Focus or Civic for £3,000?

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Where?

The rear arches hadn't rotted but were just showing signs of starting. The front wings had small bubbles above the headlights about 10p in size and a couple of similar on the bonnet. On a 20 year old car.

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Just from the last year alone, we quickly find this little selection...

We'll start with...

Message-ID:

#> Which part of 'the bodywork is sound' escaped you? # # Non of it. The front panel on my Capri looked sound from both sides # until the wings came off....

Or how about a thread started by you entitled "Goddamned rust" - talking about a bonnet bubbling through a year after being sprayed? (and how you'd be getting a tupperware replacement, because steel ones are unobtainable)

Then there's...

Message-ID:

# S'OK, you could own my Capri. Last week it was £120 to have a strut top # repair done

Or whilst the work was being done...

Message-ID:

# Anyways I walked in and started looking around it. Bearing in mind it's # had two wings, two rear arches, a few spots on the bonnet in the usual # places, some patches where rust was cut out and metal put back in there # was hardly any filler anywhere.

Really? not IME. Our Lupo uses none between services (but does low miles). My TDI VAG cars (Ibiza, A3, Fabia) have always used a bit- say a litre between services. My old Mk1 1093cc Golf and the 1043 Polo SWMBO had used oil, but mostly by leaking it from the HG above the alternator like most of them did.

That's what I don't get. The Zetecs are just a bit cheaper thanthe LX.

Does the LX have any extra accessories, fancier trim, better carpets, etc?

All but the earliest LX's had aircon, velour trim and a better audio system. The Zetec got alloys and front foglamps.

And the car is 20 years old...

And it's minor bits.

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You claimed you'd never posted about chopping rot out.

Two rear arches, two front wings, a bonnet (which had been cleaned up and lead-filled a few months before), and the front panel?

Might be minor for a mid-80s Crapi, but it's still a fair chunk of welding.

As I said, for the first 10k miles or so, after that they tend to get better as they bed in. The A6 V6 TDi I'm driving doesn't seem to ever need topping up and that's done 200k, according to the bills with it it needed lots of top ups when it was newish.

The car hire fleet I used to run was nearly losing money hiring out VWs because of the "special" VW oil they required and the amount they used..

Ah. With you. I've only had one car (an Ibiza TDI) with The car hire fleet I used to run was nearly losing money hiring out VWs

It used to be scary money for PD or longlife. It's actually got more reasonable now, thankfully. Still pricey though.