JetSet

The convoy at Bala Pete

Jeez, that reminds me, someone tipped a bag of sugar into my fuel tank once, engine seized after 100 miles or so. Pete

Slightly different scenario....Going back a few years I parked my XR3i in a supermarket car well away from other cars (as I always do). When I returned there was a white Marina parked next to me and a dint in my door, so big that it had the Marina's paint in it, in fact it was more of a crease than a dint. Well, kicking the door would have been pointless as it had wave like dints the whole length of the car, it wasn't so much a shed as a wreck. I'm not saying what I did, use your imagination . When I took the car to body shop the guy said it was impossible to pull out and that my best bet was to stick some of those rubber side protectors on which would cover the crease, so that's what I did. Pete

Well, what a great day out and what a really great bunch of people. Both Caroline and myself enjoyed our day out more than we can say, I can't wait for the next event Thanks to Colin for all the work he's put into the organising such a well run event. I have to say that I struggled at times (most of the time actually ) to keep up. My driving is a bit shall we say rusty, only the second time in 7 years that I've driven over 100 miles in a day, but hey, I least I didn't crash (too often ). Kinda funny when I used my local knowledge to arrive back at The Moreton with the main bunch from the opposite direction . Also, thanks to Darren for his patience by staying behind me, at times he must have wondered if we'd get back to The Moreton before it got dark. Great route, great cars, great people and great food, what more can you ask for? Pete

I guess I was the Blade...possibly? Pete

Yeah, Chester area is a Zed hotspot Pete

Mines a 55 plate, reg'd 2006, with 8,500 on the clock, just delivery miles when I got it. Lack of use and miles can cause the brakes to pit and the battery to fail prematurely other than that no problems. Mine's still on the original exhaust, tyres, etc, inside it's like new, still smells like a new car. Pete

Depends on which weather forecast is right. I looked at 4 and while they all contained the word "rain", they were all a bit different. BBC had the worst one, heavy rain all day, Weather Underground 30% chance of showers. The other 2 were sunshine and showers and light rain. However, the area we're going to is well known for it's micro climate and high rainfall. We get 25 inches per annum here, 50 miles away its 80+ inches!! Although I think its too early to tell yet we should have a clearer picture in a couple of days time. Pete

The dealer nearest to me, Lookers in Chester claimed to have sold over 20 of the 313 hp models just as the 370Z was due out. Although of course I only have his word for it, he said that once they reduced the price to 22k for the coupe and 23k for the roadster they all went within a week, apart from 3 roadsters which were still in the showroom. I'm still kicking myself for not getting one of the roadsters for my wife. Pete

I don't look at plates these days so these go back a bit..."TEN 10" on a Ferrari in early 70's, "O606" on a Volvo, "TON1" on several posh cars, I think he was a hairdresser . My personal fave of all time was one I saw in Thornbury near Bristol. I saw this the same week that Neil Armstrong landed on the moon which made it a bit special, it was "APO110 G" ON A 3.5 Rover. Pete

I once had the number "V2", and the vehicle it was on. I acquired this number in the most bizarre circumstances, in fact it made the local papers at the time. Unfortunately, this was in 1973, before the DVLA was conceived and in those days the authorities would not allow me to transfer the plates onto my car because they were on a completely different type of vehicle, that's how it worked back then. Wonder what that plate would be worth now? Pete

Welome . There's quite a few of us in the Chester, North East Wales area.... Pete

Yeah, I've had 4 calls from them now. As you've described, they stick to a script and if you deviate from it then they just keep repeating themselves trying to get it back on track. I'm something of a geek when it comes to PC's, been on the Net since '93 and had my own website as long ago as 1996 so they picked on the wrong person. I'm actually considering going ex directory and changing my phone number its getting that bad. I used to get dozens of calls from Indian call centres trying to sell me mobile phones but they've stopped right now. Satellite repair companies are another nightmare, completely dishonest, people must be desperate to work for crooks like that. And then there's the silent calls, most of which I traced to N Power who I'll never deal with, period. Pete

