Currently sat on the second train of the day. A 6am start, walked to my local station, into New Street for breakfast at Prett, this train is taking me to Ely, then a wait for the local train to Brandon. Wish I could find a car local to me one of these days…. Not sure I can call this one a banger, I did up the budget to over £2K, so more like a reasonably priced car thread. Mrs W thinks I’m nuts, in general, but more so for buying another car. However, the actual maths (not man maths) showed that the ownership costs were nil for the 147, so I’m looking to get close to a nil ownership cost for this one over the next 12 months. The car has a new MOT and service, so I shouldn’t (everything crossed) need to splash out on anything else other than upgrades. It comes with a 3 month warranty as well, so some peace of mind on this purchase. Insurance was very reasonable, I’ve got 220 days left on the multi car policy, this one cost an additional £147 for that period. Happy with that. Tax is £35 a year as well, so another cheaper cost. All being well I shall be in the car for the journey home around midday. Fingers crossed!
Enjoy “new old car” day! As you know I recently did the same. Always a bit of risk at this budget level but yours sounds like a good find. Yours will be more comfortable than mine on a longer trip, whilst retaining a sporty character. I did a recent airport run to and from Luton Airport, a 4 hour round trip and the Mini ran faultlessly. Best bit is the economy and zero road tax! I too got a 3 month warranty including breakdown cover from a company called Warranty Solutions Group. I have no idea how good they are; the warranty was a bonus as far as I was concerned as I purchased based on condition, being a one owner car and a fastidious service history. Not sure if you have a similar experience but honestly the Mini is just as much fun as my M5. Yes completely different cars but wondering if part of the fun factor is the not having to worry or fuss about the car getting scratched or dinged, etc. Enjoy, look forward to hearing your experiences with it.
Well that was an epic day and a half! Left home at 6am and arrived at the dealers at 10:55am. Thankfully the walk, three trains and a car drive were all worth it, the car was even better than I was hoping for. Really, really well looked after example. The dealer is a husband and wife team, small business that is growing rapidly, I'd recommend them for sure. Gave me the keys, popped some trade plates on the car and told me to go for a drive, I tested all the gears, electric items, etc etc, came back and did the paperwork. Taxed the car straight away, a massive £35, and off I went. Hooked the phone up to the BT, plugged my old iPod nano (4th gen) into the USB and bingo, a media library of 2K songs! Sounds good through the car stereo. Filled up at the Shell just as I joined the A11, lots of bikers around the McDs there, reset the Trip A and headed home. Air con is ice cold, cruise control is such a bonus for the longer boring drives, works perfectly. 120 miles of uneventful driving later I was home, the trip was showing 59.7mpg since reset, very happy with that considering I did use the Dynamic mode on the back roads around here, does change the throttle response quite a bit, I was reasonably impressed to be fair. Only niggles I can see so far: - front badge is worn, replacement already ordered (standard job!) - two new tyres fitted for the MOT, they put a pair of Westlake's on the front. May bin those in a few K miles when the rears are done, put some decent mid-range tyres on - the headlights need a polish to bring them back to life, a slight tarnish on the plastic lenses Other than that, very happy indeed! A good sign of the previous ownership: As it was upon arrival: And some very smart keys indeed: (it did come with two working keys) The stack of paperwork is impressive, clear sign that the three previous owners have done all the right jobs at the right times. Fingers crossed this is a good one.
I think this is the one line that is a guarantee in any Alfa thread where the car bought is more than about 6-7 years old. The badge seems nearly as bad as Alfa red paint was back in the late 90s/early 00s
Had a go at cleaning up the headlight lenses this afternoon. They looked ok from a few metres away, but were reasonably faded when looking up close. I used some AG Paint Restorer and a sponge mop on the end of my cordless drill. After masking up the surround I gave the lenses several goes over, then a polish and they have come out well, not new, but certainly a lot better than they were. Photos don't really do them justice to be fair, genuinely do look better in real life now. Before/After on the drivers side:
New badge delivered this morning, popped it on this evening, has certainly spruced up the front end. Bought a genuine badge, so will hopefully last more than six months….
First work use of the car today, a round trip to Banbury (still haven't seen any fine ladies on white horses in all the visits there....), and the car has performed very well. I checked the tyre pressures at the weekend, thought it was a bit on the hard side over undulating road surfaces. The fronts had been set at 40psi rather than the handbooks suggested 33psi, and the rears were at 38psi rather than 31psi. Much calmer and more compliant now. On 57.3mpg since I filled up on Friday, saw 60+ on the way out to Banbury this morning, but then the DPF regen kicked in and it fell quite quickly. Dropped a gear and held it at 3K revs to aid the process, seemed to help. Threw half a bottle of Redex in, won't do any harm and may actually help to keep the injectors etc sweet. Road noise from the Westlakes is noticeable, as is the hum from the worn rear Maxxis tyres, I may end up changing these over sooner rather than later. The rears are on approx 3mm, so ready for a refresh. Have started some research on the best options, thinking of Michelin all weather tyres as a good compromise. A random Alfa feature has already shown itself, the rear wiper seems to park itself at random places when used for a one off wipe. Parks half way through the cycle, one third, one side and then the other. All rather bizarre. have read up and there seem to be a dozen possible issues, but for now I will just keep an eye on it. Although it does my head in looking in the rear view and seeing it halfway up the window!
