JoeNose

Impact on your insurance can depend on your blood / alcohol reading. The difference between being a little over the limit and a lot can be huge, depending on the insurer. Young drivers, or drivers with additional claims or convictions get hit much harder with DR10s. The company I work for, worst case for someone over 30 is typically 160 - 180% load. Best case, maybe only 20%. Fortunately, your premium at present is pretty low!

Bad luck Dinkus :( Have fun with whatever u buy next...

Check your policy, but if the cars damaged and repairable the mods should be covered in most cases, e.g. replacing an alloy wheel. Many insurers don't like modified cars for this reason - they don't want to do the work searching for parts which can be hard to source, especially if engine tuning might be involved. If the car is written off OTOH, that's where you get stung because most mods are held to add next to nothing to the insured 'market value' of the car itself.

Not especially loud, just loud enough to notice...and annoy... Gearbox mount is OK I'm afraid Mat...

Ah, but the noise isn't present when the car is stationary, no matter how much you rev the engine. Wouldn't this rule the clutch out?

I have exactly the same thing! Pretty quiet but usually audible when the car has warmed up, is moving, and the engine is above about 1800rpm. Depress the clutch pedal and it goes away. Don't know what it is, but am rather afraid it could involve a gearbox rebuild as Scruffy implies. All I would say is that I have been hearing this faint whine for about 6 months now, it has got no worse, and does not affect the cars drivability in any way. So if you decide to live with it for awhile you should be OK to do so. Or just use high revs and you won't be able to hear it anyway :wink:

Without a Schrick, not worth it.

Can't believe this bollox... Only consolation is J-DUB Mark II (if it comes to that) will be truly spectacular no question!

Kev is right. My first C was a 2.016v, and compared with the VR6 I currently own it was NO CHEAPER to run. Insurance is plain ridiculous (Grp17 16V vs Grp18 for a VR6), either way it's not cheap but for the difference you're looking at G60 or VR6 is the way to go if the asking price is within means!

They fitted my coilovers and laser aligned them, and I was pleased with the service. That was about a year ago though!

I bought my C from Autotek, it was an interesting experience: Having put down a deposit and with the dealer agreeing to have the car serviced before delivery, he subsequently contacted me to tell me that they found, basically, the engine was OK on power but overheating and that the problem was likely to be terminal. Rather than letting me drive the car away a fully rebuilt replacement block was put in and we renegotiated the deal. So fair play to him not trying the pull the wool over my eyes there. There did turn out to be a problem with the ABS though which I'm also sure he had known about. The crank position sensor was also shot but I'm not 100% certain it was sold that way, the fault might have developed soon afterwards. In all other ways the car was basically mint and I'm happy with it. Regarding your own purchase: My recommendation would be to request a printout from the onboard diagnostic computer before you buy; also carry out all the usual checks mentioned in the buyers guide. Be prepared to play hardball because he surely will ;) On the whole though Autotek cars do seem pretty decent; I reckon the car is likely to be as mint as it looks.

Damn bad luck, but as you say the potential accident could have been horrendous... Glad everything is repairable :)

When I set up monthly payment via Chris Knott, the direct debit form was a credit agreement with a finance company. I decided to pay annually! As G60Jet says, if they didnt make this clear to you they are surely breaching the rules.

Well, the tests are done by the journos. I don't actually know if Goodyear derived any advantage. There are a variety of corners, sections of wet and dry track, the type of tests run seem pretty fair allround. Bridgestones beat the Eagle F1s in the dry BTW. Although that was reversed in the wet...

Big tyre test in Autocar today. Middle range brands tested on a 1.6FSI Golf, performance tyres on a Monaro. All at Goodyears huge test track facility in the south of France. Wet handling, dry handling, aquaplaning, noise etc. Very scientifically done and worth a look.

Chris Knott don't do the valuations themselves...they referred me to a company called Lancaster Agreed Valuations (01480 484874). Whether they'd produce a valuation report without a broker referral I couldn't say, but they might be worth a try. I insured my 70k VR6 for £7k without any difficulty, and it's not nearly as, er, bespoke as J DUB :) If I were you I'd certainly aim high with the amount... 5 figures definately.

Why did they refuse to take payment over the phone? I'm with them and have made credit card payments always... Not good.

Works both ways. Two different risks, two sets of NCD. If you claim on one the other will not be affected directly. However the majority of insurers should give you a big introductory discount if you have NCD on another vehicle, especially if both are with the same insurer. Only thing that might torpedo this intro is if you have claims or convictions on your record.

I have Hisport coilovers, very happy with them. Sometimes wonder if I should have shelled out the extra for Konigsport, but TBH I didn't really see the need for adjustable damping (its not a track car). And having got the kit I don't feel like I'm missing out on it either.

Dang, wish I'd known about the Comp2s for VR6 before ordereing other wheels from Dubmeister...although as these are now 2 weeks late I could be reconsidering that order soon...

Insurers usually ask about Criminal Convictions as routine. It varies widely as to how they treat non-driving offences, but anything which incurred a custodial sentance and which is not a 'spent' conviction can result in them declining to cover you. In particular, crimes against people, property, drug distribution or suchlike can be judged to represent a poor risk, rightly or wrongly.

Got there in the end...excellent :D

Good info, cheers

Thanks for the replies, the wheel are 7.5" wide. I take it 225 tyres are too much then?

May be treating myself to some 16" Borbet Es or Ts... When ordering tyres should I go for 225/40/16 or 225/45/16? I understand the latter will increase rolling radius somewhat, but I'm OK with that if I'll see a noticable benefit in ride quality. What are you all using?