Then, and Now

[Damien.]

Normally I don't like red cars and i never, ever, ever like black alloys.


So why do i like neils car lots?

Tis a beautiful car, id have one if i could afford one ! lol.

 

[GreenMint]

Sadly only 2 cars in my life so far, didn't buy a car till I was 25 due to having too much use of parent's cars, but here goes:

May 2006 I bought my brother's 1998 Ford Fiesta Encore 1.3, not really a bad starter car, but as i'd been driving mostly 1.4i, 1.8td and 1.7td cars for 5 years since passing, it did feel very slow, but it was mine, it was nice, and fun, and sold it on this summer for only £300 less than i paid

Then May 2007 i bought my current car Honda Civic 1.6 Sport, yep, its not a Type-R, i wish it was but at the time insurance quotes were a bit too high and i needed a bit better economy, that'll change soon Hoping to be looking at an Integra Type-R in the coming summer!

Overall, lovely car for what it is, and i am happy with it for now

 

[Lashout_UK]

Also, Lashout, my other half watches Top Gear with me and really wants a Dolly Sprint after they had one on. She does about 10 miles a day but we have no dry storage for one. Sensible or not? Will probably be more reliable than the frogmobile.

As with all cars, buying a good one is the best way to ensure it'd be totally relaliable on a daily basis. I ran all of mine as daily drivers doing a similar mileage, if not occasionally more, without any issues at all. Great fun as well and you can return an excellent mileage from them

I'd recommend looking at the 1850 as well, rather than a Sprint, as the 1850's are more tractable around town, look exactly the same (once you've fitted Sprint alloys) and it's easier to get a decent 1850 than it is a decent Sprint (and much, much cheaper too).

All they need is the usual servicing (oil/coolant/filters etc) which doesn't cost much at all and is easily done at home - and a bit of common sense applied, so checking the coolant and oil on a regular basis, as you would with any car

Any questions, or any help needed finding one, feel free to ask

Fantastic bits of kit and extremely comfortable! I'll have another!

 

[LSPIII]

No pics, but my list goes as follows:

1992 Citreon AX Debut (0.95 litre... Woof)
Sold it on after 2.5 years of ragging the living hell out of it. Never once broke down, but the manual choke was a bit distressing on long journeys.

1994 Renault Laguna 2.0 RT
Someone actually bought it. I was about ready to scrap this. Smelt of Petrol while driving. Actually got high off it on one long trip. Not safe.

1998 VW Passat 1.8T
Owned for a week. Bought it off some Polish bloke, was asking for trouble! No ABS pump, trackrod was broken (yes, broken), needed new turbo etc etc. Needless to say I'm a little more careful with buying now.

1998 Vauxhall Astra 1.8CDX
Easily the nicest car yet, still own it. Had it's fair share of issues though. Fortunately mostly repaired under the 3 Month Warranty

Now looking at a host of cars to replace it with though.

 

[Dup]

Rayrigg Road viewpoint, just outside Bowness and Windermere, Cumbria!

Edit: Can I ask what the registration of your Punto was? I have a 1998 Punto_S 60, red, same interior, same wheel trims, with evidence of the bonnet being painted.

It was R754 BEC. Boot used to be green when I got it, then I bought a slightly off colour match. It had been hit by a lorry before I bought it, my gran used to own it.

EDIT: Cheers Lashout. I'm not scared of doing my own maintenance, she had a J reg Metro that leaked all over before the 206. She just wants something more loveable and potentially reliable and cheaper too. When we're ready to look around I'll be in touch. Thanks for the head start. My only gripe is having no dry storage. Don't want it nicked or rusting away

 

[BigglesPiP]

Oh well, not the same car.

Here's my career:

 

[danza]

First Car, Astra 1.4LS. Had it for about 3 years, then bought this:

 

[richyfingers]

Got this when i was 21ish, can’t really remember, 1.25 16v zetec with 50k, cost me 2k and I ran it for 3 years and in all that time not a single thing went wrong with it. Got seriously bored of the lack of power and after spending ages looking for the right one I got this

Had it around 3-4 months now and I love it to bits.

 

[Lashout_UK]

Don't want it nicked or rusting away

If it's of any help, it's very easy to add central locking and an alarm/immobiliser to the car, a lot of professionals are very adept at installing them as well as part of a package.

RE the rust, provided the car is in acceptable condition to begin with, if it's properly rustproofed (i.e. injected and sprayed with ditrinol), washed & waxed now and, during the winter, has the salt jetwashed off the underside every week or two, it should reward you by not deteriorating.