A bit late to posting on this (sorry) but watching keenly and delighted you’ve managed to bag yourself what looks like such a clean and well cared for car. Hope it serves you as well as the last one did. Loving the updates. I wouldn’t trust myself not to go totally OCD on getting it immaculate but that rather defeats the point of bangernomics Kicking myself a little as I was actually up at High Lodge in Thetford Forest right next to Brandon on Friday; treated myself to a day MTBing the red trails but could’ve been around to meet up. Shame but heyho. Look forward to the updates!
I drove alongside the forest on the test drive, stopped at the RAF Lakenheath viewing area to check the fluids and drive shafts etc before heading back to the dealers. Look like some great countryside out there. Know what you mean about the OCD side of things, I was looking at the airbag this afternoon thinking "hmmm, those two scratches are annoying, wonder how much a new airbag is...." It can become obsessive! Need to watch myself logging onto eBay.......
The upgrades and expense continue to rise…..I’ve spent a massive £9 on a rear wiper blade. This will be the ruin of me so it will.
Yep, just done the same on my Mini Cooper. £14 on wiper blades all round (front and rear). Another £5 on a new antenna, and £2 for some plastic fixings for the chrome grill that were missing. Oh and just £47 to fill up. Expensive cars! On the other hand, the M5 cost a mere £950 two weeks ago for a vehicle check service (was a big one; oil, spark plugs, filters, full check). Courtesy of M tax
I'm leaning towards a new set of car mats as well......must not click "buy it now"........ The BMW is due the first service in four weeks, a relatively cheap £374 for an oil change. Must be that unobtanium they use as a lubricant.
And which ones are more fun to drive in the UK? I had an F90 M5 followed by a B9.5 RS4... but my JCW vert is more fun than either of those at UK limits. Mind it wasnt exactly banger money but one third the price of either of the other two!
Depends upon the circumstances, road conditions etc. The G22 was utterly epic going to and from north wales last month. The combination of grip and power really gave me confidence on the tight, twisty, wet A roads up and over Snowdonia. Only a 60 limit, but I was easily staying at and around that speed in the car, whereas something like the Alfa would possibly have struggled. I’m still considering the fate of the G22, possibly swap it in the spring/summer of 2025.
Sadly I dont get to go to North Wales much... most of my driving is in the crowded south east, with some country lane back roads to avoid the queues on the M25 or M1 mainly. The Jag is pretty capable at those roads when needed - although normally if I am in the Jag its because I have the dog, my other half or my Mum in the car, and they dont approve of me driving fast. The Mini is perfect on the country roads, especially with the roof down, although I wouldnt fancy a three hour journey in it... although I am planning a trip to Scotland in it in the Spring which will be 8 hours! ts also manual which adds to the driving involvement on a good road.
Similar sentiments to @Wynne71 that it depends on the application. The Mini is great fun to chuck about and also to spice up mundane or everyday demands. Part of the enjoyment is the sense of liberation not having to worry about it, where I park it, etc. The M5 is special in a very different way; it’s a sense of occasion and has bags of personality and noise, and you don’t have to do silly speeds to appreciate it. I will never use 560bhp, but even so, it feels so planted and vastly different to any non M car I’ve ever driven. It was my daily but way too expensive for me to use as a daily now that I have a 65 mile round commute for my new job. It has a life of luxury in my garage hooked up to the CTek, and will be taken out on dry days or whenever I want to to blow out the cobwebs. Just done an 800km round trip through France fully loaded with family and roof box and it was sublime, exactly what it was built for!
Oh, no question that the F90 is an immense machine and fantastically capable. I think that was part of the problem for me, it was way more capable than me and most of the time a 540i would have been perfectly suitable for me - and then I could have had a Touring (I have a dog to transport!). I agree they are in a different league in terms of capabilities but I wasnt using them... And as you say, it had a sense of occasion and noise - both of which seemed to attract attention I didnt really want! My other car at the time was a 5 door Mini, I did more miles in that in the time I had the M5. As couples splitting up say, its not you, its me... well with the M5 it was definitely me, the car was amazing... but not for my use. The RS4 was a better fit... although less of an occasion. Now I'm heading for retirement its unlikely I'll ever find myself in another M car unless its a manual M2 as a weekend toy....
A very interesting thread this. I have nothing to contribute to it really, except to say how much I am enjoying reading it.
A brief update, I’ve driven the car for approx 500 miles so far, still on the original tank of diesel and have approx 200 left in there. A mix of motorway and A/B road. Replaced the rear wiper blade for a Bosch one, nice clean rear view. Replaced the car mats today, the ones in there were a bit old and manky. Also cleaned the pedals as they were letting the side down a wee bit. The costs just keep racking up…. Looks a lot smarter now. Some before and afters. (I can’t get the photos up as images in the thread, the website is doing that weird photo thing again)
Fixed for you! Looking good. P.S. - I’ve no idea why it’s not working for you, but once you’ve uploaded the file, click on them - copy the web link and then use the clicky above which has the icon for the landscape photo and paste the URL into there. Should work that way as a workaround.