mystery machine

I do indeed - been up through Glencoe and on to FW many a sunny day. One of my favourite parts of Scotland, that (ya lucky bam). Most of the main roads are a bit fast to have any sort of fun on (if you want to stay more-or-less within the speed limits), but I'll bet there are some great little B-roads that I haven't discovered yet. Can you recommend any nice wee stretches, Phil? Don't often get up that way these days (price of petrol, etc), but I'm always looking for new roads to enjoy. Cheers.

Gaunnae explain the lamppost emerging from the bonnet of that Escort...?

Hi, and welcome to the forum I'd say use the dealer as long as you have a warranty left to run. After that, I see no particular reason to go with the dealer, unless their rates are competitive with other garages in your area (unlikely), or you can't find any place else to trust (assuming you even trust your dealer, that is ).

...turned out to be a bottle of red wine that had broken loose from a shopping bag in the boot OK - daft topic for a thread, but I was having so much fun out there tonight on the B-roads I just had to share that with youse We could turn this into a decent discussion though.. Did any of you get out for a belt today? I thought I'd get a few twisty miles in before the rain arrives tomorrow...

That's one of the nicest-looking classics I have ever seen. Beaut! Doesn't look like it's been fecked with much either? (cosmetically, at least).

Absolutely - that's just the problem with this kind of policy. Road tax, loss of civil liberties, etc... very easy to get to where we are now, but damn near impossible to reverse, because doing so isn't in the short-term interest of any government, future or present. These really are very insidious campaigns However, on principle I would never vote for any party who implemented something that I considered wholly unfair and objectionable. And if enough people are vocal about why their vote is going elsewhere, then it might make future governments think twice about further ludicrous road tax hikes. Worth a try, eh? Anyway, political rant over - like you say, they're all a bunch a' Armitage Shanks

Hi, and welcome to the £400pa club Do bear this in mind next time you visit the polling station...

I know exactly what you mean. I had a car finished in solid black once (owned from new) and it looked fantastic when it was cleaned and polished. Sad thing was I only achieved that level of cleanliness about 15 days out of every year. Most of the rest of the time it looked pure minging . After that motor I pledged never to buy black again.No disrespect to your choice of colour of course - as the pics show it looks the dunky's doofer when shined up. And at 22 you'll be more inclined to keep it that way than the likes of me

Absolutely, in a nutshell.

Welcome! Fife, eh? You want to see about getting a prosthetic extra finger for each hand, so's the locals don't become suspicious about your freaky ten-fingeredness...

Congrats on the purchase - I'm a few weeks new to the Scooby sensation too Welcome and enjoy! Oh, and watch out, Broxden roundabout!

Dealers don't decide how much a car is worth - supply and demand dictates it. It doesn't take too much working out to see that a combination of petrol price rises, road tax hikes and talk of a 'credit crunch' have damaged the performance car market (if not the used car market as a whole). So if they've been 'giving them away' it's simply because they aren't fetching as much as they were - and let's face it, if they really were such a 'giveaway bargain', the forecourts would be clear of them - and from my recent Scoob-hunting I can tell you that there are more than plenty to go around! As a private seller, you're subject to the same market forces as the dealers - so it's not so much a case of 'dealers driving down the value of your motor' as the market driving down the value of your motor and their motors. Ye cannae whack the economy

That's a lot of car for a 21 year old! Looks the part neebur

Quaaaaaaaaality!Glad to hear she's scrubbed up well. My last three motors (including the Scooby) I've missed if I even had to drive a courtesy car to work for a single day. Reminds me of that scene in Superman II where he gives up his powers (for to hump Lois), then decides he wants them back, and has to go trudging back to the North Pole on foot

What's the SP, plimpix - any word on when you're getting her back? P.S. I'll keep an eye out for you next time I'm sat at the lights at "The Croass"

Too right - buying a Scooby was my answer to rising fuel and road tax pricing!I mean, I'm not flush by any means, but I'll be shafted sideways with a Wonkalate if I'm going to let that arrogant bunch of propaganda merchants in Westminster dictate what I drive and how I drive it...

Minted - the light in the first pic's just right for giving it that glassy, surface-of-a-lake look. If that was my motor, by about pic 2 it'd have been heaving with solidifying pigeon keich...

Saw the article the other day and thought exactly the same thing Feck it - I'm saving up for an NSGI now.

Thanks for the info about the Corsa spacers, guys - that's well worth knowing.

Cool - I like what you did with the wheels

Great pics, John - cheers for posting Motors aside, how did you persuade that nice lady to get her knockers out?!!! (If that doesn't persuade folks to take a look at the pics, I don't know what will.)

Cheers for letting us know. It coincides with TG on Dave, but some judicious channel-flicking should see us alright

Now that's what ah'm talkin' bout!

Cheers for the info, Arch. Forgive my ignorance folks, but what's the downside to 'high performance' pads? Do they wear out more quickly than the stock items or are they harder on the discs? Thanks.