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Nov 16, 2006 20:33:53 GMT
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Not very often do I feel that I've had one put over me. The worst I think was when I bought a 1992 Peugeot 205. I bought it in the summer of 2000 just after I graduated from university. 'Bout time I had a proper car I reasoned. So after weeks of trawling around and finding not much I fancied AND could afford to run, I finally spotted this 205 'Trio S' in gunmetal grey in the local Trader. Went down to look at it, took it for a spin and it drove lovely. I must have had forgotten to put my specs on that day cos I failed to notice all the car park dinks all over it. Went back to collect it and hand over my £1500 the next week, alarm bells should have been ringing when the V5 was missiing the 'trade' section..... Got on the motorway, punted it up to 70, started vibrating like a curse word. Cost me two new driveshafts, new discs & pads plus 4 new wheels & tyres to finally totally cure all the shakes. All at garage rates too. I eventually sold the car a year later when the headgasket was on the way out for half what I paid and less than a quarter of what it owed me. Bum. Other 'regret' was the old Escort Wagon.... bought blind of eBay, on the basis that the floors, strut tops etc were OK.... when I got there the guy was obviously a bit of a hardman so I wasn't going to argue  If you look at the resto that rev dick deluxe is doing on it, you'll see it wasn't anywhere near what it should have been. And not helped that from 10 yards it looked stunning as well. Other than that, no real regrets. All the cheap treasure I scoop off eBay is bought blind... but always at a rate at which I know I can punt it back on for more either whole or in bits, so if I get a hound it doesn't matter. |
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Nov 16, 2006 20:39:25 GMT
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I had a few pictures like this;  Come on now, you'd be silly to not do a 1200 odd kilometre round trip with a car trailer wouldn't you?  ;D |
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Skyline: 1963 - 1973 - 1983
Sunny: 1982
450SLC: 1973
Navara: 1992
Gloria: 1992
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stinkwheel
Posted a lot
Doctor Of Gonzo Journalism - One of gods own proptypes, never even considered for mass production.
Posts: 2,280
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Nov 16, 2006 20:50:04 GMT
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Could start a whole new thread about that.............but I wont, bu ti will just state this little tale. (I'm ignoring all the illegaliy and stupidity on my part just the story)
I had this Citroen GSA and another chap had a Citroen Acadiane (dyane van) I live in northants, this guy was in glasgow. we wanted to swap
I towed a 4 wheel car trailer with broken brakes and a GSA aboard up the 300 miles with a 1.4 ford orion.
Now thats stupid.
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Last Edit: Nov 16, 2006 20:55:22 GMT by stinkwheel
1973 Citroen Dyane 6 1980 Citroen Acadiane
1992 Citroen AX 1990 Citroen BX
1997 Citroen XM 1993 Citroen BX
1997 Citroen Xantia 1977 Citroen Ami 8
1996 Ford Escort 1989 Citroen BX
1997 Suzuki RF900 1988 Yamaha TDR250
1979 Honda CB400.
'I need less vehicles'
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,538
Member is Online
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Nov 16, 2006 20:50:49 GMT
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2 stories, one bad one good. Bad one was my Rapier as I basically came over misty eyed and knew I wouldn't find another one I could afford.  Bought it, ran it around for a while and actually did quite a few miles in it. Then the prop let go in a rather spectacular way when a stud sheared in the odd rubber/metal joint resulting in a broken bellhousing. I got it going again but the MOT ran out and it would've needed way more than I was prepared to do to get it though. Sold as a project to a guy who was registered blind (I kid you not!) Good buy was the Sun-Tor which I agreed to buy on the recomendation of a mate who had a quick look at it in a very dark and narrow lock-up and got it towed to his barn for me.  A general service, carb swap, new brakes all round and a tiddly bit of welding on a chassis section and it was good to go!  |
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
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Nov 16, 2006 22:20:49 GMT
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oh i remeber another, a fuzzy thumbnail and a basic description made me, the wife (to be) and my mum (fully comp ya see) drive 2.5 hours in the dark and pishing rain to collect my rover. jump started it, mum stalled at the end of the road, had to re-jump, she immediately took a wrong turn, got flustered, stalled it, tried to re-jump just as my cars radiator blew a massive hole, stood calling people in the rain, got towed in by some friendly chaps, swapped my battery to rover, left my car there for the night, drove rover towards home, alternator failed, got 15 miles and all died. got a lift home at 1am and they even had to stop as the drivers wiper stopped working (still pishing) went and collected rover next day and did a roadside radiator change on mine and drove it home much too quickly for just after a water change lol. that was one of the worst experiences of my life, however, car is half decent and will make me a bob or two. once i find a new alternator (£60 of wrong ones so far)
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Nov 17, 2006 11:00:06 GMT
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Alistark: That 'Military staff car' Plymouth Fury looks ace! Was it really that bad? ...it don't look it! Surely that was a famous car if it had been in the film/show 'Saigon'   |
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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Nov 17, 2006 11:00:46 GMT
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The Dolly Sprint got me all misty eyed - was between travelling and staying at a mates place. It was around the corner and looked 'bling!' - of course I was totally smitten and didn't even notice the wings were 'blended in' ..... the wag had to be seen to be believed. I actually pulled out several envelopes with some garage address on it!!!!
Ran like a dream and has been stripped and will be put back on the road one day ( as we all say ).
2500S - Ebay - no photo's - only bidder £299 with full MOT - had it 4yrs now and it's still great - I did all the bodywork and sold my ex to slavery to buy a load of goodies from Chris Witor so she'll be re-paid for the service so far.
