What's pi$$ed me off today.........!!

Was actually yesterday but on my way to the 1066 I was on a national speed limit country lane, came over the brow of a hill to find a land rover defender reversing back to me in my lane. It had tried turning right but a car was blocking its way in to the entrance as the car was trying to leave and was just sitting there with its nose coming out in to the right hand (to me) lane.

Pulled on the brakes as hard as I could and actually felt the rear skipping but what made it worse was that as I stopped the stupid land rover driver just kept coming back towards me.

Must have missed me by inches. First time in a long while I have actually been properly worried about getting splatted on a bike.

Not only was I dumb struck that he was reversing on a national speed limit road but either he didn't see me or didn't care to keep on coming when I had actually managed to stop!!

 

I forgot all about the course that I have to go on next week...Hudersfield!

 

Certainly gets the ole adenaline goin, rode up to Tonge on all the B. roads last Weds and must have had at least 5 near misses. Must use the motorway more, repeat 100 times, at least they are all going the same way.

 

But then it is almost as dangerous due to utter boredom!!! Also, all the time I am on a motorway I just keep churning over in my head how much squarer my rear tyre is becoming

 

Completely failing at selecting a new car...

It's really hard to pick when you can't evoke much feeling for any one of the options more any other.

 

Just get a cheapo s/h one you can then change when your bored/it becomes unreliable. Then you don't lose loadsa dosh.

 

Blimey! Cost the price of the car in petrol over the week.
Nice little Ka will do you 7000 miles to the gallon, top speed of 57.

 

Ahh, Tom has the right idea. But I think the V6 is off the table. I've taken to collating the options in the database and it's horrendous on fuel, especially given the performance.
Actually the best contender is a Merc C230K overall, the insurance is surprisingly cheap and it goes like stink.
Volvo C70 does well too, along with the Saab 9-3. In the middle of the pack is the good 'ol Honda prelude - cheap and nippy but really old
At the bottom end there's BMW 330 which is really quick but mental to insure, the 325 that's oddly more to insure!
Followed by the 2 economy options, the Hyundai 2.0 and the Astra 2.2vvvttiixxxrrroooll or whatever it's called. All the letters don't make it go any better but it's cheap to run and insure.

Budget is 3k but I'd rather it were nearer 2 as I need £400 for hand controls. Oh and has to be auto.

I don't really want much, cheap to buy and run with at least 150+ ft/lb and sub 9 second 0-60 plus good looks, reliability and automatic.
Honestly I can't see why I can't find a car...

 

That is a very good point indeed.

On my Nurburgring trip in May we stayed with Brendan Keirle at his guest house in Dollendorf. He's a great guy and has lapped the ring in about 7m30ish which is an achievement - he's also been helicoptered off it three times and his head is quite literally screwed on.

Anyway he took us all for a rideout while we were there - fantastic scenery, amazing roads. He's a very very quick rider - on one straight I got a bit caught up in the moment and reached 142 leptons, while he was still pulling away - on a Z1000 with a pillion

Later in the day (we'd done about 150 miles) I was tiring, mentally, and this was one of the most hardcore days of riding that I've ever done. Actually the most. We came to a fairly easy right hander (riding on the right, as we were in Germany) and the visibility wasn't so good. I had been preparing to just chuck it in and felt good about it as I could see the road further on and it was obvious the bend wasn't very tight, but for some reason went for the brakes. Naturally it's so hard to get back on the power if you've braked late and I was disappointed with myself for doing it but realised the only option I'd really left myself was a full panic stop, which is what I did, ABS and everything. Pulled up about three/four feet short of the barrier on the opposing carriageway, pulled myself together and carried on. Calmed it down a bit for the rest of the day.

So as you quite rightly say I was very lucky there was no oncoming traffic. The speed limit on that road is 100kmh or 62mph so I could easily have been dead, and it's really made me examine my riding.

 

Went to view a car, looked alright (not amazing but good for the year) engine seemed great - very quiet from cold and smooth through gears at low and high power too. Everything worked that should.
Needs some discs but the tyres are pretty much new which balances out.
Hiccup is that the owners forum (which may or may not be heavily bias) suggest steering clear because it has no service history present, the general condition of the car (spotless interior and not just the recently cleaned type) and recently refurbed alloys would seem to suggest it was a cherished car but nothing to confirm that it wasn't just the aesthetics he was interested in...

