An obituary...

[Deleted]

...To the best car that ever was

I clipped a large puddle while trying to slow down, which sent the car hurtling sideways into a kerb at about 30mph. It rolled right the way over and landed back on it's wheels, on the grass verge, facing in the opposite direction to the way I was originally travelling. Remarkably, neither Kitty nor myself were hurt, and the roof didn't buckle, although we're both very shaken up, literally and figuratively.

However, floodwater rapidly consumed the car to the point where we left it, after standing in the rain and snow for about an hour, it was starting to encroach on the boot. I suspect even if it hadn't happened, the damage to the suspension hitting a kerb sideways at about 30 would have been un-viable to repair.

I guess we'll have her towed away for scrap in the morning, once the flood is clear.

I'll miss you, little Peugeot.

[Deleted]

Well, if nothing else, it's famous now

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7183696.stm

Look at the first picture...

[DLA 365]

azurael said:

Well, if nothing else, it's famous now

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7183696.stm

Look at the first picture...

Is that the vehicle in the top left hand side of the picture near the road sign?

That was some damage! I wonder how the car landed on its roof. I remember from the days I used to drive one of those that the braking is very slow to respond, so was that a factor to the accident?

Luckily no one was hurt. Any plans for your new car? (Another 205? ;D)

[Deleted]

No, my brakes were actually very good (we only did the front discs and pads following an MOT advisory a couple of months before) - it was really the fact that I panicked and locked the wheels up before I even hit the body of water that caused the car to spin, I suspect. Although nobody should rely on it, I don't think it would have happened if I'd been driving a vehicle with ABS.

As for it's replacement, being that I've got a couple of years no claims now, I'm hoping to find a larger turbodiesel car now. I was thinking of a Mondeo, but since I want to run on veg oil, and I've discovered how easy to convert most of the French diesels are, I'll probably go for one of those. I've decided I like 'em and their quirks, too It will porobably something like a 306 estate or maybe a Xantia (Though the 1.9 TD Xantias are group 9, so that might be pushing it, despite having the same engine as the 306s, which are group 6-7 depending on spec.)

[Madstuntman]

azurael said:

No, my brakes were actually very good (we only did the front discs and pads following an MOT advisory a couple of months before) - it was really the fact that I panicked and locked the wheels up before I even hit the body of water that caused the car to spin, I suspect. Although nobody should rely on it, I don't think it would have happened if I'd been driving a vehicle with ABS.

As for it's replacement, being that I've got a couple of years no claims now, I'm hoping to find a larger turbodiesel car now. I was thinking of a Mondeo, but since I want to run on veg oil, and I've discovered how easy to convert most of the French diesels are, I'll probably go for one of those. I've decided I like 'em and their quirks, too It will porobably something like a 306 estate or maybe a Xantia (Though the 1.9 TD Xantias are group 9, so that might be pushing it, despite having the same engine as the 306s, which are group 6-7 depending on spec.)

The only problem with a French diesel is the only thing that WON'T break on the car is the engine... Trust me I have a Renault Laguna!!!

[Deleted]

Haha... I know that well

The engines are often seen passing 250 or even 300k without a major rebuild, and even more in many cases with proper maintenance, but you can guarantee that everything else will break off in a French car

My dad had a 2000 306 HDi estate with 180k on the clock, and it still ran like new. It used no oil, it's fuel consumption was still incredible, and it was as quiet as a cheap diesel ever is with no untoward rattles or clanks. Even the running gear was still pretty good. The rest of the car, unfortunately, was in something of a state due to it's former life as a Peugeot dealer's courtesy car, otherwise that would probably have been what replaced my car. That said, in some ways I'm glad, because while common rail engines are more economical than old fashioned diesels, they're harder to convert to run on SVO, requiring 2 tanks and a post-start switchover... Plus, it was areally basic model with no aircon

Especially the electrics. But look on the bright side, it's not Italian so at least it won't give up at the first sign of rain!

[Deleted]

Don't know if this helps, but I've heard that French and Italian cars tend to be the most unreliable, and that Japanese cars tend to top the list for reliability

Good news for my Mum - she drives a Micra - 15 years old, loads of mileage (not sure how much exactly, probably just over 100k) and since she bought it second hand in 2002 it's NEVER broken down

[Deleted]

Haha... Well, it depends from model to model.

Japanese cars tend to go on forever, no matter what. Consistency is the name of the game, and the downside of that is that most of them are quite cheaply built. The interiors are very plasticky and bits tend to break off. There's plenty of Toyota minicabs with more miles than the moon landers on them, but they are the most boring, soulless cars on the road. (Don't get me wrong, I love Japanese sports cars - give me an Evo, a GT-R or a Supra TT any day, but I can't see myself driving a Mitsubishi (no) Carisma or Nissan Primera...)

