Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I need the ride height as ill have to drive it on non-tarmac roads. So sounds ideal.

I drove one of that gen Outbacks down to South of France at Christmas one year (long time ago). On the return journey there was a snow storm as we were driving through the Massif Centrale. Many BM and Merc abandoned on the hard shoulder. We drove on more or less as if nothing were happening.

Great car.

Mine generously came with H&R lowering springs but after driving it around standard liked it too much. We take it fishing a lot and some of the 'roads' are atrocious so sold them and have enjoyed it as is.

@ChasnotRobert I hear this a lot although haven't tested this out properly for myself. Good to know!

any recs for rental car insurance? going to mallorca next thurs for 10 days and want a car - tempted to roll the dice on somewhere with shit reviews (goldcar - large firm) as they have some really good deals on at the moment....

if this is a terrible idea also feel free to suggest best way to proceed

You can get excess insurance for not a lot of money, comparison sites are available. No experience of claiming though.

Goldcar are fine as long as you're confident you can return the car clean, on time and filled with fuel. Otherwise they'll happily add extra fees. Same with any company really.

Beware the desk clerk will probably try to push extra insurance, toll tags, sat nav, etc on you. They may even insist the fully comp insurance is required. Practice saying no.

The car should come with minimum insurance but with a high excess, so you just need to pay for excess cover if you don't want the risk.

People when looking at C5 remember that some did not come with hyradulics suspension.

Cheap 300 quid eBay car has been pulled

On the flip side we had an awful experience with Goldcar, they gave us a free "upgrade" to a much shitter car, which had a complete clutch failure half way through the week, they then wasted a day of my holiday exchanging it, saying for the whole day that they will be there in 20 mins etc. Then at the end of the holiday they completely denied that I had a replacement car, despite it changing from a Skoda to a Peugeot! Wouldn't use Goldcar every again, and sounds like other people have similar reviews...

Oooof.

Back to Amber...

Took a trip to the slipway in Greenwich behind the O2 on my home from work the other morning, to get the obligatory car pic with Canary Wharf in the background :) Had some security guards looking at me maybe expecting me to drive into the Thames :)

Absolute porn.

.

1 Attachment

That's the medium version ;)

Flickr page link :) https://www.flickr.com/photos/fixedwheelnut/51313846594

hell yeah that is lovely

Hubba, and furthermore, Hubba.

True. You need an Exclusive (or possibly a VTR+ if the first owner ticked the options box) for Hydractive 3+. By all accounts the steel sprung chassis is very good, but let's face it, you might as well have a Peugeot. Which is why they are cheaper.
Also do not go for the 1.6. They are cheap because they are bloody slow and the turbos go pop. It's too slow in my Focus. Now imagine it in a big estate.

me and my mrs are double vaxxed... (she is NHS, I signed up to a clinical trial) so has 0 impact on our plans - other than we can get a cheaper hire car now!

Thanks - they do seem like complete cowboys. I will probably avoid

In the UK, aren't all the hydraulic Mk1 C5 hydractive 3 while the later c5 upper models are all hydractive 3+. Lower models are coil spring and damper. The main difference is the button for sport and comfort ;) While all the hydraulic C5 stay flat.

Is the 1.6 slow compared to the 1.9 xud in a BX ;)

Ordered the lexia cables yet?

Slightly off topic has anyone had to get a key fob replaced?

I have a 57 plate civic and the fob is being a right cunt. You have to press the buttons 20+ times to get any response. I’ve changed the battery and even looked inside. All I can point out is this wear where the battery contact contacts.

1 Attachment

I would lightly clean those three contact strips as they look darkened, clean the matching points they contact with too, if there is any damage try to repair it with light soldering.

Ah you're one of those people!

That spot is on my usual run route - there's normally a queue to take your car pic there. It's actually a pretty grim ramp when the cars aren't there, I didn't realise for ages that it's a popular picture spot & looks good through the camera!

I heard about the queues and headed over after a night shift so no queue at 05.15 :)

Bit on the late side to this one, but I'd agree. I used Goldcar once in Mallorca. Never again. It ended up being more expensive than the others after they added the extra insurance I specifically said I didn't want, and the car was on its last legs.

noted. thank you very much!