Octavia vRS tfsi
I don't usually do these look what I have threads, but today is especially slow in work and I have time to kill before I catch the train home!
Bought a ph1 172 in January of this year as I changed jobs and needed something both more economical to run and something that would take mileage a bit better than the few e30 325i Sports that I had.
I pick up this in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, 2000 41,000 miles
More or less a standard 172. Standard wheels, standard induction, standard suspension. Only modification was a cat back exhaust, unbranded, so my guess was that it was a powerflow.
After 7 - 8 months of owership I was sick of the car, I was used to it, used to the power, found it completely uninspiring. I was bored of FWD, the exhaust drove me insane and I was sick of how it looked. The car at this point started needing some love - cambelt, tyres, VRT needed paying to put it on Irish plates, road tax, NCT/MOT had to be paid. I decided I was going to sell it for either an M3 or an Alpina.
Unfortunately, cars like these are nigh on impossible to sell in Ireland. The basic ethos of selling a car in Ireland is like this 'if its not Japanese or not German, it won't sell quickly'. So, with this being the case, I consciously changed the manner in which I was driving the car. I consciously sought out roads both local and further afield that I felt would flatter the chassis and hopefully entice me to keep the car that I was finding it so difficult to sell.
It worked. I fell in love with the Clio again and resolved to getting it both mechanically 100% and cosmetically 100% - Wheel refurb, sticky tyres, different exhaust, lower, splitter, induction, VRT, road tax, NCT.
VRT works like this, when you buy a car in the UK and bring it here, ususally, it's 30% of the OMSP to put the car on Irish plates - my car worked out at €1,450, plus €500 to tax it, plus €50 to nct it. I got as far as paying the VRT one Friday lunchtime. The following Tuesday the car was booked in for it's cambelt and engine mounts. I dropped the cara off at the garage, and before lunchtime....
Voila...
With the boss in France at the Irish/Georgia RWC game one of the mechanics wents for 'a parts run' read 'joyride', and put the Clio into the front of a truck.
After a couple of weeks of hassle in terms of getting sorted with the price of the car, costs involved in getting a new one and acceptance of liability for any future claims arising from hitting the third party I eventually got sorted.
Flew to Southampton, collected by Darren16v in the airport, picked up this, and 5 hours later was back in Holyhead boarding the ferry back to Dublin! 2001, 73,000 miles
Perfect car, everything done to it both mechanically and cosmetically that I would have eventually done to my own! Delighted.
So the moral of this tale is, be carefull where you bring your car for a service, pay the extra for somewhere a bit more reputable, note your mileage, and make it known that you have done so.
Bought a ph1 172 in January of this year as I changed jobs and needed something both more economical to run and something that would take mileage a bit better than the few e30 325i Sports that I had.
I pick up this in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, 2000 41,000 miles
More or less a standard 172. Standard wheels, standard induction, standard suspension. Only modification was a cat back exhaust, unbranded, so my guess was that it was a powerflow.
After 7 - 8 months of owership I was sick of the car, I was used to it, used to the power, found it completely uninspiring. I was bored of FWD, the exhaust drove me insane and I was sick of how it looked. The car at this point started needing some love - cambelt, tyres, VRT needed paying to put it on Irish plates, road tax, NCT/MOT had to be paid. I decided I was going to sell it for either an M3 or an Alpina.
Unfortunately, cars like these are nigh on impossible to sell in Ireland. The basic ethos of selling a car in Ireland is like this 'if its not Japanese or not German, it won't sell quickly'. So, with this being the case, I consciously changed the manner in which I was driving the car. I consciously sought out roads both local and further afield that I felt would flatter the chassis and hopefully entice me to keep the car that I was finding it so difficult to sell.
It worked. I fell in love with the Clio again and resolved to getting it both mechanically 100% and cosmetically 100% - Wheel refurb, sticky tyres, different exhaust, lower, splitter, induction, VRT, road tax, NCT.
VRT works like this, when you buy a car in the UK and bring it here, ususally, it's 30% of the OMSP to put the car on Irish plates - my car worked out at €1,450, plus €500 to tax it, plus €50 to nct it. I got as far as paying the VRT one Friday lunchtime. The following Tuesday the car was booked in for it's cambelt and engine mounts. I dropped the cara off at the garage, and before lunchtime....
Voila...
With the boss in France at the Irish/Georgia RWC game one of the mechanics wents for 'a parts run' read 'joyride', and put the Clio into the front of a truck.
After a couple of weeks of hassle in terms of getting sorted with the price of the car, costs involved in getting a new one and acceptance of liability for any future claims arising from hitting the third party I eventually got sorted.
Flew to Southampton, collected by Darren16v in the airport, picked up this, and 5 hours later was back in Holyhead boarding the ferry back to Dublin! 2001, 73,000 miles
Perfect car, everything done to it both mechanically and cosmetically that I would have eventually done to my own! Delighted.
So the moral of this tale is, be carefull where you bring your car for a service, pay the extra for somewhere a bit more reputable, note your mileage, and make it known that you have done so.
