A challenge of faith
 

Today I've been mostly considering my future relationship with my ZT.

I've kept hold of the car to potentially learn to spanner on it but there's a few problems...

Time, I don't have an abundance of time free and the time I do have free is usually when it's dark which leads me to...

Facilities, or lack thereof. I live on a terraced street, it's outside, it's cold, it's dark and it's not even level, also I can't just leave it in bits for the next time I have free to come back to it.

Parts, more and more recently I've been hearing about bit's not available or poor quality, I mean a windscreen is a fairly simple bit that should be available but it's not, and it's not getting better.

Cost, these cars cost a lot to keep going in comparison to other cars I could think of, in fact I was recently recounting my car history, 32 and counting and none of them cost as much as this one to run. In addition I've recently had a very unexpected 4 figure bill which hasn't finished yet.

At one point you have to ask yourself, does this car bring me enough joy to spend thousands on? Thousands that might be better off spent on other things.

When you hear tales of very intelligent and skillful members having problems with their cars I just think 'if they're having issues what chance do I stand?'

If you're spending thousands then your car really should be fairly close to concours and mechanically on point.


If you've got one that just seems to be stuck in the loop of something else breaks when something is fixed then maybe think about moving it on because although they need some looking after they shouldn't need that much.

An increasing problem with our cars is the lack of availability of good quality spare parts. :getmecoat:

If you are paying someone else to fit them, then premature failure/wear can push the costs of ownership up, as well as affecting long term reliability.

My 05 plate CDTi is having it's clutch and top mounts replaced tomorrow. Only having done as the car is economical on a long run up to London and it's a lovely looking motor.

Over the 8 years of ownership I have spent a couple of quid on my 1.8t and she still gives me smiles per miles. Now on 202,200.

If the car gives you pleasure and looks good keep it. If in doubt then sell it on and buy another that needs less work. We'll think no less of you if you decide to go over to the dark side.

But the decision is yours.

Bin it, and buy something, that if you need to spend money on it, its worth it as you love the car.

Nothing worse than spending on a car that does not feel special too you.

"32 cars and counting."
I am on my 11th. I started when I was 17 and 68 now.
I prefer to look after the car I have instead of swapping every 5 minutes. I did swap them more regularly when I first started driving but these days generally keep them 10-16 years.
Better the devil you know.
Just my opinion.

Yes - exactly the same as my approach. I prefer to buy a car that I will be able to keep for at least 8-10 years. I prefer to get most of the significant expenditure out of the way as preventative maintenance early on and then enjoy trouble free motoring. This way, even £5k spent initially bringing the car up to scratch means that over its reliable lifetime, the average expenditure is within what I consider to be norm.

I've had less then 10 cars and don't change for the sake of change but I get P-Nuts point. Comes a time when it is hard to justify spending any more money on a vehicle.
The future in relation to parts does worry me. Is it time to hoard parts?
No one wants to be in the position of having a car with a easy to fix problem but not be able to get the parts.

macafee2

Windscreens are available again now. I had one not long ago. It was just a complete batch was faulty so no supplier could draw one from stock except Rimmers. I paid £185 for rain sensing.

Think the 75's are getting to be project cars rather than daily drivers and P-Nut hasn't got the luxury of a dry garage to work on his motor then..time to re think the viability of the car for the intended use..comes a time due to all kinds of reasons, workshop, winter, parts..finances to let go..plenty of cheap runabouts available..