isn't so bad, thank goodness for the low fuel prices at the moment though. I am still thoroughly enjoying it and intend to keep for some time to come.

Cheers, Ash

Just a quick pic from the RR carpark. Enjoy.

[Jolfa]

So after hitting a pothole finally got a quote for a new wheel. £650

Just whack it back with a mallet...

[Luke Rainbird]

So after hitting a pothole finally got a quote for a new wheel. £650

Second hand you'll get a full set for half that - see if you can blag it and sell the others as singles to make a profit

Also been buying the random bits of trim which have disappeared over the years. £100 worth! Need to get a new glovebox handle too whilst i'm at it. then the car will be looking basically standard again.

s3 front anti roll bar is probably my next investment found them on egay for 30-50 so not too bad.

Plan after that is a new stainless manifold, sports cat and rear end so I can get a fresh remap up to a more suitable BHP.

Got myself a cheap diagnostics kit and found a couple of fault codes, erased them and hoping they don't return, I think it was the cold and bumpy route to work that sparked them.

Put 4k though the car since owning it already fuel economy isn't so bad, thank goodness for the low fuel prices at the moment though. I am still thoroughly enjoying it and intend to keep for some time to come.

Trim bits are a pain but for the sake of a day's wages it's worth sorting them all out, makes the car look so much more complete and legit without big holes in the bloody thing

I've got a TT bar on standby but I'm not going to throw it on yet - may not even need it in all honesty, as it'll stiffen things up but don't want to add to the understeery mk4 chassis. Will re-evaluate once I've got a rARB on again and see how it goes - only bought it as it was filthy cheap (TT bar needs a little tweaking to fit unlike the S3 one though)

Exhaust stuff sounds identical to my plans really. Good times! Will have to set up the world's smallest group buy and try to blag a little discount

What codes did you get coming up?

I've only done 1k in mine so far including bringing it home due to being away a fair bit. Momentum for <£1.10/l is a definite advantage though.

[Muel]

£250. It's a 90bhp HDI, so it's bound to be very slow and it's on 190k with an engine management light on, but apparently it runs sweet and drives fine. My housemate's a car salesman and this came into the garage he works at as a part ex, I'd been saying to him I wanted to get a diesel estate sooner or later for tooling around in so he offered it to me. I know 406's are pretty tough, the boot's huge and it should be good on fuel. I can't really loose for £250.

Personally I'd be tempted by a v40 if I was spending £1000-2000 on a small-ish estate, that was my plan for the end of this summer, and might still be as an upgrade over this.

#

Bargain! Put a sticker over it, it'll be reet.

I'll look into a V40 but to be honest I've never been a fan of Volvos.

Main reason I'm considering a diesel Peugeot estate is the insurance is relatively cheap for a "proper" car. The same as a 1.0l Micra or a Suzuki Wagon R. I want something that will comfortably cruise at 80 returning a decent mpg figure and ideally the ability to pull a trailer.

[dann2707]

V6 spoiler (rep)

20150131_115028 by dann2707, on Flickr

20150131_114946 by dann2707, on Flickr

Then got this to fit Sunday / Monday

Snapchat--5540140906554971814 by dann2707, on Flickr

[HippY]

generic question of the day:

Here, in Northern Ireland you must have a car, as public transport is expensive and not too convenient, does not go too often, not for too long.. so you get the point

but what about in England?

I am going to move to England for sure, as Northern Ireland is lovely, it is way too quiet for me. I am planning to move either to Birmingham or Leeds/York, so far I got an offer for Leeds, interview for York, and my UCAS profile is with the admission teacher at Birmingham.

How is the public transport in general, is it worth to maintain a cheap car, like a ford focus 1.6 or something that class, next to uni, or I should be fine with public transport?

I will have like a grand per month, and I will pay around £4-500 per month for house

[Muel]

generic question of the day:

Here, in Northern Ireland you must have a car, as public transport is expensive and not too convenient, does not go too often, not for too long.. so you get the point

but what about in England?

I am going to move to England for sure, as Northern Ireland is lovely, it is way too quiet for me. I am planning to move either to Birmingham or Leeds/York, so far I got an offer for Leeds, interview for York, and my UCAS profile is with the admission teacher at Birmingham.

How is the public transport in general, is it worth to maintain a cheap car, like a ford focus 1.6 or something that class, next to uni, or I should be fine with public transport?

