kevgibs
New member
I've asked a few questions on here and got some great advice, which I very much appreciate. My technical knowledge is limited so I can't contribute much there, but I do like reading stories other members have posted about their cars. Even if some of them are going back a few years now! Thought it might be nice to share my story in any case.
I started learning to drive around the time the Stilo first came out in the UK and I loved it, I always wanted one. Thirteen years later I passed my test. I'm not that bad a driver, honest, I just lost interest and never really needed to drive until my son came along.
Recently I started looking around and I fell for the Schumacher. Just look at it! I found one on eBay for a half decent price and the idea started to gather pace in my head. Eventually the seller and I agreed on a price and I arranged to travel the 300 miles to take a look at the car. I made a weekend of it. I drove a hire car from the north east up to Loch Ness, in Scotland, where the seller lives.
Finally found his house and there it was. My Stilo. Had a quick look around it and I was a bit disappointed. For all the seller was a nice bloke, the car was a little way off the excellent condition the ad described. Paintwork wasn't great. Schumacher badges missing. Interior was a mess. I wasn't impressed. I was about to walk away and just take the hire car home when the guy dropped the price a bit. "OK I'll take it".
That night and the next morning I regretted it. I was knackered off the drive up and my girlfriend could see I thought I'd made a mistake. I didn't pay a lot of money, but it's the most money I've ever paid for a car! My mood wasn't helped when I moved the car in the hotel car park and thought I couldn't get it into reverse. Five minutes of panic later I realised I needed to pull the gear knob up.
Still, I was concerned the car wouldn't make the 300 miles back home when I'd dragged my girlfriend and our 3 year old all that way. A mood not helped when it was hard to change gear, I couldn't get it into sixth, couldn't indicate right without holding the indicator in place, and couldn't lock the driver's door. Then on the way home it started to rain and I noticed half the rear wiper arm was missing. I couldn't see anything out the rear window. Switched on the air con and... nothing. What have I bought.
Then I hit a point about five hours into a six hour drive that I realised how much I enjoyed driving the car. The noise and acceleration on putting my foot down coming off the many roundabouts I'd started to hit was immense. But that gearbox!
I got home and started asking questions on here, with some great answers. Turns out Schumachers don't come with a 6 speed gearbox. Looks like someone put the wrong gear knob on there...
The only time I've had the car out in the three weeks since then was taking it to see my friend who's a mechanic. He looked over it and assured me most of the things I was worried about are minor issues. The gear problems likely to be fixed by greasing the selector cables. I drove home enjoying the car that little bit more. It's been parked outside my house since!
Tomorrow I'm taking the car to my friend's garage. He works for a major dealership, albeit another manufacturer, but the place is amazing. I'll try and get a few pics. We've got a few jobs to look at, he'll check out the more mechanical stuff, hopefully the car will be in a better place afterwards.
Not a lot to report so far, I'll update tomorrow!
I started learning to drive around the time the Stilo first came out in the UK and I loved it, I always wanted one. Thirteen years later I passed my test. I'm not that bad a driver, honest, I just lost interest and never really needed to drive until my son came along.
Recently I started looking around and I fell for the Schumacher. Just look at it! I found one on eBay for a half decent price and the idea started to gather pace in my head. Eventually the seller and I agreed on a price and I arranged to travel the 300 miles to take a look at the car. I made a weekend of it. I drove a hire car from the north east up to Loch Ness, in Scotland, where the seller lives.
Finally found his house and there it was. My Stilo. Had a quick look around it and I was a bit disappointed. For all the seller was a nice bloke, the car was a little way off the excellent condition the ad described. Paintwork wasn't great. Schumacher badges missing. Interior was a mess. I wasn't impressed. I was about to walk away and just take the hire car home when the guy dropped the price a bit. "OK I'll take it".
That night and the next morning I regretted it. I was knackered off the drive up and my girlfriend could see I thought I'd made a mistake. I didn't pay a lot of money, but it's the most money I've ever paid for a car! My mood wasn't helped when I moved the car in the hotel car park and thought I couldn't get it into reverse. Five minutes of panic later I realised I needed to pull the gear knob up.
Still, I was concerned the car wouldn't make the 300 miles back home when I'd dragged my girlfriend and our 3 year old all that way. A mood not helped when it was hard to change gear, I couldn't get it into sixth, couldn't indicate right without holding the indicator in place, and couldn't lock the driver's door. Then on the way home it started to rain and I noticed half the rear wiper arm was missing. I couldn't see anything out the rear window. Switched on the air con and... nothing. What have I bought.
Then I hit a point about five hours into a six hour drive that I realised how much I enjoyed driving the car. The noise and acceleration on putting my foot down coming off the many roundabouts I'd started to hit was immense. But that gearbox!
I got home and started asking questions on here, with some great answers. Turns out Schumachers don't come with a 6 speed gearbox. Looks like someone put the wrong gear knob on there...
The only time I've had the car out in the three weeks since then was taking it to see my friend who's a mechanic. He looked over it and assured me most of the things I was worried about are minor issues. The gear problems likely to be fixed by greasing the selector cables. I drove home enjoying the car that little bit more. It's been parked outside my house since!
Tomorrow I'm taking the car to my friend's garage. He works for a major dealership, albeit another manufacturer, but the place is amazing. I'll try and get a few pics. We've got a few jobs to look at, he'll check out the more mechanical stuff, hopefully the car will be in a better place afterwards.
Not a lot to report so far, I'll update tomorrow!
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