What made your day today?

[yippeekiay]

In short, it had it's last MOT in early April 2019 with 28,182 miles on the clock, just checked and it now has 28,367 some 27 months later. That's low even for me. It's always been (and still is) insured, but currently not MOT'd, that ran out April 2020, obviously, or October if you count the 6 months free extension due to the pandemic. The insurance company should give me a damn rebate for zero miles covered :roll:

TLR

So it's not moved for a long time - I think I last drove it one day in March last year to grab some shopping and once in February for a meeting in the local Maccy D's :roll: Then the current situation came along so it was sorned. Has been sorned more than not for quite a few years now.

On checking back, it's actually only done 1000 miles in the last 5 years, I guess mostly due to being sat 6 months at a time or thereabouts with me not even bothering with it. What's more surprising is it still fires up on the first click of the starter even after a winter break. It does look in a terribly sorry state though, needs an exterior clean desperately

I just look at it these days on the rare occasion that I drag the mower through the garage to do the front garden. After the mowing, it now gets started and I sit in it with the AC on full to cool me down from all the "hard" toil I just did :lol: And to hopefully keep it working until I decide wtf I'm going to do with it.


Anyway.....


That Yaris got up to £4370 and didn't even make it's reserve which I must say I was surprised about despite the lack of mileage on it. Add in buyers fees/admin/transport and it's a hefty price for what it is imo, even at it's failed bid. No idea what the seller wants for it. I've moved on to other things to look at. Bid on a few but also didn't make reserve on those too.

Spotted something on the other end of the scale, having 100k MORE than that Yaris, but I try to stick to low mileage - depends how the bidding goes. Either way.....


.....the search continues :roll: :lol:

 

[red]

That sounds like mental money for that Yaris

 

[yippeekiay]

Runaround bought. :shock:

Very unexpected. I'd checked all the cars up for sale until the 28th. Marked those I was interested and the first one wasn't up until this coming Tuesday. The ones I bid on prevously haven't been meeting reserve for weeks now so I came the conclusion that seller was taking the pi$$.

So...woke up this morning, had a cuppa then went onto the site just to kill some time.

Hello!!...what's this little beauty?..wait, how many miles?, how old?, mmmmm.....interesting. Oh...and no reserve. Very interesting....
Let me check it's history....yep, mileage checks out so that's an excellent start.

Now let me crunch the numbers.....mmmm, retail value, minus say....(pulls figure out of his arse)..I don't know, 40% for it's Cat S accident status (no idea why as it' clearly cosmetic but hey ho, been there before i.e. my Puma). Needs a new drivers door, wing mirror & wing (priced up). I know, lets throw in another £500 to repair the rear quarter & blast the side in paint. Then minus bidding/admin fees/transport. Ok, lets take off about £300 for "unknowns" too.

So I came up with a figure of £2000 MAX bid - could I stick to it?

I got into a bidding war with one guy who kept upping it by £100 at a time, I knew as I had to mash the +£10 repeatedly :lol:

Finally wore him down and the car was mine, all for the princely sum of £1770 on the hammer.......woohoo :lol:

Damn seller isn't open today so got to wait until Monday to sort stuff out. But on first thoughts, I'm pleased I went onto the site this morning but when it arrives I'll know for sure if I goofed. Hey, for that price I'm not exactly going to lose my shirt over it :lol:

A couple of pics of the "good" side, interior, engine bay & mileage.........





Conclusion:- If I get this car back how it should be for less than £3500 all told I'll be well happy :thumbs:

(I'll maybe show a before and after picture of the damaged side after it's fixed :lol: )

 

[John Woodward]

Ah, looks good.
I think it's the Fiat 500 based one, wheel PCD is Fiat as well if I remember correctly. Know someone who has one, rates it as a reliable run about.

 

[yippeekiay]

Ahh, didn't know that. I'll likely change the wheels but that's only a 50/50 possibility - depends what condition they're in when I see it in person.
And yes, I did what I'd tell everyone NOT to do - buy without viewing in person! But it's me, I don't care when I do it :lol:

Only thing I need to know for sure now is the damn colour - can't work out if it's silver or grey. I thought grey but the sales invoice etc says silver and when I've researched replacement parts they both look the same so gonna have to wait until I bring it home to check exact colour code. That's a shame as I have the parts saved ready to order. Going for the same colour if possible as it'll make the re-spraying match easier/less work - that's my thinking anyway.

And yes, I'm collecting it myself in a hired self drive car transporter - who'd have thunk that was even possible?...but it is. :drive:

 

[John Woodward]

These people apparently do pre painted panels,
https://www.paintedcarpanels.co.uk/ford-exterior-panels/
I haven't used them, but bought some parts through eBay from their sister company, 1 part was missing from the kit (Sealed bag), quick response and missing part arrived next day, best eBay experience I've had.

