Askari

Not by post, but picked these up this morning. Gen 5 wheels refurbed in gunmetal.

I just paid £400 (for an Isuzu Trooper) doing what I would call a middle job - it took most of a day, they dropped off the wheels and worked into the arches etc. - they also pumped sealant into the sills etc. The car was clean underneath before they started, although they treated a couple of patches of surface rust before waxoyling. So it wasn't an "everything off" job, but neither was it a superficial coat over the easy bits. I reckon it was reasonable value for what I paid - given it was a good 6-7 hours work, to do a full strip and seal job would probably be at least three times as much given the work it would involve.

All the paint work on my black car has been done using s grey primer and two-pack Astral Black paint. If you really want to you can see a few places where new and old paint meet, but the chap who did the work feathered one into the other in most places. One day I might cough for a full re-spray but I'm quite pleased with the patch repairs I've had done so far.

Halfords but most decent plate makers will supply a fixing kit with the plates.

I know a bloke in Spain who might like it for his 140.

Mate, the car may not owe you nothing, but you owe the car. Sort it out!

Be good to see a Jag in the non Celica section. New one or a classic? I'm guessing it's a new one.

I used to live in various parts of North and East London and if I'm honest I can't think of one road round there that I would get up early for. I'm stretching my mind. I guess if I had to I would choose the back road from Waltham Abbey through North Weald out towards Chelmsford. Can't remember what the road numbers were but there was a mix of country lanes and a reasonably fast A-road. That's about all I can think of.

It probably makes little real difference to your car, but the council round your way mostly uses a mix of rock salt and molasses in winter. The molasses sticks the salt to the road, so although it is more expensive than basic rock salt, they use a lot less of it - and the molasses mix is more effective because of the way it sticks to the road (as long as it goes down before the ice) and it is a lot less corrosive to vehicles. They still use normal rock salt when the roads are already iced up, as there is no point putting the more expensive molasses mix on top of sitting snow.

I doubt that there will be much difference in the quality of material used by different dealers using the same franchise name. The way these franchises work is that an individual dealer "buys" a longlife or powerflow franchise and so gets permission to use the brand name - and at the same time they commit to buy the materials they use from the central company - so each franchise dealer is a company in its own right, but they have brought the right to use the franchise name and they are committed to buy the materials they use and the advertising etc. provided by the centre. The result is that quality of material should be consistent - the weakness in this business model is often quality of workmanship. It basically comes down to one franchise holder being better than another - and so asking whether longlife or powerflow are any good is largely pointless, as it will actually come down to the differences between individual franchise owners, some longlife or powerflow franchise holders will have higher standards, better employee training and more concern for customer care than others.

Time to join us in the gen 5 section.

So what do we have to do to keep our precious cars safe? Park at the top of the hill not the bottom, park away from other parked cars, park away from passing traffic / schools / building sites and/or road works, drive like a wuss, watch out for pot holes etc. Does become quite tempting to buy a banger for a daily driver.

Love the name as well. Great for gen 5 owners no doubt.

That's really not a fair thing to say!!!!

Yeah, I'm not sure I could be quite so phlegmatic over the loss of a list of cars like that!

The Toyota satnavs I've had all work on the first four or five letters of the postcode, which is hardly precise. And they have been very clunky to programme by street address.

Don't know anything about the system in the TSport but I've never thought much of Toyota's sat nav systems. The built in system in my Auris was very clunky. I was hoping the one in the Verso we brought recently would be better. But it isn't.

Interesting but I suspect it tells you more about owners/drivers than it does the cars!

That's why I brought a Celica.

Yes, I think so, they were the cars that middle aged men, with enough money to buy them now, lusted after when they were kids.

I don't often go out just for a drive - but I quite often extend a journey for another purpose, just for the pleasure of driving. My trip home from work takes me from junction 2 on the M5 to junction 3 - but if I keep going to junction 4 or 5, there's a great cross-country drive back.

Quick! Everyone run for cover before Monkey Boy sees this post! Sorry - what I mean is experts with a lot of practical experience will no doubt be along shortly to answer your question!

My wife would remove my knackers if I put something like that on the dining table.

If it hasn't had a service for a very long time that might be a good idea as well. And an oil change.