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

just superb dude. chuffed you are loving it x

One fairly fundamental thing I dropped a bollock on buying the 996 was the paint. Seemed like the last protective coat had gone bad and had oxidised, looked really bad at certain angles. Colour correction today, decided to get it done properly, paint a bit thin in places but all original apparently.

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Cheers.

And another question. There seems to be a much cheaper deal if I book via a 3rd party company carrental.Com

Will this fuck me?

Oof. Very good work.

A quick google for the site shows carrentals.com shows a poor rating

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.carrentals.com

Owned by Expedia.

I know it's a bad idea, but can anyone chime in on owning a big volvo estate in London? Currently I'm in a Fiat 500, but I have aspirations of looking really really cool.

They're fine so far as I remember. I'd also get third party insurance though.

It's only cool if it's the model from BTCC.

I always used rentalcars.com and then whatever is cheapest, plus cheap third party insurance. Had Alamo in Italy, was ok.
I think they're all owned by enterprise anyway.
In the end it wasn't all ok, but not their fault I bumped into another car.

Before you move the hire car take a video of all four wheels and every panel, seat, carpet and the boot contents. Do it again when you return it, preferably with a staff member seeing you do it both times. That way you won't cop for a wheel or panel refurb that wasn't yours.

Not yet, as no warning if parked level assumed it was close to minimum hence warning if angled away from sensor?

1.9 diesel fwiw

At a bbq this afternoon…..I love this little Austin! It’s got history too….the owner is a proper car guy and has some absolute beauties.
Pic with my partners mini, car size comparison!😂

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That's the plan, boyo

Excellent. Stage 3 tune and warp factor 9.

that is pretty awesome. lots of fun to be had driving that I reckon. and a I am not talking about the mini

Would you walk away from a Mini Countryman (N18 Engine) with minor oil leak on the MOT.

Car was fully serviced by a Mini/BMW specialist in March (plugs, coolant etc), the seller said the garage noted the oil leak but said it wasn’t a concern and just to keep an eye on the levels. Haven’t seen the car in person yet but might make the trip next weekend

Do have a soft spot for the boat tail Austin's.

Did you get a go at driving or as a passenger?

Is this a private sale or dealer? As that is the infamous prince engine.

I'd try and find where the leak is from, does the owner know. Ask if a catch tank is fitted, and did the garage check for any coking of the inlets.

Thank BMW for the terrible timing chain tensioner design. Which caused a number of recalls and even the recalls had recalls. For both BMW and PSA.

Many second hand car dealers will not buy prince engined cars as the have had many issues with cars they have bought. Even with full PSA service history.

If you want a mini some one further up is selling his...

Private seller - and thanks, those are good starting points. I thought the later N18 were less prone to issues than the earlier N16 models.

Would love the little car above, but unfortunately need 5 doors and a bigger boot.

Have been looking at a cheap minis, the ones with faults and cheap enough to make money on if I do the work.

My opinion of the cam chain issues is that some vehicles missed the recall and even some recalled had the chains and cogs changed for ones that were pre update. So you would hope the n18 was sorted.

The coke build up is a thing, no idea of the cause most say wrong oil, some say fitting a catch tank for the breathers helps take the oil out of the inlet so removes coke build up.

If it hasn't been done or noted by the specialist garage then knock the price of a decoke off. Any ideas when the gearbox oil was changed? Brake fluid?

EDIT: Fuckwit in me forgot to mention that the bigger problem is the engines use oil, up to 1 litre for 4000 km is acceptable while oil changes are 10k and oil running low fucks the timing chain and lots of other bits. Part of this the internet says is cos the cars were bought on fix priced servicing contracts.

You want to hear the engine start up from cold and listen for a chain rattle.

I procrastinated and was pipped at the post for hang_on_voltaire's Mini. So as I had partially scratched an itch I bought this today. I'll pick it up tomorrow afternoon.

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I need to find some bumper clips for my outback but Google isn't bringing anything up. Anyone got a good place to look?

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Maybe try a dealer. It's a starting point

I've never found dealers any use.
Finally found a part number and the part online.