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

Do you happen to have a link to this?

One of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-Din-Bluetooth-Car-Radio-Stereo-Head-Unit-In-dash-MP3-Player-USB-SD-FM-AUX-12V/402321439278

Very cool race ready Renault Alpine A310 spotted in Vauxhall today. Still looks futuristic despite being a 1977 car. And on the subject of wheels these ones look pretty tasty.

Yes love that. Perfect getting down the dojo car. Just the right amount of DeathRace 2000 with that rear spoiler too.

Those wheels are excellent too. Remind me of the ones you would get on a 1970s Lotus Elite.

Haha yes, and rear window slats are win.

Fuchs Lubricants

I bet it does etc etc

Very cool car

Tasty. Novice cross suggests it is actually raced. Should have tape over the numbers though. Naughty, naughty.

Fuck. Yes.

That is the V6 too.

What a beast that is... PS That's Pimlico, I grew up quarter of a mile from there...

To be honest I bought the car from a former BMW Service Manager so I took a punt that it was well looked after by him but the main thing to watch out for is the 100k mile supercharger service. Other than that I'd keep an eye for strut towers mushrooming and I think that's really the two main things to watch? @NurseHolliday would probably have some good tips...

Oh no, when did you grow up? I’m sad.

So this is a fun one, had a couple drinks at my brother's house and begrudgingly let my wife drive the car home. I'm a bit tetchy about her driving quirks, one of which is her sporadic and forceful use of the handbrake when stopped or manoeuvring. Now the car is making a scraping noise when reversing. Sounds like something is caught. No noise when going forward. Brake shoe issue?

Ha, that appears to have happened quite recently... 💀

Ah no mechanical sympathy.

Does the car have the handbreak as part of the brake caliper? Or shoes on inside of rear drums?

Love how Internationals spitting money in London's famous London splurge on ridiculous shopping run toys.

Meanwhile the surfs crawl on.

Ah no mechanical sympathy.

In the last few weeks I have discovered that she didn't know how a clutch worked (and thus why you shouldn't ride the clutch where possible), and that she doesn't look at the rev counter or even know how to use it.

I've also just noticed how high the clutch is on her Jazz, which is going to be a fun job to replace.

Does the car have the handbreak as part of the brake caliper? Or shoes on inside of rear drums?

Rear discs with a shoe inside the rotor I believe. Top hat or whatever they call it.

I'm booked in to look at this on Tue. I'm not that experienced at buying cars. What should I be asking? How should I go about negotiating? What should I look out for when test-driving?

Reckon I’ve solved what the noise that appeared a couple weeks back was. Wheel balancing weight came loose and was thumping the calliper. You can see at the end of the weights some leftover adhesive on the wheel, and a fresh scratch on the calliper corner. Annoyingly, this seems to have aggravated the break squeaking in normal driving.

As for the new noise at the back, I’m wondering if the spring has snapped, and that the shoes only rub in reverse. Pure guess tho.

The new noise if anyone fancies a go. Coming from the rear passenger side wheel.

Answers on a postcard.

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Lack of mechanical sympathy is common.

The wheel weights must not have been mounted incorrectly...bugger.

I suspect the weights had been on there a long time. Tyres are about 6 years old. Then factor in someone power washing the rims to death before sale and it doesn’t seem out of the question that one could come loose.

At that age and mileage: does it have all the kit you want and do you like driving it.
It's well within manufacturer warranty for anything that could be wrong. Find out where it came from, could be ex-demo or motability with only 4k in a year. Check for dents/scratches/interior damage/etc as it's basically a new car mechanically and they'll knock the value.
Negotiating depends on whether or not the salesperson can be bothered but do your research on similar cars and ask them to match if it's way out. If it's basically already a good price, just tell them you're ready to go and ask what the best price is and they'll knock a token amount off. End of the month is supposedly the best time to buy but if they've already met the targets, they won't be bothered.

Thanks!

How are you funding the purchase? Seems you get a better price if you get finance from the dealer but poor apr.

Maybe look at the buyout cost within 30 days if you can get cheaper finance elsewhere.

EDIT also check and see how much you can get a new one for as a few dealers have cars wthout buyers so may haggle down to that price.

I now own an Audi.....

A2 1.4 collect on wednesday.