OT Time for a different car then

Only look at the post 99 ones. Easy to tell the difference as the front
grille is distinctive. See pictures below.

http://tinyurl.com/ypovjn is the same spec as the one I had. Price is at
least £500 too high as it is a private sale. Haggle. Located 20 miles from
DE1

http://tinyurl.com/2ek6po is a better spec. Has a full service history, 12
months MOT from a trader. 13 miles from DE1, near M1J28. The price is the
book price for something with 50000 miles. Again, haggle and see if you can
get 10-15% knocked off.

The only problems with these cars, other than expected wear & tear, are
electrical. Check the auto air-con sensors give the correct display. Mine
went titsup and I got the aircon on full blast in January. Check the LCD
display. Ask the owner if the radio comes on at random, even when parked up
(check the display is off when you look in the car, I just turned the
volume down when my car was appraised by the Citroen dealer ). These
aren't expensive faults to fix but on a £2k car it's better if someone else
has taken the hit.

 

My year 2000 Seat Ibiza had an 8 valve engine. Newer ones are 16v. I'm not
sure which year they changed. I liked the 8v engine, it had a decent mid-
range. My experience of small capacity 16v engines is that you have to rev
the tits off them to get anywhere.

 

Oh I dare say a nice simple single point fuel injection system car would
be fine, and of course even diesels have ECU's now. If you choose the
right car it will be no problem, if you don't IME it will be MAF then
crankshaft, then idle control valve then...

Guess which engine manufacturer. Clue: Saabs use them.

You forgot the starting handle.


--
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| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

If I stand up straight I'm five foot three. And you are also not
helping

 

OK, so you're about as tall as Ann then...

Unless I bolt a lift kit on the Jeep she's able to get in without the
help of a step ladder...

 

I dont know your situation regarding kids etc but my sister in law has a
Y reg Renault Megane Scenic 1.4 with 62k miles which will be up for sale
at the end of the month for about 2k.

Just an idea of course, its in Oxford, but I guess could be driven anywhere.

Alan

 

message left.

Spoken to him on the phone going to try and find someone who is not in
work tomorrow who can take me for a tyre kick tomorrow afternoon.

I would print this bit out but the fucking printer has gone tits up as
well. It really is not my day.

 

MX5. £3K should buy you a very nice one. I paid £1,600 for mine, wasn't
sure about it at first, now I love it.

YKIMS

 

I watched the first series and that was it. Only TV I'm watching atm
is Ashes to Ashes which I am completely besotted with despite daft
woman's over acting.

I keep squealing 'I had a top like that' and 'ooo that was such a good
song'.

I'm trying to remember if 'Will you' was late 1980 or early 1981 -
definitely when I was at boarding school as one of the older girls in
the dorm educated me in the ways of punk. No that isn't a euphonium.

Anyway if it was 1981 I predict a Hunt and daft woman nearly getting
it together scene to that sound track.

 

It's amazing how current circumstances are bringing us closer
together. <breaks>

 

Three grand will buy you a pretty mint Eunos (better choice IMHO).
They're getting scarce under 2.5k these days if they're in decent nick.

 

I wish you hadn't told me that It was lovely. I still have the
photos of it being trailered away

What on earth is a G-wheeze?

There's a running cost side? Don't you just bung fuel in and hope?

It's been a while since I... (actually no, I'll not wave that
particular chocolate biscuit at the kindly ones)

Don't ever change

If you could get me details that would be lovely - I'm quite disgusted
at myself for being such a girl about this but quite frankly I no
longer care. I can do powerful and organised but right now some bugger
else can.

I think my mum gets hers to top out at 85/90 but she drives everywhere
with foot to the floor.

I don't really want anything huge.

Estate again - small hatch back is sensible.

 

In the nicest possible way FRO!

 

If I haven't got anything sorted by then...

I still have relatives in Oxford.

 

2 seats - still need a back seat for a bit.

Hmmm, I wonder if ex husband would lend me his lovingly restored X19.
Or the Fiat Coupe. I sense a plan...

Is this a post outing yourself?

 

I guess it's only people like me who buy spare parts in bulk "just in
case". But then again, I've given up certain kinds of hope a long time
ago.

It's taken me long enough to paint myself into this corner already

Right, this is a bog standard S-MX:

http://www.cars-directory.net/gallery/honda/s-mx/1998/honda_s-mx_1521357
_p.html

They're a bit bigger than your average small car, though. I'd guess
it#s about the size of a London cab, if not a little bigger. In fact,
certainly bigger than a Polo or Micra and especially a lot taller.

I don't remember the mileage at the moment, but his is the 4WD version,
usual 2L/autobox drivetrain, silver with privacy glass in the back.
It's got quite a funky bodykit on it that livens up the front (and I'm
normally not a fan of bodykits in general), decent wheels with decent
tyres. I haven't driven it but it started on the button, no funny
sounds from the engine either. Very clean overall. Only downside is
that it won't be registered until early March when it's actually ten
years old (Brighton DVLA playing silly buggers again...)

He told me he was going to advertise it for 3750 but I think he'll let
it go cheaper if he doesn't have the hassle with advertising and all
that. How much cheaper, I can't say but I've bought enough bits of RX-7
off him so I think I may get a few hundred off the car.

I can ping him an email and see what he says if you're genuinely
interested.

"They all do that"

Huge is something else . A Merc S600 is huge, a 250D is just a
reasonably sized car...

 

Ah. Kind of rules it out then. The boot's a bit small to squeeze anyone
else in.

As an MX5 convert?

<looks around nervously>

I guess. Lots of fun, seems to be reliable, easy to work on if needed.

 

They do fairly sturdy boot racks...

I've had both, in fact several of each. I do like X1/9s but for
day-to-day reliability I'd still rather have an MX5.

Fiat Coupe - which one? The modern one? You can definitely get one of
those for under three grand. And if you get the four pot, it'll even be
quite reasonable when it comes to running costs.

*cough*

He's not the only one around here who's got an MX5...

 

Honda Civic 1.6 or 1.8 hatchback, year 2000 ish.

 

BTDTish. 1.6 Non VTEC Aerodeck. Ultra reliable but a bit pipe and
slippers. OEM part prices wince-inducing so not impressed at needing new
front brake discs at 40,000.

--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+