It's a function of getting older...

A car doesn't look old because you remember it coming out and mentally you're still young!

When I was a child in the 80s and early 90s Old cars were on B, C and D plates and, actually only about 5-8 years old at the time but I remember looking at them as utterly decrepit (the fact everything in the 80s was 90% iron oxide by 5 years probably didn't help). My uncle had a brown Vauxhall Chevette on a Suffix V plate...I remember this car seeming ancient in 1988..in reality it was 8.

Quality has improved but my current car is nearly 8..and it never in a million years looks as old to me as that Chevette did back then. Part of that is because it still looks mostly like it left the factory...and it still works but the other part is 2011 doesn't feel long ago when as a child if someone said something was 8 years ago that was forever.

I'm sure my son will be similarly unforgiving of my 'ancient' wheels especially given the wife never has anything more than 3 years old if it sticks around.

I'm not saying that cars like the 1s I mentioned look brand spanking new anymore, I just don't think they look like 20 year old designs, that's all. With regards to ageing in other aspects, they're still a comfortable means of getting around, plus these days, an old car can still be perfectly reliable. Personally, I'd trust my relatively simple 11 year old car far more than a current, guff filled model.

My Parents had a green Renault Laguna estate and it was the childhood car I remember. Not sure the year, engine or spec but it had these two rear facing removable seats that went in the boot and me and my brother used to love it. Though looking back... how would that have done in a rear ender... hmm

not being able to upload photos to the gallery due to some error that i have had for a few months..

"Unable to create image: [w:/domains/fiatforum.com/wwwroot/gallery/uploads/105177/file name.jpg]"

cant i go back to the old image uploader??

2 cm of snow..

No issues other than the 4 x Fails being out in force..

Lovely View of one that managed to leave the road in a 20 zone into a tree..ah physics..take something heavy..fit performance summer tyres..add a person who thinks that 4 x 4 means physics don't apply and a light dusting of snow. Sit back and watch the insurance claims rack up..

StevenRB45 said:

2 cm of snow..

No issues other than the 4 x Fails being out in force..

Lovely View of one that managed to leave the road in a 20 zone into a tree..ah physics..take something heavy..fit performance summer tyres..add a person who thinks that 4 x 4 means physics don't apply and a light dusting of snow. Sit back and watch the insurance claims rack up..

Click to expand...

We had a touch more than that here..

Walked into town after 15:00.. uneventful.

On the way back walked past the local carbody shop.

RAC van at front of queue.. dropping off the 9 SUV.. you may have a point..

Quite the Achievement really...

Every time it snows around here the ditches are littered with them.

The snow here is about 4-5". Covers the roof rails on the Panda, plus a bit more.

Now, why are the winter tyres still in the garage?

It stopped snowing around 4pm. So the kids were then using the slight hill for sledging, and have polished it well. Should be even more fun tomorrow.

Why do people keep stopping on the hill, then wondering why they can't move. Basic physics, more force needed to start moving than to keep moving. As I type, a car just dropped someone off next door, now struggling to move. It's a cul-de-sac, has to turn around further up. Should have turned around then back down to drop off. Then gravity will assist moving away again.

You dont get gravity in SN zones too do you.

I will have to get a new HU That can accept such tech.

This morning. I set my alarm five minutes early so I could wipe the snow off my Mito with a soft brush before venturing out.

I was pretty much the only one who had. :bang:

Most had clear windows and roof of snow waiting to cover the windscreen under braking or get blown off at someone. A few had literally just wiped the windscreen and that was that.

Still it makes dangerous/careless drivers easier to spot I guess. :devil:

Braking.. not in this ice you wont..

portland_bill said:

Now, why are the winter tyres still in the garage?

Click to expand...

Winter tyres popped on this morning.
Drove off the drive, over the frozen snow, and off down the hill on the ice, no problems. Once on the flat, tried to provoke a skid by braking firmly from about 10mph, got one kick of the ABS. Smug!

portland_bill said:

It stopped snowing around 4pm. So the kids were then using the slight hill for sledging, and have polished it well. Should be even more fun tomorrow.

