rtbiscuit

if you already have a replacement door, it should only need the door painting, it shouldn't need the whole side of the car doing. still looking at between £200-£300 for the spraying of the panel. might be less. refitting a new door is possibly the easier option, possibly cost less as they won't need to repair it. where in the south are you. location helps as the place i use is excellent, but could still be miles away.

at 6K your laughing, even if you drove it for a year and sold it on, you wouldn't be any worse off.

The majority of teachers join unions for 1 reason and thats the protection they offer, i.e. if a student makes an accusation the union will usually legally fund the case and supply a legal advisor, solicitor or barrister etc what ever is needed. it also gives teachers the access to a representative for industrial tribunals or disciplinary hearings. i am currently trying to find if an insurance company will insure me as a teacher to give me that legal protection, so that i don't need to join a union. but all i can seem to find is stuff for private tutors and people like fitness instructors etc. i never put myself in a situation where something could be "misunderstood" but it only takes one student with a grudge to say a teacher "touched" them, and thats career over. regardless of if its true or not.

XKEC is the place to join but it isn't cheap, membership is from memory about £50 but you get a quaterly magazine and access to everything XK in there. you can join and just be in the visitor section, but not alot happens in there. to be honest its worth its weight in gold, and you soon find it pays for itself, with access to the best people who know the cars. i'll log on tonight as i think my paid membership is still up to date, but from what i remember it should just be a solenoid fix. the gear box being fecked usually shows signs of not changing gear smoothly, or unable to find reverse. they are a sealed gearbox, but it is possible to top up and change the fluid, i believe you can borrow the special tool from the forum for the job. they are a really nice group of people and a lot of knowledge on there. i've tried other jag forums, but because they deal with all marques the knowledge tends to be a bit watered down. where as XKEC is just XK's. give me a bell tonight after 8 and i can chat with you then if you like

after reading that i now have the muchies! what was in this thread?

bottom dent looks like it coul dbe pulled, the one on the crease not sure about, but you'd be suprised at the magic they can work these days. bodyshop would probalby pull what they can then fill and build then re spray. the whol side of the car wouldn't need spraying just the door, as its got an edge to work to they can blend it in to match the body. 2 choices, Option 1 Go to a bodyshop get them to repair it and re paint, i would think you are looking at between £300-£500 but the paint work will be covered for life of the work or at least 10 years (dpends on the shop) and the finish should be perfect. Option 2 Go to someone like chips away, or dent masters or another type of smart repairer, they will repair just the damage, probably looking at between £100-£200, but the qulaity of the work dpends on the person doing it, some franchised people are better than others and thats even within the same company. sometimes the repair is slightly visible (but you have to look very hard at the right angle) the work doesn't always last, and the gaurentee is only for about 12 months.

I have been reading with interest the last couple of days, but chose not to post for now, I found it difficult to write what i felt/thought. Being a Teacher i currently feel like the "bad" guy. there are a lot of people with very strong views, and to be honest a lot of points i agree with. and i felt no matter what i say people might see red. I understand this situation infuriates a lot of people, and i a big divider between people. Why i agree with the Points being discussed/fought for by the unions: - going in to teaching has seen me between £10- £15k behind my equivilants in industry, my pension was the sweetner for a difficult career; i might not earn masses but i'd be well looked after when i retired. - having that changed from what i originally signed up for is a bit in the teeth, if my pension was to reduce in some ways i would prefer my salary to be brought inline with my industrial equivilants. - several of the unions are also striking because of current work loads being pushed beyond what is reasonable, and not just pension. Why i don't agree with the current strike action and agree with those in the private sector: - Everybody is in the crap at the moment, we all need to help pay our way. - i still have an OK pension, maybe not as good as it was but still not horrific - I don't agree with strike action, it doesnt achieve anything - you can only take so much out of the pot, and if there isn't enough then it won't work and i'll be screwed further down the line. Things that don't add up: - before all these changes were made no one had actually valued the teachers (not sure about other sectors) pension pot, at the last valuation there wasn't apparently any issues and certain changes to bring everything into line with the previous governemnt had been agreed and all seemed fine - there used to be plenty of money in the pension pot but from what i can gather previous goverments have dipped in to this pot and spent it on other things. My worries: - i still have another 36 years of teaching before retirement at 66, who's to say my pension won't be further played with, if by the time i actually get there and all the hard work i've put in i get nothing. (this will already be the case with NI) - teaching till 70 scares the crap out of me, its a young persons game; if the plans to increase the pnesionable age continue to go up, i could still have another 46 years to go. - i don't like being banded in with all the other public sector areas, yes they are all striking including us but i think there are others like the civil service who are alot better off than us( teachers) Final conclusion I am not a member of any union which is unusual for a teacher, i don't agree with some of their policy's i don't like the fact that some are militant, and that others fund political parties with contributions. I don't like the fact that the union fee helps keep fat cats at the top in posh cars and nices houses. I AM NOT STRIKING tomorrow and will be in work as usual, i am one of only 30 people out of a staff of 130 people who will be in tomorrow working as much as possible as normal. i don't like the fact i will be a little worse off for it and my pension not quiet as shiney as it was once meant to be, but i will just have to swallow it and get on with the job. I do however find it hard to sit and watch/read/see people make comments about us being ungrateful, whingey drop outs who want soemthing for nothing off the hard working public. i would say don't pass judgement on us until you've actually done our job, it might actually change your perspective.

