Jim

Oh man - talk about a horror show! Two potential write offs in the same damn thread!! And what a coincidence.. both in 4x4's... funny that.

I got roadworks in and out when I went so it's only fair ;)

Mine was a J reg, with a cat bypass, and I had no problems at all with the MOT. I think up to a J reg you're OK and after that, not!

I think given the work involved and the cost of all the parts, that's a pretty good deal.. given the choice between doing the job myself and paying £750 to have it all done, that's a no brainer!

Who the f@ck announces what they earn on a public forum on the internet! Sheesh! :|

I didn't remove it but I'd say it's because unfortunately you didn't follow the forum rules for breaking threads.. prices to be included for the top 10-20 most popular parts (alloys, body panels, engine bits, interior, etc).

That's laughably overpriced.. I'd say about 7k-8k to be honest. Corrado values just aren't that strong yet. And I'd expect to be literally immaculate from top to bottom.

Well it's been a few weeks and I thought I'd come back and give some thoughts on the Octavia. It's absolutely phenomenal.. there's no other word for it. I didn't think I could get so excited about an estate car, but really the driving experience is just something else. I think it's mostly down to the versatility of the engine.. it's whisper quiet, but has torque in almost any gear at any revs and really piles on the speed quite respectably. But when you just want to saunter along it's so well mannered. I took it over to the lock-up this weekend to try polish out a few horrible scratches on it and also took my first look in the engine bay. Quite disappointed with the level of valeting done at Skoda on the engine bay (none) and the fact there are bits and pieces missing! I gave it a bit of a tarting up with some Gunk and some trim detailer.. and have been identifying badges to replace and so forth. Also found why the cigarette lighter didn't work (fuse blown) - again must have been like that when I picked it up. Good job Skoda! :| Meanwhile the Corrado sat looking at me very sadly from the garage, not been washed since it was last put away and now SORN temporarily as I couldn't face the road tax bill this month :( It really needs the paintwork sorted but struggling to care about doing it. It's really not good! Help.. I need someone to motivate me with the old girl!

I don't think it's a bad idea mate, but personally kind of reluctant to duplicate functionality of places like eBay that already have all the framework in place. Ultimately it's up to Andi though - I've not even got any idea whether the functionality exists in the software to do this.

As long as you don't stick a f@cking stupid Rotiform sticker vertically down the side damn windscreen as seems to be all the rage in the scene at the moment, Karl!!

Feel free to leave any time.

It's not like she was driving a 4x4 mate, and you were driving a lowered sports coupe.. oh.. wait.. :|

Absolutely fantastic work! Looks lovely and a real piece of automotive art! Keep the pictures coming :)

Had just been saying to a friend the other day that we'd not seen you on the forums much in a while and then you see something like this! Horrendous news :( Yet another f@ckwit on our roads, showing absolutely no due care and attention and ready to milk the system for everything it's worth.. deprives an enthusiast of their pride and joy. How many times do we have to see it? :( As you say, it sounds like a write off is inevitable.. good luck with whatever the outcome and keep us posted.

True - even the biggest money pits, people are still sad to have to sell them usually! Good luck with whatever you buy next and thanks for the positive comments about the forum and it's members :)

I'm fairly sure? Surely if anything it'll disrupt the airflow as it's not working in the way it was designed to work? I'm willing to be proven wrong but will be astonished if anyone can prove that it offers any improvement at all.

Think this is a great little idea for a little business venture Jake. Good luck with it :)

Er... drilling the airbox won't do feck all for you except increase induction noise!

It was so long ago.. I don't even remember what we banned him for TBH. All water under the bridge :)

My feeling is that the 16vG60 was just too old school in terms of the engineering, and too expensive to produce not to mention not compatible with forthcoming OBD diagnostic requirements. Old mechanical fuel injection system, the G-Lader which I think even VW realised wasn't a sustainable piece of technology long term, complicated in terms of the amount of pipework and so forth, and most likely not great on emissions or fuel economy.. the VR6 was a far more elegant way of getting the same amount of power in the same engine bay and was an all new ground up design to support them going forward.

Glad to hear you're still around Paul. You were always undertaking really ambitious and interesting projects.. sounds like nothing has changed at all there!

What a wash out - boo hiss! :( Maybe I'll make the trip down to Bristol Volksfest next weekend if the weather behaves! :)

Annoyingly I made a diary error and thought this was next week so won't be going any more :( Boo :(

Excellent!! Voted!! :)

Thing is, if they break in and don't get to steal the car, and proceed to vandalise the car - at least you had the pleasure of frustrating the hell out of them, and knowing you beat them.