HiAsAKite
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My VR has taken my to Le Mans twice, and the south of France (with 2 weeks camping gear) twice - and didn't miss a beat. Make sure its serviced, get some Euro breakdown cover, high viz vests for each of you, water, oil, copy of and the original docs, and just enjoy the trip, the VR is so suited for just eating up mile after mile of the french autoroute, and then enjoying the mountain passes in the alps/pyrenees etc... Do it...:-)
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Hiya folks, I have a feeling that the front and rear axle bushes on C may need replacing- does anyone have a view on the cost for getting this done? (parts and labour) - and whether it may not be easier to just get the front wishbones replaced I am a mechnical numpty unfortunately, so doing it myself would probably result in no skin on the back of my knuckles, 1/2 dozen stripped threads and broken nut heads, a car in pieces (but not the right pieces..) and paying someone to fix my f'k up... Much appreciated and ta..
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I used to get smoke pouring out of my indicator stalks/steering column, I eventually pinned it down to dust settling on and between the indicator contacts and burning, causing plumed of smoke at random intervals.. using the indicators and blowing between then seemed to clears it. Been about 4 years since it last did it though. If you have electrical gremlins, and smoke actually coming out the dash, I would be wary that some of the electrical insulation is breaking down (eg on the light circuit), and causing the smoking.. how old is your car out of interest? If it is this, I would be careful as it 'could' result in a full on fire..
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I've taken the VR to Le Mans with a weeks camping gear twice, and to the south of France with 2 weeks camping gear twice, and its been fantastic, they really do make very good long distance cruisers, with the benefit that you can really enjoy the alpine roads when you get there.. ..the last time I drove 1001km, fully loaded, in a single day on the way back...
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Valver for the girlfriend's first car - opinions please...
HiAsAKite replied to pete_griff's topic in General Car Chat
My only concern would be: - Corrado's aren't the easiest of things to drive due to position/visibility etc.. not a big issue for most of us but for a 'first time driver', there are easier things out therre - if she's anything like I was when I first started, she will prang it in some manner at some point. Rado parts are getting rare so the chance of a write-off/expensive bill for a minor prang is much higher than on something more generic.. If she's a nervous driver, I would say the above may be even more likely.. Personally I feel that you don't really learn to drive until you're on your own, in your own car, and your first car is when you really learn, and make you first mistakes etc, so best do that in car where the odd shunt/prang isn't a big deal rather than something special.. ...and remember, if the damage isn't a big deal/cheap to repair, and no one else (3rd party) is involved, then there's no insurance involved, which helps build up NCB -to counter that, lots of people do have shiny/new/special cars as their first cars, and don't prang them, (better/more cautious drivers then me I suspect!) - but only you know which category she may be likely to fall into -
Lol, I justified it on the basis that my Corrado is my daily, on the basis that for all its age/mileage etc, I know exactly what has and hasn't been done, and it represents a known quantity, compared to getting rid of it and buying and 'unknown quantity' daily... Anyway, enjoy the ride, and be very careful with it over the next few weeks (see the TVR section on Pistonheads for the latest debates on pranged TVRs in cold weather..)
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- incidentally, I note that you've got the speed 6 engine, but an AJP front end (round headlights)?
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Wo hoo!... very nice... you're not too far from me so hopefully see you around sometime. You'll find that, like Corrado's, the TVR crowd is pretty good at waving when you pass, incidentally, a Corrado VR and TVR go very well together, so if you can find a way to hang on to the rado..
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Given the age that they're at now (youngest is coming onto 14 years old), its condition thats key, not mileage... If its a high mileage (eg 180-200 K plus), then you want to make sure that all the bits that wear out, have been looked at, and dealt with, eg on a VR, thing like: - timing chains - bushes, - suspension - hoses - exhaust? - various other odds and sods - sign of stoneschips/possible interior wear If it is low mileage (eg less than 120K in my book, I would expect a 14-17 year old car to have 90-170K miles by now, otherwise it has only limited use), then you will have other problems from 'standing around' (eg hardened seals/hoses) and/or 14-17 years of short journeys (eg less stonechips, but more drivers bolster wear from getting in and out), however many of things that 'should' have been sorted on the higher mileage example, may need to be done (eg timing chains/worn suspension/bushes) -obviously, there will be exceptions to the above, and I'm sure someone will have a 30K mint example kept in a humidity controlled environment storm somewhere,..but for the rest of us.. - so in short, low or high mileage, you're likely to have different sorts of problems with them, however either way they are likely to require some form of money spending on them... ..so I would advise go on condition, and have a view of how long you are looking to own it for/what sort of mileage you plan to do, and thus whether its worth paying a 'premium' for a lower mileage example, and whether you want one that has had work already done, or one that 'may' require it in the next 30K miles or so.. Biggest factor in all of this, will be how the car has been treated over its life, and whether its is 'straight' So is 135K miles high?- to me, no, but what really counts is how its been treated for those miles and what sort of life its had, these cars have the potential to carry off very high mileages... They also do not, as a (general) rule rust, so if there is any rust (save in an ungalvanised area) then suspect some form of damage, or repair job.. Anyway, good luck :-)
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Greyhound + Corrado : anyone managed to fit together?