Click to expand...

Arrived back from shopping. There's a group of people working hard to break the ice on the road and shovel it up. Hard work.
Some of them are the parents of the kids who polished it yesterday, with the parents' encouragement.

"Twinkle" our 2016 Ibiza ST, goes in for her last service before her Warranty runs out next month - First MOT too! She's been going to the supplying dealer, Arnold Clark, for her services during the warranty period. I decided to do this to "smooth" the way just in case there was a warranty claim. There was a problem with the turbo waste gate actuator rod seizing (a known problem I believe) and the entire turbo was replaced with an updated replacement turbo - the modified rod ends can be clearly seen - without any argument (as you would expect) but it was nice that there was no stress involved. The first service and the one she's in for on Friday are Lube services. The second one (last year) was a bigger job, so, I would guess, air filter etc. (A "big" service as we would have called it in my day). As far as I can tell everything that should have been done was done. The weather, last year when I went to pick her up, was rotten so it was a few days before I opened the bonnet. Here's her engine bay in all it's glory.



So I was disappointed to see an unsightly scratch on the top of the air filter casing.



I thought about making a fuss, but, in reality, what could I expect them to do? I don't think it would be reasonable to expect a new casing would be supplied? I will be mentioning it on Friday when I leave her with them, just to let them know I'm "on the case"

I've been thinking hard about what to do next year when service time comes around. Although the "Arnold Clark" experience has been quite a pleasant one at the service desk, and they did honour the turbo warranty without argument, I really hate not having any contact with the workshop. The problem with this setup is that the person you are interfacing with has only limited technical knowledge.

I am also highly suspicious of this multi-franchising setup which seems so popular at the larger dealerships these days. The chap working on my SEAT on Friday afternoon is quite likely to have been working on a Peugeot before lunch and something else before that. So I've decided not to carry on with them once the Warranty expires. The choice then becomes, do I do it myself? or hand her over to the lads at AVW. I have no qualms about trusting AVW but feel sure I can do the standard service and repair tasks myself & I'm lucky having TPS about half an hour's drive away for my genuine parts. (anyway, I'd quite like to and, at my age, I may not be physically able to for much longer). So there we are. I think I've decided. Servicing and simpler repair jobs I'll do myself. If something diabolical goes wrong - especially if it's electronic - or if the weather is too inclement, I've got AVW to fall back on. "Twink" is much younger than the other family vehicles I maintain though so I'm going to go and have a chat with Alan and/or Keith at AVW just to make sure there's nothing unexpected awaiting me under the bonnet and that my VCDS scanner is going to work on her.

So, definitely not grumpy, but, probably only a little hint of a smile.

Yes.
Fully agree.

Our nearest FIAT showroom is like that..
Had the panda serviced there.
They wouldnt stamp the book....as it wasnt
An 'official FIAT service' ..err.. well what am I paying over the odds for then..??
The whole place was branded in Blue Ovals..
It just so happened I had a Nectar points letter in my bag.. one of the deals was 'get a ford service.. receive @3.25 billion tokens'

Strangely.. it transpired the poor car had not received a FORD service either.

Not impressed.. even less impressed when I couldnt find the car..

Had to go back and enquire..
3 staff members later.. it was located


In a locked compound full of transit vans.
(Wonder if they get FORD servicing..?)

Missing:damaged car parts.

My sons friend had a 3 yearold Peugeot

It had a new Headgasket under warranty..
And was oozing copius amounts of oil 6 months later.

Keen to get it done they booked in a place on my way to work.. so I offered to drop it off.

Uneventful.. went back at 5 pm all done .. quick signature.. drove it home.

Popped around to drop it off..

Having had such a short lived repair last time.. they wanted to check under the bonnet.

'Where's the plastic engine cover??'

No idea.. looked in the boot ..no..

Asked the main driver.. 'definitely had one before..'

Went to the workshop following day..
No joy.. quick conversation..
'They don't come with a cover'

Rang around.. not a stock item.. may have been aftermarket..

Great.. so the uninitiated probably broke it taking it off.. then chucked it.

