OT : cars...

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

Apparently Modeo autoboxes die on cue at 80,000 miles. Whether this is a
Mazda-sourced or designed box I don't know.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Oooh, my grandfather had one of them. Yellow, it was.

My dad was so impressed he bought an Accord Hondamatic. 1979, bronze
metallic (brown, then) which hid the rust quite well. When he traded it
in at 4 years old it was totally rotten - bonnet, front wings, rear
valance.

From what I remember it was a very nice car for it's day, though.

 

Interesting question.

Firstly, I would not even consider buying a brand new car unless someone
else was paying. Buying a 6 to 12month old example makes more sense (to me)
as some other sucker has taken a hit on the big depreciation.

With regard to auto vs manual, my preference is auto (although my present
car is manual). However, auto is good provided the engine is big / torquey
enough to deal with it. My 2.0L Laguna Petrol Auto was just about adequate,
whereas my Volvo V70 Tdi Auto was fucking superb. My Jag S Type 3.0 V6 was,
well, like a Jag, i.e it didn't noticeably get quicker when you floored it,
it just sort of all got a bit urgent. Strangely enough SWMBO's Megane 1.6
Auto is the most superb little car, with loads of go, but a bit of "auto
lag" which takes a bit of getting used to, however, I reckon it's a far
better motor than my Golf in terms of performance, quality, economy and
comfort.

My reasoning for not getting an auto (2.0L Golf) was that manual boxes are
more reliable than autos at high mileages, but this is actually a bunch of
bollocks, and I really hould have got an auto as I prefer not having to ****
around with changing gear.

What make / model are you considering?

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's current bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Heavily fortified)
M'boys NEW bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
BOTAFOT #140, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

I had a 1977 1250cc Honda Civic Hondamatic.

Went like stink, but corroded in a most spectacular fashion.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's current bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Heavily fortified)
M'boys NEW bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
BOTAFOT #140, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

1980 Alfasud. After 4 years it was pretty rotten.
Remember Ziebart rustproofing?
The rustiest places were the holes where the rustproofing stuff
was sprayed in. Still got 25% of the purchase price when I sold it.

 

Mine was a bit "special"

I bought it with 30000 miles on the clock.
The engine was fucked, as was the bodywork.
Seems the previous owner was a woman from Scarborough who thought that the
choke was where she was supposed to hang her handbag, and the longest
journey it did was about 5 miles.
It was rusty as **** when I bought it in 1983, and it was only 6 years old.
I had a replacement engine fitted which was actually imported in a container
full of other shite old engines from Japan.
It had no smog suppresion equipment fitted at all, unlike the UK versions.
Whilst it went very nicely, it decomposed on an almost daily basis.
I was asked by the chairman of the company I worked for not to park it next
to his Porsche, as it left an orange tide mark on the tarmac when it rained.
One of the front brakes seized so badly once that when I arrived at work the
bloody thing was glowing bright orange.
I repainted it with black hammerite below the waistline, it was very cool.
The engine mounts were so sloppy that an exhaust would last precisely 11
months before snapping at the manifold. Which was nice, 'cos they were
fitted with a 12 month guarantee.
Unfortunately, when I left home it only made it to Bicester the once. The
next time it was dragged out of the garage it was towed to the local
scrappy, who gave me £12 for it.
I loved that fucking car.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's current bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Heavily fortified)
M'boys NEW bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
BOTAFOT #140, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

<waves>

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

You'd hope so. The cooking engines in general have certainly achieved
longevity [1], but some standard lumps with pretentions of enhanced
sportiness from the factory seem to have an achilles heel of some sort.

Can't say I'm all that impressed with build quality on many of the
models; although it's better than it used to be, Ford don't exactly help
their reputation by adopting such shoddy techniques as gluing rubber
door seals onto the paintwork. Makes sense to the accountants by saving
some time and money, but it always falls off.

[1] Chant the mantra... 'cambelt, cambelt, cambelt'; although they're
not alone in that.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

wessie says...

So was mine in my old 2.5 V6 626 GT, with the switchable sport box and
hold facility. I liked that car, even if it did eat its camshafts and
front tyres.

 

Champ says...

I do 45K miles a year, a lot of it in town. I like autos.

 

SteveH says...

It all depends on the model of BMW. I certainly wouldn't want a 5 series
with a manual box and some trim levels of 3 series just scream out for
an auto. Jaguar XJ6s with manual boxes are also very sought after.

 

Are you sure about that? IME manuals on this side of the pond tend to
be on bottom of the range cars. Or are you referring to the "sporty"
end of the market?

 

They're a bit like proper heated grips. Once you've got them you'll wonder
how you ever managed without them.

 

Almost word for word Clarkson, there.

I hope you're proud of yourself.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..73063../..16589.../..3180./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^'

 

In all fairness, I'm with Surfy on this one. The slushbox on the White
Plastic Piece of Shit, even after it was sorted, was too clever by half:
dual-mode four-speed box with lockup, semi-lockup and all sorts of other
tricks. Too often I found myself trying to negotiate the thing into the
gear /I/ wanted, and if I wanted a bit of go for an overtake, I'd be
slapping the selector back into 3rd before flooring it. I loved the old
Chrysler box on the Rangie, but the WPPoS put me right off autos.

 

Lozzo emerged from their own little world to say

That's the puppy. Mine was in an MX6. I was happy with tyre wear. A set of
Uniroyals lasted a decent mileage. Probably drove like a poof though

Never had any problem with the camshafts. Belt changed at 60k, sold the car
with 80k on the odo.

 

wessie says...

I drove mine pretty hard, I managed 15K out of a set of Bridgestone
Potenzas, at 200 quid a pair. The next set lasted 10K miles. My boss
wasn't impressed.

I had a set of cams fitted at 35K, and another set 20K later. When I
managed to PX it against an Accord Coupe it was coming up for it's third
set in 18 months. That 2.2 Accord ESi lasted our firm for over 120K
miles with absolutely nothing except consumables and service parts
needed at all, but it was a fucking boring car to drive.

 

http://www.toonopedia.com/surfer.htm
http://www.silversurfersday.org/

 

By around 53 feet, apparently.

So no, on balance.

 

I miss them. My old Saab 900 had them - marvelous things.