The Car Related Thread

Thought i'd start a thread on car related stuff .... so here goes with the first post.

Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit

This stuff comes recommended, not for scratches etc. but just to get below grime, wax, polish, to the clear coat and allows you to smooth the surface (and wax on top then)

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Our non-abrasive clay bars safely, easily and instantly removes paint overspray, fallout, environmental contaminants and more, making waxing easier and more durable.

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Buddys car got sprayed when the neightbour was painting his house and he used this and its perfect.

Buying a car

www.carzone.ie
www.cbg.ie
www.autotrader.ie
www.donedeal.ie/section/motor

Ye gods, someone finally started a motoring thread on Foot.ie. I thought footie fans just had no interest!

I am facing this nightmare, after recently purchasing a BMW and not being aware of the problem(during the cold spell):
http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/view...p?f=4&t=115754

Its not cheap both gone, have to remove the whole bumper so charge a lot more...

Adam, there's other dedicated forums to talk motors:p Today I spent an hour dismantling the dash panels around the radio. Why? there is something up with the aux connection. It sounds like the speakers are slightly busted when I play the ipod through it(you can barely hear the vocals and the music sounds off). I'd hoped it would be a easy fix, but now I need to buy a new aux adaptor. This will definitely be my last ford, they've all been cursed!

I have to confess to being a complete b'stard on the motoring front: if it's my car, it needs to be fixed today, now, yesterday. The wife still doesn't have a workign rear wipe though, and I've yet to take the time to hunt down the coin/pen/child's finger that's found itself into the dash vents. ;)

BTW, I'm a complete car nerd and I hate the whiney asshats in the Motors forum on Boards, so you'll be seeing a lot of me in here. Roll on the Motoring forum!

I had a boards account but closed it as the moderation on some forums was mental. I get what your saying about the motors section, i had a few running ins with several people there, too many big egos amongst the longterm members!

Have ya the car long Adam? A Haynes manual is usually a pretty good investment, can be a bit pricey but you'd save plenty if your willing to have a go yourself. Due to the insane road taxes you lot pay, big engined cars quickly loose all value so i've been looking at buying some luxobarge and bringing it back North. Sadly the few cars I've gone to see have either shoddy service history(or none) or clearly been clocked. The hunt goes on!

I regularly clash with the locals and the moderators, because the NIMBY Speed Kills Slow Down That's Naughty morons drive me demented. It's very definitely a Motoring forum, rather than a Drivers forum. Major difference.

I've it 18 months now, keep going to move to something a little more sensible but the wife keeps talking me down. Latest was that sure we're going into the summer, might as well keep it for the days trips; so that'll be another €475 later in the month. It's hard to argue with her when you're powering past a line of Yarii on the N25, tbh.

There's no Haynes for the E38 unfortunately, so I had to invest in a Bentley manual at a multiple of the price. Process looks ok and I'm a pretty good DIYer, it'd just be the first major mechanical thing I've done; pretty silly really, I should have been servicing it myself all along.

Now's the time to buy a barge if you can afford it though, they're dirt cheap to buy if you can face up to the running costs for a year or two. I'd actually go for broke on a 750il if I could afford it, but it just doesn't make sense right now so I'm currently lusting over a Volvo 850R on eBay. :)

I'm not really a petrol head, or take an interest beyond 'i need a car to get from A to B' but think its handy to share the knowledge and make the whole journey that bit easier.

www.mywheels.ie
www.parkers.co.uk
www.breakeryard.com
www.partfinder.ie

Best way to be A Face! You could easily go skint if you get into making changes/improvement mods to your car. If you do your homework and buy a decent sub 5K car, bar usual small maintenance you should see most of your money back in a year or two as it'll have already done most of its depreciation.

750il would be a great car! Not many of them around and the interior is a hell of a lot nicer than most modern cars! Other than this month(i've clocked 3k miles so far) my mileage is pretty low so with lower fuel costs I could afford to run one. I'm spending far too much time on Donedeal browsing:(

Yeah, it's addictive. My current shortlist consists of an '04 Saab 9-5 Aero, a bright red '96 Volvo 850R, a high-spec but slow-as-fork '99 V70, and a Saab 9-5 complete sh1theap. It's all very confusing. :)

Hope ye don't mind me sharing this on yeer car thread. http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...68782727_n.jpg

I want to refresh the AC gas in my skoda octavia, have the refill can and the attachment got from halfords. but I cant for the life of me see the point to connect to under the bonnet?? any idea's how to figure it out? the manual of course has nothing, considering it says in the 'change a bulb' section that all work should be carried out by a trained skoda blah blah blah

Is there a Haynes for it? I see they have an online section now, if you're in a hurry. If you join rather than buy a book, let us know how you get on.

