*********Motors Chat - Round 9 *********

Toyotafanboi

Got my tyre situation sorted at last. Got 4x part worns today. Dunlop Sport Fast Response, with minimum 5.0mm tread remaining, so around 3.5mm usable. produced week 38 2013, so not exactly brand new but not ancient. €45 a corner in 205/55/16.

It's been a revelation. I was aware my ditchfinders were woeful, but I was always wary of them. The fella told me on first inspection that my tyres were Firestone from looking at the thread pattern but as it turned out, they were Daytona brand tyres with a remould thread bonded on in a common Firestone thread pattern. He even picked one apart to show me how they were made. He said he hadn't seen a remould since the 80's.

I have to hand it to Waterford Sealant Services, you read so much on here about poor tyre dealers only offering Chinese ****e and bad advice. These guys were pure class, plenty of good brands in stock in new tyres and high quality part worns. They had all the time in the world to talk me through the pro's and cons of both and even said to call back on Friday to let them know how I felt with the "new" tyres vs the ditchfinders.

I also arrived back to them around half an hour earlier than I said I would and managed to see my car having it's wheels fitted back on before they knew I arrived. They used a torque wrench all round, not an air gun.

Just nice to see good deals in partworns and good tradesmen do exist. Highly recommended.

And in realtion to my ditchfinders; it's like a new car. There have been vast improvements in the handling and road noise departments.

The handling is night and day, it feels so crisp to turn in now. Previously on the motorway at 100km/h in the rain you were in a constant state of fear and even at slower speeds in the dry, the car wasn't very precise, driving the same roads on the "new" tyres there is a massive difference in road holding. Road noise is vastly improved too, I was convinced I needed a set of wheel bearings, there was such a constant drone from the car, it's quiet as a mouse now, I can actually hear myself think.

So, yeah.

ba_barabus

ba_barabus wrote: »

Awaiting my nct result.......

That's me done till 2018

CIP4

There's nothing like a new set of decent tyres when coming from ditch finders they make such a difference. I must keep that name in mind as I would be in Waterford the odd time im only 40 minutes away anyway and everywhere in Kilkenny is woeful at fitting tyres.

Supergurrier

Well the ST is gone and this time for good (Feck off MM :P)

Have to say my three years of ownership really was an enjoyable experience. The car introduced me to man maths (making illogical financial decisions because racecar) and also got me out and about to car meets where i met alot of interesting people along the way.

Now 19mpg and 1300e tax a year on a 3 door hatch might not be everyones cup of tea, but some cars just have a soul and you can feel it. Some on here love alfa's and some love bmw's and i can see the merits of both, but oh my god an inline 5 with a turbo bolted on is just pure heaven (especially with a little tinkering).

I have always been a believer of each car on it's merits and fail to really understand fanboism in general. The car will if im honest be greatly missed but the new owner seems very enthusiastic and happy with his car and that's great because it means a car i found covered in dust in a shed in north county dublin in 2012 will now be waking up unsuspecting neighbours in a whole new county and it provided me with plenty of fun along the way and didn't let me down once in 3 years apart from a dying battery.

Farewell and slan abhaile old girl it was a ball

Big Nasty

Mycroft H wrote: »

I wonder what his favorit thing will be?

Probably doesn't know Yeti.

job seeker

Got the wheel arch sorted kinda. It's amazing what a hammer, hatchet and 2 x 4 plank of timber can do. :pac:

MetzgerMeister

SG - I hope you copy and paste that post into a Word document and save it for the next time :pac:

5W30

Ugh... same old traffic on the M50 northbound as yesterday.

This time a woman broke down in a Mk1 Megane on the middle lane.

I mean if your engine cuts out, how hard is it to steer towards the hard shoulder? Even if you had a bad earth and you couldn't use an indicator, driving at 100 km/h and losing power should give you enough roll to pull to the hard shoulder from the right overtaking lane...

The quality of drivers amazes me. She just sat there in her car with the bonnet up. No lights, no indicators (again, could have been a bad earth or a flat battery due to a bad alternator).

Funnily it's the second Mk1 Megane I have seen broken down on the M50 this year at pretty much the same spot, I wonder if it's the same woman...

Toyotafanboi

Do they have the electronic power steering? You would have some time trying to move that with no power.

I believe the megane mk3 is proving to be quite good but how anybody can drive a mk1 or mk2 is beyond me, they just seem to be utter ****e.

5W30

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Do they have the electronic power steering? You would have some time trying to move that with no power.

I believe the megane mk3 is proving to be quite good but how anybody can drive a mk1 or mk2 is beyond me, they just seem to be utter ****e.

Probably but you only need to turn the wheel a couple of degrees or so at motorway speeds to change lane.

It's not like you have to do a U-turn.

Mc Love

Any recommendations for a decent torx screw set?

bear1

5W30 wrote: »

Probably but you only need to turn the wheel a couple of degrees or so at motorway speeds to change lane.

It's not like you have to do a U-turn.

Unless there was traffic already when she broke down.
Tbh though anyone with have a brain cell would try and push the car off of the road or in her case I would have asked another driver.

5W30

bear1 wrote: »

Unless there was traffic already when she broke down.
Tbh though anyone with have a brain cell would try and push the car off of the road or in her case I would have asked another driver.

Yeah it would have even been better if there was traffic, because she would have got out to push and others would have helped or something.

Didn't look like it though, the road was clear after I passed her.

Eventually a tow truck reached her :rolleyes:

Mc Love wrote: »

Any recommendations for a decent torx screw set?

One that covers a variety of sizes I guess.

Toyotafanboi

bear1 wrote: »

Unless there was traffic already when she broke down.
Tbh though anyone with have a brain cell would try and push the car off of the road or in her case I would have asked another driver.

