Cars Knackered

[Kid Dynamite 7318]

My car broke down for the 3rd time this month yesterday I think its fates way of telling me its time to pack it in and get a new one

 

Im looking at around £6k for a car with less than 30k on the clock and around 3 years old.

 

So far these 2 have caught my eye

 

http://www.evanshalshaw.com/vehiclesearch/...alse&type=1

 

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_...200946346180378

 

 

Im hoping to get back around £1500 for mine so need to borrow £4-5k at around £150 a month.

 

Wheres best for loans? Im with Nationwide so I suppose I better start there

 

Its sods law that my salary is bumping up about £200 a month in January and its going to be swallowed up for the next 4 years!

[Geordie Boot Girl 0]

i bought mine from Benfield, got a canny trade in price for mine and a decent monthly payment through them

 

My car broke down for the 3rd time this month yesterday I think its fates way of telling me its time to pack it in and get a new one

 

Im looking at around £6k for a car with less than 30k on the clock and around 3 years old.

 

So far these 2 have caught my eye

 

http://www.evanshalshaw.com/vehiclesearch/...alse&type=1

 

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_...200946346180378

 

 

Im hoping to get back around £1500 for mine so need to borrow £4-5k at around £150 a month.

 

Wheres best for loans? Im with Nationwide so I suppose I better start there

 

Its sods law that my salary is bumping up about £200 a month in January and its going to be swallowed up for the next 4 years!

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cheap-personal-loans

http://www.uswitch.com/loans/

 

I'd go for the Focus.

[Cid_MCDP 0]

My car broke down on me today. Funny story.

 

So I'm on my way to work today and as I'm driving to the interstate highway (read as 70 mph speed limit) I take to get to work, I start getting this really heavy vibration from the front passenger side of the car. I get on the interstate for about the first 20 minutes of my commute, but before I'm to where I get off on highway 41 (lower speed, generally around 60 mph), the vibration is so bad it sounds like I'm driving a helicopter. I finally decide I'm probably doing some real damage, so I call my boss and turn around.

 

I get to where I'm just off the interstate and driving towards the house and the shaking and vibrating is so bad, I finally just pull over and start walking. 45 minutes later, I'm back at the house calling the mechanic shop and a tow truck. Mechanic dude thinks it could be a broken axle or ball joint and tells me he'll give me a free estimate because the cougar is 10 years old and it probably isn't worth putting a new axle in or whatever. I get off the phone and drive Breea's car back to the cougar to meet up with the tow truck guy.

 

So I meet up with the tow truck dude and he's all, "Ïs it driveable?"

 

I'm all, "I don't know man, it was getting really rough there towards the end. I only live about 3 or 4 miles from here and didn't think I'd get it home if that tells you anything."

 

He's like not wanting to chain it up the ramp so he tries to drive it. He drives it forward about three feet and we hear a loud noise and he says, "Yep, I think your ball joint just broke."

 

We walk around the side of the car and the wheel is like all cocked to the side, not straight up and down like it should be. The tow truck guy says, "Yeah, see? Your ball joint just broke."

 

I noticed something else though- there's a lug nut about 3 feet away from the wheel, which makes me say, "No dude, the wheel just came off."

 

Two of the wheel studs were completely sheared off which made the remaining lug nuts strip out completely, which lead to the wheel coming off entirely.

 

Know the punchline to this joke? It's been coming from a mile away... I just had new front tires put on about a month ago. Apparently the tire shop didn't put the wrench to the lug nuts after they were done. Had I not turned around and then finally pulled off the road when I did, that wheel would've come off while I was driving. I know you've heard stories of people getting oil changes and the shop forgets to put new oil in and shit like that, but for reals- next time you get your tires changed, make sure they tighten your shit back up. Losing a wheel at 70 mph wouldn't have been a fucking joke, man.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Cid_MCDP

[Kid Dynamite 7318]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cheap-personal-loans

http://www.uswitch.com/loans/

 

I'd go for the Focus.

 

Any particular reason?

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cheap-personal-loans

http://www.uswitch.com/loans/

 

I'd go for the Focus.

 

Any particular reason?

They're better cars than the Astra. A Focus does almost everything very well. Zetec is a nice trim level too. Has it got ac?

 

Also the Astra is a three door, so less practical, and I'd wonder if a 1.6 mated to an automatic gearbox had enough torque to keep you going at a decent rate. It's also beige.

[Kid Dynamite 7318]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/adv...0&logcode=p

 

Theres a manual Astra for a £1k cheaper. Im dubious about buying privately though? Is there anything you can do to protect yourself?

[AgentAxeman 199]

KD, go for the Focus. they are fantastic cars. cheap as fuck to run and repair as well.