Black smoke from a 106?

"T i m" wrote

All the bearings dry out, rust forms inside the engine including on the bearings and in the waterways, electronics do not respond well to a lay-up, water sits in the same places continuously leading to body rot, the exhaust system will fail within a month due to internal corrosion, the petrol degrades and forms a film inside the fuel tank which breaks off and blocks the whole system, the tyres will be deformed.....

I'm sure others will add to this list.

Indeed, and that unknown work *could* be insignificant cost wise (I'm not suggesting it will remember, just that it could be).

Ok, and whilst I hear what you say would you be willing to acknowledge when in three years she's still running it and it has cost her little that there are often exceptions to any rule?

I'm not aware of anyone I know or trust selling anything that way so 'no'. I didn't say there weren't some bargains out there of course, just I don't have the time and she doesn't have the knowledge to go chase them out (and hence why my mechanic mate has gone to look at this one).

A mate had his old Capri on eBay, one of the several 'wasters' that turned up to look pre bidding rejected it because it wasn't a Cortina. He's also looked at many vehicles advertised as 'immaculate' and a magnet wouldn't have stuck to any of them.

Exactly.

Do you not find if you have something up for sale cheap and 'worth having' you get yer arm snapped off by folk trying to get it?

The rest of the crap get's re-listed / reduced or sold to some mug ... ?

This Pug hasn't been put up for sale because no one had got_round_tuit and this is the first time someone in the family has show any interest in finding a cheap runabout.

Anyway, it'll cost her (not me) 35 quid (trade) to get it MOT'd (less than she might pay in time and fuel dragging round the country to buy a complete 'unknown') so let's go from there.

All the best ..

T i m

"T i m" wrote

Look, you have obviously already decided what you are going to do, so go ahead.

Similar with my Rover 218SD (except the sitting about bit) in that my mate had given up 'spending on it', I gave him £100 then stuck £160 worth of tyres on it (only Avons but not the Happy Shopper's that were on there).

I also did the cambelt on it (and the Astra) because we weren't *sure* when they were last changed and IF this Pug get's an MOT it will get a good check over / service / cambelt before it's driven anyway. If it fails and / or can't be fixed easily it goes back and has still only cost her 35 quid.

The Kitcar was only driven to the MOT and back twice now so has done 5 miles in the last 3+ years. Put a new battery on it for the last one (recently) and replaced the (seized) Kenlowe fan and I see no reason why anything else would fail just because it hadn't been used regularly (and hasn't over the last 10 of it's 17 years).

Ok, valve stem and seals in general might harden up a bit and you might need to sort some minor parts but although some things are 'final' not every job is a show stopper.

All the best ..

T i m

Ok .. but won't they be 'lubricated' as soon as the engine fires up or they get 'serviced' (ie, wheel bearings)?

Ok. I'm not sure how 'fatal' rust is in the waterways is and can't most of it be flushed out to some degree?

Understood. Luckily I don't think this model has much in that line (it only has a very basic diag interface).

And that wouldn't be a surprise on a 13 year old car. This one apparently seems ok superficially and the MOT will check for anything 'important'.

The one on my wife's car used to fail yearly and she used it every day (but for very short journeys). The exhaust needs replacing on the guy that's selling the Pug's Honda 4x4 thing, £180 apparently.

Is there a 'cleaner' for such or could one fit an easy access inline filter?

It has been 'moved about' fairly regularly (most their family live along the same road) ;-)

I'm sure they will, but of that list the most expensive item that I can see would be a set of budget tyres (just to be safe and something you might do on any 'unknown' second hand vehicle)?

The bottom line is unless you know the history (and many old / cheap cars come with no paper history whatsoever), any car bought from Loot etc could have had periods in it's life where it sat on someone's drive for 3 or more years and WE would never know?

All the best ..

T i m

T i m ( snipped-for-privacy@spaced.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It's still got full engine management, covering both ignition and injection.

Yes, it would. It's not a Ford.

It's injected. There'll be an inline filter canister in there.

Oh, wait, you were serious.

Yes, but if it's been in use since, most of those "back-in-use" teething troubles will have been resolved by somebody else.

T i m ( snipped-for-privacy@spaced.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Absolutely. Never said otherwise.

But it's not a great gamble when there's so many others about.

Ummm, I'm really not sure I'd say that the history you know of this one was a great positive...

The message from snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH) contains these words:

Precious few of them still in driveable condition.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@vlaad.co.uk (Paul Cummins) contains these words:

We're talking about affordable second hand cars. For the £500 mark you'll find few with PAS that are still working properly. Clios, for example, are two a penny if you don't mind one with only half a gearbox.