I will have like a grand per month, and I will pay around £4-500 per month for house

Depends entirely where you live, but if I were you I'd plan to move in and get set up without having a car. Mainly because honestly, that's not enough to live comfortably whilst running a car.

[HippY]

Depends entirely where you live, but if I were you I'd plan to move in and get set up without having a car. Mainly because honestly, that's not enough to live comfortably whilst running a car.

and how is the travel between cities?

Are trains/buses fairly priced and run freqently, ? is it easy to get across England?

Here in Northern Ireland you have some lines that comes from Belfast. So if you want to travel north by train, the first you must travel to east than north west...

[Muel]

and how is the travel between cities?

Are trains/buses fairly priced and run freqently, ? is it easy to get across England?

Here in Northern Ireland you have some lines that comes from Belfast. So if you want to travel north by train, the first you must travel to east than north west...

Generally public transport is good in terms of connecting places together, but expensive and unreliable at actually getting you there. Still usually cheaper than running a car though.

It's just a personal thing, if I had 1k a month to live on I definitely wouldn't be thinking about running a car.

[HippY]

Generally public transport is good in terms of connecting places together, but expensive and unreliable at actually getting you there. Still usually cheaper than running a car though.

It's just a personal thing, if I had 1k a month to live on I definitely wouldn't be thinking about running a car.

I see

At the moment I am travelling ridiculous amounts, although it might getting reduced by uni... so the best way would be to wait until uni and see how much I travel.

on a side note, in February I will travel to Macclesfield and to Kettering, and these small travels would be really hard to sort out without a car. even from Kettering to Birmingham will be a car+train event, then flights.

[Luke Rainbird]

I's definitely doable to factor in a car for that money, but the places you're looking at seem to have pretty reasonable public transport setups. Can't comment on the cost, but should be fairly frequent and reliable, unlike down here in the sticks

[Ash-Kennard]

Just whack it back with a mallet...

Nah. could see daylight through it

Second hand you'll get a full set for half that - see if you can blag it and sell the others as singles to make a profit

Trim bits are a pain but for the sake of a day's wages it's worth sorting them all out, makes the car look so much more complete and legit without big holes in the bloody thing

I've got a TT bar on standby but I'm not going to throw it on yet - may not even need it in all honesty, as it'll stiffen things up but don't want to add to the understeery mk4 chassis. Will re-evaluate once I've got a rARB on again and see how it goes - only bought it as it was filthy cheap (TT bar needs a little tweaking to fit unlike the S3 one though)

Exhaust stuff sounds identical to my plans really. Good times! Will have to set up the world's smallest group buy and try to blag a little discount

What codes did you get coming up?

I've only done 1k in mine so far including bringing it home due to being away a fair bit. Momentum for <£1.10/l is a definite advantage though.

Council are in contact in regards to the replacement, for 650 I will take their cheque and buy a set of 5 second hand.

Trim bits are on their way, been meaning to sort them for a little while.

Yeah exhaust is the way to go imo, if I can get the lot done for 1k ill be pleased.

codes were 16395 and 00532. probably nothing, erased them and gunna see if they return.

I don't have a tesco or shell near me so have been using sainsburys finest lol 97 octane so not great but better than driving 5 miles out of my way.

cant wait for the exhaust and remap should make things much better. then it can be my daily driver till I get a company car, then it will become my weekend toy.

[Luke Rainbird]

Sounds like a plan. I've just ordered a B5 v3 TIP to pop on which should help things breathe a tad easier from the intake side of things. Need to save some pennies before I can justify blowing a load offbeatn exhausts and manifolds though really!

If you want something a little pokier til you get everything else sorted, I can dig out my old laptop I'll pull a copy of the REVO map off mine for you.

[Ash-Kennard]

nah its fine. its not slow, but could always be faster

[Tom Booth]

Glad it fits ok dan, Looks pretty cool.

[Jolfa]

Nah. could see daylight through it

I meant the pothole for being nasty and hurting your wheel, show it who's boss!

[RobinJI]

I's definitely doable to factor in a car for that money, but the places you're looking at seem to have pretty reasonable public transport setups. Can't comment on the cost, but should be fairly frequent and reliable, unlike down here in the sticks

Basically this. In a big city you won't need one, and most students wont have one. I only had one because I needed it in the holidays. It's worth checking with the university too, as a lot won't let you have a car if you're staying in their halls of residence. Personally I'd avoid it if you can. The public transport here's not great, but it's good enough to get buy unless you're in a very rural area.

