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Post by loyalgull on Feb 28, 2010 12:30:03 GMT
i have got a renault laguna 7 seater 1.8 estate,i did question my sanity when acquiring it,but got to say so far 12 months trouble free smooth motoring,lets hope it lasts,cant go wrong with peugeot or vauxhall as a rule in my book,but of course that is only my opinion Hope you haven`t just jinxed yourself, I have always found French cars to be as reliable as Fiats (fix it again tomorrow) but then that`s just from my rather poor experiences with them in the past, I`m sure there are a lot of people who have had nothing but great joy and success with French motors. had a renault espace once,never again,electrical circuit a nightmare,once they start playing up get rid,bloody awful motors |
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Post by aussie on Feb 28, 2010 12:39:06 GMT
Hope you haven`t just jinxed yourself, I have always found French cars to be as reliable as Fiats (fix it again tomorrow) but then that`s just from my rather poor experiences with them in the past, I`m sure there are a lot of people who have had nothing but great joy and success with French motors. had a renault espace once,never again,electrical circuit a nightmare,once they start playing up get rid,bloody awful motors Sounds shocking!  |
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Post by longeatongull on Feb 28, 2010 12:52:09 GMT
Lol true.But its only my 1st car just whilst I (hopefully) build up some no claims bonus. I will start saving for something better. I am a bit miffed though that I was told it has power steering and it blatantly doesnt. Wolfie sounds llike you were, how shall we say it, seen off perhaps. £5/600 for an old french car seems rather alot to me unless it is in VVGC. with history the right mileage and long MOT. Did you buy it from a trader or privately or somewhere in between?  I hate to see it though it happens all the time especially to first time buyers who have nobody to give them sound advice. I have been in the trade all my life buying and selling but mostlly repair now all makes so I see and drive first hand what is good and what is poor. Unfortunately French cars come way way down the list of whats good or bad. PM me if you need impartial advice. Thats a nice gesture Pete. Hey Wolfie it sounds like "your wheels" are dodgy....think I will avoid Wolverhampton for a while!! Look on the bright side...it could be a Toyo@@!!! |
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petef
Match Room Manager 
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Post by petef on Feb 28, 2010 14:21:52 GMT
Wolfie sounds llike you were, how shall we say it, seen off perhaps. £5/600 for an old french car seems rather alot to me unless it is in VVGC. with history the right mileage and long MOT. Did you buy it from a trader or privately or somewhere in between? I hate to see it though it happens all the time especially to first time buyers who have nobody to give them sound advice. I have been in the trade all my life buying and selling but mostlly repair now all makes so I see and drive first hand what is good and what is poor. Unfortunately French cars come way way down the list of whats good or bad. PM me if you need impartial advice. Thats a nice gesture Pete. Hey Wolfie it sounds like "your wheels" are dodgy....think I will avoid Wolverhampton for a while!! Look on the bright side...it could be a Toyo@@!!! Joking aside Toyota would be one of my top recomendations along with Honda and perhaps the older Nissans (Micra) before they got mixed up with Renault!! As a rule of thumb for old cheapies look at the residual values and you wont go far wrong even when they get pretty old in the tooth the Fiats and the old Citroen's will have been crushed and old Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas/Starlet will still be reliable and strong as boring as they are.  Unfortunately image and street cred can cost you money Alfa Romeo are a prime example of wonderful styling that will eventually drain your wallet. Every make has its achilles heel but if your buying cheap and on a tight budget its important to do a bit of research or that £500 bargain banger will just be money thrown away. 
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Post by chrish on Feb 28, 2010 22:00:14 GMT
Excellent Rob. Which one? |
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Post by chrish on Feb 28, 2010 22:34:34 GMT
My first car was a bright yellow 1981 Austin Mini Metro with a one litre engine. I once got 98 mph out of it down the Ideford Dip. I loved that little car though.
I then graduated onto a 1984 Ford Escort Mk3 1600 GL in Caspian Blue. It needed a bit of work engine wise which was never done.
