New chav-wagon

[Phil W]

Yep.. got another one.

After an eventful night picking it up, i've got it home and cleaned it up (half arsed for now but it will do) and tidied a few bits up.

Long story short for last night, had a test drive and it was all good, happy with the car and the owner described what was wrong (side strips needed putting back on) so i was happy with that, got in it and got about 5mins from his house, heard an almighty knocking noise from the front passenger side.

Red faced, i turned to my brother and said "i've bought a duff car". Got onto the dual carriage way and it got worse, my brother told me to pull over, so i pulled up on to the grass verge, where we were met by this...

The guy had put new brakes on it yesterday, put 1 wheel bolt in and recieved a phone call from a friend, gone off and forgotten about it! So we were driving the car with 1 wheel bolt, hardly what you look out for when your buying a car.

Never the less, the guy came back, jacked the car up, removed the slightly bent wheel bolt and put 4 new ones in. Right, we're away then.

No....

The car had ran out of petrol, we had to push it 1/2 mile to a petrol station, where we filled it up, bumped it and got it back home safe. Apart from that short misfourtune, we got back ok and i'm very pleased with the car, apart from the chav items of course!

Splitter is too low, needs bimming and a MUCH shallower one going in its place. The M3 Mirrors and Lexus Lights will go, and the plates have gay England and GB signs on them, so they will be replace.

The wheels are shocking, need painting, so they are having a quick temp blast of silver tomorrow, and they can hold out until next month and i'll do them properly in a colour i like (to be decided).

 

[Phil W]

 

[Phil W]

Phil

 

[Phil W]

Not really sure why it has opel badges to be honest!

Knew it would never meet the approval of 99.9% of the people on here, but i'm happy with it

 

[Phil W]

Front spolier doesn't look speed bump friendly!!

Like i said it needs to go, its just way too deep, that and it doesn't actually fit very well at all, looks almost upside down!

 

[Phil W]

I don't really get why you thought the last one had so much work put into it?

The wheels were DIY'd, mainly because they were my first set and i was experimenting, but they actually turned out rather good.

Ok, so i spent a bit on it, but for what i sold it for, i broke even, no loss.

The biggest loss was probably the time i invested in it, as i did a bit of work to it myself.

It only looks like a shed because it has stick on tat, which is easily removed. This one is so much better than mine in terms of how it drives, and the condition of the car overall, it has been well looked after

 

[Phil W]

Sorry mate, been reading through the posts going through the questions.

Its same as the previous, nothing special, but runs perfect and seems to pull harder than the previous.

 

[Phil W]

Will look tidy once you do the things you've mentioned. Bodywork looks to be in good condition. Any engine bay shots?

Not yet, a bit grimey and dusty so not looking too pretty at the moment, didn't want to start pressure washing it today so i just left it and concentrated on the exterior!

 

[Phil W]

I'll give it that.

The close up of the front wheel... the body looks in very good condition indeed.

The wheels i was rather shocked about when i went to see it, he had told me it had a different set on, but not that they were in such poor condition.

I've had a think about it, and i rekon they will be going anthracite...

 

[Phil W]

Wouldn't really call it an upgrade, more of a like-for-like, only a better condition one

 

[Phil W]

I used to follow your posts quite regularly when you had done something to your car and used to be quite impressed. Turning a very average astra into something that looked half respectable. However, I just can't see the logic at all in this one. Still as long as you are happy with it

At the end of the day, it has stick on tat that can be removed and sold on, buying the standard parts.

Front splitter will go on eBay idiots out there buy them for £20+ when you can buy them brand new for £14 direct from Seat.

Lights will fetch £50+ so i can get brand new GSi rear lights, and then it will be touches like mudflaps etc.

I don't mind the wheels being nackered because i can make them "my own" now.

Sideways move because insurance quotes came out unexpected for a couple of cars i wanted, so i got rid of the Astra, and thought to myself why not get a smilar car, know the insides & outs of them, run it for a bit whilst i let insurance go down a bit

 

[Phil W]

So why not just keep the one you had before

I didn't want to be spending £XXX's on the car, and still havin problems.

I had a lengthy chat with the guy who put the engine back together in the first place, and he said even if the parts were replaced, he couldn't gurantee that would solve the problem.

So it was either a new engine, or sell the car and buy a similar one, or just not have a car.

Saw this, liked it (even though it had the stick on crap, it was nothing permanent) so i had it.

 

[Phil W]

So you sold the last one becuase it was broken? I thought you said you just sold it becuase you fancied a change? Did the new owner, to whom you sold it at a profit, know it's broken?

What makes you assume that i sold it not describing the faults the car had? I'm an honest guy when it comes to cars, treat people as you wish to be treated (although sometimes it doesn;'t quite work like that). I shouldnt have to do this just to prove you wrong, but what the hell, quoted from MK3OC.

When i first wanted to sell the car, i fancied a change, then the problem with oil and water mixing developed (which i did post about on here, but you seem to look past anything technical) and then decided to sell it as it was, and not fix it.

The buyer wrote..

bought phils old astra sport xe on saturday, very pleasant and honest chap to deal with!

second to that, phil sold the car to me exactly as described and he was 100% honest about everything! i discussed the situation with chris and it was decided the most cost effective option was to scrap the old lump and gearbox and put it a spare fully working lump!

and the guy doing the work wrote...

Phil was very honest about the cars faults and it did pull very well with the old engine - lt was just decided to be cheaper, easier and less hassle all round to swap lumps

 

[Phil W]

I still note a distinct lack of admission regarding what this car cost....
Privacy or embarrassment?

Neither.

Paid just under a grand. Had £500 from the old car and added a bit on top of that.

 

[Phil W]

It looks better than the last one which looks rather bland IMO. Still not a fan though.

Why not go for something different like a 205 GTi

I searched and i seatched, i couldn't find a nice one anywhere, not unless it was going for silly money.

I stuck to what i knew, i bought a car that i knew how to work on (within reason) and one that was good and solid for the year.

 

[Phil W]

I don't know why you keep doing this? Buy a nice car and stick with it, its like you have ADD or something.

I was happy with the other one until the engine developed problems.

I considered it easier to sell it and start again, than to throw money fixing a problem that potentially could still be there after the "solution".

/edit - and if your wondering why they decided to change the engine, its because they chose to drive itback, and completely buggered the engine.

 

[Phil W]

Well i have just managed to "remove" the rear splitter pulling up a kerb, so thats that problem sold.

Got a guy throwing some beer tokens my way, and a Laguna splitter, although i might just hang fire and wait for an Espace splitter to appear on the bay.

The rear wiper will probably be replaced by a Fiat Marea one, common modification for the Astra. I have a friend with an Astra who has removed his standard lights, so i will see if i can borrow his until i find a set of GSi ones

 

[Phil W]

Porous head? I'm surprised anyone would want to buy it if so, unless you sold it cheaply. I'm not surprised the new one pulls better then

Quote possibly porous, however it didn't show any symptons, and was pressure tested only a couple of months ago and the test results came back 100% fine!