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Obertelli · 02-16-2014, 11:01 AM

Thanks everyone.

Test drove the first one today, but it wasn't in the condition I'd been led to believe, and was even more poverty-spec than I realised. It had a significant knock on the rear bumper, a dodgy driver's window regulator (and that window was badly scratched), the roof wasn't as good as I'd been told, and the clutch was certainly going to need a change very soon although wasn't slipping yet. The clutch pedal was also far heavier than I'd been told to expect: far too heavy for my wife to use and heavy enough to be really annoying on my stop-start commuting through London. The exhaust was also a little smoky on starting, and the historical emissions tests showed that more often than not it had barely scraped a pass. But it did drive superbly; no rattles or squeaks and the brakes and tyres were excellent.

I was tempted to make a very low offer, but decided that the car just wasn't quite right enough for me to do so without looking at others first. It was a good benchmark as it's the first one I've ever got my hands on so the investment of a day and a 190 mile round road trip was worth it. And for some reason, my current daily hack, an '88 Citroen 2cv with 2 cylinders of throbbing 602cc air-cooled power(!) behaved even more impeccably than usual today and was even getting up to 79mph on the flat. Not bad considering it's now a lot heavier and older than when it left the factory and was originally only capable of 71mph. I think it's trying to tell me it doesn't want me to sell it...

Tomorrow I'm making a 600 mile round trip to look at the low mileage tiptronic model. It's an early 2000 example, and has the added benefits of aircon and a heated front screen, both of which could be really beneficial in the record-breaking wet weather which the UK has been experiencing this winter. The car I looked at today had certainly been suffering a badly-fogged windscreen (US=windshield) of late judging by the water-marks inside. Hopefully I'll be driving home instead of using the return portion of my rail ticket, but only if it's the right car at the right price. The rail fare is expensive but I've always expected to spend a bit travelling to find the right cars in the past and this one's no exception.

Unfortunately the dealer with the higher mileage newer model has not been in touch and I have a very limited amount of time off work to find a car before spring arrives and racks up the prices of ragtops.

I take note of the comments about tiptronic, but this time around I need a car which my wife can drive as well. She prefers manual trannys but has always refused to learn the unusual gear shifter on my current ride, and that's meant that whenever we drive from London across Europe to Spain or Italy I've had to shoulder all the driving myself. Tiptronic also means no expensive clutch replacements to budget for. But again, prices are different in the UK: over here manuals are the norm and so autos attract a premium price.

02-16-2014, 11:01 AM	#9
Obertelli Registered User Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: London, UK. Posts: 37	Thanks everyone. Test drove the first one today, but it wasn't in the condition I'd been led to believe, and was even more poverty-spec than I realised. It had a significant knock on the rear bumper, a dodgy driver's window regulator (and that window was badly scratched), the roof wasn't as good as I'd been told, and the clutch was certainly going to need a change very soon although wasn't slipping yet. The clutch pedal was also far heavier than I'd been told to expect: far too heavy for my wife to use and heavy enough to be really annoying on my stop-start commuting through London. The exhaust was also a little smoky on starting, and the historical emissions tests showed that more often than not it had barely scraped a pass. But it did drive superbly; no rattles or squeaks and the brakes and tyres were excellent. I was tempted to make a very low offer, but decided that the car just wasn't quite right enough for me to do so without looking at others first. It was a good benchmark as it's the first one I've ever got my hands on so the investment of a day and a 190 mile round road trip was worth it. And for some reason, my current daily hack, an '88 Citroen 2cv with 2 cylinders of throbbing 602cc air-cooled power(!) behaved even more impeccably than usual today and was even getting up to 79mph on the flat. Not bad considering it's now a lot heavier and older than when it left the factory and was originally only capable of 71mph. I think it's trying to tell me it doesn't want me to sell it... Tomorrow I'm making a 600 mile round trip to look at the low mileage tiptronic model. It's an early 2000 example, and has the added benefits of aircon and a heated front screen, both of which could be really beneficial in the record-breaking wet weather which the UK has been experiencing this winter. The car I looked at today had certainly been suffering a badly-fogged windscreen (US=windshield) of late judging by the water-marks inside. Hopefully I'll be driving home instead of using the return portion of my rail ticket, but only if it's the right car at the right price. The rail fare is expensive but I've always expected to spend a bit travelling to find the right cars in the past and this one's no exception. Unfortunately the dealer with the higher mileage newer model has not been in touch and I have a very limited amount of time off work to find a car before spring arrives and racks up the prices of ragtops. I take note of the comments about tiptronic, but this time around I need a car which my wife can drive as well. She prefers manual trannys but has always refused to learn the unusual gear shifter on my current ride, and that's meant that whenever we drive from London across Europe to Spain or Italy I've had to shoulder all the driving myself. Tiptronic also means no expensive clutch replacements to budget for. But again, prices are different in the UK: over here manuals are the norm and so autos attract a premium price.