French cars are either brilliant or rubbish. The 205 was a wonderful example of a brilliant French car. The fact that there's so many more of them on the road than other cars of their era should tell you that. Sure, they had their known problems, like the paint de-laminating on 1991-on models (as mine was), but they were basically a very dependable car, and unlike their replacements (the 206 and then 207), and most modern small cars in general, they were light and fun to drive.

The Citroen BX was a brilliant example of French engineering gone wrong. They were amongst the most unreliable vehicles known to man! Once, I was going to France with a friend, and somewhat embarassingly, the car wouldn't start when the time came to get off the ferry! Thus, we held up its return journey while awaiting the French equivalent of the AA came in their own leisurely time to fix it. Obviously, it didn't want to 'go home'

One thing you can guarantee with a French diesel engine (especially PSA ones, the Renaults aren't quite as good) is that it will almost definitely outlast the rest of the car! So long as you can find a scrappy with parts to replace bits that occasionally drop off (and there are a few round here), it's fine.

Especially when you think about the issues alternatives have - although they handle nicely and are basically solid cars, Mk.1 and Mk.2 Mondeo TDs are known for random timing belt failures before they're due, and that basically means a wrecked engine, so I wouldn't even think about one unless it had a recent change. Vectras are just horrible cars. So utterly soulless and dull to drive, I'd rather have my teeth pulled out. As for the smaller ones in their ranges, the mid 90s (probably all I can afford) Astra is again the most boring car in the known universe and somewhat prone to electrical faults, and the Escort... Well, I don't really need to say any more about the Escort... I might just about be able to pick up a Focus within my budget, and those were much, much better cars. We'll see.

[Madstuntman]

Not only do I have a Renault Laguna I also have a 2002 Ford Mondeo (Here we go with tempting fate!!) NOTHING has gone wrong with it at all!! NOTHING AT ALL!!!

I used to have a Ford Sierra (I had a few) I had a 1986 2.0 single cam (Pinto) and I have to day it was the most dependable car I've ever known (apart from new Mondeo but what do you expect from a new car having said that I'm a member of a Renault owners club and some of the horror storys I've heard about new Laguna and Megane's people say things like "Oh my gearbox has gone AGAIN" on 2005 cars) anyway I digress... in the 2 years I owned the Sierra I spent nothing on it. no oil change no spark plugs nothing!! The cam belt did snap on it but the design of the Pinto engine means you just set up the timing and put a new belt on!! so it was fixed about 2 hours later. My wife had a 1.8TD Sierra that even less went wrong with that.

So as you might guess I have a bit of a soft spot for Fords. I have had 2 Peugeot 405Mi-16's that were very fast but both went bang in a big expensive terminal way in a short time!!

[Deleted]

The Peugeot Mi16 engine unfortunately had a design fault that tended to result in oil starvation during cornering, resulting in catastrophic damage over time. That's something many 205 GTI owners who've done the transplant have been fighting to overcome for years!

The Mk.3 (2000) onward Mondeos have a very good reputation for dependability, so I'm not suprised yours is doing well. As for Lagunas, the Mk.1 (93-00) had a very good reputation, such that many of them were used as mile-munching fleet cars. It seems that the mk.2s (00-07) are plagued with issues, I know my Dad's company after having some very good Laguna 1s had almost all of their Laguna 2s fall to bits for various reasons and now only buy VAG cars.

I think 2 or 3 of the Lagunas experience wrecked engines after the turbos fell to pieces and got sucked in, one had a total hydraulics failure and the engineer driving it had to bring it to a halt from about 60 on the handbrake alone, and on the one my dad had, which was the best of the lot, almost all of the fancy electronics (typre pressue indicators, etc) packed up, along with the windscreen wipers on several occasions, and the entire headlining fell off one day when going over a bump! Certainly a car to avoid.

[Madstuntman]

Oil was not the problem... the first one suffered from "some bolts in the front suspension starvation" causing my front wheels to go in opposite directions pulling the drive shafts with them buggering the gearbox (not to mention the nose of the car hitting the ground) thats a giggle when doing 45mph.

The second one suffered from cambelt starvation. I had the head re built then it suffered from gearbox disintigration and being the 4x4 It was about 3 times the value of the car to fix (bearing in mind I'd just spent a little on the wrong side of £1000 fixing the little cam belt incident I run out of money. so it sat dead outside my house for a while untill I noticed one morning it was gone courtsey of the DVLA (In the time it spent sitting dead the tax expired) so i told them to keep it

[Deleted]

Whatever vehicle you buy try and buy a DAF air horn for it!

[eggmiester]

Ive had 4 ford's, and have to say not one has ever let me down the the mechanical side with the exception of a flat battery or alarm/immobiliser playing up.