I had a phone call today, actually not the first one, from a company who are based in India telling me that my ISP had detected a virus on my computer. This company then claimed they were working for MicroSoft and they would talk me through a fix for it. At this stage I told him to stop talking rubbish (or words to that effect ) and put the phone down. After a few minutes research it transpired that they are trying to sell you a product called PC Defender which is completely useless and will set you back £130 or so. They have obtained a database of names and phone numbers, he asked for me by name, and are targeting The U.K and The U.S apparently. There are several companies in India using this trick to obtain money from you, all owned by the same person and Trading standards have received hundreds of complaints although it would seem there's nothing they can actually do to prevent it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ju ... ll-centres They tried again today "We're phoning about your computer problem" , unbelievable. Pete

Sorry to hear that, main thing is you're O.K. Damage doesn't look too bad and keep us informed about the health of the dog...amazed it could even survive a 30mph impact. Pete

This is what I was meant by US Freeway medians being dangerous. Obviously, the driver is a complete idiot but if the median had been flat, not grassed and with barriers then the car would not have been destroyed. Someone from The States told me that the reason they don't take road safety serious, is that they regard it as a good source of body organs, especially from bikers. http://www.wmur.com/video/24740308/detail.html Pete

Well, that'll have to be replaced. It's almost certainly within the swept area that the blades cover and the limit is 40mm, and that looks to be at least that. I'm with Axa and as with nearly all companies there's an excess to pay. Been a few years since I had a chip but the last one about 12 years ago (with Axa) cost me £50. I was driving for 20 years before I got my first windscreen chip and then I had 3 more within 18 months, it used to be free back then luckily. Pete

I pass through Ewloe most days, usually on the way to ASDA, but don't go through Hawarden that often. Not been to Charlies, or past it recently for that matter. I tend to avoid Shotton like the plague. There used to be a bronze (not sure of the exact term) Zed around here in 2005/6, saw it almost every day in Ewloe or Buckley but it vanished around the time I got mine in 2007. The guy who had it drove it really hard, saw him giving it some stick up Pinfold Lane on several occasions. Pete

Nope, still only 8.2k on the clock. Despite being reg'd in Jan 2006 it had never been out on the road before I bought it, so that's why it looks brand new. Dealer reg'd it then stuck it the showroom for 12 months at a time when I was quoted a 2-4 month wait by several Nissan dealers. Pete

Taken on the day I picked it up, 14/02/2007. Next day it got covered in 6 inches of snow!! Just a standard model with GT pack. Pete

I can pretty well manage anywhere in the Deeside ,Chester or Wrexham area, the only day that is difficult for me is the 29th August. Pete

My wife had one of these, a 180 model, from 02 to 05, did about 45k in it. Very nice car to drive but there were a few problems. HT leads were forever failing but the worse failure involved a relay that operated the central locking. On two occasions my wife was locked into her car and had to climb out of the window, once on the outside the key failed to open the door. The guy from Audi who came to fix it said he had replaced loads of them. Pete

Thanks for the info. My wheels aren't too bad, a very slight kerb mark on a couple of wheels, not worth getting them done at present. My wife's Z4 wheels are something of a disaster though, most of the paint on the inside has flaked away and there's bad corrosion on the outside of a couple of them spreading from where its been kerbed. These are split wheels on run flats, would that make any difference to the price? No that wasn't me but I've seen another silver one locally too. Pete

Mine's Silver on a 55 plate and I'm up for a local meeting if you can arrange one. Pete

Yeah, my step daughter had one, when she was D/Q'd for Drink Driving I had the use of it for 9 months. I'm 6ft exactly and found it to be a little uncomfortable and certainly wouldn't fancy doing a long journey in one. The great thing about them is the reliability, she did 75k in hers from new and only had it serviced a couple of times, they just run and run. MPG was pretty good on her 1.8 model, somewhere in the region of 34mpg from what I remember. Hold their value extremely well too, she put it in Motor Mart and had people fighting over it, we must have had 20 calls about it. Pete I'm 6' 1" and nearly 15 stone and I drive my g/friends Mark 1 - no issues. Drove down to Bordeaux and did Le Mans in it a couple of years ago - not even a sore bum. For £2500 I'd get the cheapie Mark 1 - still rated the best driver's car. And it HAS got air-con! Here it is in the middle of France at dawn: Yeah, Rachael had one of these too. My experiences of this were limited to moving it off the drive a few times but I don't recall it being cramped like the newer one she had. Pete