coldel

Evo service intervals come along every 10 days, and cost and arm and a leg Speaking to a couple of local owners it really did put me off buying one. How about a Focus RS Mazda 6 MPS (very rare!) Celica VVTLi

Biggest engine I had by the time I got to 25 was a 1.6i (Ford Orion GHIA I will have you know ) - it just seems insane that people at 18 are driving VXRs and V6s (no offence to OP btw)

Cars always look pedestrian on camera from the inside!

Yeah I am thinking for the Ace just get there at 11 and when it starts to fill up head off so am not intruding on the 350z turf If its pouring with rain will probably not go in any case. ...wouldnt want all those Zed owners looking on jealously at our non Zeds as well Dave

We can all have a chat at the Grasshopper or Ace Cafe with any luck - haven't seen you boys in ages.

Ooooh thats fighting talk Mr Spurs Mad

Now it looks right...

Looks like good fun chaps - will have to join you next time

Funny enough sudocream which we have for the baby works well haha

Brilliant look like it

Cobra will be your most likely option...

Am a complete fan of these types of mods - good work mate

The mods that can be done to that are utterly endless! It will have 2000bhp this time next year

Knob jokes aside I found the rounder heavier ones make for easier gear changes compared to the longer narrow ones.

I spy some black hole glaze there! Wonderful stuff!

Cheers, yes since getting the VX and having loads of speed under my right foot WITH 35-40mpg anything running at 15-20 suddenly seems very expensive!

Bubbles and lather are not a sign of a good car shampoo Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Love both the VXR8 and Monaro looks, they say different things but both are good. I did check them out for a bit before going the VX220 route, but the running costs just sent me, running! MPG and I would imagine VED is pretty high?

Like it. In our previous house I filled the entire under-stairs cupboard space with cleaning stuff. From leather restorer through to piles of microfibres! I recently bought a stack of these, amazing at buffing off the wax http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/dodo-juice/fantastic-fur-microfibre-buffing-cloth.aspx

Always good to generate a debate though Ewan, fair play to you for putting up a really good detailed 'beginners guide' post. New products come out all the time and new techniques arrive with them, no harm in refreshing everyone I wonder how many people spend as much time on the interior as they do on the outside...

Oh and if anyone is ordering off Ultimate Finish use 'HEAT75' as a discount code and you get 7.5% off and if you spend £50 or more I think you get a free pot of Dodo Juice Hybrid Wax

Good write up. I spend A LOT of time looking after my car and I think anyone buying a nice car for the first time would do well to read through this. Too many would grab that old sponge under the sink with some washing up liquid and go to town. I think a polish can be a good idea if you want to bring up the colour a bit (whether it does or if its a placebo effect I'm not sure but I do it anyway) but also the polish is a good thing if you have a DA as it will get rid of those spider web scratches you see when you look at the suns reflection on the paintwork. Obviously dont just grab a DA and have a go, make sure you know what you are doing! I'm with Dan on this issue of the jet washer, I don't use a jet washer at all. I would only use it to generate the snow foam but would not use it on the bodywork as it would as far as I can see strip any wax you have applied. And I would certainly not recommend using it on alloy wheels in any shape or form, maybe I am a bit nervy of that as the wheels I had on my Zed were pretty darn expensive. But yeah, I go through the wash/clay/polish/wax routine every 3 months, between that its just a case of giving it a good wash (depending on usage and weather conditions etc) once a week and allowing the wax to do its stuff.

I think Stew has a point, wanting to add £1k to your current salary is going to be a tough ask, not impossible and people do achieve it, but it requires more planning and execution of a strategy than luck. When I was 24, with A Levels, a good degree and three years work experience in various office type jobs I was on £22k (although that was fifteen years back). I guess you are going to have to aim well outside the norm of jobs to get that sort of money, or, retrain. My brother is a car mechanic, dresses in knackared overalls all day and looks a pauper but has his own business and probably earns around £200-£300 a day after tax depending on what he works on - he started specialising in commercial vans and lorries, its a constant flow of work. He has no A Levels or Degree, just retrained with an eye on the future

And I remember our chats last year Darren, started with 'should I buy an MX5 and supercharge it' and look where I ended up...

Yep it will be there on Sunday!