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

I'd never go so far south as Naples

I've driven loads of places and Naples was the place I didn't enjoy the driving and was glad to hand the car back. Nuts and no regard for anything! Great pizza though and amazing history there. Northern Italy is great, miss driving over there!

Come to think of it, Naples was worse than turkey, including Istanbul.

Car looks great in that setting by the way. Good to see.

Two of my most frightening experiences in a car were taxi rides in Naples... Tho' I was a bit more relaxed on the second one, so I could almost enjoy the craziness... Everyone is nuts there, pedestrians, scooters, cars, buses...

The drive from the airport into Istanbul was the single most terrifying car journey I've ever been on, well - tied with the return journey.

If Italy is like that then, well, wow.

In other news I went to see a chap about fitting a new roof with a heated glass rear window today in time for winter, turned out that the trimming place was owned by a chap whose brother owned the place opposite, which did paint.

We're discussing price at the moment but the painter has said £3,500 - £4,000 for wings, bumpers, bonnet and boot off, windscreen out, all rot sorted, whole body rubbed back, dents removed, seat backs, centre console and boot/bonnet levers all in body colour, roof metal elements in satin black.

Only issue is that the trimmer is £700 more than the other quote I've got, if we can true that up a little I'm going to go for it.

You should buy a windmill.

Now that's an idea. I'm actually going to see one next Saturday, which is a hell of a coincidence.

Napoli is bonkers. I've seen a car go between oncoming trams at 60 like it ain't no thing. Did like riding a scooter there though. The cobbles would be hell for anything low clearance.

Nice work BQ - that's good living.

Just get straight in your mind the absolute minimum you would accept, than don't go any lower.

Tough one, you know the dealer wants to maximise his margin. He's holding so you no he's not wasting your time. He'll make the most of the corrosion and stone chips. As el_pres says you have to be tough, all depends on wether you can afford to see say no.

Porsche or not, stone chips are to be expected on a used car no?

Also keep in mind, if a dealer is interested in the car, there will certainly be others interested

Was driven round Cairo in the back of a taxi, and drove a rental car through Palermo rush hour - both about equally scary

In fascinating oil news I can confirm that each graduation would indeed seem to be 0.2 litre, and the car is now happier:

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is it always 14:55?

Unless you roll it

We doing scary rides?

Yes Naples in a rental car. Many parp.

However being a back seat wanker down the Dalmatian Coast. Overtaking cliff top pass was almost an egg laying experience.

Interesting.

There should be an illuminated engine management light on the far right of all the others, it comes on with the ignition and goes out when you start the car.

It's quite common for unscrupulous sellers to remove the bulb if it's permanently on to disguise a fault...

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definitely funny.

That's ok, changing this engine anyway

Today has mainly been about rust. With some greasy B roads I went to fill up, driving at what I would describe in court as normal speed, but actually was faster than normal speed with no loss of traction from the rear. Still can't stop grinning. Thinking jobs on the horizon are:

• New alu radiator and water hoses
  
• Cam sensor O ring
  
• Relay and dash switch to wire up the heated rear window
  
• Removing the immobiliser
  

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Late 90's Volvo V40s - Bad/acceptable? Cheap one owner one near me, it's the 1.8 petrol though

Spotted in the wild in Surbiton

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You've kept this on the DL, what's the next purchase?

Centre Gravity today and tomorrow.

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Can we get an update on the spendometer?