Car Groaning

[Onion van man]

[quote user="londoneye"]

How on earth does everyone do so much mileage !         My little car must be very fresh and full of energy compared to yours.  

[/quote]

One of my cars is 6 years old and done a staggering 18,000miles [Www]

[Jonzjob]

Just before we moved over OH sold her beloved 2CV Dolly, a wonderful car!!! She had had it for 17 years and managed to do a staggering 56.000 miles. I  had a Diane for 2 years and did 20.000 miles a year in it. I loved that one too, but felt very sorry for the poor thing. 602cc working their guts out and when you only have that many the extra 2cc makes all the difference!!!

Why oh why did they stop making them [:'(]?!

[AnOther]

[quote user="londoneye"]How on earth does everyone do so much mileage ![/quote]It's not hard, a 60 mile per day commute (OH not me), x 50 weeks = 15k then add in the shopping trips and holidays etc. and you're soon looking at 20k PA.

[quote user="londoneye"]My little car must be very fresh and full of energy compared to yours.[/quote]In UK at least the buying public have a somewhat illogical bias againt higher mileage cars but regularly serviced and cared for most should be capable of quite prodigious mileage. Cars which only cover very low mileage cars can suffer from a whole gamut of problems of their own ranging from poisoned catalytic convertes to rusted brakes and perished rubber bushes etc. etc. etc.

Given a choice say between two 5 year old identical cars, one with only 20k on it and the other with 120k, I''ll plump for the latter every time and in fact when it comes to changing cars I deliberately seek out young high milers. For instance: The 2000 Golf TDI Estate I have had for the last 3 years was ex company lease and had 140k on it but was in immaculate condition and had complete service history. It cost me about 1/2 of what it would have with say only 50k and I have had no significant problems with it despite it now knocking on the door of 210,000k ! 

 I'm more than happy to benefit from other people taking the depreciation hit........[:D]

[cooperlola]

This is particularly the case with diesels - why worry about the mileage too much? - as Ernie says, take advantage of the bargain prices you'll get.  My little Micra (1.5 Renault Turbo Diesel engine) recently had its third birthday and hence its manufacturer's guarantee ran out.  I was offered an extended warranty  - which I didn't take up, btw.  Something really interesting struck me.  The offer was for 3 further years, but interestingly, if it had been a petrol car, the distance guaranteed for this period was a maximum of 50k kilometers - for my diesel it was 150k (and that's in addition to the distance it had already covered)!!  Even the manufacturers see how long they are likely to live for.  Impressive.

[Onion van man]

There are advantages and disadvantages from both sides of the fence. On the low mileage side there is minimum wear and and tear but, things do rust and cease etc. On the other hand high mileage equals wear and everything on a car is subject to that, not just the engine. Yes, diesel engines do have a great life expectancy if serviced properly and at correct intervals but, your shock absorbers etc. will still need changing around the same mileage as for a petrol car.

High mileage cars can prove to be a wise choice and financially benificial if you get the right one. Cars that have spent most of their time on a motorway would be my choice.

[londoneye]

Well, an update.   Man at garage says nothing wrong with shock absorbers and (looking at me very strangely) they can't hear any noise.   Of course they can't because the car was at the garage and whenever it's at the garage it behaves itself (like the limping cat we took to the vets who flew across room with no sign of said 'limp' that I had magnificently acted out).

Anyway, he says it may be the 'silentbloc' which needs 'a lubrifier'.   Since I had no idea what he was talking about, I admitted defeat and slunk away (again).

Oh dear, I wish I understood cars....

 

 

 

[AnOther]

Silentbloc = rubber bush or bush of other similar material

Lubrifier = oiling (in the crudest of terms but some bushes may need something more specific)

Conclusion = absolutely nothing to worry about.

Get yourself a tin of WD40 then have someone bounce up and down first gently then vigourously on each corner of the car to see if you can find where the noise is coming from. Once you've located it liberally dose it with said WD40 !

[londoneye]

Hmmmmm could be some fun involved in that one !

First time its been dry here for more than a week for about 9 months I think, hence no noise I guess - will wait for next downpour and give it a try.

Thanks Ernie Y.

 

[Paul Bradford]

Hi,

It's a bit late now I suppose as you've had it inspected by your garage, but I was going to suggest taking it for a CT. The guy will give it a thorough going over and tell you if anything needs replacing. For under €60 I think that's not a bad deal. It's also something that you can suggest when contemplating buying a second hand car.

Paul

[Polremy]

We still have our 2cv special and she is now 20 years old (but only 88,000 miles on the clock).You could call us fans I suppose because we have owned 5 of them in our time - all from brand new. We have so many photos and memories of driving down through france in our current one with the three children and all our luggage in the back (youngest "child" is now 29!!). The car is now our only means of transport - has french number plates and a CT which will take her up to next June when we think it will be about time we bought a new motor.

We were surprised and proud when our french neighbour stopped us the other day to ask if we were planning to sell her because he would be very interested!! - and the right hand drive didnt seem to bother him one bit.

Somehow a C1 wont be the same at all.

Is there another car out there that anyone thinks could come close to our beloved 2cv special?

[cooperlola]

Here is a really quirky modern (but not quite new) car for you to look at

http://www.figarocarsrus.co.uk/

By next year, if you really want to "go green" you could look at this!

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/227521/

(I want one, btw.)

On a serious note, have a look at the Micra.  Great little roller skate.  Mine hasn't hiccuped in 60,000ks.

[AnOther]

[quote user="londoneye"]First time its been dry here for more than a week for about 9 months I think, hence no noise I guess - will wait for next downpour and give it a try.[/quote]Slightly unusual that your groan manifest's itself more in the wet than the dry. A dry bush will often quieten down with a bit of a water splashing and then start again a day or two later when dry again. 

[Onion van man]

That is exactly what I was thinking, As you say the water usually lubricates it till it dries out. I've found silicone spray very helpful to lubricate rubber.

[londoneye]

The car had a CT less than 3 months ago, with no issues at all (well, it passed, so I can only assume no issues !).

Will see how it goes I guess.   We only have one car here and are a bit out in sticks, so priority is to make sure it runs in case we ever have problem with animals etc and need to get to vets (trust me no taxi would take my dog !).   In UK we had two so life was much simpler in that respect.