What sort of car do you drive?

Yeah Dano, it wasn't really a slight at you per se, more the mentality of taking something (usually) shit and making it "pretty" and loud for show.

I don't see the point in modding a car if you're not going to do it yourself - same goes for restoration. Where's the fun in that? You might as well have paid the extra to get one that was how you wanted it in the first place - or a better car!

True, the later Astras aren't so chavvy - actually the latest isn't that bad looking and I couldn't see anyone modifying one really. You did make me chuckle when you mentioned the Evo - most chavs I've spoken to seem to list that as their dream car. I dunno, no imagination!

I'm not a big Vauxhall fan, although some of the pre-Opel (and even early Opel) cars looked nice. My Mum had an old Nova (unmodified, she's not a chav lol) and it was utter crap. I think that you're wrong about modding old cars for racing - how about a Firenza for the muscle car look or maybe even a Velox for the hot rod Popular-style look? Oh, then there's the Opel Commodore for a retro Escort-type look lol. There's plenty of track days that are geared towards classic cars. MGBs are still popular for racing, the SD1 engine transplant being a favourite there.

Johnny, quite so! My Dad's 406 is a great car and runs well (other than the one time when the engine decided to damage itself by pissing oil everywhere), but every time he gets out he has to disconnect the battery as there's some kind of leak somewhere that even Peugeot can't find!

 

retro, i agree i was somewhat wrong when i said the older cars for track cars, to be honest i'd got a picture into my head about some particular cars and just couldn't see them being on the track.

I love some of the old Escorts and Fiestas to be honest, as chavvy as you may think, i always loved the MK2 Fiesta XR2.

Ive always been a Vauxhall man at heart, never had a problem against the Nova etc, infact modified they can make a particular good car, i guess it depends upon personal preference as to how you'd view such a car.

I agree with you 100%, if your going to modify / restore you might aswell do all the work yourself (at least if your capable) i don't have a particular issue with the people that want to either restore / modify paying someone else to do some work for them, some people just don't have skills in those areas to do a job properly, so for those people i do understand why they do go for help, though i can't see much fun in it myself and wouldn't dream of it personally..

The Evo dream, haha i agree alot of chavvy kids go on about the Evo aswell as the Scooby to be fair about it. Personally ive always loved the Evo, actually i do admit i also like the Subaru! If i had the option, Evo it would be or me. As much as some of the chavvy kids would love to own one, it won't ever happen. I do hope in the future i'll get myself an Evo, it is in my opinion a true motorsport car, and i would love nothing more than to take one round the track, which it is built for!

I think probably most the chavvy kids think something along the lines of 'wow evo, i'm gona get one and rip everyone in that one day' lol they think its the daddy, now to be fair it is a very high spec car (model dependant) but the problem is half these kids know nothing about cars and just assume an evo is the best car ever in terms of 0-60 and top speed, probably as you say no imagination to venture further.

Oh and if Peugeot can't find the drain on your dads car, they have serious issues. If there is indeed a drain, it shouldn't be all that hard to trace. A decent multimeter and a hour or two should have you sorted to be fair. You can also get those handheld devices to measure current, so you can measure various devices etc to see what is drawing what form the battery when stood, may be worth investing in?

If i'm totally honest, i'd advise anyone against buying a French car.. They just seem plauged with problems, in particular electrical issues as already discussed here.

I have to be totally honest, Vauxhall seem to be one of the most reliable i have come accross. I know sometimes some unlucky person may drop on some issues, but the majority of owners have nothing but a good experience. Me, my brother and my dad all own Vauxhalls, my brother has the corsa i posted earlier, i have the Astra i posted earlier and my dad has the Astra GSI, all of us have nothing but continued good experience with them and i'd be happy to recommend one to anyone.

Hmmm the thoughts of the old XR2 :love:

EDIT: almost forgot to mention, today i fitted a different splitter to my car, along with brake ducts that go into the splitter. Its mainly for when i get the bigger brakes and engine fitted (which will all be done at the same time) but took some modification to the bumper etc to get it all fitted properly, over all i'm quite pleased. Not that the 1.8 has enough power to need brake ducts, but its done with the sight of the near future, so another step in the right direction.

 

Actually, the XR2 is a funny one. It was a nice car, then got its image ruined by some chavs doing awful things to them. However, if you get a 17 year old buying a cheap XR2 to look cool and do awful things, they'll have a nasty shock when they try to insure it! ;-)

Yup, we know the parts manager at the local Peugeot dealer, and he said they were stumped! Good thing is they didn't charge my Dad for looking at it for a few hours! There's a great automotive electrics guy locally, but he charges a lot. He'd sort it, I'm sure. I don't like working on modern cars, so I don't bother trying ;-) haha. We noticed that you have to turn the radio on and off again when you get out, too, or you sometimes get a funny faint squeal out of the speakers. No doubt related.

