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

166man

Collected my delightful GMC Acadia rental today. Have it for the foreseeable future and have been driving it all day. Now when I say delightful, I probably mean absolutely terrible in too many ways to mention. Alas, I shall begin below...

Now I know this thing weighs about as much as the moon, but how can a 290bhp 3.6 V6 petrol engine feel gutless? It's not as though it's well made, and it certainly doesn't sound like a Golf when the doors close...so where the hell is all this weight coming from? It ain't the driver either!

Secondly, what kind of blind American of the more illogical type, designed the interior and said "Yes, for the trip computer we will put four buttons on the centre console, out of arms reach, and use stickers from a Chinese coloring book to designate each function." I would like to meet this man.

Don't even think about trying to wash and/or clear your rear windscreen either because where did they put the button for that? Nope, not on the steering wheel stalk like a normal human, they put it down by the cigarette lighter, right beside the traction control button (not that t/c does anything in an American jeep as we discovered before)...meaning a riot on the dashboard ensues when trying to complete this task.

Finally, they honestly must have raided the parts bin for a John Deere lawnmower when selecting a set of keys for this behemoth - something from the 1980's would have been more modern! Add to this, the leather seats look like a sweaty marathon runners face and to top it all off pressing the brake pedal vaguely reminds the front end that you'd like to slow down, press it further and you're reminded of standing on a big bag of marshmallows. Useless.

I thought the GMC I had before this was bad... Driving this thing reminds me of what it'd be like to drive a fat man on roller skates.

CIP4

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Pollen filter. This tec7 stuff available widely?

Ah ok I though it was the engine air filter. Ye tec 7 can be got in woodies or any hardware store might be cheaper in the likes of chadwicks as opposed to woodies but wherever is near you. You can get it in all different colours we always have a few tubes in the shed handy stuff for around the house.

dr.fuzzenstein

^^^^^
I have found so far that absolutely everything is cheaper anywhere than in Woodies. I think they trade simply on the fact that they're "Irish", so Paddy will go there out of principle and pay any money as long as they don't have to give it to the Brits. I have seen 2 guys in Limerick who refused to go into B&Q and drove clear across town to get to Woodies, so they would rather waste an hour traveling and pay a third more just to go to an "Irish" store.
Funny thing is, they probably are owned by the same company and certainly get their goods from the same supplier.

CIP4

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

^^^^^
I have found so far that absolutely everything is cheaper anywhere than in Woodies. I think they trade simply on the fact that they're "Irish", so Paddy will go there out of principle and pay any money as long as they don't have to give it to the Brits. I have seen 2 guys in Limerick who refused to go into B&Q and drove clear across town to get to Woodies, so they would rather waste an hour traveling and pay a third more just to go to an "Irish" store.
Funny thing is, they probably are owned by the same company and certainly get their goods from the same supplier.

I would generally go to builders providers myself as they are always cheaper. However the way I see it woodies has its place on a Saturday evening Sunday when every builders providers is closed. I mean at the end of the day if you are stuck for something at the weekend your going to go to woodies are they more expensive yes but your basically paying for the convenience of them being open.

mhackett102

Bringing a car for NCT next week. The car is not in my name but I am insured on it. What will I have to bring with me? Would the log book and my drivers licence be enough to bring?

ShaunieVW

Yeah just your licence and log book, thats all I have ever brought for other's cars.

Speaking of NCT just went on to book one for the GF's mini, which is out at the end of January. Got a test for Saturday and had loads of dates/times available between now and the new year. How times have changed!

Duke O Smiley

Thoughts on this lads? (Or something akin to it)

I know feck all about them but I was thinking of getting one for the Sunny. I'd like to have something like this in the car and then have the dash cam set up to play back onto it

Hal1

Ah no you have to keep it as original as possible and are only allowed the use of the available technology at the time. :P

Duke O Smiley

Well its a JDM car...they love their technology over there :P

Hal1

Was jdm a thing in the 90's, I know it's japanesse dev motorsport but the modification side of things I mean.

Noccy_Mondy

Been looking on DoneDeal seeing what 2004 focus' are making. I don't know if it's me or what, but for what it is I think it looks really well. Don't want to come across as blowing my own trumpet or anything. With all the bits and pieces going wrong, I still find it hard to hate it, just looking back at it after parking it, all is forgiven. To me it's nicer than any other 2004 I can see for sale on DoneDeal.




On another note, they're making feck all really, I'd say it's worth about 1.5k..

job seeker

I've heard that it's possible to hook the car horn up to the alarm and the alarm to the car horn.. I'm rather interested in this.. Can anyone conform if this is true?

job seeker

Naccy_mondy that nice wee car.. The alloys look well.

Noccy_Mondy

job seeker wrote: »

Naccy_mondy that nice wee car.. The alloys look well.

Cheers. There's something about it that keeps me drawn to it, can't put my finger on it though!

Duke O Smiley

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Cheers. There's something about it that keeps me drawn to it, can't put my finger on it though!

It's not a golf? :pac:

CIP4

Infairness Noccy you always have it very clean looking and the few bits you did to it when you got it really freshened it up. I think the mk1.5 looks a lot better on the outside to the mk1 but it's a pity ford didn't do much to freshen up the inside. It would be kind of hard to justify selling it at 1.5k unless you were going to put a good bit of money with it otherwise it would kind of be a waste to sell a good clean car for that kind of money.

Alanstrainor

The e46 is in some state at the moment, haven't washed it in about 2 months I'd say. It's been impossible to get out to wash it on the weekends anyway. Hopefully I'll get a chance some time soon!

