On my walk.

[CitroJim]

Early c5s seem to be wearing and lasting rather well.. They appear to be a very sound buy...

[ekjdm14]

You lot are almost teasing me into going and buying it just to prove you wrong, I haven't been around in the trade for over sixty years and learned nothing.

It can't be done...

haha, I know you could likely make your money back but I still don't think it'd be worth your time & effort all told. Unless your contacts are such that you have more ready & hassle free outlets for the bits than the average person?

[Gibbo2286]

You lot are almost teasing me into going and buying it just to prove you wrong, I haven't been around in the trade for over sixty years and learned nothing.

It can't be done...

haha, I know you could likely make your money back but I still don't think it'd be worth your time & effort all told. Unless your contacts are such that you have more ready & hassle free outlets for the bits than the average person?

I suppose that's where we differ, you talk about hassle, I've never considered working on or buying and selling vehicles as hassle, I rather enjoy it, always have.
My problem now is being retired I seem to have far more to do than I have time for.

[CitroJim]

My problem now is being retired I seem to have far more to do than I have time for.

I know the feeling! I wonder how I ever managed to find time to work full-time...

I'd not have it any other way though...

[ekjdm14]

That is very true Gibbo. My pleasure in cars is almost entirely derived from buying/fixing & driving the things & to me selling is, at best, a necessary evil that stresses me out. If it's part of what you love to do then it's entirely worth it.

Finding the time is definitely an issue, almost as much as finding space...

[CitroJim]

My pleasure is almost entirely derived from fixing them... Driving them holds no great attraction except for the occasional pleasure drive in the Activa on empty, twisty roads...

[ekjdm14]

Always loved driving (way back into my not-so-legal days even!) and think I always will. Admittedly I hate sitting in traffic as much as anyone else, & can't imagine anybody enjoys that element of driving, but again having a car that's pleasurable to just be sat in like a Xantia with leather helps to make it less unpleasant. Once out of town though on more open & flowing roads, I just love being behind the wheel.

It's similar to spannering in that I wouldn't want to do it as a day job like a delivery driver or suchlike, as having many separate destinations/deadlines to finish a job/no say in what to fix or replace etc don't "work" at all for me & my condition and it'd knock the fun right out of it. As hobbies however, buying/rescuing/fixing/driving/learning about pretty much anything with an engine is pretty much all I need.

[van ordinaire]

Driving is my one real pleasure in life & not something I'm intending to give up for a long time yet. Spannering is becoming a necessary evil, just so I can keep driving - although I do derive great satisfaction from a successful job (I got a real kick out of crossing the Alps in a 2CV I maintained myself) AND why I was so very sad having to get the cambelt & clutch done by someone recently.

However I hate buying cars, it's just such an ordeal that it almost negates any enjoyment to be derived from the new purchase: I'm just always glad it's all over! I wouldn't know about selling - I've only managed to do that once (the £19 MkIII Zodiac estate that went for £100, after I'd run an end): all the others have been scrapped, stolen, written off - or pushed into a lock-up & forgotten.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

I'm of the belief now that electrical problems is now likely to be the biggest cause of modern car fatalities...

I had this in mind as I was checking out various Pugs' MOT History on DVLA after a visit to the local scrappies.

In the case of about a dozen various _06 and _07 models (no Citroens present), I noted that just one of them had succumbed to rot and many had considerable periods of MOT remaining.

The idea by the way was to learn more about commonly faults & rot: I'm charged with finding daughter a reasonable 206 or C3, either a 1.4HDi 8v or a March 2001> DW; both of which sport technology well out of my comfort zone, for seriously dodgy money; approx £500: unenviable, but doing my homework

[CitroJim]

I'm charged with finding daughter a reasonable 206 or C3

Skip the 206 and look at a 207... They're a far better car all-round than the 206 Early 207s are now getting very affordable. They're a bit boring and dull but by golly, they're well screwed together and as tough as old boots...

I seem to have fixed the electrical issues on mine that very nearly consigned it to scrap...

[van ordinaire]

I was told, by way of consolation, that a Clio alternator is £300. That was when I expressed shock that an OE one for the Caddy was £400; the difference is that fitting it is a day's work, i.e. another £400 & by the time it's likely to need an alternator, an STS is worth - £800!

[CitroJim]

That's a bizarre price for an alternator - both seem very expensive. What's so special about them?

[Michel]

You lot are almost teasing me into going and buying it just to prove you wrong, I haven't been around in the trade for over sixty years and learned nothing.

I respect that, but I consider it to be like me and others in the IT industry. Back in the early-mid 90s I could make a healthy living building PCs from components for people, or breaking them and selling the components on. Nowadays, it would be a barely-profitable load of hassle. I'd expect it to be at least a little similar to that for the car industry.

[Michel]

That's a bizarre price for an alternator - both seem very expensive. What's so special about them?

The one for the 1.6 MX5 I had was over £300 new 4 years ago. I can think of no other reason it was so dear than a) It was brand new, not recon, and b) It was Japanese, so would probably last 20 years before failure, as the one on the car had already done.

[Michel]

I'm charged with finding daughter a reasonable 206 or C3

Skip the 206 and look at a 207... They're a far better car all-round than the 206 Early 207s are now getting very affordable. They're a bit boring and dull but by golly, they're well screwed together and as tough as old boots...

<Waves> I might have an 07 plate 1.4 petrol 16v for sale It'll be about a grand if we sort the oil leak from the cam cover.