Under legal, controlled circumstances on the track, of course ;-) lol.

A certain forum member had a laughable modified Vauxhall. I should still have a pic somewhere. We had to do a Dukes of Hazzard to get in the damn thing, because the pop locks stopped working!

 

Agreed 100%

 

.... Ford???

 

Limited to certain models (I think), French wiring is shite across board.

 

Eh? I know loads of people who have had both Land Rovers and Jaguars and NEVER had a wiring problem.

My friend had an X type for years and never had ANY problems with it whatsoever. He traded it in for a Lexus. The Lexus went back in the first week due to problems communicating with his phone via bluetooth (it wouldn't) and the voice recognition (since when does "audio off" sound like "please calculate the quickest route to the nearest train station"???!?!).

Jaguar have been going for over 85 years, and the first Land Rover was made over 60 years ago. Oh, not to mention the Daimler Motor Company, which was started in the 1890s, predating General Motors, Ford, Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler.... These British manufacturers have to be doing something right! OK, they're both owned by Tata now, so if you want to blame a country, blame India ;-)

 

Blame Ford before that. Tata is in for sloppy seconds of what Ford left behind...

After Ford bought out Jaguar, there more 'less-than-stellar' reviews on the Jaguars and I also do not see a lot of them on the road like I used to, at least not a lot of new ones made under the Ford clout.

 

Quite true!

 

I've always heard that Jaguar's bad reputation stems largely from it's British Leyland days and that Ford was mostly responsible for getting their quality control in check.

 

Ummm.... correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the locks operated by the key? Do you perhaps mean the remote control stopped working? That's something different. The locks are mechanical. The remote system is electrical. AHA! Not had a Ford electrical problem, huh? ;-) I assume the windows were electric, too!

Oh so common on Mustangs. And when it happens is when you find that you have the rarer transmission for that model, which costs hundreds more.

My friend has an Elise. He had it set up for himself. Every time he takes me out in it, he complains that the handling's all wrong due to the extra weight, lol.

 

That is funny because the exact same thing happened to my old Sable in that exact order.

 

Anyone here owned / owns an Alfa Romeo? They can talk more about how is to love a great looking car and then see this love being destroyed by tons of problems.

And talking about BL, i never understood how bad British Leyland cars were till i saw the Top Gear episode.

 

A lot of the Electrical issues is to do with contracting out loom manufacture. Bites companys in the ass.

 

I've got a 2001 Saab 9-3 Cab

It looks like this, only mine is white:

 

I saw my friend today. We were out in the Lexus, which he said he hates, and how he preferred the Jag. I mentioned your comment about Jags and Land Rovers having electrical problems. He gave a very confused look and replied, "uhh, no!" This is someone who has had many cars, a fair few exotic ones, and we're talking back to the 60s here. He raced with Derek Warrick, who has driven cars for Jaguar's racing team. He has tinkered with a lot of cars. In short, he knows his stuff!

Perhaps it is an issue with the American ones? You know, the "jag-wahs" not the "jag-u-ars" ;-)

Land Rovers in Britain are pretty damn reliable. You can literally throw them around. Why do you think they're so popular with farmers? Not just because they're a good off-road vehicle, but their reliability. Breaking down on the road sucks. You call the AA and wait. Breaking down in the middle of a field in the middle of the country REALLY sucks!! There are a lot of examples of Series I Land Rovers still in use today. In fact, it is estimated that the majority of all Land Rovers produced after the Series I (i.e. Series II onwards) are still on the road.

That said, it did suffer some poor reviews and reliability issues since 2000. Guess when Ford took over.....

I'll be fair - it had its bad reviews in the last couple of years of BMW ownership, too. Basically since the Freelander and Series 2 Discovery were introduced.

Gibba owns an Alfa. He'll tell you about it literally exploding when he was driving it!

Whilst British Leyland cars did have their problems, the Top Gear thing on it was quite unfair, really. BL encompassed many manufacturers and cars which were going for a great many years. It is much like GMC. Should you tar EVERY manufacturer under that label, indeed the whole label, with the same brush just because a few had some problems?

Hehe, nice first post! Come on a video game forum and talk about cars ;-)

Lol, I kid.. it's all cool!

 

Commom Alfa story... lol.

A friend of mine owned a 145 for 2 months or so. So i know the experience.

Still, i love the "door on strike". :lol:

Anyway what made me believe was the older footage of the factory. The workers mostly.

But i like the Rover SD1 (specially the V8 one). Great design and engine.

 

Yep. Taurus/Sable are just the same. Glad I went GMC/Chevy!