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

That description reads well, if it's honest I'd buy it and put a little money aside for potential issues.

"Owned by my late Dad for last 10 years."

That's the mind of car you want to buy. Poor chap.

Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault (1.6 (b))
That mot failure needs an answer.

Why do you need an xc for the motorway?

I’ve always found 00s performance VWs demand silly money in general. Look at R36 Passats - no one bought them when they were new, never mind now.

At least the Lupo is relatively cheap to tax compared to a R32/R36 which are over £700 pa now.

MK6 Golf GTIs seem to having a dip though (cheaper than MK5 in some cases)

Yes, I spend too much time on AT/eBay

Why do you need an xc for the motorway?

Nobody does, but they’re all much higher spec than the majority of equivalent V70s, and usually better cared for.

My P2 XC70’s done 165K, 9 years in my ownership and nothing major has gone wrong. The P3 generation is a Mondeo underneath, with a lot of cost cutting, so I can’t vouch for it.

If you get a Japanese import R36 the tax is cheaper (presume the same is true for the R32 but you can also get the earlier ones with lower tax).

£700 for the top tax bracket now!? Eek.

Didn't the mk6 gti have a few issues, with the mk5 gti engine or the R being the ones to go for? Might be making that up.

MK6 GTI main issue is the timing chain tensioner (on pre-2013? models) can fail and grenade your engine. pricey to replace with the upgraded part too, due to labour (8 hrs?) involved. other issues include water pumps failing, standard VW AC issues, thermostat failures, carbon fouling, oil leaks / engine drinks oil, and some others. main one is the timing chain tensioner though. I’ve got a MK6 GTI (with tensioner done) - fun car and pretty comfortable too. upgrade the AV system to the RCD330 and you’re laughing. loves drinking petrol though

Chain tensioner issues plague lots of VAG cars and engines from that era tbh. Octavia, Tiguan etc

My little caddy has been neglected for the last four years, when it became a boat van, dog van, bike van, on rubbish towpath parking areas……it didn’t look any better after the wheel fell off and ripped the wing off with it……this post is my inspiration to retrieve my mojo, and get it looking good again……I’ll pop a before up……..

3 Attachments

I was looking at an r32 Passat on eBay recently.
sold twice on auction at around £2k, and neither buyer turned up, likely due to the tax cost.
still looked like a lot of car for the money.

Took the Suby to Byron Bay and back today, that sputtering thing is also happening at higher speeds on the highway. It's odd, if I keep the power steady it doesn't happen but if I give it gas and then ease off or hesitate it'll have a little coniption. Throttle or transmission problem? I know it isn't much to go on, I thought it might be an injector issue and was just gonna chuck some cleaner in with the next tank of fuel but now I'm not so sure.

CEL hasn't returned on the Alfa so will just keep an eye on it for now

hott. has me looking up caddies now

I absolutely love this little van…!

Good point, I'd probably look into E350 estates for just motorway cruising. I wasn't totally clear, it's for the motorway comfort and also for pretending to be a local up here in the Lakes (but not driving a SUV). Plus they definitely look cooler than a V70.

Which version of Mondeo?

@ectoplasmosis 240k on my p2 xc70 and counting. Keeping to 300 at least. Good cars

Nice! Pics please!

In its natural habitat

2 Attachments

Vacuum leaks somewhere? There's bound to be some old cracked piping in the engine bay.

Dirty air flow metre? (Does it even have one?) Throttle position sensor? I'm just saying words that are vaguely right here ...

I have no idea, all I know about engines I've learnt off YouTube, which is very little. As it's officially the dog's car, I drove him to his favourite walkies spot this arvo and was very careful with the throttle and the problem didn't happen. It only seems to occur when I'm being sloppy delivering fuel to the engine, I come on the power too fast or modulate the pedal mid acceleration.

I'll tell the mechanic and see what he thinks but it's a bit disconcerting when you're doing 130kph on the Bruce Highway. At one point I got a bit of feedback and a sound from the accelerator pedal when it happened, that was strange and not fun. Not worried, I'm sure it's fine. 🤞🤥

hypothetical question: if you wanted to tow something that weighed a bit less than a tonne, maybe only half a tonne, on a braked trailer, semi regularly and over quite long distances, what car would you choose?

NB. a Landrover Discovery is not the right answer.

@hang_on_voltaire

How'd you get on?

Side of the road ;)

Similar large 4x4 or what are transits capable of?

If the vacuum pipes are old and hard I replace.

i wouldn't want to drive a transit to Scotland, particularly.

most large cars are rated to tow 2t or so on a braked trailer so don't see this would need a commercial vehicle.