The only problem i have with ford's is thier tendancy to rust in obscure places, commonly around the rear chassis and rear wheelarches on all escort ranges also appear to be a 'rot spot'.

Like Madstuntman, i'm possibly tempting fate here but best car i've owned has to be my current Escort 1.8 Si, had it 4 years and its started first time, every time in all weather conditions. The only rant i have with it is ive spent so much money tuning the beast, standard 1.8 pushing 115 bhp, i got over 140 bhp out of it with some mild tweaking, well its always handy haveing a best mate who's a rather adventureous mechanic.

I did have an XR3i mk4 escort, with the virtually bullet proof CVH engine in it, had to get rid of it due to vast amount of rot eating away at the chassis, shame really as it was a blinding car, very quick, engine was sound, no knocks nothing, even with over 150k on the clock.

[greeny253]

azurael said:

Haha... Well, it depends from model to model.

Japanese cars tend to go on forever, no matter what. Consistency is the name of the game, and the downside of that is that most of them are quite cheaply built. The interiors are very plasticky and bits tend to break off. There's plenty of Toyota minicabs with more miles than the moon landers on them, but they are the most boring, soulless cars on the road. (Don't get me wrong, I love Japanese sports cars - give me an Evo, a GT-R or a Supra TT any day, but I can't see myself driving a Mitsubishi (no) Carisma or Nissan Primera...)

French cars are either brilliant or rubbish. The 205 was a wonderful example of a brilliant French car. The fact that there's so many more of them on the road than other cars of their era should tell you that. Sure, they had their known problems, like the paint de-laminating on 1991-on models (as mine was), but they were basically a very dependable car, and unlike their replacements (the 206 and then 207), and most modern small cars in general, they were light and fun to drive.

The Citroen BX was a brilliant example of French engineering gone wrong. They were amongst the most unreliable vehicles known to man! Once, I was going to France with a friend, and somewhat embarassingly, the car wouldn't start when the time came to get off the ferry! Thus, we held up its return journey while awaiting the French equivalent of the AA came in their own leisurely time to fix it. Obviously, it didn't want to 'go home'

One thing you can guarantee with a French diesel engine (especially PSA ones, the Renaults aren't quite as good) is that it will almost definitely outlast the rest of the car! So long as you can find a scrappy with parts to replace bits that occasionally drop off (and there are a few round here), it's fine.

Especially when you think about the issues alternatives have - although they handle nicely and are basically solid cars, Mk.1 and Mk.2 Mondeo TDs are known for random timing belt failures before they're due, and that basically means a wrecked engine, so I wouldn't even think about one unless it had a recent change. Vectras are just horrible cars. So utterly soulless and dull to drive, I'd rather have my teeth pulled out. As for the smaller ones in their ranges, the mid 90s (probably all I can afford) Astra is again the most boring car in the known universe and somewhat prone to electrical faults, and the Escort... Well, I don't really need to say any more about the Escort... I might just about be able to pick up a Focus within my budget, and those were much, much better cars. We'll see.

And not only are Vectra's dull cars but like the early Mondeo's mentioned they are prone to random timing belt and ECU failures

[Madstuntman]

eggmiester said:

Ive had 4 ford's, and have to say not one has ever let me down the the mechanical side with the exception of a flat battery or alarm/immobiliser playing up.

The only problem i have with ford's is thier tendancy to rust in obscure places, commonly around the rear chassis and rear wheelarches on all escort ranges also appear to be a 'rot spot'.

Like Madstuntman, i'm possibly tempting fate here but best car i've owned has to be my current Escort 1.8 Si, had it 4 years and its started first time, every time in all weather conditions. The only rant i have with it is ive spent so much money tuning the beast, standard 1.8 pushing 115 bhp, i got over 140 bhp out of it with some mild tweaking, well its always handy haveing a best mate who's a rather adventureous mechanic.

I did have an XR3i mk4 escort, with the virtually bullet proof CVH engine in it, had to get rid of it due to vast amount of rot eating away at the chassis, shame really as it was a blinding car, very quick, engine was sound, no knocks nothing, even with over 150k on the clock.

I used to have a MK3 XR3i one of the first Y reg with the optional central locking and electric windows very posh!! It was black with a S1 RS turbo body kit still one of my favourite cars I've ever owned. Not a spot of rust..... visable!! but sadly underneath it resembled a rotten apple (sort of brown and crinkly) I took it for an MOT and I think the MOT tester may still be laughing now 10 years later I always wondered why I kept finding rust on the floor in the passenger footwell every morning that was untill the battery fell through... found the source of the rust!! So I bought a Sierra Sapphire and when the MOT run out on the XR I swapped it for a CD player (CD players were still over £150 at the time even for the cheapest one) for my Sierra (I think someone wanted the S1 body kit more than the car)