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

Couple of recent spots

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those aren't OG wheels on the Quattro are they?

S-pedo yellow

Brilliant. Love the 240 wagon. Wonder if that was an original colour on the early cars. Superb

It's because it's not a Quattro - It's an Audi Coupe GT

I think it's a technically 245.

It is, and I love it.

Not technically, it is. In the UK and sweeden.

Not sure about the plastic light covers thou, are they there to protect the lights.

Did Volvo send cdk kits for these cars to SA,NZ or Oz?

Here’s a couple more.

Spotted the GT40 kit car through the window of the “Dunedin mens shed”, it was previously a business that did aircon refurbs

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I posted a couple of weeks ago about my lights dimming when I roll up the windows - suspected battery problem.

Today I go to start the car before a big journey and it doesn't start. Shite. Probably a battery problem I think, so I go and buy one of those lithium jump starters so I can get it going to make it to a garage for a new battery.

I charged the thing up and tried to start the car and it doesn't work. It seemed like it struggled to turn over and it almost started going but not quite. After maybe 10 gos with the jump starter it eventually starts, but it's running pretty shittily and after a minute I notice that there's some really horrible burning-smoky-smelling fumes building up. Jumped out of the car and had a look at the back and there's a bit (not a lot) of smoke coming out the exhaust. Last time it started, I did note that the exhaust was smelling particularly petrol-y, but didn't really think much of it. This time it's a nastier smoky metallic smell.

Had a look under the bonnet and noticed this peculiar spray/leak looking thing on the engine cover.

Guess I'm going to sign up for AA or whoever tomorrow but what am I likely to be in for here?

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Looks like something is leaking onto the belt below and that’s flicking it up like that. Get a torch and have a poke around.
Using your phone to record a video with the camera light on can be a handy way of getting a look at the hard to reach places too.

pull the dipstick and check if the oil is clean(ish) or milky...

Had a check - looks like the belt runs the opposite direction so the fluid is probably not from there. The spray had dried up this morning so I suspect it was most likely water but possibly some other volatile fluid. No noticeable dripping or leaking.

It must have come from somewhere obviously... so I guess I'll need to investigate at a later date

It actually started on the first try just now. There was a fair bit of smoke but went for a 15 minute drive and the smoke cleared up eventually. Now I suspect that it was flooded, as on Thursday evening I was loading the car in the car park and started it twice for a minute each just to roll forward and back into the space so must have happened then.

Seems like it's running absolutely fine now, same power as normal, no misfiring, stops and starts okay. Probably need a new battery and I'll have to investigate the leak and try to figure out why/how it flooded as there was nothing particularly unusual happening the last time I ran it.

Probably will just leave it here in the car park until after my holiday and get the train instead, don't fancy breaking down at the services today!

Spotted this lovely old Saab today when out and about - only time for a quick snap but it was very, very clean.

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Is the engine a duratec? cc and age as that looks like where the water pump location is and that fails.

The smoke could be excess petrol. The starters with a low battery make a car hard to start as the low battery will draw power.

Whilst changing rear wiper blades, I dropped the old one down the side of my car, and rather unbelievably it's put a three inch scratch in the paint, to the primer (and metal in one place).

I am obviously furious with myself, but I'm fairly hopeful that it can be fixed without having to repaint the whole quarter panel.

Anyone got any recommendations for a paint / scratch repair person around west london?

My sister needs a car for transporting 3 kids. Mostly short journeys. In Edinburgh so ULEZ compliant would be good (I think they’re introducing a ULEZ system, or there’s one on the horizon at least).
Basically, what’s an estate that’s aimed at short journeys rather than a motorway mile munching diesel and that’ll be easy to get kids in and out of. Finger in the air budget of 7-12k.

Fabia estate. 1.0l turbo 6 speed?

I think they might be a bit too small.
My sister will regularly have to get a newborn, 4yr old and 11yr old in the car at once on her own. And that’ll mean buggies etc in tow.

I’m liking the look of the Ford C-Max and B-max, especially the ones with sliding doors.

I've used Little Knocks in Wokingham before and they appear to have a branch in South Ruislip. The Wokingham branch were very good but check them on Google reviews.

I have this car in 1.2, its so dull I love it!

A friend with two kids has the B-Max, looks ideal if you only care about practicality

I think reducing stress via making getting kids in the car and their shit in the back as easy as possible will reap the biggest rewards tbh. Convenience is basically the priority (which means reliability also fairly important, because a car that isn’t reliable isn’t convenient!).

Toyota auris / corolla hybrid estate? No idea how much they go for but might fit the bill for suitability for short journeys and ulez