Supergurrier

Audi is the same. Mixture of crap weather/floods and dark evenings mean its only been washed once since I got it.

Bring on the summer

Noccy_Mondy

I'm off today, so I'll try to get something washed. NCT later this week, so the focus needs a proper wash.

CIP4

I think the dirty look suits my car compliments the silver colour really well. I always wanted black alloys as well granted would probably be better if they were painted black but the brake dust works well I have a good even layer on at this stage.

ShadowHearth

Guys, how are e92/e90 to live with? Are they money pits? 320i or 325i? High costs involved? Or better off with e46?

And is e60 is as bad as I know? The whole electronics part completely rubbish then costing a fortune to fix. I guess there is a reason why they are all so cheap?

job seeker

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Guys, how are e92 to live with? Are they money pits? 320i or 325i? High costs involved? Or better off with e46?

And is e60 is as bad as I know? The whole electronics part completely rubbish then costing a fortune to fix. I guess there is a reason why they are all so cheap?

Ah you arn't selling the Subaru? :eek:

JaMarcusHustle

So, my 320i that caused a bit of a kerfuffle on the Post Your Car thread a couple of weeks ago (how dare I get my windows tinted!) - I was posting a picture after I got the whole bonnet resprayed.

Well, some absolute fúcking tosser leant/put something on it and left a dent some time last week.

It was a small dent, and not that noticeable - though you know yourself, as soon as you see it, that's all you see.

Got it fixed a couple of hours ago, but I really really fúcking hate the general public some times most of the time. They just keep getting thicker and thicker.

MetzgerMeister

Common issues with E92 :

- Ignition coils

- Injectors (mainly on 335i)

- Side bolsters on the seats wear quickly from where the seatbelt rubs off and from people getting in and out

- Seatbelt extender arms are fragile. Often it will be extended and an unknowing passenger will reach back for the belt and hit it a wallop.

- Rubber door seals tend to go bad. This lets in quite a bit of road noise. Cheap enough and a very easy swap requiring no glue, tape etc.

- Exterior handle can often stick open when you open the door. The return spring inside has lost tension.

- Interior aluminium trim marks and dents easily. The F30 has a different design pattern to reduce this.

- Aluminium strip across the dash can rattle. Easy fix is to stuff tissue/cotton wool behind it. Worked a treat for me.

- As with most BMWs the suspension will probably need attention in the earlier models at this stage.

ShadowHearth

job seeker wrote: »

Ah you arn't selling the Subaru? :eek:

Well, lad from work is very interested in my scooby. He drove it now too. In talks with misses now. And thats 90% of the issue for him lol.
I am not pushed to sell, but if I can give scooby to good hands and with zero issues of selling it, I might. To be honest, I am ****ting myself by idea of selling it, as its best car I ever owned, but that stupid "change bug" is crawling up badly for last few months. I have a craving for a beemer.

ShadowHearth

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Common issues with E92 :

- Ignition coils

- Injectors (mainly on 335i)

- Side bolsters on the seats wear quickly from where the seatbelt rubs off and from people getting in and out

- Seatbelt extender arms are fragile. Often it will be extended and an unknowing passenger will reach back for the belt and hit it a wallop.

- Rubber door seals tend to go bad. This lets in quite a bit of road noise. Cheap enough and a very easy swap requiring no glue, tape etc.

- Exterior handle can often stick open when you open the door. The return spring inside has lost tension.

- Interior aluminium trim marks and dents easily. The F30 has a different design pattern to reduce this.

- Aluminium strip across the dash can rattle. Easy fix is to stuff tissue/cotton wool behind it. Worked a treat for me.

- As with most BMWs the suspension will probably need attention in the earlier models at this stage.

I wouldnt go for anything as cool as 335i as I cant afford such a beast, but I think those have an extra set of issues. If I remember right, you were putting some amount of money in yours back in the day, but a lot of it was due to Turbos.

MetzgerMeister

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I wouldnt go for anything as cool as 335i as I cant afford such a beast, but I think those have an extra set of issues. If I remember right, you were putting some amount of money in yours back in the day, but a lot of it was due to Turbos.

Yep, €2,200 altogether to sort the turbo issue.

You only mentioned 320i and 325i but everything is the same apart from the engine (and the suspension if you don't get an M-Sport) compared to the 335i.

job seeker

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Well, lad from work is very interested in my scooby. He drove it now too. In talks with misses now. And thats 90% of the issue for him lol.
I am not pushed to sell, but if I can give scooby to good hands and with zero issues of selling it, I might. To be honest, I am ****ting myself by idea of selling it, as its best car I ever owned, but that stupid "change bug" is crawling up badly for last few months. I have a craving for a beemer.

Well, at least if your selling up you know the buyer and he seems genuine from what you say. best of luck with the search for a new car.

mhackett102

When you order from MicksGarage should you get a confirmation email straight away?

I somehow managed to crack the lens on one of the fog lights on the Mondeo today and NCT is early next week so a new one is needed ASAP. Ordered one over an hour ago and still havent gotten an email from them!

Alanstrainor

My room mates fiesta failed the NCT for rust. It's a 02, they're well known for it, however he said it failed on body rust on the sills, and that it's because there's a patch with a small hole. I thought it was more the chassis that would cause a fail? Anyone have any info? I'm half thinking some sand paper, and filler could sort it. Not too sure how bad it is underneath mind... if he gets another year out of it he'll be doing well!