The Automobile Thread

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Saint Eustace of Luxeuil said:
on the money ... outrageous machine as I had been in a few
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I bought one of these, well a '92 Evoluzione 1 from a little dealership in Bolzano, Northern Italy and drove it back like a man possessed. Paid 5,500 euros for it and sold it for £6k a couple of years later, now they're pushing £20k....story of my life
 
Saint Eustace of Luxeuil said:
I love these ...

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And I had one of these too! Nightmare car. Blew both turbos and the turbo lag was immense - enough time to retune the radio that lost signal every 6 minutes - before the turbo kicked in. Wallet breakers. The heads go on them regularly too and as for the electrics....

I've just chopped my 220,000 mile E class Merc in for an Audi A8 4.0 diesel - v v cheap car to buy now
 
Saint Eustace of Luxeuil said:
Swords currently have had a VW golf for third week in France .... TDi Life Model ... I still have 370Km of fuel

This is the best modern car I have driven.
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The Golf is the best day to day car ever. And the Mk V GTI Pirelli Special Edition I had for a couple of years was the best drive I've ever owned (not that its a spectacular list). My company tedium mobile, BMW 3 series, had a split fuel hose last week. I'm thinking of claiming to have lost confidence in it, ditching the company car and taking the allowance. Then I'll be back on here with the budget, minimum reqs and seeking advice.

Wife took delivery of a VW Up! (this has to be shouted every time it is mentioned) yesterday - traded in her Golf for it as she does 95% of her driving short distance nowadays. Very impressed its like a tardis, much bigger on the inside than a poncey Mini, which was the favourite to begin with
 
WBA2_QPR3 said:
And I had one of these too! Nightmare car. Blew both turbos and the turbo lag was immense - enough time to retune the radio that lost signal every 6 minutes - before the turbo kicked in. Wallet breakers. The heads go on them regularly too and as for the electrics....
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Forgive my ignorance on my very own Auto thread Wubba (:emoticon-0111-blush), but what car is that?

I've just chopped my 220,000 mile E class Merc in for an Audi A8 4.0 diesel - v v cheap car to buy now
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Now there's a Luxobarge if ever there is one. Bloke around the corner has the W12 six liter. Monster of a thing.

Your one is a TDI right?
 
Maserati Ghibli. I had the GT version, the collectable one is the Cup version.

The only car I've owned with a courduroy interior.

Yes 4.0 tdi. High mileage but paid just short of £4k for it
 
I traded in an M3 and bought a new 330d as a daily driver two months ago. Been on holiday for two weeks and the bird/squirrel sh1t has, over just two weeks, eaten into the paintwork and the car will need a partial re-spray. Christ knows what the birds are eating where I live or possibly how the quality control at BMW is now managed. Anyway, it is nice car really, fast and economical, if a bit dull, but at least I do not have to fill it up three times a week like the M3.
 
Kilburn said:
R.I.P. Regrettably, my beauty of the past 22 years went to Toyota heaven last Friday.

Last week my 1991 Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon at 340,000 KM suddenly developed an engine issue with coolant disappearing – my backyard mechanic, had hoped it was just the cylinder head gasket, which he could have replaced for around $300 (the local Toyota dealer wanted $1500 for this job). I paid my guy $50 to strip the engine down (4 hrs labour) to diagnose the issue, but he discovered a hairline crack in the metal on one of the ports of the cylinder head. He couldn’t find another cylinder head, and even if he could, a used one would have been around $300, plus you would have to plane surfaces at a machine shop $150, gasket kit $100, new cylinder head bolts $60etc, so job was getting way too expensive for such an old vehicle, and I sadly decided that I must say goodbye. I drove that Toyota for over 22 years - my wife says I am now grieving the loss of my car! When I got back home after work Friday, the whole family was wailing - I thought one of our cats had just died as there was a garbage bag in front of them!

