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

Rose tinted spectacles are dangerous.

I've got a B5 Quattro (2.8). I really really like it.

I change the oil & filters on mine, its v easy. (I do have receipts though).

Check for rust in the scuttle under the windscreen, drain holes block up leading to puddles.

Very true. Have to be careful with my next car purchase!

Cool, thanks. Will check that out. How do you find everything else about the car?

He’s no Barry Griffin, that’s for sure.

Good advice for any car purchase. Thanks

I really like it. It's done 125,000 miles, I've had it for 3 years and nothing major has gone wrong. Build quality is superb, it feels solid as a rock and the interior is still a lovely place to be. I've got the tiptronic auto, coupled to the V6 it's a very smooth ride, still got some grunt on kickdown though. Major downside is fuel consumption, get about 270 miles from a tank.

My old man is a bastard. He was, however, a top notch mechanic and car importer in my youth - he used to build the Gartrac 4WD mkIII escorts with the modded 1.9 CVH lump for customers. Two things come to mind. He used to swear by 940/960s, and especially the low compression turbo models as they could take a modified Garrett turbo without fuss, which offered massive delivery for minimal risk. He also had a cherry 73 Camaro, which had a fuel gauge that would start going down if you so much as picked the keys up off of the kitchen table.

Left my car in long stay at Gatwick for a week. Looking at it in the light back home today there are scratches on both sides. I deliberately parked in a bay where no other cars could park along side. Can only think someone deliberately had a go. Fuck sticks.

Damage

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Rational analysis tells me to just leave it, but OCD tells me to replace the panels which would cost a fortune I guess.

Replacing panels is ott. Simple dent repair will sort that out

Agreed. If you want them to disappear entirely, worst case scenario is a panel respray.

Dammit alias?

Drivers side squab heating element doesn’t work (seat back does), prepare for the 20k rebuild.

It’s always annoying to discover these things after buying the car. No matter how through your are, something always slips through.

I've been ferociously admiring W202 C43 estates since Dammit's recent purchase... quite possibly my next buy!

Drivers side squab heating element doesn’t work (seat back does), prepare for the 20k rebuild.

Looking forward to the journey.

I've just filed all the old paperwork in chronological order, took up one of my standard car-paperwork binders.

Then I popped outside and put the Merc first aid kit in place, and fitted the Bluetooth unit - connected my iPhone instantly, which was impressive.

Met a xc70 from '06 today and I thought 'those actually looks quite good, and 4wd could be handy'

This means 2 things - I'm getting old, and I lived out in the sticks for quite some time

Rather than spending £much on a new engine cover what would be a good adhesive to use to stick the badge back on?

High heat, lots of vibration, oily vapour - a challenging environment, so I assume my standard go-to of PrittStick is not going to be suitable?

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A bit of polyurethane adhesive should do the trick. It's held panels onto the engine bays of my kit cars, so it should be fine for an ickle badge. It looks like silicone sealant, but it's stickier. And any excess cleans off easily with white spirit.

For e.g. Bond-It PU18?

Hi heat epoxy?

The sort of stuff that you stick engine cases together with on motorcycles, e.g Threebond 1194 ?