Your fleet running reports

[McSwede]

Collecting some belt dressing tomorrow to hopefully eliminate the squealing on the MX5 PAS belt

Nope. That didn't work. New belt arrives this weekend along with new rear drop links as they're both fucked. Some more 30yr old bolts to undo

Fitted new belt but peculiar squeal still there. I think it's due to how tacky the belt dressing is. Will I be able to shift it with a few squirts of brake cleaner? And will brake cleaner bugger up the belt??

Awaiting new tool delivery before doing drop links.

[integrale_evo]

Headlight eyebrows!

Not seen a set of those since about 2001

[integrale_evo]

50k

[Beany]

<insert 'Livin on a prayer' here>

I mean, you are half way there, after all.

[scotta]

Elise has a broken Flexi on the exhaust. £140 for a replacement from eliseparts / Elise-shop. Annoyingly the downpipe itself looks brand new as its stainless. Nef reckons he can cut off and weld in a new flexi at his mates factory so ive removed it and he picked it up last week. Surprisingly easily removed - I had foreseen stuck bolts and much swearing. Came off really easily - suspiciously easily! Noticed one of the rear hanger bolts were loose so suspect thats what caused the flexi to go.

[Jobbo]

Used Waze through Carplay on the way to work today. Since you get user reports of hazards, I had an alert for a police car (actually a Highways Agency vehicle) and a speed camera (actually just CCTV on top of a pole) as well as the speed cameras I already know about.

Worked well though, generally. Carplay is going to suffer the same thing no matter what car you use it in: the graphics don't blend in well with the car's own interface. Impressed overall though.

[Foz]

So i knew I was going to have to modify the camper as its a 4 berth but only 3 seater, and theres 3 children..

much research re seats and as I have a side facing rear seat which is a no-no for belts.

Found that the grand espace from the late 90's has the rearmost folding seats and integrated belts, will need to raise the sofa 50mm to hide it under but think it will be the best/safest/least intrusive solution, will figure out if forward or rear facing when i get it, also depends on any obstructions under any mounting points.

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-GRAN ... %7Ciid%3A1

[Broccers]

Buy a bigger one?

Any tips on squeak eradication tape or material? The inner A pillar in the mini makes a right racket, more so in summer for some reason. I plan to remove it and hopefully with some padding it will cure it. Pic of part

[Foz]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373014017881

[Sundayjumper]

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

A time machine so you can think about this kind of stuff before buying it ?

[Rich B]

So i knew I was going to have to modify the camper as its a 4 berth but only 3 seater, and theres 3 children..

much research re seats and as I have a side facing rear seat which is a no-no for belts.

Found that the grand espace from the late 90's has the rearmost folding seats and integrated belts, will need to raise the sofa 50mm to hide it under but think it will be the best/safest/least intrusive solution, will figure out if forward or rear facing when i get it, also depends on any obstructions under any mounting points.

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-GRAN ... %7Ciid%3A1

so where are you planning to put the foldy seats?

[V8Granite]

Find out where you are allowed to put the seats.

I looked into lots of ways to safely and legally put an extra seat in the Defender and the only place allowed is by the rear door, which meant whenever it wasn’t being used it would be an absolute pain. So I didn’t bother.

Dave!

[Foz]

So i knew I was going to have to modify the camper as its a 4 berth but only 3 seater, and theres 3 children..

much research re seats and as I have a side facing rear seat which is a no-no for belts.

Found that the grand espace from the late 90's has the rearmost folding seats and integrated belts, will need to raise the sofa 50mm to hide it under but think it will be the best/safest/least intrusive solution, will figure out if forward or rear facing when i get it, also depends on any obstructions under any mounting points.

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-GRAN ... %7Ciid%3A1

so where are you planning to put the foldy seats?

Under the bed, it pulls out, and could be concealed under it nicely.

[Alex_]

The front passenger side alloy has been slightly bent for a while . Got it fixed earlier for 40 quid. There's quite a lot of brake dust pitted on all four wheels. Pondering whether to refurb them and a wee colour change, perhaps gloss black.

