stanski

Thanks again. I am the last person to be called anti german!!! I have had vw's my whole life! Look at my memory lane post Vw all the way!! But I like earlier vw's not the newer stuff unless it's vans of course I am sure the current crop of VAG's are fine but after going Jap 10 years ago I have never looked back. The 300c is an E class Merc underneath and look at the problems I've had? The jap cars I have had Toyotas, Mazdas and Nissans have been trouble free. The worse thing have been replacement rubber seals for the roof on the MR2 that's it, nothing else. Oh had alloys replaced under warranty oh and a brake light went once. Not bad over 10 year stretch eh. Well anyway de used if the 300c gives me yet more hassle it's a 2 lyre petrol Mazda 6 for £2k

Maroon? Interesting sure it wasn't a sort of reddish brown Metalic? Maroon sounds import colour?

Thanks for the info Chris. Had a bad experience with Audi years ago not just the car but the stealer network and Audi UK so put me off for life!! Guy at work has a new TT and is always taking it back to te stealers who are hopeless so ita nice to see nothing has changed!but if you get one take it to an independent to service etc. Been looking at autotrader and ita surprising how cheap some Jap cars are. Can't beleive you can get a Mazda 6 for under £1k now!!! Mazda 626, Honda prelude and Mazda6 I think are favourites at the moment. Not inspiring I know but at they are cheap and relatively bomb proof and of course I dont need to wash them at all!!! Ha ha ha Let's see how the tank behaves itself and Bronzee your right might be worth considering an extended warranty for it as an option.

Thanks guys. I like the Integra Type R but the ones I like 2001> are still about £8k+ and again it's a performance car with high insurance cost and parts to match I am sure? Are they really that cheap to run 700 miles a week to work? Andy I know I should get an old 5 series Beemer but I can't do it !!! It would be wearing beige slacks listening to Smooth FM and selling my soul to the corporate devil! Nooooooooooo. Well anyway still prefer Japanese tin and suppose realistically it's Honda Accord or Mazda 6 even an old Mazda 626! Will scour autotrader for prices etc. Thanks all for your suggestions

Thanks again for the advice and alternative options. Went out in the 300c todayand damn it was good to have it back. I do love it to bits but it's bits are my concern. There are known issues with this engine it's actually the new Mercedes engine which is in all the mercs today although Mercedes seem to have sorted the niggles on theirs with decent redesigned parts yet Chrysler either deny there is an issue or just replace with the same parts!! To be fair the niggles so far hbe been leaking fuel lines( twice) a new seal on the turbo as it leaks oil onto the swirl chamber motor below and it fizzles till it pops- at least it still lets you drive but in emergency mode- ie slow. New anti roll bar mounts - yes all this on. 2008 car and now the gearbox selector which renders your car immobile completely - probably a good security measure actually!! Oh the alloys corrode every 12 months but that it now in theory it should be bomb proof? But I am worried what's next and warranty is till January. So budget would be about the £3500 mark tops nothing too performance related but I can't stand the BMW etc brigade just not me so maybe an older medium sized Honda or something like that, then when Beetle is on the road I can sell it and use van as my daily cars. I will see how things go with the 300 in the meantime but if anything else happens its going . Btw thanks for info on the forth comming Trafford meet

Oh oh I discovered something new on my upgraded 3GS the camera is now superfast when taking pictures and it's got digital Zoom! Wooohooo fantastic not! One thing I don't like for sure the iPod bit has been messed with and is a faff now to operate. Oh well by the time my contract expires next year they will have the 4gs no doubt? Enjoy your shiny new phones folks sticking with the 3GS for now which I do love

Mart oi !! No!! I would love it but it will cost a fortune to run on a weekly 700 miles and where do I get the parts off the shelf? Does Alex Supply these too? Guys I am trying to get away from the high performance side of things too much to go wrong and too expensive to buy parts just back to zed territory there as tempting as it is I can't justify the costs involved. Maybe I should tolerate a 90's Micra sport dustbin - aaaaaaaaaagggggggnhhhh What am I saying!! No keep the ideas rolling damn I would even consider an old 90's Honda accord wedge stylie

Mart your a bad man ...... I love that one ...

Just seen the current T Mobile ad where they get random people to dress up in constume like ye old worlde solders etc and if you look closely there is one guy who is trying a hat on - its Beavis - I swear it is - come on Beavis, you been moonlighting??

Well its crossed my mind Mart - just wonder what the running costs would be - remember I am not really too fussed about a performance car I would prefer something cheap reliable and comfy on the long trips but of course I am fussy and cant stand to become Mr Dull BMW or Merc or VAG !!

I feel for you mate got the same situation a ding appeared in my drivers door the other week - its the only one on the whole car and just as I am thinking of selling!! Anyone know if these companies will go out for just 1 ding and what cost are we talking about?

Thanks will have a shuftie are we talking silly money for parts as they seem to be performance biased so to speak and expensive to run?