personally i don't buy new so it doesnt bother me, just like most jap cars just leave it 2-3 years and pick it up for half price.

and the fact its RWD, they might even bring out a special edition 4WD

really??? something that is designed to reduce insurance costs by making it quick and easy to return the car to the owner should help reduce costs not push them up.

right this is going to be difficult to phrase without sounding rude, but i'll try anyway. i appreciate people being helpful pointing out stuff you might need at a good price, but..... if i happened to be bidding on something and no one else knew about it i'd be proper miffed if someone posted it up on a forum and then 5 or 6 others all start bidding on it pushing the price up. there is a benefit to finding somethin g no one else has; it means you get it cheaper as there is no competition to bid on it. now for me this isn't such an issue as i don't buy nissan bits anymore, but i'm sure others must feel the same who do have to buy them?

speak to tarmac and buy something that fits properly as for headers its a false economy, it would require about 12 hours work in fitting and thats if the person knows the car well.

come over to the dark side, its proper Bo!

avoid like the plague

love doing machine lathe work, but my talents aren;t at that stage yet

They're all quattro i though the 1.8 turbo was FWD, only the V6 came with Quattro

was going to say to ricey, don't dismiss the adui TT, they are good cars, i still like the 4wd version of the TT, but the turbo version is where the power is at.

that merc v12 made me get a twitch i like the idea of that

EVO or impreza great cats, but sadly a crap interior

going on power to weight ration only 350Z DE = 184 bhp per ton 350Z HR = 193 bhp per ton FT86 = 181 bhp per ton which would suggest it being slap on about the same as the zed. and if the scooby version gets the turbo engine then its going to make the zed look slow as a slug.

I'm not a massive ford or vauxhall fan, they have never done it for me, grew up in Essex and it was the weapon of choice for every tom dick and harry, so I've always preferred something different. they are mean to be good cars though personally i would look at Golf R32 http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3306620.htm Alfa Brera V6 4wd (tad over budget) (possibly expensive on the tax side) soooooooooooooo pretty (but very heavy, and not as fast as they look) (4WD ) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3445283.htm Celica GT4 (so much win for very little money, use the left over for fuel and insurance) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3419208.htm if you threated to break my arm with big burly blokes and i had no choice but to own a small vauxhall then i'd have one of these (proper little pocket rocket) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3451685.htm clio V6 ( a little over priced, but they proper little beasts, sadly only 2 seats) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3441329.htm V8 porsche 928 (bit old school but very pretty) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2792048.htm BMW 850 V12 with LPG (this is genius) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3293388.htm

if it ticks all the boxes then why not.

without hearing the noise its difficult to diagnose. could just have been the tyre picking something loose up off the road that then cought in your wheel arch temporarily. have a quick check over, if you can't see anything leave it for now and wait and see if it comes back.

man hugs all round i think you lot need to open the windows in here, it smells very strongly of man love