Suzuki Swift

Sounds like you have been pretty lucky. After finishing a couple of restorations on old cars I swore never again.

Fraser

PS I'm currently in the market for a '71 Charger though.

Clearly there's a lot more to a car, than it's engine !

I don't need to. If none of the other car-features were important, then you'd be riding a motorbike instead :)

Apologies - I didn't realise the MR2s were in the small five-seater hatch class :)

It does amuse me when people talk about a particular car, but not specifically the hot model :)

Only a mentallist would buy a ghetto-spec car on the used market, when they could pick up the real thing for a few quid more. The hot models only attract a large premium when used, in very few, very special cases.

He's right you know. See Sleeker's cars for details :)

Unless you buy a duffer, it's much less hassle to spend your maintenance budget upfront, on the purchase of the car. Total cost works out about the same, but you don't have to piss around sorting things out. Oh, and you get a nicer car for free :)

Someone'd better tell Toyota as well. Quick!

Indeed, but I just want something that will make me smile, and I'm pretty sure that engine will.

They're not, but they're quite clearly in the "Japanese and made in 1986" category :p

When I buy a second hand car I like to make sure I'm getting a half decent one. And if stuff needs doing the actual parts are peanuts its the labour that costs you, which i obviously dont pay. But when I come to sell the car on I can still factor that labour money into the sale because people (like you) are willing to pay extra to save them having it done.

Thing is, with good history, near full toyota history, and looked good,=20 drove well, and not much below the average. Average was =A32500 He was asking =A32300 Nobody came to look. He wanted =A32000 I ofered =A31500 We agreed =A31750 and no obvious clonks and bangs on the 1 hours test=20 drive we did. He was right too. Apart from service items and tyres,=20 every single item on that car was original 15 year old toyota.

When I did a full total service oil, (oil/air/fuel) filters, plugs,=20 leads, coolant, thermostat (it was buggered), dizzy cap, rotor arm it=20 came to over =A3200 and the only toyota part was the stat, at =A312. The other hardware was nearly all bluerpint stuff. The cheapest leads=20 that worked, fitted and matched specs were =A398+vat. Toyota leads were=20 =A3150+vat

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

Thing is, with good history, near full toyota history, and looked good, drove well, and not much below the average. Average was £2500 He was asking £2300 Nobody came to look. He wanted £2000 I ofered £1500 We agreed £1750 and no obvious clonks and bangs on the 1 hours test drive we did. He was right too. Apart from service items and tyres, every single item on that car was original 15 year old toyota.

When I did a full total service oil, (oil/air/fuel) filters, plugs, leads, coolant, thermostat (it was buggered), dizzy cap, rotor arm it came to over £200 and the only toyota part was the stat, at £12. The other hardware was nearly all bluerpint stuff. The cheapest leads that worked, fitted and matched specs were £98+vat. Toyota leads were £150+vat

:-o

You could make a set for the Skoda from fence wire and some gaffer tape. Even the recommended and rare ones for the Saab (they don't sell them in=20 this country anymore because Saab use the GM parts bin now) were only=20 something like =A330 imported from Sweden or Finland from a franchised=20 supplier for the parts manufacturer.

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

Oh yeah, and the first set I got (champion leads =A3110+VAT) were for a=20 Celica, but they changed over the years+the GT4 rocker covers aren't as=20 deep as some of the non 3S-GE based engines. And there are two types of=20 plug for the ST185 too depending on age. These were the wrong ones.

Even the Blueprint set had 4 correct leads, but one wrong one, the short=20 lead from the dizzy to the coil had the wrong end fittings.

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.