Almost inevitably⊠the Pug 307SW HDi I bought off eBay, sight unseen, 24 hrs before arriving in France to stay, on Nov 2nd, had done 132k miles up to 2017 from 2007. The next three years it crept about, <3000 m.p.a. The turbo is stuffed with crud.
Peugeot Torigni-s-Vire want 1200⏠to change the turbo. I am convinced the Mr Muscle oven cleaner trick is all that it needs. Theyâve already had 900⏠to change the particle filter. The anti-pollution warning light is still on.
Itâs a smart, comfortable and useful motor, after all that. Will do well when I come to buy a place and cart stuff about. Just a pity it is doing that Peugeot thing - having problems.
A ÂŁ995 trade in. Apart from the anti-pollution problem, everything works - and itâs got more gizmos than my Merc 230 SLK.
This was a beaut. Described by a pal in the motor trade as âexceptionalâ - ÂŁ3000k inc full service, FSH, 70k miles
Thereâs a story behind the T-Shirt. A novelist friend wrote one called âI, WaBenziâ, a semi-autobiog of his trip from London in a dog-eared old Merc in âAfrika Korps Greenâ to hang out with a Sufi sect in Konya, Turkey.
âWaâŠâ as the prefix to a word, in Yoruba, [I think], means âperson of or people ofâ. The fat cats who ride about in blacked-out Mercs in those parts of Africa are known as The WaBenzi, people of the Mercedes Benz.
I used this shot as one on my entry in The Guardian internet dating site. I was contacted by woman who asked, âDoes that really read âI, WaBenziâ?â It does. "Rafi Zabor lived in my house in Oxford for 6 months, writing the bookâ.
I had to choose between the 230 SLK and this
I kept the van. I still have it. itâs marooned in Weston Super Mare. I bought the Pug because I thought the van would be too problematic, admin-wise, over here.
Talking of using and not using - the van did 180k miles in 9 years, 20k m.p.a. from Newport, coast of Wales, to New Covent Garden flower market, for stock for a flower shop in Newport. 8/9 hrs at 65m.p.h. 3 x p.w. on the M4. Perfect for a diesel motor. Now on 220k m, still pulls like a train.
So did this: 20-150 mph in 5th. V8 4 litre in a car no heavier than an MX5. A TVR V8S. I was going to get the plain vanilla S[1/2/3] with the Ford V6 3l but when I read in the TVRCC mag a comment, by a woman, that âAnything less than V8 is for wimpsâ I had to go for the V8S. And no, it was not unreliable. For 6 months I commuted in it from Maida Vale to Ealing, in rush hour both ways. Lots of use ⊠when the owner-before-last bought it back from me he commented that it âseems looserâ.
Iâve had 3 Citroen Dyane, 2 x GS, 1 x BX, 2 x DS, 1 X CX - all of them great cars, particularly the DSâs and Dyanes.
Various others. Someone tried to give me an Armstrong Siddley but it wasnât a runner, so I passed. Ditto a Jag Mk10. That had vomit where the front seats should have been.
And I started, as someone my age should, with a proper Mini.