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

Nice! Any pictures?
Yeah, Renault don't always make things easy, but that's pretty universal it seems. That gearbox is a pain to remove though, easier to remove the engine and do it isn't it.
A MK1 Renault 5 1.4 GTX is quite nippy and fun though. And will give 40mpg.

Classic Citroen's are lovely aren't they, and different to anything else. I'd love one.

Strange how even some of the very rarest classic french cars aren't particularly expensive these days. Renault 14 is a good example I suppose - £6-8,000? Just hard to find a good one.

Never had a Renault, but there are many I want to own.

Had a slightly rough CX which was utterly lovely

That's perfect. I'd swap a Renault 5 for one of those any day.

I haven't seen the videos I've only been seeing his text updates but he said yeah they've removed the speed limiter already

I'm guessing your dad is Mark Fish? He did so much work to my old 182. Always loved visiting the workshop - always so many interesting cars!

Yeah, that's the one!
That's nice to hear. Thanks. Yeah, it was always interesting to see what cars turned up.
I had a workshop out the back for a while.

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He's a great guy, nothing was ever too much trouble and he taught me how to change the discs and pads properly one day when he was running out of time to get everything done! Hope he's doing well!

He did the cage, fitted the Recaro SPG's, coilovers and I forget what else!

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Ah nice! That's cool. Thanks for the warm words.
I was probably stressing somewhere in the background with some metalwork. He semi-retired last year, sorting through decades of Renault parts and trying to clear space in his sheds and head after 40+years of running the business. Picture shows a fraction of what accumulated over the years, madness really.
Hope you are doing well.

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I drive my car once every 2 months, annual mileage is 3k miles max. For this sort of use case, is a 60mpg euro 6 diesel a bad idea?

Looking at peugeot partner tepee.

@6pt - did you manage to bag one?

What kind of driving? Diesels are better on longer trips, if you mostly do smaller trips petrol is probably better.

Longer trips only actually! Once or twice across the channel and 300-500 mile trips in the UK. Ikea might be the only short trip.

Since missing the ‘right’ one in January the thrill of the chase has waned somewhat. Nothing exciting come to market so far this month (autotrader/pistonheads/z4 forums/ebay). The longer it takes the more tempting throwing 12k at a lowish miles one from Zachary Luke is, just so I can get it out of my system, but I’d lose just as much on a cheap one as a good one after x years of ownership and there’s no need for the thing in the first place so going all-in feels silly.

Finally ready to drop this engine back.....been out of car for 15 months which was NOT the plan.

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Diesel will be way better at this. Sounds like a similar use case to what we use our 1.6 diesel Seat Leon estate for. It's been dreamy for the last 4 years, only had to replace consumables like tyres, brake pads. So economical on those long runs.

I don't think the argument in favour of diesel is particularly clear. the only certainty is diesel will give better mpg for any given vehicle, which is most relevant if you are doing a lot of miles. For 3k miles a year, +/- 15mpg is not going to add up to much. plus:

According to Which studies, diesel automobiles are more than three times more likely to break down than petrol cars on average and cost 20% more to repair when they do.

on fuel costs:

3,000 miles at 40mpg = 75 gallons of petrol = £484 at average prices

3,000 miles at 55mpg = 55 gallons of diesel = £380 at average prices

The only reason I am looking at diesel is because of the kind of car I want (van derived MPV) is mostly available in Diesel but yeah I get your point.

Berlingo, Partner Tepee, Combo life, Tourneo connect .. basically the same car under diff brands.

That's quite a lump of metal. What took so long? Parts, labour or other things? Also. No EFI upgrade?

I'm no diesel hater, but modern ones with all the emissions stuff really are a pain unless you're doing big miles. So many things to throw big bills at you when they fail.

Euro 4 petrols are so simple in comparison.

So many things to throw big bills at you when they fail.

DPF and Adblue system. What else?

Euro 4 petrols are so simple in comparison.

Dunno. Had an emissions system failure on a modern new petrol engine within 6000 miles. Suspect all modern ICE stuff is just super complex / shit.

Any recommendations for touch paint paint kits?

Have a 2 inch x 1/2 inch scrape on my dad’s golf. Theres no denting and it’s on the wheel arch, so fine with touch up paint. There are a million websites/ Amazon products so it’s the usual problem of working out which are actually any good.

That's why I said Euro 4 petrols. Still compatible with all your favourite zones, without the additional crap.

EGRs (yes petrols have them, but they don't clog up anywhere near as much), DMFs (yes petrol have them too now, but on the older stuff it's less common, glow-plug issues (they seize in because they only get changed when they fail compared to spark plugs which is a service item). Obviously turbo systems which can also be avoided with older petrols. If you aren't doing many miles, simplicity is the cheapest motoring available.

The pick up idea has been torpedoed. SUV is the next option.

I’ve always like the Land Rover discovery 4, but can’t imagine they’re reliable. But I like the styling.