Cav GSI - blind from local paper and wouldn't run - typical fuel relay problem - a few quid for that - took it along and paid 150 for it in 92.... made a lot out of her.
So - so far ahead ( but only by my reckoning, no-one elses ) ;D
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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stinkwheel
Posted a lot
Doctor Of Gonzo Journalism - One of gods own proptypes, never even considered for mass production.
Posts: 2,280
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Nov 17, 2006 11:34:27 GMT
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We all rekon we are ahead, but only by our own rekoning. Other halves tend to try and factor in collection/delivery costs, costs of parts required. We ALL know they don't count :-)
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1973 Citroen Dyane 6 1980 Citroen Acadiane
1992 Citroen AX 1990 Citroen BX
1997 Citroen XM 1993 Citroen BX
1997 Citroen Xantia 1977 Citroen Ami 8
1996 Ford Escort 1989 Citroen BX
1997 Suzuki RF900 1988 Yamaha TDR250
1979 Honda CB400.
'I need less vehicles'
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Nov 17, 2006 14:29:14 GMT
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All my purchases these days come from eBay, must go back to the freeads one of these days!
Worst buy - probably my blue Rekord. Went and picked it up from central Derby, everything went absolutely fine round town. Got out towards East Midlands airport, stopped for petrol. Pulled onto a dual carriageway, and found that the clutch slipped like crazy in 3rd and 4th! Doh. Didn't neg the seller though.
Best buy - for my brother, 90G Volvo 740GLE saloon with 6 months MOT, near-full history (with proof of recent cambelt change), no rust, full leather...£112. Will be seeing shortly if it can get another year's ticket for little/no outlay...
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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Nov 17, 2006 15:25:49 GMT
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Not so much a worst buy as doing it wrong. I saw an XR4x4 turbo for sale on Autotrader and headed off down to Tamworth after work. The fact it was totally dark didn't phase me, the fact the guy only wanted to meet on a car park didn't phase me. When the guy turned up he was a well built skin head who looked like he ate children for fun... I remained unphased.
After agreeing I'd buy the car I followed the guy to his house which was lovely and certainly didn't suit the type of car he was selling. After taking my deposit and giving me a receipt he showed me his white Saphire Cosworth in the garage, nice car but limo tinted windows. He also showed me his air rifle he would use to shoot birds. I left and realised the route he'd taken me to his house was very winding and overly complex, my brain still failed to sound off any alarm bells.
I went back a few days later and picked the car up. It actually wasn't bad at all but I got lucky there really.
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Nov 17, 2006 15:58:49 GMT
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I bought a Nissan 300C estate unseen. except for a couple of long-distance photos.
The paint looked shiny in fact everything looked great. There was a new MoT certificate. Old man selling it would even deliver for less than the cost of fuel and train ticket home.
I got home from work on the day of delivery to find a total shed. The original rear window had rotted out and our master tech. had riveted in the window surround from a Golf (ingenious but very badly done). Painted with red lead. The wheels were a mix of steels and alloys. The interior was a mix of 3 different colours. The sills had been welded on by a child with severe learning difficulties, (no disrespect intended to such kids). The MoT cert. was signed by.....the seller's son!
The good bits. It was full of spares which I kept for my other 300Cs. It only cost £120 total incl. delivery. I put it on Ebay and sold it to a French bloke who paid £300 deposit and never collected the car. 3 months later I sold it to another 300C enthusiast for £400, I think.
All's well.
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Jet noise....the sound of freedom
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stinkwheel
Posted a lot
Doctor Of Gonzo Journalism - One of gods own proptypes, never even considered for mass production.
Posts: 2,280
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Nov 17, 2006 17:07:03 GMT
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Ohhh oi thought of another,
In 2000 i was leafing through autotrader and saw a Citroen CX safari advertised. 2 litre, fair cond, sat for 12 months was basically what the advert said. Phoned him, he sounded clueless but arranged to whip up to nr birmingham to get it anyway. Had quick local test drive, paid him half what he initially asked and set off home. Now things were going well, but me being me thouh lets give it some stick on the A14 see how it goes. at approaching 3 figure speeds it blew its bum off and ran the crank journals. I was only 5 miles from home, if i had just been sensible and then serviced it when i got home would have been fine. DOH!!!!
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1973 Citroen Dyane 6 1980 Citroen Acadiane
1992 Citroen AX 1990 Citroen BX
1997 Citroen XM 1993 Citroen BX
1997 Citroen Xantia 1977 Citroen Ami 8
1996 Ford Escort 1989 Citroen BX
1997 Suzuki RF900 1988 Yamaha TDR250
1979 Honda CB400.
'I need less vehicles'
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Nov 17, 2006 17:24:28 GMT
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actually, while I'm in a bad mood with cars - that fcuking 411!!
found on ebay by larry (i think) and a plan was hatched to get it, slam it and cruise about in it. It didnt need much apparently, and we could sell on the wheels and adaptors to make most of our cash back. There was something so right about paying £411 for a vw411 that had 411 in the reg.
anyway, the weekend came when we were going to sort everything out. We very quickly a few small holes were actually rather large holes, the electrics were fcuked, and the engine had seen better days.
It was supposed to be done in a weekend - a year on and its still not on the road. And i havent sold the wheels and adaptors that came with it! ;D
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If you look at the resto that rev dick deluxe is doing on it, you'll see it wasn't anywhere near what it should have been. And not helped that from 10 yards it looked stunning as well.
;D