Would you believe that the day before this happened, I had just put on a brand new muffler under lifetime warranty (as long as you own the car). Even though the $100 muffler was “free” I still paid $50 in labour, nuts & bolts, shop supplies etc. but car and sounded great after repair as the old muffler was blown out and noisy. I mentioned that in the past couple of days that my heater had stopped working normally and they checked my coolant level and had to add 2 litres (a lot) to top it up which I found a bit odd as no apparent leaks. No coolant in oil though, I guess it was getting burnt off through the exhaust, as it turns out it was leaking through that hairline crack in one of the exhaust/intake ports on the cylinder head.

I am currently looking at a used automatic 2003 Honda Civic, 4 door with 150,000 km. An older lady has been driving this vehicle and she is trading it in tomorrow evening on a new vehicle, and the salesman says I can purchase it directly from her for around $2,000. My mechanic says to just make sure you change the timing belt every 160,000 km on these Honda's as you can ruin the engine if it breaks. Apparently the water pump is normally changed at same time as you have ready access to it. Not too bad a cost for these preventative maintenance repairs though:-

Timing belt - parts & labour (3 hrs) - $275
Water pump - parts & labour (0.5 hr) - $125

So for $400 this vehicle should have some good driving ahead of it.

My wife and two of my five daughters will also be able to drive this 2nd vehicle as they never mastered the 5 speed Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon.

Any thoughts out there regarding the 2003 Honda Civic?
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So Killy, hows the new Motor going for ye?!!
 
Swords Hoopster. said:
So Killy, hows the new Motor going for ye?!!
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Yes, the 2005 Chrysler 300 AWD 3.5L V6 (odometer 200,000 KM) that I bought in March for just $2500 to replace my faithful 1991 Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon, is going strong. It is a very comfortable ride for an old fart like me (I used to tease my father-in-law about these full size boats that he drives, and now I'm in the same boat as him!). It is definitely must thirstier on fuel consumption though - only 21 mpg city, 33 mpg hwy, Toyota at 22 yrs old was still getting 30 mpg city, 40 mpg hwy). Annual MVI (Motor Vehicle Inspection) only cost me $200 in April, so no surprises, AWD transmission & suspension is Mercedes Benz, used after Daimler-Benz bought into Chrysler. I was very fortunate that the previous owner insisted on installing $750 of brand new big 18 inch Firestone tires before selling. It was a business vehicle, lady driven, with frequent 5 hr trips, and it was almost like they were looking to generate a tax loss for the end of their financial year, but at same time wanted the buyer to have a safe vehicle. My kids really love it, they say I look like a drug dealing gang banger!

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Kilburn said:
Yes, the 2005 Chrysler 300 AWD 3.5L V6 (odometer 200,000 KM) that I bought in March for just $2500 to replace my faithful 1991 Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon, is going strong. It is a very comfortable ride for an old fart like me (I used to tease my father-in-law about these full size boats that he drives, and now I'm in the same boat as him!). It is definitely must thirstier on fuel consumption though - only 21 mpg city, 33 mpg hwy, Toyota at 22 yrs old was still getting 30 mpg city, 40 mpg hwy). Annual MVI (Motor Vehicle Inspection) only cost me $200 in April, so no surprises, AWD transmission & suspension is Mercedes Benz, used after Daimler-Benz bought into Chrysler. I was very fortunate that the previous owner insisted on installing $750 of brand new big 18 inch Firestone tires before selling. It was a business vehicle, lady driven, with frequent 5 hr trips, and it was almost like they were looking to generate a tax loss for the end of their financial year, but at same time wanted the buyer to have a safe vehicle. My kids really love it, they say I look like a drug dealing gang banger!

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I wondered why we hadn't seen any pics of your new motor Killy......

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Kilburn said:
Yes, the 2005 Chrysler 300 AWD 3.5L V6 (odometer 200,000 KM) that I bought in March for just $2500 to replace my faithful 1991 Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon, is going strong. It is a very comfortable ride for an old fart like me (I used to tease my father-in-law about these full size boats that he drives, and now I'm in the same boat as him!). It is definitely must thirstier on fuel consumption though - only 21 mpg city, 33 mpg hwy, Toyota at 22 yrs old was still getting 30 mpg city, 40 mpg hwy). Annual MVI (Motor Vehicle Inspection) only cost me $200 in April, so no surprises, AWD transmission & suspension is Mercedes Benz, used after Daimler-Benz bought into Chrysler. I was very fortunate that the previous owner insisted on installing $750 of brand new big 18 inch Firestone tires before selling. It was a business vehicle, lady driven, with frequent 5 hr trips, and it was almost like they were looking to generate a tax loss for the end of their financial year, but at same time wanted the buyer to have a safe vehicle. My kids really love it, they say I look like a drug dealing gang banger!