And people wonder why we still try and do our own work..

varesecrazy said:

Yes.
Fully agree.

Our nearest FIAT showroom is like that..
Had the panda serviced there.
They wouldnt stamp the book....as it wasnt
An 'official FIAT service' ..err.. well what am I paying over the odds for then..??
The whole place was branded in Blue Ovals..
It just so happened I had a Nectar points letter in my bag.. one of the deals was 'get a ford service.. receive @3.25 billion tokens'

Strangely.. it transpired the poor car had not received a FORD service either.

Not impressed.. even less impressed when I couldnt find the car..

Had to go back and enquire..
3 staff members later.. it was located


In a locked compound full of transit vans.
(Wonder if they get FORD servicing..?)

Click to expand...

I think that's quite outrageous that they refused to validate the service book! I'd have been absolutely fizzing!

varesecrazy said:

Missing:damaged car parts.

My sons friend had a 3 yearold Peugeot

It had a new Headgasket under warranty..
And was oozing copius amounts of oil 6 months later.

Keen to get it done they booked in a place on my way to work.. so I offered to drop it off.

Uneventful.. went back at 5 pm all done .. quick signature.. drove it home.

Popped around to drop it off..

Having had such a short lived repair last time.. they wanted to check under the bonnet.

'Where's the plastic engine cover??'

No idea.. looked in the boot ..no..

Asked the main driver.. 'definitely had one before..'

Went to the workshop following day..
No joy.. quick conversation..
'They don't come with a cover'

Rang around.. not a stock item.. may have been aftermarket..

Great.. so the uninitiated probably broke it taking it off.. then chucked it.

And people wonder why we still try and do our own work..

Click to expand...

Just as a matter of vicarious interest, was the oil leaking from the top (rocker/cam) cover or the head to block joint?

Sorting out a head gasket problem, and I've done my fair share, is often not as simple as it sounds. A lot of laborious and careful scraping and cleaning, (the phrase "eat your dinner off it" comes to mind) checking for flatness (sometimes even a quite new head will need skimming) and reassembly without contamination of the mating faces. To say nothing of carefully bleeding out the new coolant so you don't get localised hot spots "cooking" an area of the new gasket are involved. Not conducive to a successful outcome in a workshop driven by throughput, bonus targets, book job times, and management pressure no matter how diligent the workers may be. Give me an Indy specialist every time.

Ps. Regarding the engine cover. Not quite the same thing but sister-in-law's came back (a few years ago now) without it's under shield. straight back to the dealer where it was found, in pieces, tucked away by the waste bins. It was very obvious that it had had a really big coming together with something solid. Maybe a speed bump, maybe a cub? But more likely the piece of pipe which sticks out of the ground where the entrance to the service workshops are (it takes the bolt on the security gate). She never did get a new one!

It's stuff like this that makes me reluctant to move manufacturers. Any nugget can buy a decent car but finding a decent dealer is hard work.

I could add any number of dealer fails from our time with Citroen, few with the Suzuki (including leaving me with brake fluid leak after a wishbone change) e.t.c.

Yet in 5 years of using my cars dealer..they've just done what you'd expect, every time. Which sounds small but when you think of time spent chasing damage, having take take additional time off because it wasn't right 1st tine or doing a 40 mile round trip because some plank forgot to stamp the service book then it's just nice to have no hassle.

Got 5 mins to look at the recently purched punto mj.

Very shiny.. and clean inside.. but a little 'odd' in places.

Noticed a dash rattle.. not something Ive seen for 10+years.. so a sign of trouble.

Pulled off the cabin filter access flap..
Carpet on tunnel piled with leaf shreddings..
Noticed the matrix rattles a little.. (coolant is over filled with fresh fluid...)

Next spot.. there is a missing screw from lower dash to centre console.

While Im there I attempt to get at the heater lighting. (Non working) found a loose wire..

While Im in the dash.. it becomes obvious the modern radio/cd is flailing around..

Might be rattle free soon .. !!

The service stamp is the final part of the job. If they refuse to do it, refuse to pay. :devil: