My slightly knackered old cars

[Split_Pin]

The plate that Robin had on his blue 850 was M321REB, that's why I initially thought the one pictured above was a different car.

Clearly I'm getting confused, it doesn't matter. Nice one on the purchase anyway.

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20220115161334_IMG_6305 by srblythe, on Flickr

20220115161257_IMG_6302 by srblythe, on Flickr

Got the tracking done on the Audi and it seems to have made it a lot better to drive. When I first bought it, it was very difficult to keep in a straight line and felt totally fucked, the massively wide 17" S3 alloys made it feel horrible to drive so I bought some 15" alloys with balloon tyres which also made a huge difference even before the tracking was done.
I bought the Volvo before I'd managed to fix the Audi and it was always at the back of my mind that I'd keep the one I like the best. I picked up the Volvo last night after being out in the Audi all day and definitely prefer the Audi.
It didn't help that the Volvo was absolutely minging inside.

20220122160349_IMG_6313 by srblythe, on Flickr

20220122160402_IMG_6314 by srblythe, on Flickr

20220122160325_IMG_6311 by srblythe, on Flickr

Gave inside a good scrub and vacuum and swapped some part worn tyres onto it. I think I'll be flogging the Volvo.

[SubPar]

I've never seen the interior of that Volvo so clean!

You have a stronger constitution than me for buying it.

[RetroShite]

I've never seen the interior of that Volvo so clean!

You have a stronger constitution than me for buying it.

The interior could still be doing with a proper valet but managed to get the majority of fluff, hair, fag ash and dirt out of it.

[RetroShite]

I managed to flog the Volvo by bonus ball with a multibuy discount.
I paid £650 for the car, spend a few hours cleaning it and swapped some part worn tyres onto it.
There were a few issues with the car, blowers only worked on the fastest settings and the dial to change the direction of the air was busted so trying to direct the air to demist the screen was challenging. The wiper blades needed changed as did the screenwash motor. Other than the grotty interior and scruffy exterior it did drive ok.
I made £695 on the raffle with a total profit of £45. It really wasn't worth the effort.
I only decided to sell the Volvo because the Audi I bought at the same time seemed to be the better car after having the tracking done and fittings new wheels.

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The Audi having being used reliably for the last few weeks decided to shit its clutch slave cylinder on Thursday. It's a 6 speed TDI quattro and the slave is inside the gearbox so quite a labour intensive job.
I was out on my lunch break at work when it happened, clutch went straight to the floor and the car was stuck in gear. I had to navigate it to a suitable area to abandon it and walk back to work.
I arranged recovery and when I returned to the car an hour later the clutch pedal had returned to normal but the bite was very low.
I manoeuvred the car into a suitable position for the recovery truck and managed to drive it straight onto the truck.
When I got it back to the unit, I stuck it on the ramp for a closer look and discovered the area on the bottom of the bell housing/engine was wet with brake fluid.
I seriously can't be arsed doing the work so will be farming it out to a local garage. He's given me a rough quote on labour at £350 which doesn't seem so bad but I imagine it'll end up being closer to £500 with parts thrown in.
I think usually when people do this job they end up changing the clutch/flywheel but I'm thinking doing the cheapest/quickest option then flogging the car might be best.

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In other news I bought a Ford Ka on Friday, it's an early one on an R reg with 53k miles. Drives fine, recently had a set of tyres and a new battery and mot until September.
Paid £500 for it and will use it until the Audi is fixed at least.
I reckon I'll be able to make a small profit on it, it's had the usual welding underneath but is surprisingly solid around the bodywork and fuel filler.

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[SiC]

Much as I want to hate VAG, they do know how to make a good driving car that generally feels a nice place to be sat. All things that most people want when buying a car, as they're not too concerned about the pain the poor bastards who have to repair them go through.

[RetroShite]

I've had a good few weeks of flogging my old shite.
Sold the Ka for £800, the Estelle for £1900, Corolla for £800, Subaru brat for £3300, the tomos moped for £100 and a 505 estate I bought on Wednesday I sold yesterday for £1000.
With a good bit of space cleared and some spare cash I bought a cortina for £2800.

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[Hooli]

That looks spanking.

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It's not bad at all, picking it up later and mot is booked for Friday so will see if it needs much.