It's only when mud and grot are left to collect in the tricky-to-reach bits (like behind dirt shields, in the sill ends, things like that) that you really run into issues and pressurewashing it underneath usually clears these out.

The only other thing that can lead to blemishes is stonechips - left unattended they'll rot out and damage the paint, so worth sealing or sorting them sooner rather than later when caused

When I had my first one it was waxoyled about 2 years before I bought it, I used it through a good 2 winters without ever doing anything and it was only the year after that surface corrosion really started making itself known. However, it was all extremely easy to correct and in no way threatened the chassis of the car, just the cosmetics

More in tune now though, preventative maintainence is much more gratifying than leaving it to deteriorate to the point where you're forced into doing something

 

[BigglesPiP]

Is it me or does every post in this thread end with a Honda?

 

[InvaderGIR]

Is it me or does every post in this thread end with a Honda?

A lot do, certainly, they also often contain some form of French crap.

Mine only contains French crap

InvG

 

[[TW]Fox]

No Hondas or French Crap in my post (As I said, the Xantia was the best car IN THE WORLD).

 

[InvaderGIR]

No Hondas or French Crap in my post (As I said, the Xantia was the best car IN THE WORLD).

I actually quite like French cars, they are easy to fix and don't breakdown as much as people claim.

Although my 205 is crap, and the Renault 5 was crap. The 306 was nice though...want another one, with a turbo this time.

InvG

 

[Lopéz]

*cracks knuckles*

Escort 1.6 GL

Mk1 Fiesta 1.1

Mk3 Escort 1.6 Ghia
[No pics]

Mk1 Sierra 2.0 with a twin choke Weber and RS 4 spokes
[No pics]

Mk2 Sierra 1.8 Estate
[No pics]

Mk1 Nova 1.4
[No pics]

Mk2 Golf 1.0
[No pics]

Peugeot 205 GTI

Peugeot 309 GTI
[No pics]

Peugeot 309 GTI

Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Antibes
[No pics]

Mk2 Sierra 2.0 GLSI
[No pics]

BMW 320i

Ford Transit 2.0 Petrol SWB
[No pics]

Rover 213S

Peugeot 309 GTI

VW Golf GTI 8v

Mk2 Sierra 1.8 with Cosworth LSD

Mk1 Mondeo 1.8 - Legendary machine!

 

[Lopéz]

205 GTI

Toyota Supra 3.0 Turbo

Honda Civic UKDM 1.6 Tyte YO!

Volvo 940 GL

Done

 

[[TW]Fox]

HOW CAN YOU FORGET THE MONDEO LEON

 

[Lopéz]

HOW CAN YOU FORGET THE MONDEO LEON

Missed it off cut n paste! Fixed

 

[mk1_salami]

Well this might take a while, but I'll start with my first car. I thought this was the coolest car ever when I bought it for £700 about 5 years ago. It had the GTI arches, bucket seats, full respray and what felt like about 50bhp. It was a 1.5GLS which latterly got replaced with a 1.8 Driver engine. lol.

The silver mk1 was fine, but I'd had her ages and really really wanted a GTI. So I ended up buying a complete shed of a mk1, but it was great great fun and still a really quick car. It didn't quite make sense, it slayed my friends 170bhp Primera at the time. Until about 100mph anyway!

Next up was rather predictable, but a really great handling car with good torque - but ultimately not very fast.

Next I had a Ford Fiesta Freestyle for about a month, then came my next car - which looked great and I couldn't believe it was mine. A bit boring though!:

So I sold it all for 2 wheels only at 21 and bought my first bike, a 99 ZX6R and I had muchos fun slaying all sorts of cars until she had a run in with a civic at a roundabout.

Starting from scratch with no insurance payout was a pain in the ass, so I bought a £300 barge: K reg Vauxhall Cavalier. I actually didn't mind driving this at all. There was some amount of freedom from owning a car I didn't give two hoots about.

Next up was a car I wanted forever but never got round to getting one: 1.9 205 GTI. Right up there with the most fun cars I've driven.

I had her for a completely faultless year and decided I wanted a bike aswell so bought a truly great bike, my first R6.

Before I stuffed her down the road:

And this pic after a DIY paint job and how she looked when I visited the nurburgring:

And then a more permanent paint job on the same bike:

So then I got all boring and bought a comfortable 318is but still had the bike.

 

[mk1_salami]

And right up to date, I'm now enjoying my Eunos Roadster / MX5 1.8. I've plans to get her upto 240 bhp next year with funds permitting. Watch this space!

 

[Simon]

Is it me or does every post in this thread end with a Honda?

Experience of unreliable cars maybe ?