[Sundayjumper]

It’s been a year since I bought this and honestly thought it would be a 6 month flip on the way to a Cayenne Turbo S but it’s been so good I’ve bought new wheels for it, new tyres, gearbox oil changed, new brakes all round, had the air con fixed along with lowering it and finally remapping it.

Enough to say I’ve really grown to like it even if it only did 22mpg around town, 27 on a run and was the top tax band. Remap has helped massively with the fuel economy, it now does a more respectable 29mpg around town.

What are you getting to replace it ?

[jamcg]

So i knew I was going to have to modify the camper as its a 4 berth but only 3 seater, and theres 3 children..

much research re seats and as I have a side facing rear seat which is a no-no for belts.

Found that the grand espace from the late 90's has the rearmost folding seats and integrated belts, will need to raise the sofa 50mm to hide it under but think it will be the best/safest/least intrusive solution, will figure out if forward or rear facing when i get it, also depends on any obstructions under any mounting points.

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-GRAN ... %7Ciid%3A1

Have a look at van seats, they tend to roughly line up with van mounting points which are probably under your floor already- my brother in law had transit rear seats in his transporter and they just bolted straight into the standard vw holes

From a quick google transit connect was available with these, don’t know if they might work

[Matty]

Had the Up serviced by VW - only because it was free as it still had a service plan. Genuinely shocked at how expensive they are for nothing more than a city car. Last time I used a dealer was Merc for the SLK, so I wasn't surprised by the expensive prices especially as I was reminded about their AMG tax.

But if I'd have taken up their "Recommendations" and I didn't have a service plan, I would have paid:
£280 (for an oil change!)
£150 for an AC service
£35 for an engine flush.

Almost £500, made worse by the fact the AC was fine (they even told me that) but it's "due a service every 2 years". Maybe this is all normal and I'm just massive naive about MD's as a whole.

On the upside I got a change to try out the new 20-plate VW Polo. It felt massive, but significantly higher-quality product than the Up, which is expected. Everything - materials and driving wise - was softer, quieter and squidgier. Felt far more disconnected from everything....which depending on what you want is either a good or bad thing.

[Foz]

So i knew I was going to have to modify the camper as its a 4 berth but only 3 seater, and theres 3 children..

much research re seats and as I have a side facing rear seat which is a no-no for belts.

Found that the grand espace from the late 90's has the rearmost folding seats and integrated belts, will need to raise the sofa 50mm to hide it under but think it will be the best/safest/least intrusive solution, will figure out if forward or rear facing when i get it, also depends on any obstructions under any mounting points.

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-GRAN ... %7Ciid%3A1

Have a look at van seats, they tend to roughly line up with van mounting points which are probably under your floor already- my brother in law had transit rear seats in his transporter and they just bolted straight into the standard vw holes

From a quick google transit connect was available with these, don’t know if they might work

They look good options but don’t seem to have the integral belts hence the Renault ones, seems MB Vito rear seats are similar, will keep hunting

[Nic]

It’s been a year since I bought this and honestly thought it would be a 6 month flip on the way to a Cayenne Turbo S but it’s been so good I’ve bought new wheels for it, new tyres, gearbox oil changed, new brakes all round, had the air con fixed along with lowering it and finally remapping it.

Enough to say I’ve really grown to like it even if it only did 22mpg around town, 27 on a run and was the top tax band. Remap has helped massively with the fuel economy, it now does a more respectable 29mpg around town.

What are you getting to replace it ?

Have bought something, trying to organise insurance today.

[Broccers]

It’s been a year since I bought this and honestly thought it would be a 6 month flip on the way to a Cayenne Turbo S but it’s been so good I’ve bought new wheels for it, new tyres, gearbox oil changed, new brakes all round, had the air con fixed along with lowering it and finally remapping it.

Enough to say I’ve really grown to like it even if it only did 22mpg around town, 27 on a run and was the top tax band. Remap has helped massively with the fuel economy, it now does a more respectable 29mpg around town.

What are you getting to replace it ?

Have bought something, trying to organise insurance today.

Is it a Porsche?

Speaking of which we've been to the coast today and for the first time drove the motorway back with the roof down. Surprisingly good at 97 with not too much wind noise. Great fun.

If anyone's after a Cayman by the way this seems really cheap to me.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/968587889 ... 4830526288