#

Bargain! Put a sticker over it, it'll be reet.

I'll look into a V40 but to be honest I've never been a fan of Volvos.

Main reason I'm considering a diesel Peugeot estate is the insurance is relatively cheap for a "proper" car. The same as a 1.0l Micra or a Suzuki Wagon R. I want something that will comfortably cruise at 80 returning a decent mpg figure and ideally the ability to pull a trailer.

The V40 is about the least Volvo-ish Volvo, being based on a Mitsubishi chassis. It's just what I'd been looking at, there's plenty of choices out there but the Peugeots do seem good value for money. The big stuff always seems to be fairly well put together but I'm never convinced by the build quality of the smaller stuff.

[Luke Rainbird]

Escuse the CopyPasta from SCN. Just another minor LCR update for you all to skip past

Couple of weeks being busy with work = minimal time to post up any progress, but a few chances to do little bits to the car.

The mirrors on the car when I got it were the older mk4 Golf style and although they were electric/heated, one was intermittent at best whilst the other didnt really give a damn about doing its only job. I picked up a set of teardrops via eBay which Ive had stashed away for a month or so now but havent had much of a chance to sort out until now. Unfortunately they were Platinum Grey rather than the black I needed, so out came the sprays to rectify the situation.

Being as the mirrors are electrically adjusted and need to be set to the folded in position in order to remove the plastic caps, I had to get them mounted to the car before I could actually remove the caps to match the colour. Not a major issue really, though I was entirely making this up as I went as I was too lazy to read up on the process first. Fortunately I got the whole job done in around an hour, and knowing how to do it all I reckon itd be a 40 minute job tops if I had to do it again.

Interior handles off, door cards removed and you can get to the Torx bolt holding the mirrors to the door. There are 2 small pins holding the mirrors straight but otherwise its just the single bolt attaching them, simple. Obviously need to be a tad careful with the electrical connections in the door as you go.

Whilst I was in the passenger side door (which I did first) I found some evidently non-standard wiring thrown into the mix (badly, as with everything else the previous owner seems to have done!) Couldnt find too much out from inside the one door, but it all became a little more obvious once I was in the drivers panel

Seems the extra wiring was the same as the cause of randomly dropping windows on remote unlock an incredibly badly installed AutoWindow setup. Ive snipped the wires in a few places to disconnect this from the system and this has totally cured the issue I was having, though if anybody wants the unit let me know and Ill pull the lot out for you.

Anyway, load of random wiring crap removed and the new mirrors were on the car. Wrong colour, but it was getting dark so that wasnt an issue for a night or so Next morning I was woken up by this little b*****d jumping into bed:

Up nice and early, whipped the mirror caps off and got to work. Sanded them down to give the new paint something to adhere to. Got them sprayed up and kept the nice and warm to help things cure before they went back outside to be remounted. Ill give them a few days for the paint to harden up a bit before wet sanding them back a little to remove some mild orange peel.

With the mirrors done for a while, I decided to get rid of the Nomad pillar and gauge. Im not a fan of these, even though theyre relatively well done so will rethink gauge setups at a later date. Trim off, vac hose removed and wiring all out too. 10 minute job.

Gave the car fresh oil and filters as Ive now done 1000 miles since picking the vehicle up before Christmas. Will keep an eye on it but may drop it again at some point depending on how much crap it seems to be picking up I get the impression that the previous guy didnt really know what he was doing so better safe than sorry have installed a magnetic sump plug until the next oil change just to clear out anything that may or may not be floating around in there. Gave the engine bay a 2 minute clean will give it a proper going over some point this week if I get the chance.

Few other little bits going on too, but theyll wait for another update for now. Car feels much smoother since the minor service and with a freshly polybushed dogbone mount ready to go on it should tighten things up a little further. Fresh mats that Ive ordered will help bring the car back to a reasonable level again too. Need to throw it through an MOT in a couple of weeks before I play with too much more though.

Edit; Dear god those wheels need a refurb

[CurtisRider]

Looking good Luke, It's really satisfying bringing a car back to life after a negligent/retarded owner!

[Luke Rainbird]

Massively. This one was all structurally pretty sound but loads of little minor niggly bits so fiddly fixes

[CurtisRider]

Sounds much the same as my Porsche although that has had the age element to take into account too! I need to have the dash out and redo the wiring, unfortunately I am guilty of slapping in some untidy wiring due to poor access so I want to resolve that!