Anyone who has seen some of my recent posts will know my younger boy's '07 plate Astra estate is on a decidedly "Shoogly Peg" and we were expecting it to fail it's MOT last week, which it obligingly did! Also, as you may have read, his wife's Jazz was vandalized in the street and, although still driveable, it's got so much panel damage that I wouldn't be making book on whether the insurance will repair it or scrap it. The Astra failed on rear axle bushes, one front flex hose and some other small stuff, so worth repairing and was back on the road by last night - although I have to say that as the axle bushes are beyond me in this cold wet weather I let the garage carry out the repairs. So, question is, what to do about cars for them going forward?
Well, Keith, who is owner/mechanic/MOT tester at this local wee garage, tells us that the Astra is actually in pretty good condition for it's age and certainly has some more running in it yet. The Jazz, although mechanically continuing to run like a wee watch, is bodily pretty poor so is the logical one to put out to pasture. Even if the vandalized panels are repaired there's a lot of rust elsewhere so the best outcome would be for it to be condemned - I'll definitely be shedding a tear or two as I've looked after it for years. So, the die is cast, we're now going full speed ahead looking for a replacement for the Astra - which will be handed down to his wife, she likes driving it anyway - and the Jazz, if not actually scrapped, will be pensioned off.
We suspected this would be the outcome so I've been looking at possible replacement vehicles for him for a while now. It needs to be an estate to get the length to accommodate his large folding ladders and other signwritting paraphernalia, SUV type bodywork doesn't give the length and it has to be petrol because he does a lot of town running so doesn't want DPF problems. I'd looked at the Tipo T-Jet estate and I still like the car but I'm a wee bit worried about some of the spares - road springs for example. There are several others, the Kia Sportwagen being one but with my long time interest in VW group products I've been looking at the Leon estate. Up to 2018/19 the most suitable engine would be a 1.4 litre with two power levels. The more powerful - 150hp - having Active Cylinder Technology (more on that to come) and the lesser, without the ACT producing about 125hp. There are setup complications with the ACT so I'd decided the 125 would be the one to go with. From 2018/19 onwards they introduced an engine update. Now a very similar engine, from the same EA211 modular "family" both the lower output and more powerful engines have this Active Cylinder Technology. I could explain ACT here but it's a complicated system and would put many of you to sleep. Google it if you really want to know.
The big problem is that there are very few of the lower power output examples about and not many 1.4's even with the higher output, ACT, engine. Nearly all the adverts are for the 1.5 later engine with ACT and I don't really want the complication of ACT also I'm a bit put off by the many reports of driveability issues with the 1.5 engine, however there are quite a lot of the 1.5 examples for sale - which maybe says something? Anyway, I've just come across this:-
How can something so complicated possibly be considered for an everyday driver? I'm guessing only main dealers or larger specialist workshops will even consider buying the required kit and I question how many of the workers will be able to properly carry out the work. The temptation to get it just "near enough" will condemn many examples to a life of "less than optimum" operation I suspect. One thing's for sure, I'm not buying one or going anywhere near one even with a very long barge pole.
Well, Keith, who is owner/mechanic/MOT tester at this local wee garage, tells us that the Astra is actually in pretty good condition for it's age and certainly has some more running in it yet. The Jazz, although mechanically continuing to run like a wee watch, is bodily pretty poor so is the logical one to put out to pasture. Even if the vandalized panels are repaired there's a lot of rust elsewhere so the best outcome would be for it to be condemned - I'll definitely be shedding a tear or two as I've looked after it for years. So, the die is cast, we're now going full speed ahead looking for a replacement for the Astra - which will be handed down to his wife, she likes driving it anyway - and the Jazz, if not actually scrapped, will be pensioned off.
We suspected this would be the outcome so I've been looking at possible replacement vehicles for him for a while now. It needs to be an estate to get the length to accommodate his large folding ladders and other signwritting paraphernalia, SUV type bodywork doesn't give the length and it has to be petrol because he does a lot of town running so doesn't want DPF problems. I'd looked at the Tipo T-Jet estate and I still like the car but I'm a wee bit worried about some of the spares - road springs for example. There are several others, the Kia Sportwagen being one but with my long time interest in VW group products I've been looking at the Leon estate. Up to 2018/19 the most suitable engine would be a 1.4 litre with two power levels. The more powerful - 150hp - having Active Cylinder Technology (more on that to come) and the lesser, without the ACT producing about 125hp. There are setup complications with the ACT so I'd decided the 125 would be the one to go with. From 2018/19 onwards they introduced an engine update. Now a very similar engine, from the same EA211 modular "family" both the lower output and more powerful engines have this Active Cylinder Technology. I could explain ACT here but it's a complicated system and would put many of you to sleep. Google it if you really want to know.
The big problem is that there are very few of the lower power output examples about and not many 1.4's even with the higher output, ACT, engine. Nearly all the adverts are for the 1.5 later engine with ACT and I don't really want the complication of ACT also I'm a bit put off by the many reports of driveability issues with the 1.5 engine, however there are quite a lot of the 1.5 examples for sale - which maybe says something? Anyway, I've just come across this:-
How can something so complicated possibly be considered for an everyday driver? I'm guessing only main dealers or larger specialist workshops will even consider buying the required kit and I question how many of the workers will be able to properly carry out the work. The temptation to get it just "near enough" will condemn many examples to a life of "less than optimum" operation I suspect. One thing's for sure, I'm not buying one or going anywhere near one even with a very long barge pole.
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