My bus is for sale now btw, if anyone in a bit of luxobarge fun for a year or two.

http://www.adverts.ie/1547806

http://c0.dmlimg.com/1fc1c1c2db5852e...9647b15dcb.jpg

Nice motor. If you do get the chance to give it a clean get a decent interior photo up aswell. Good luck with the sale!

Thanks horton. The weather is not cooperating. :)

Quick one for ye. I left my car parked outside my local one night..when i picked uit up it looked like someone had driven into the side and scraped down it. Anyway i have a dent and a large scratch on the passenger side. I think will cost about 300 to fix. I'm just wondering if any of ye have tried tackling something like this yourselves? or am i better to bite the bullet and pay up?

Depends on the car, the dent and your patience. Anyone can patch a small dent and paint it, but doing it right is hard; in fact getting it really right is near impossible without the right tools. If you love your car, then I wouldn't recommend it; if it's an A-B banger, then of course you should!

You might get cheaper using one of the PaintDoctor / Smart Repair crowds, particularly if the car isn't the love of your life. This fella is a mate of mine and he does good work, however he's in Cork. There's plenty of them about though.

Attachment 1864 This is it. Different wheels on it. Its actually a TDi dressed up like GTi.

But i think I'd be better to get it done professionally alright..its a pretty big scratch so I'll probably just pay the money.

I'll shop around though because i did get the feeling i was being ripped off

Thanks for the advice.

Professional is best on a newer car, just make sure you go to 3+ places, and use them against each other in the same way you would with car insurance.

Felt spec, eh? :)

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Originally Posted by dahamsta

Professional is best on a newer car, just make sure you go to 3+ places, and use them against each other in the same way you would with car insurance.

Felt spec, eh? :)

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Ya but it is literally just the body kit and wheels...it doesn't make a racket its standard inside. Its not lowered or any of that malarky.

Im sure it's still frowned upon by people who know stuff about cars..but for me it goes well, looks well and is economical so I'm happy....

Just don't photograph it with the front wheel in a river and you'll be fine. :)

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Originally Posted by dahamsta

My bus is for sale now btw, if anyone in a bit of luxobarge fun for a year or two.

http://www.adverts.ie/1547806

http://c0.dmlimg.com/1fc1c1c2db5852e...9647b15dcb.jpg

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You called it James! Ha!

I did, and the wife's e39 is called Jameson. Geddit?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnCxS...layer_embedded

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Originally Posted by dahamsta

I did, and the wife's e39 is called Jameson. Geddit?

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Class

Have you ever considered going across the way and getting a real monster from Alpina?

When I was in my teens I had a serious horn for a B10 (E39).

Couldn't afford a real one tbh. If anything goes wrong with a standard (older) BMW then it'll probably be a bit pricey to fix, but not silly money because as far as I can see they reduce prices on parts as they get older; presumably to keep the older ones on the road and show off how reliable they are. However if something went wrong with an Alpina? I can only imagine how much it would cost to fix engine problems, or replace suspension components.

If I was to buy another 7 right now, it'd be this fella, or preferably a later one with the same colours and spec. It'd be mad given the economy, but I couldn't resist it. Yerman isn't interested in a trade though, in fact I'm not sure he even really wants to sell it.

If you were serious about an Alpina, there's a 750i on DoneDeal at the moment, and there's been an 840i doing the rounds for yonks (which tbh is never a good sign, like the Delta Integrales on Carzone). I'd say the 840's just the bodykit though, and you'd need to check under the hood of the 750i. It's a nice looking car though.

If I had to buy an e39 - it's not my favourite 5 series - it'd have to be a 525i or 520i at the moment. The economy, the economy... :)

Not strictly a car but I have a Transit T300 2.0D for the weekend. It's only savage altogether.