Automobiles : Good,Bad & the Ugly.

[Oldsmobile-88]

We've had a Ford Focus 07 plate for the last 10 years and I must say it's really done us proud. Just a bit of work on the steering required in the last 2 years, but otherwise it's been very reliable. I have been starting to think about our next car which will be a purchase later in the year. Looking for a 16 plate of one of the following:

BMW 5 series Touring
Audi A6 Avant
BMW X3
Audi Q5
VW Passat/Tiruan

A friend has got a 5 series touring..Nice motor & he is really pleased with it.

The Q5 is very nice too..Well,they all are really.

One thing to double check which I'm sure you have.
If you have to travel into the ULEZ area of London from 2021(inside the North & South Circular)check the car is exempt.
Many new Diesel engines do not comply.Whilst old petrol engine cars do.
Assuming of course you were looking at a Diesel.

Petrol & Petrol/Hybrids are looking good going forward.

 

[Alistair20000]

I'd stick the Volvo Xc70 or Xc90 on that list too.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Yes a silver 2.8 MK 2 and a fastfack MK 1 in a horrid hand painted blue which basically killed off ever being able to sell it on.
The same guy I got the fastback off also painted a MK4 Zodiac in Hammerite with a friggin roller ! God he was an animal.
If you attended any of the local car shows from about 95 onwards you will have probably seen one or more of my cars.

My Mk 2 Granada around 1986...No idea why I took a photo of it beside Posloe halt

Do you remember the early 2.8i Granada Ramone ? They were the first of the facelift models.
Came out about 1981(X reg) before all 2.8 versions went to fuel injection.

 

[ramone]

Yes mate I do remember them although most were used for banger tracks which seemed such a waste at the time.

This is my MK1 street/strip car with v8 at one of the shows not a very good pic but I found on the web by the registration plate would rev to over 7500 and put down some real quick 1/4 mile times for road tyres ! A few boy racers thought as it was old they be able to pass it or even beat it from the lights …… Nah never gonna happen !

 

[Greyhound]

My Dad had a Fiat 127 so it was like going from the sublime to the ridiculous

I learned to drive in a small Fiat, maybe a 127. This was in the Milton Keynes area, so my technique at roundabouts ought to be second to none. I've had a 1994 Rover 214 SLi since 1997, which now has 160,000 on the clock and may be coming to the end of its days! Especially as I've got a nasty feeling there may be head gasket problems looming. A faithful servant, but it's probably time to find a replacement which is OK for local use and can also handle a motorway stint.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

^^^^
I bet that one snaked a bit when the foot went to the floor from a standing start...

When I was at college in the late 1970s in Plymouth a couple of the lads had motors that they souped up themselves(obviously wasted in the gas industry )
One had a stock Mk 1 Cortina with some sort of race stage engine fitted.Another had a Anglia with something just as hot under the bonnet,real wolves in sheeps clothing.
The local boy racers in their escorts along Royal Parade,got used to seeing their tail lights on a few burn ups

On the Friday we left a bit early from Devonport (about 3pm,to miss the Dockyard traffic)we raced along the A38 from Marsh Mills back to the M5/A30/A38 junction.A bit reckless looking back now but the road was dual carriageway & not that busy in those days.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

I learned to drive in a small Fiat, maybe a 127. This was in the Milton Keynes area, so my technique at roundabouts ought to be second to none. I've had a 1994 Rover 214 SLi since 1997, which now has 160,000 on the clock and may be coming to the end of its days! Especially as I've got a nasty feeling there may be head gasket problems looming. A faithful servant, but it's probably time to find a replacement which is OK for local use and can also handle a motorway stint.

Has the head gasket been done Greyhound?
That was a inherent problem with that era Rover..Amazing that after that mileage it has not caused a issue.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

A car I used for football trips years ago which I loved & was a really comfortable drive was a Peugeot 406.
I had it for 4 years for those trips & went from 60,000 to 120,000 on the clock in that time.
Very economical especially as I usually took 3 or 4 passengers in it to games
I sold it easily(they were popular cars)& regretted it soon afterwards.Got a 407 for the footie trips which was a lovely car but nowhere near as comfy as the 406.

 

[ramone]

^^^^
I bet that one snaked a bit when the foot went to the floor from a standing start...

When I was at college in the late 1970s in Plymouth a couple of the lads had motors that they souped up themselves(obviously wasted in the gas industry )
One had a stock Mk 1 Cortina with some sort of race stage engine fitted.Another had a Anglia with something just as hot under the bonnet,real wolves in sheeps clothing.
The local boy racers in their escorts along Royal Parade,got used to seeing their tail lights on a few burn ups

On the Friday we left a bit early from Devonport (about 3pm,to miss the Dockyard traffic)we raced along the A38 from Marsh Mills back to the M5/A30/A38 junction.A bit reckless looking back now but the road was dual carriageway & not that busy in those days.

TBH it actually didn't , I had it set up in such a way that all that really happened was the a$$ went down a little and with the 280 locker diff it went straight as an arrow.

Funniest time was me and a mate were on our way back into Exeter one quiet Sunday afternoon up near Middlemoor and this bottle rocket pulled up next to us revving the nads off his little 4 potter (the V8 was really quiet on tickover thanks to decent mufflers) and as the lights changed he went roaring off around the roundabout and to the next set of lights which were red.
As I pulled up slowly next to him I looked over and he was almost jumping up and down thinking he had beat me so I looked over and mouthed did he wanna race ? A big grin came on his face and he must have thought he was onto a winner , With that me and my mate pulled the harnesses over our shoulders and I brought the Cortina up to about 2500 revs and then he realised he was gonna lose ! his big grinning face dropped the light changed and we left him almost sat there.

Within 800 yards he was well behind us and the Cortina was in its element going fast and sounding hard as nails there was no way he was ever going to pass us until my mate shouted POLICE ! I put the anchors on he went zooming past right into a speed trap lol The OB must have heard my car and thought it was the idiot and pulled him over as we poodled past on tickover laughing at the twonk.

 

[Greyhound]

Has the head gasket been done Greyhound?
That was a inherent problem with that era Rover..Amazing that after that mileage it has not caused a issue.

Nope! The garage noted oil in the coolant a couple of years ago. Recently I've been topping up the coolant more often than before, but can't see any leaks.

I imagine a head gasket job would be too expensive to justify now. Any idea what it might cost, Olds?