Attn PeteM: Do you know this motor?

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, Elder wittered on forthwith;

I've seen that around, it lives in Garston and is driven by a bit of a Scally but he's ok, he's into his Rangies. It had some silly sport exhaust thing on last time I saw it, so that probably explains why the exhaust is now blowing. It's quite a tidy Rangie, tbh, but the pimp glass isn't done well.

Exhaust is £106 (full system) from LR spares in Speke, and I have a friend in Warrington who'd fit it for reasonable money (you don't want to fit one of those without a ramp). Headlining is about £175 so having a new one is nice.

I'd say that's worth about £700 quid if it drives well and the LPG works properly. ISTR the guy I saw driving it was related to / knew someone who fitted LPG systems.

Not that much to look out for really, most of the stuff that breaks is unimportant, bits are cheap and easy to find, they're easy to work on and as long as the chassis is sound - check the inner rear wheel arches as well, should be ok. The PAS will probably leak slightly, but if it isn't tappety and doesn't run warm (it shouldn't run warm on LPG, colder if anything), if the gearbox is ok then that's not a bad Rangie.

Lives on Banks Rd in Garston I think, not a pretty area, but not as bad as it was.

Cheers Pete. I have a watch on it. Was thinking if it went for a lot less than that I=20 might jump in at the end.

I've asked about the LPG working, where the LPG tank is and does it have=20 a certificate, if the usual toys work, wether it is fabric inside and=20 what condition thats in, and how bad the tailgates are.

I was thinking, depending on where the leak is, gungum bandage and been=20 tin until the MOT is through. If it passes OK, or just fails on that,=20 get it sorted properly. And if it fails whatever else it needs, get it=20 badged up, and shift it, or sell it to some offroader type for peanuts.=20 And have some V8 fun until it does. Just hope something like that will=20 go under our gates in the back yard.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, Elder wittered on forthwith;

If it's less than £500 it's a deal, it's a steal, it's sale of the fackin' century. I paid more than £500 for that green one with the busted LPG I bought... sold it for less mind, but at least the new buyer had a nice new exhaust..

Tailgates are always rusty, that's standard equipment. It'll be fabric as there aren't many "E" plate Vogue SE's in that colour. They didn't make 'em in that colour....

It'll go *through* 'em, no problem :-)

Honestly, if you're gonna be practical about stuff, Rangies are either brilliant or s**te. I think they're brilliant, but if you're worried about stuff not working they can be a bit of a nightmare, but easy to fix.

As long as the important stuff works, and they are as bodgeable by cack handed farmers as other older Landies, then I should manage and it will give me something to work on, fixing the toys. I guess the older ones suffer from the old Rover/Leyland/Jag electrical connector failures like all of that ilk?

My questions were. "Hi, does the gas conversion work fully, where is the tank fitted. Does it have a certificate. Do all the electric toys work OK, or do any need repair. Is it a cloth interior, what condition is that in? How bad are the two tailgate parts? They always have some rust."

Reply is "lpg works ok its in the boot it also has a certificate. all electrics=20 work and it has a cloth interior in good condition."

"they are fine from what i can see. thanks"

Sounds OK for an old smoker. And my insurance reckons that it won't be much more than the Octavia.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, Elder wittered on forthwith;

Get it bought, you know it makes sense!

Let me get this straight.

You are currently jobless and hence not exactly flush with cash.....

So you want to sell a car that you know to be relatively economical and realiable, not to mention respectable looking to potential employers, for some pikey's cast-off that'll cost you more to insure, more to fuel (even on LPG) and is likely to go wrong the first time you need it for a job interview?

That's assuming the weather isn't 'too nasty' for you to consider attending the interview, of course.

LPG Rangie set up correctly will be not much less economical in town to run than your companies Passat. 16 mpg at 36p a litre, vs 35 mpg in town at 86p a litre.

Rangie insurance is spectacularly cheap, my 3.9 Vogue SE cost about £300 a year Fully Comp. It'd cost Carl a lot less than that as he doesn't have a postcode beginning with "L".

Besides, the people who are worth working with don't judge you by the spec of your company car. They judge you by personality, and there's a lot more personality involved in running a 20 year old Range Rover than a lot of alternatives. That the Rangie is a cheap option (provided you look after it) is a bonus.

Well, in a Range Rover bad weather adds to the fun, and you can still get there.

But it's in the same ball-park as his Skoda. Especially away from town.

He's already posted that it'll cost more to insure than the Skoda.

The smallest thing can make or break a job application, and the car you drive is one of a multitude of 'first impressions' that people take into account when you meet them.

Parts may be cheap, but they need to be because it'll need them more often than the Skoda will.

Apparently not, 'cos a truck might blow over.....

Surely this is only a problem if the interview is held in the carpark...? In most cases, surely they'd have no idea what you drove?

I've arranged meetings at service stations / pubs where I've met people in the car-park.

Don't know if it's likely to be a big issue for Elder, but for field management roles, your car is often the first impression people have of you. Even before you're interviewed, the interviewer has formed an opinion based on the car you pull up in.

But if it's only doing 14 mpg on a run, that still works out as paying for

He needs to look harder.

So a Range Rover might break it, but it might make it.

I'd be more likely to hire someone who turns up in an older but more fun car than someone who turns up in something new. So would most of my previous employers. Carl also works in a business where people tend to enjoy cars so they're the kind of people who wouldn't look down on him for not having the latest reg plate. They're more likely to say "Oooh, a Range Rover, do you go off road? I've got a Land Rover 90" than "Oh, Mr Meatball, I'm afraid you're not suitable because you didn't get the latest, most cost efficient tax-wise, de rigeur alloy wheel option".

A decent computer programmer has the ability to think *OUTSIDE* the box, rather than slave away trying to brown nose his way up the ladder by following corporate protocol.

Having met Carl a couple of times I doubt he's someone who'd enjoy a job where he'd have to know all about the latest Issey Miyake soft-touch shoelace designs in order to fit in.

Rangie bits are Übercheap if you know where to get them. There are two excellent Land Rover clubs near here, and one of the best places in the country for cheap bits is in Speke, approx 13 miles from Carl.

even if it did, it'd probably still make it.

You must really be s**te at what you do. Or is it that the job is so easy, there's 10,000 applicants for every post?

How very professional. Speaks volumes.

If you're any good, it won't matter. I guess you must be borderline competent seeing as you seem to think it does.

I'd be more likely to hire someone who looks like they'll be competent to do the job.

It's what people who's office is their spare bedroom or car do.

I could always drag people all the way to our office in London, but it's a bit of a PITA when you both live near Cardiff.

It's the same as the suit someone wears or their haircut. It's all part of the image someone puts over - s**te suit and pikey car would instantly put me on my guard before I've even started the interview questions.

I'm telling this one from the other side of the desk.

But I don't expect you'd understand what it's like from there.

Surely a company as big as yours could afford to rent a conference room for a few hours.

You're a s**te manager then.

More than you know.