HiAsAKite replied to HiAsAKite's topic in General Car Chat
And the solution folks is: keep the back seats up (ie in normal position), arm rest up, stick a pillow in the armrest 'hole' so pooch doesn't get stuck in the gap, lay blanket across the whole bench, pooch can lie across both back seats... ...now how do I stop a licking the inside of the rear windows? ;) -
Greyhound + Corrado : anyone managed to fit together?
HiAsAKite replied to HiAsAKite's topic in General Car Chat
Lol- :) must admit I didn't think of that one, -
Hi peops, We've recently aquired a Greyhound, and I'm struggling to make him 'fit' in the Corrado, was just wondering if any of you had managed get a big dog into one? Main issue is that the rear screen is too low in the boot to get him in there, however he does seem to be able to get into the rear seats if their folded down (to high a step from the sill to the folded down seat, and the roof's too low for him to jump in).. I could get him into the front passenger seat, but suspect its probably not a good idea if he tries to turn around or such like while I'm driving, so I'm open to suggestions...? Car is a VR with rear armrest (if there was no armrest I'd consider him just lying across the back seats). Dog is a 5yr old ex racing greyhound, 34kg, 30"length back, shoulders circa 25-27" high Anyway, open to suggestions thoughts as I'm going to be really hacked off if I don't find a way of getting him in there (ie I'll need to get a dog friendly car!)
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How random!-... v.limited marked for that sort of thing I would have thought though...
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As the others have said, they are fundamentaly reliable cars( espec the VR's), however at 'today's' money they would have been c£35-40K new (£21K in 93) - so they have the running costs of a 35K-40K car, and one with 150-200K miles..... so you need to be able budget and have an 'emergency' fund for stuff that will need doing as it wears out.. ...even a 'good' car (ie straight engine, good body, unabused) will need parts replacing whether they be hoses, suspension, chains/cams, clutchs etc - you can mitigate to an extent buy buying on thatys recently had the suspension/bushes done, or chains done etc, but they will be stuuf that needs doing as things do wear out.. To put into perspective, this year,my rado (16 yr old, 170+K miles) has cost me £1300 to sort out various random odds and sods, and replace pretty much the entire cooling system (rad, hoses, pumps etc). - it did however (6 months later) walk straight through the MOT without even an advisory- (none of the odds and sods, or the cooling would have been tested at the MOT or affected the outcome..) So fundamentally a v.good car, but its that age where stuff is wearing out, and needs replacing as it does.. Make sure you don't buy a lemon, bear the above in mind, and plan for stuff to 'wear out', and I'm sure you have a god ownership experience, just have your eyes open.
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5K for a VR sounds extremely optomistic,to be honest a good one is probably only goingto go for max 3k these days unless its stupidly low mileage, and the right buyer comes along... Thats said, compared to comparable cars of the type, of that age and genre, I would argue they comand a considerable premium, I think they always commanded a VW 'scene tax' as it were.. The other issue is that for what they are 'worth'm provided they're maintained, they're hugely capable and enjoyable cars, so even though a car may only have a 'book' value of 2K/2.5K/3K.. it may be worth far more than that to the owner in terms of what it gives them (and especially interms of being a 13-17 year old car with known history).. The other thing to note, is that if you compare like for like mileage and age, I suspect they've actualy gone up in value over the past few years, as 3 years a ago a car on 150K/170K/200K miles would have probably sold for less than a car at that mileage now, As someone else said, is less about miles and age, and more about condition, whats being replaced and the TLC the cars ben subject to.. Re: Storms, they've always commanded a premium, I suspect at the moment the price difference between a storm and similar spec/condition VR is probably the smalest its ever been, whether this starts to widen again when prices finally start to rise again (which could be a good 5-10 years still- if the oil doesn't runout/become £15/l before then)remains to be seen, but personally, I'd go on condition far more than storm/non-storm colour etc,...