Mrs Buckos Sierra XR4i has failed it's MOT to a spectacular degree. The fail sheet was three pages long. Here's a taster of some of the bits that need replacing:
Brake discs, pads, callipers and hoses, both sides
Fuel lines
Suspension bushes and steering rack
CV joints and track rod ends, both sides.
Both number plates??
Both sills and seatbelt anchorage points
The chap who did the MOT was someone we know well, so I dread to think what would have happened if we took it to a random garage. They probably wouldn't have let us drive it away.
Apart from the welding, I could have done the work myself over summer, but as we need to be running two cars for work, it had to go. Mrs Bucko managed to swap it for a Renault Clio with tax and MOT, so fortunately we didn't have to shell out any money at all, which is good because my MOT is due next month.
The only problem is, Mrs B has had to go from a nice, rare 2 litre Sierra to a poxy Clio and she isn't liking it.
It's got the pulling power of a well whipped mule, and you would get better acceleration if you got out and pushed.
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| Renault Clio |
I does have one big advantage over cars with real engines though. The fuel costs are going to be very economical as it runs on cheese. This is a picture of the engine taken earlier today:
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| 1.4 litre mouse power |
The mouse needs changing every 10,000 miles. Cheap technology that only the French could invent.
This car was definitely built with A-B people in mind. It's a hairdressers car. I'll have to watch Mrs Bucko because she's liable to start some kind of mobile hairdressing or gel nails service if she runs this thing for too long.
Not only does it lack any kind of satisfactory performance, it's an ugly little bugger too. Short and stumpy with silly little froggy headlights. There's no room inside and no comfort. I like a car you can stretch out and relax in. Driving this vehicle could easily be compared to flying by Ryanair.
So to sum up, I don't like the Clio.
Hopefully she will get a few hundred quid for it that she can put towards another petrol guzzling lump that will have the enviroloonies lamenting and rending their garments. That's the only way to drive.
6 Comments:
Go on, drive the wheels off it!
As for driving the wheels of it, that's for Mrs B to do. She might get used to it but I doubt she'll keep it for long.
I've never driven the 5; I did have a laguna once, but that was a bit charachterless aswell.
I imagine a Fiat Panda 4x4 would be completely out of the question...
I donated the Brava to a local outfit that trains kids in mechanical skills (and funds itself) by refurbishing cars for resale; I thought of buying it back, but the offspring have been learning to drive and the astronomical insurance has condemned me instead to a featureless 1.0 shopping runabout for the foreseeable.
Even a mouse-driven Clio would be an infinite improvement...
(PS Hope the evening out was a success)
The night out was a roaring success by the way
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