Not a good way to buy anything I agree Conor but IF it costs her little to get on the road and she (and I) care little about anything else ... ? It also buys her some time to keep an eye out for that little bargain that's bound to be lurking out there somewhere. ;-)

Ah ha ... Wanna actually put them words into facts please (phone numbers etc). 50k, MOT'd clean, 4dr, 3po, with some history and that we *know* hasn't ever been left standing for n years at some time in it's life?

I think he's got it! ;-)

Quite possibly.. Very similar traits to the Sierra, this Rover and Astra then .. and I guess many thousand other cars out there?

FWIW my mate commented how 'dry' this 106 smelled / felt inside .. unlike the car he looked at prior to that which had green safety belts and other fabric (that were supposed to be black).

When I bought my Co Sierra off the Company it cost me 25 quid and was

12 yeas old. I ran it for another 10 years and near zero upkeep and was still running fine (and MOT'd) the day I broke it. That's not to say I didn't spend some time sorting things like rust (the tailgate glass was badly replaced, water was leaking into the tailgate / load area and the rust followed. Similar when it was hit by a lorry whilst parked and another crap insurance repair allowed the drivers door to leak, rust again doing in some of the offside floor / sill. Nothing that me, some zintec and a MIG welder couldn't sort though. ;-)

We aren't looking for the ideal car here, it's a basic runabout / shed.

If it fails the MOT on anything major (other than emissions) then it will simply handed back to the current owner (so that rules out most cautions).

If it is only emissions (and / or simple cheap bits) then we will try some quick / cheap / basic stuff and if it still doesn't come up to scratch then it goes back to the owner ..

What are the chances of getting that sort of low / no risk deal with any dealer or small ad?

All the best ..

T i m

T i m ( snipped-for-privacy@spaced.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Irrelevant. It's 15yo.

This one isn't.

Irrelevant.

Emissions failures on a modern-ish car are rarely cheap and / or simple to fix.

DAMHIKIJDOK.

SteveH ( snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

But a cooking 106 _is_ likely to be as cheap as anything. Piss easy engine management, single point injection, carb and lambda easy to get at, bits cheap enough through GSF and the like - and plenty of chav-bent ones in scrappies...

Understood.

;-)

Ok ..

I just re read that .. LOL

Well, joking and tyre snobbery aside, are ALL budget tyres 'unsafe' then? I could have put (good?) 'budget tyres on the front of her 1.4i Astra recently for £32 / each (fitted) but instead went for Avons at £36. Were the Avons really that much 'safer' or were they simply just 'branded' budget tyres anyway (in which case who is kidding who)?

Understood. But I guess the logic of 'is it worth repairing' would also have been deal with by them and they must have carried on with it?

Ok, I hear what some of you say and (believe it or not) do take it all in, but like I said I'm not in charge here and *assuming* we get as far as getting it on the road and it then suffers a prolonged run of problems and issues I'll be the first one to come back here and let you say 'told you (her) so'.

All the best ..

T i m

I see it this way. To be absolutely sure everything is working, you'd probably need to buy a lambda and a cat. brand new. There's at least £100 straight away. Oh, and you'll be wanting to pay someone to fit them, 'cos you really don't want to go near an exhaust on a car that's been quietly rotting away on a driveway for 3 years and also so they can run it on an emissions tester before and after.... that may or may not be enough to sort it, but you're soon getting very close to the value of the car, just to get it through an MOT.

You may want to google this one, 'cos it's done to death every couple of months.

T i m ( snipped-for-privacy@spaced.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Yes.

IME of the Xant I bought my ol' man a few years ago? Yes. That was the best £16 you ever spent.

That was on near-new GodKnowsWhatKwikFartCheapies. "RoadHog" or something similarly silly. HORRIBLE. Damn near undrivable - in the dry. Put a pair of Avons on, it was transformed.

You're in charge as far as "I wouldn't, if I were you - if you do, good luck." is concerned.

Given that you can lob a test at it cheap before deciding if you want to pass or not, it's got to be worth a punt. More than that? Probably not, unless it really is minor and predictably limited.

Ok..

Well I'll just have to take your word about that Adrian. I have mates who have sold and seen crap going through the auctions on the lookout and the guy that runs the garage doing the same (since I posted the question about her Astra 1.7 diesel issues on 14 Feb Re: E plate 1.7D Astra blowing hoses ..). Anything worth having seems to go for over a grand?

Agreed, but at least it's something and there are loads of things we do know about it?

All the best ..

T i m

Ok Steve, and it's done now so maybe later ... ;-)

All the best ..

T i m