Price is good compared to the other available options, mileage isn't bad and it comes with 1 year MoT and 6months tax.

So now I'm in quandary, follow the owners advice and steer clear until I find one with FSH at the bargain price in pristine condition, or go on my (and Jim's) ear that the engine was sound and overall it wasn't a bad deal.
The curve ball is that there's limited window for more viewing options due to dad based transport is growing impatient about more viewings.

 

Having looked at no fewer than three vehicles which had clearly been patched together from a total of probably six cars (I jest not), I reckon the practise is actually more common than people think. How long has the owner had it? Do the chassis and engine numbers check out?The owners'club will have access to the register and ought also to be able to tell you what the numbers actually mean - ie. what colour the vehicle is supposed to be, what was the original specification and so on. The AA or the RAC will give it a mechanical once over for around £100 and that includes ownership check and other background paperwork stuff. Their examination includes a short drive and putting it up on a stand and peering into the oily bits to see leaks and potential MoT failure items like worn bushes in the suspension. It could be the best £100 you spend on the car, especially if they uncover £1,000 worth of imminent work. Oh, and you can claim against them if it turns out to be a pair of cars!

If the guy has even a few scraps of paper or invoices from oil bought, service parts purchased from Halfords and so on, I might be persuaded to go for it. Be upfront and ask him who serviced the car. Look for the MoTs and the mileage recorded on them - does that jive with what he says for annual mileage? Think about how you would answer the same questions if someone asks you when you come to sell it. Why is he selling? (Going abroad, mate. Where? Why?).

And don't be pressured into buying before you are totally happy just because DBT threatens not to be available. Someone will take you or the seller can meet you halfway or something.

 

Coming home from Stoolball last nite, driving through Hartfield centre going towatds Uckfield/Forest Row, 2 motor bikes coming the opposite way riding in the middle of the road, over the speed limit, for the first one only to do a wheelie oncoming to me in my car and past me doing it, as I pulled over having the right of way, I was not going too fast all, it not really bother me, I was only creeping along, but afterwards I thought what an idiot, and to get bikers bad names, doing that through centre of the village, with parked cars on one side, and not a lot of room if he had messed up well god only knows, WHY do people do it, you can do it anywhere else on your own, on a fast open road, no people, or other cars? no one was really watching so what was the point.

 

Wise words as always, my friend!
Car is from a dealer, a small independent one who got the car from Audi Essex who took it in part-ex.

MoT history seems to even up on mileages, all the numbers match up as does the colour.
The oil receipt was "lost" in the MoT's so either they removed all the service history or it was misplaced / forgotten along the way.

Curiously, all the bikes I've owned I never test rode one. In fact I bought 2 of them without even seeing them first and they were all spot on... Okay one was a dog but that's not a bad ratio.
Of cars, I viewed a bunch of mini's and inspected them carefully and still had a ton of problems. Maybe I should just pick one and go with it, seems to be a better style for me.

 

Are you spending loads on this car?? if not all the bits "you" wrote in red are positive, with only the forum putting doubt in your mind,
I agree with richard ask the seller the right questions and get AA/RAC to give it the once over, You have got to make up your mind sooner or later, good luck

 

True enough, Paul. I love the way you pic the positives out of my writing - quite a skill

The worry on the owners forum is there's an issue if it's not serviced regularly that can cause the big end to fail, starts as a quiet knock and gets louder, once loud it's just about game over and north of £2k to rebuild.
Caught early it's a £50 set of shells.
The car didn't appear to have any such noise.

You're right though, I have to get something sooner or later. I think 2 years of chasing problems on Ogy (no matter how enjoyable the work was) has knocked my confidence to the point I'm scared to act at all.

 

I am going to be positive for you! and say did you listen for the noise?? was it there?? if you are that worried? fit a set of shells for £50 before it needs them????

 

Jim was good enough to come along and have a listen too, from what could be told there was almost no noise when running even from cold start up. Was very smooth all considered.
Replacing the shells is about £400 to have done in total, on top of the £250 for the cambelt that I can't reach and £80 for some discs and it's starting to get expensive for a car that I didn't want to need to work on.
Maybe I should go with the impulse action and pick a different and pay for it to be delivered

How far is Leatherhead?

 

"NO" Noise then why are you worrying????