I then had a UK right hand drive Ford Transit van in Paris for a year which I used to love driving around the Arc du Triomphe. I might have passed my test in Newton Abbot but I learned to drive properly in Paris!
Then I had no car for years whilst I was living in central London but when I moved out to Ealing I decided to get one. I bought a 1996 BMW 316i Compact and I've been everywhere in it. It's been to Italy and as far east as Austria and the Czech Republic. I bought it with 82,000 on the clock and now it's hit 140,000. I have to say that it doesn't feel any different now to what it felt like when I bought it.
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wolfie
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Post by wolfie on Feb 28, 2010 22:35:36 GMT
Lol true.But its only my 1st car just whilst I (hopefully) build up some no claims bonus. I will start saving for something better. I am a bit miffed though that I was told it has power steering and it blatantly doesnt. Wolfie sounds llike you were, how shall we say it, seen off perhaps. £5/600 for an old french car seems rather alot to me unless it is in VVGC. with history the right mileage and long MOT. Did you buy it from a trader or privately or somewhere in between? I hate to see it though it happens all the time especially to first time buyers who have nobody to give them sound advice. I have been in the trade all my life buying and selling but mostlly repair now all makes so I see and drive first hand what is good and what is poor. Unfortunately French cars come way way down the list of whats good or bad. PM me if you need impartial advice. Hey Pete Think the seller may have seen me coming in regards to the price but to be fair the last owner had the car 13 years and I have all the service history from his ownership. It had a service done in December. However the heater is a concern I drove on my own tonight it worked on way there and didnt on way back. Windows had steamed up and I had nothing to wipe them with properly so could barely see all the way home. I will be ringing the garage I had it from in the morning. |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 28, 2010 23:34:24 GMT
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Post by chrish on Mar 1, 2010 12:14:28 GMT
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wolfie
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Post by wolfie on Mar 2, 2010 21:03:57 GMT
My heater is fixed. Turned out to just be a loose wire. Phew!
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 2, 2010 23:59:32 GMT
Like it. Touch of the Lada Riva's about that Warthog. |
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Post by atheringtongull on Mar 3, 2010 19:51:30 GMT
My first car was a 1932 Austin 7, bought in 1958 for £16. Driving that was quite an experience!
Petrol tank in front of the bulkhead with gravity feed to the engine. The brass on/off tap leaked a bit, but it never caught fire!
Three forward gears and no syncromesh, so all gear changes had to be double de-clutched.
It did have an electric starter, but most of the time had to use the starting handle. You soon learned to let go of the handle when the engine started and even more so if it backfired!
No automatic advance and retard on the timing. There was a little lever on the steering wheel, which you turned to get the best ignition. Never quite got the hang of that.
Best of all were the cable brakes, if you could call them that. Needed to plan a stop well in advance!
Had a canvas roof down the centre, which blew off one day when I was driving along.
I used to be able to get up the old Telegraph Hill, but had to stop at the top for a rest!
For some odd reason it used to be a real bird puller. Went to a barbeque at Kingsbridge with two birds, but they had to get out and walk up the hill as car was a bit sick and couldn't make it with them on board. Funny, they still came back for more!
Makes you realise how things have advanced since then, but nevertheless we still rely on the internal combustion engine even today.
Ah, those were the days!
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wolfie
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Post by wolfie on Mar 4, 2010 12:08:13 GMT
Anyone know if the 1992 automatic Renault Clio has power steering? Theres a strange bottle type thing under my bonnet with a dipstick in it. I have been told its power steering fluid but I am a bit worried as apparantly I should also have automatic tranmission fluid and I cant find where that goes.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Mar 4, 2010 19:41:45 GMT
I'm posting this for Paulr as he is still unsure how to resize and put up images and I have to say what a wonderful car it is.First car was this 1932 Austin Seven bought for me for the sum of £125! Now being driven by my son. Been in the family for a number of years and still going strong.Completed the Lands End to John O'Groats run twice and driven around Norway by my Mother and Godmother when the were both in their late sixties! No engine management lights to worry about and no need to plug her into a computer to find what's gone wrong. The car that is not my Mother!! 
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