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Sweet. Yes, they're a grand big barge alright. Is that MVI you pay equivalent to what we call the NCT (I forget what its called in England) ? And what's the bill for Motor Tax?

Also, what are you guys paying at the pumps over there?
 
Swords Hoopster. said:
Sweet. Yes, they're a grand big barge alright. Is that MVI you pay equivalent to what we call the NCT (I forget what its called in England) ? And what's the bill for Motor Tax?
Also, what are you guys paying at the pumps over there?
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The annual MVI here in NB is only $25 + any necessary repairs to meet safety standards (brakes, steering, body, tires etc.), so $200 incl 13% HST(tax like VAT) is a nice surprise. At MVI time some mechanics really have you by the balls and may advise you to make unnecessary repairs to get more business than just $25.

Your Motor Tax I believe is our annual motor vehicle registration (based on weight of vehicle - the Chrysler 300 is $89/yr)

87 octane gasoline (petrol) with 10% ethanol is currently $1.22/litre here, 91 octane with no ethanol is $1.28/litre (I use this).

On the bright side we have no TV licences, so Monty Python's cat detector van doesn't come prowling around our neighbourhoods monitoring for unlicenced TV's or cats.
 
Like Aj said..the lancia Delta Intergrale was and still is a fantasy car. Esp with the rally X pack and vynals...love those
I lived in a place owned by a Canadian who had one. Intrestingly (or not) it was in Andorra and they had the highest concentration of Integrales on the planet per percentage of the population....Stats eh?

Got to say though, you cant forget the Lancia Beta. Brilliant car that rusted like nobodys business but went like lightning. Ive been scared s-less in many 2 litre TC versions...And the Monte Carlo..that also rusted itself out of production but was one of the best looking cars ever produced
the Delta was ok but never really caught on.

Also spare a though for the good old Dolomite Sprint. Bright yellow with chrome side skirts was always the way to go...!<ok>
 
Queenslander!! said:
Like Aj said..the lancia Delta Intergrale was and still is a fantasy car. Esp with the rally X pack and vynals...love those
I lived in a place owned by a Canadian who had one. Intrestingly (or not) it was in Andorra and they had the highest concentration of Integrales on the planet per percentage of the population....Stats eh?

Got to say though, you cant forget the Lancia Beta. Brilliant car that rusted like nobodys business but went like lightning. Ive been scared s-less in many 2 litre TC versions...And the Monte Carlo..that also rusted itself out of production but was one of the best looking cars ever produced
the Delta was ok but never really caught on.

Also spare a though for the good old Dolomite Sprint. Bright yellow with chrome side skirts was always the way to go...!<ok>
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I lived close to Andorra and will do again shortly maybe ( well new house is about 1.5 hours) and can confirm on a Sunday the Intergrales are everywhere ... I have also seen loads in Corsica. I will have one before i snuff it.

[video=youtube;6uGm4VRiDi8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uGm4VRiDi8[/video]
 
the finest rally car of all time:

[video=youtube;8jkdu2gVdHA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jkdu2gVdHA[/video]
 
That Metro was a animal: but if i had to chose and I have driven one only a mate's old 8v... then its a Intergrale and you have to believe the superstar racers and most think it was the greatest rally car ever made ...a very good EVO 3 fetches £40,000 grand now ... I had a williams Clio and that would stick to the road but the Lancia is king

Stop press I forgot the metro was British and we have made a decent car for years ... Bloody Brummies killed our industry ... they have no idea about design ... I did some work for Jag about 7 years ago and went up there and had to say that the people i worked for were clueless and many of the designers need to be shot:

[video=youtube;E4-8LgXjQbc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4-8LgXjQbc[/video]
 
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