Agreed I am not a not rushing to change I will lose too much cash at the moment only had it 6 months or so? But I am seriously looking at alternatives though in the meantime? All the things that are 'known' to go wrong with them have now been replaced but this is a new one I have not heard of before. Chrysler warranty service have been great as have the local dealers who have always get me things turned around quickly so have been lucky at least with that side - Nissan better take note! But my warranty runs out in January then we are into big money on some parts? Oh well lets see. Thanks again and please keep any other car options comming

Thanks everyone for your advice. I agree the main reason for getting the 300C is for all the reasons mentioned - big cars are best on long journeys and make life so much more relaxed especially during the winter months. My plan was to keep the 300C until it ran into the ground but a 2008 car to have so many stupid issues (design faults) and this is a Mercedes engine and running gear remember, is not filling me with confidence. It is also our long distance going on holls car and I cant take the chance of a breakdown with a 5 month old baby on board? With the van I can fix it myself normally but this pile of electrics diesel and black magic makes things a little complicated. I only fancy the MR2 as I know them well and had them before , the MX5 although a great car has never really appealed to me that much but Lucy would love it so I would never drive it!! I know what you mean about the Starlet - I was just thinking simple car cheap to buy etc easy to work on low tech but still Jap and well made. I had the previous Avensis which was an ace car but dull like you would never know...... the new one on the diesel engine is supposed to be good also but I am seriously going off diesels so it has to be petrol , not a huge engine and realistically looking not more than £3.5K. I know the Honda Accords are pretty bomb proof but they dont inspire me at all? Not keen on the civic for the same reason? The Almera although a boring looking car is quite light on its feet and cost 100's to buy! I looked at FSO's years ago but heard they were slow and every one I have seen had duff panel fit? did'nt know there was another version of it? Looked at Integra Type R's but again expensive and probably the parts are too? RX8's as everyone knows on this forum I love them to bits however the best I ever got with mine on this commute was 28mph max and thats not really good enough plus emmisions tax band cost etc its too expensive to run for me now? Shame as they are great cars. Realistically I should buy a 5 series diesel beemer and join the rest of the walking dead but I cant do it! Its just not me Dunno will look at autotrader for the ones you have listed and see what I think? Btw just got the tank back - love driving it but now there is a little after taste thats spoiling it a little.

Very nice well done More pictures please away from garages

My recent love affair with the 300C is going very cold at the moment. Such a shame its a solid beast that is perfect for my long commutes to work and piddly easy to drive however as I have discovered Chrysler has been penny pinching in some areas and unfortunately for me its key engine and gearbox components! Everything has been sorted under warranty and it will probably be bomb proof for ever now but I am losing faith in it now? I am seriously thinking of selling - paying off a few debts and getting something a lot cheaper, to buy and run, simpler to maintain myself. Eventually I will only run the Beetle and the Van to work but as the Beetle wont be ready yet I thought about a temporary stand in? So options I have thought about? MR2 roadster again (48mpg and cheap to run know them well, had 2) Honda Prelude? anyone had one of these? Toyota Starlet - cheap as chips any good? Nissan almera GTI (or SRI whichever it is?) any good? Got to be Japanese and cheap to run but no biscuit tins please - I have a 700 mile commute every week? Appreciate any advice on above or any others? thanks

that probably explains it, my tt hood was a nightmare always covered in mildew. took so much work to get rid of it and it didnt disapear completely TT has mohair hood material sharted with Rolls Royce and air cooled VW Beetles Its the best you can get but needs more love to keep it clean

Ha ha I thought you were talking about the Jag (or Chrysler in my case) when you mentioned turds! At least the Hyundai has got me here without breaking down!

eventually installed OS4 on my 3GS ! Took forever 2 hours - 1 hour download and 1 hour install)- well folks the only visible difference is you get wallpaper behind youricons! If you press the home button twice as already mentioned you can pick another app - joy ! The only advantage I can see so far is it runs a bit faster than before - but that could be as its blewn all the cr@p out and cleared all the buffers/logs etc out so lets see. Thats 2 hours of my life I will never get back! Dont bother

Think they are all a variation on a theme - silicon based water proofers. I've had the autoglym hood kit for mine and it was excellent - use it for the spare wheel cover on the van now (its white) so needs all the help it can get!) From what I remember the TT hood is proper old school material not vinyl which the Jap stuff is. TT Hood will absorb more water than the Zed's due to the nature of the product

Your right Bronzee - better than nothing and its all paid for (except petrol of course!) anyway it got me to work. Seriously thinking about selling the 300C now after this last episode will probably need to help with alternative cheaper cars

to the forum . Nice zed there

Good grief after 40 mins the software finally downloaded now its doing some stuff goodness knows how long that will be - so will I have a 16 4GS now not a 3GS!!

so its really made in India for 20p + P&P then !!

+1 im getting bored of waiting! It's worth it guys! You get pretty much everything i have on the iphone4....except the screen, quality, camera, video chat.... yeah but ours will still get signal whichever way we hold them Bit of tin foil or hold i against railings that will help reception!!