I wouldn't be getting out into the middle lane of the M50 to push a car off, you're almost asking to have your limbs re arranged.

Anyway, if there was heavy but moving traffic, if I lost engine power, lost power brakes and lost power steering i'd say negotiating two lanes of rush hour M50 would not be handy.

bear1

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I wouldn't be getting out into the middle lane of the M50 to push a car off, you're almost asking to have your limbs re arranged.

Anyway, if there was heavy but moving traffic, if I lost engine power, lost power brakes and lost power steering i'd say negotiating two lanes of rush hour M50 would not be handy.

Ah come on where's your sense of adventure

Marty McFly

Finally got my car back thank fook been to busy in work to pick it up.

Nice to have the power back. Now back to the drawing board manifold has a small leak which I'm leaving till after Xmas when it's due a service were new discs and pads will be needed.

Got a price on putting lci air con dials in the car and ipod connection just need to find lci dials first or time to find them.

And I'm hoping soon I find a set of wheels I like for the car.

mhackett102

Corolla is going on Saturday evening and Im picking up my new (well, new to me ) car on Monday evening.

Toyotafanboi

mhackett102 wrote: »

Corolla is going on Saturday evening and Im picking up my new (well, new to me ) car on Monday evening.

i hope you havn't made a bad call. while i don't particularly miss my old E12, it was probably the best at what it did. i certainly wouldn't have swapped it for any other mid 2000's small/ mid size family car. in terms of reasonably priced tax, handy on fuel, good poke for a 1.4, super reliability and excellent resale value, lads might tell you it looks like a nissan tiida but they are good cars.

what did you go for?

as an aside, Hyundai must be the only crowd (aside from Dacia) who are completely serious when they say they are still offering new models with steel wheels with no wheel trims.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/hyundai-i20-1-4-crdi-classic/9463860

colm_mcm

Don't think they're standard.

Toyotafanboi

i've seen them on a few. maybe only on rental spec cars or something. horrific looking though.

colm_mcm

I know in Spain/canaries, rental cars get different wheels. Always assumed it was to preserve the stock wheels.

Toyotafanboi

lads, i've been looking at motor industry jobs this last long time, have a bit of experience in the field. anyway, long story short, applied for this, got a call for an interview tomorrow. job description is a bit vague, what should i do to prep up? what do you think the job actually is? the description covers a broad spectrum. i'm assuming they've dressed up "car salesman" very well?

http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1492213

5W30

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

as an aside, Hyundai must be the only crowd (aside from Dacia) who are completely serious when they say they are still offering new models with steel wheels with no wheel trims.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/hyundai-i20-1-4-crdi-classic/9463860

They couldn't make it any more paddy spec than they already have!

Steelies, 1.4 daysul, chape tax, airbag, electric mirrors, power steering, ABS brakes, central locking and even fog lamps on a 2014 car! Jaysus that's some innovation right there! :rolleyes:

JoeA3

That used to be the rental-car dead giveaway years ago! Every rental Nissan Almera and the likes had black steelies, no hub caps fitted.

bear1

Test drove a 170 Passat, lovely bit of power from it. Smooth delivery.
Lovely coffee coloured leather, climate control, cruise, satnav and heated seats. I was hoping for xenons but it has halogens.
Price is a bit on the steep side but negoatiable.
Need to test 2/3 more and make the final decision.

166man

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

lads, i've been looking at motor industry jobs this last long time, have a bit of experience in the field. anyway, long story short, applied for this, got a call for an interview tomorrow. job description is a bit vague, what should i do to prep up? what do you think the job actually is? the description covers a broad spectrum. i'm assuming they've dressed up "car salesman" very well?

http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1492213

Probably something like a junior sales guy or something. At the interview just ask them exactly what it will entail on a day to day basis. Also check the hours, they may have you working Monday to Saturday on a regular thing too.

Good luck with it if you go for it though chief!

Toyotafanboi

166man wrote: »

Probably something like a junior sales guy or something. At the interview just ask them exactly what it will entail on a day to day basis. Also check the hours, they may have you working Monday to Saturday on a regular thing too.

Good luck with it if you go for it though chief!

ideally it's what i'd like to do. i'm "architecting" now and it's just not for me, not least of all because i'm working for literally nothing. so i'm still flogging contract phones for tesco too :pac:

colm_mcm

I'd say the basic wage is quite low as they're emphasising on the ad that they're providing so much training.
Good time of the year to get started too.

mhackett102

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

i hope you havn't made a bad call. while i don't particularly miss my old E12, it was probably the best at what it did. i certainly wouldn't have swapped it for any other mid 2000's small/ mid size family car. in terms of reasonably priced tax, handy on fuel, good poke for a 1.4, super reliability and excellent resale value, lads might tell you it looks like a nissan tiida but they are good cars.

what did you go for?

I hope I didnt make a bad call either and I will certainly miss the car.. I did get a really good price for it too!

Im in Waterford at the moment and travel back to Tipperary at the weekends, but after christmas I reckon I'll be commuting everyday which will mean i'll be doing approx 180km each day.

I bought a 2004 Volkswagen Golf 1.9tdi (mk4) from a dealership here in Waterford. Reasonably low mileage, new NCT, is in a very good condition and got it at a decent price!

Big Nasty

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'd say the basic wage is quite low as they're emphasising on the ad that they're providing so much training.
Good time of the year to get started too.

+1

Junior sales normally starts around €20k with no commission until you're trained up. The use of the word 'graduate' in this case would make me suspect they'll pay even less, i.e. internship.

Hope that's not the case though and good luck with the interview.