 

[red]

Looks like a bargain for the mileage. My wife's Fiat 500 is Cat S, after 3 years ownership it's gone from 12k to 36k and she doesn't want rid of it.
Some of the paint work on the repair needs re-doing as the lacquer has peeled but other than that it still goes fine and is super economical to maintain.

 

[yippeekiay]

Hopefully the Ka isn't hiding anything scary Matt. Glad to see you're not a nay sayer of Cat S cars too. If you're careful you can get a much cheaper car and as I'll be repairing/replacing parts on this myself for the most part, at least I'll know it's been done to my liking.

Might grab myself a Lithium jump starter kit as my old heavy booster/starter thing died on me so need a new one anyway. A much more portable one seems my best option in this case and if the car doesn't have power at least I can hopefully get it fired up with that. Plus it acts as a huge powerbank too so might come in useful in other ways. Not cheap though at c£100 for a decent one.

I'm picking the car up tomorrow, unfortunately I've read some dubious things about this particular salvage yard but not sure if that's just sour grapes on those buyers behalf, misunderstanding of the listing or actual dodgy behaviour. I'll soon find out if anything is amiss.

Managed to find the colour details off Ford Etis - Strobe (Metallic) - which means shiny grey in my book :lol:

Someone selling a door not 10 miles from the pickup so might check that out while I'm there and buy it, if it'll fit in the van or Ka, or if I can tie it down on the bed of the van. The price included free delivery but I'm going to ring them to see if there's a discount for collection - got to be worth a shot. If not, then at least I can check it out in person and get it sent to me if I can't take it safely myself.

Anyway - wish me luck - or not. Will be nice to get out for a long overdue change :lol:

EDIT:- Just rang the guy with the door & he said he'll give me £20 off for collection so going to give it a gander first. It has an Edge decal on the frame under the Ka part whereas mine is a Zetec, but I'm not fussed really as long as the door is as good as it looks. k:

 

[red]

I have a small lithium one and it's great providing the battery needed a boost isn't dead as a dodo. I used it a lot on cars and bikes (got a small one as needed it for the bike for a while)

 

[yippeekiay]

I'll end my story of the Ka - maybe give an update in the future, maybe not. I think I've exhausted this topic now. k:

TLR

Ended up just grabbing some jump leads from Screwfix on the way this morning. Guy who I got the van from said they just dump the car on the truck with a forklift anyway so no worries about driving it on etc.

When I got there to pick it up today I was in for a shock - it's way better than I hoped. But, not all good, the rear quarter damage is "torn" worse than the photo's show. Rear (I think) drum brakes a bit sticky (stood a while?), clutch was a bit smelly but that could have been me trying not to let it fall off the back of the truck bed when I was trying to centre it up better - swings & roundabouts I guess, we'll soon see on full inspection.

Seems like the bad reviews I've seen might be just that - bad reviews i.e salty/sour grapes going by my following finds.

1. The interior is immaculate, as should be expected with it's history I guess. No muddy clod hopper has climbed over the seats or floor. Has Ka floor mats & rubber ones on top of them too?...why?..no idea. Contrary to reviewers they hadn't been stolen. Neither had the fully intact parcel shelf that they apparently take from EVERY car.
2. Tyre compressor & tyre stuff, tow hook etc etc all present & correct in the boot (Not stolen). Was hoping for spare wheel but that's greedy!
3. All tyres are Continental with tons of tread - original no doubt i.e. 2800 miles only.
4. Opened the glove box and hey presto. Full of stuff!! - from the previous owner is my guess - all relating to the car. FULL Ford service history (6 stamps), the mileages are comical as I thought I was bad. Next service due in November (aww, might be the end of the Ford history I'm afraid :lol: ). Locking wheel nut in it's original packaging - phew!. A keycode thingy - to be honest I didn't pay attention. And crap loads of other stuff I have yet to go through like manuals & sh!t.

Tried to fire her up on the truck bed but was totally dead - np, after a quick look spotted the battery was disconnected, so refitted & tightened up, then there was this weird clippy on thing to put on too. Fired up instantly, and I mean instantly. Yip doing cartwheels now!!

Everything electrical works as far as I checked there & then - apart from the drivers side mirror - err, because that was lost to the car gods :lol:

Went to pick up the "new" door but not a cat in hells chance of me being able to take it so gave him the full price to ship it to me. It was too damn clean to even waste my time trying to haggle.

I've left everything in the car as I only came back a few hours ago, quickly drove it off the truck onto my drive and been relaxing ever since.

 

[yippeekiay]

What a dumbass. Apparently my brakes are fine. The "sticking" was the nanny state fitting something to cars that isn't really needed unless you are a complete numpty and shouldn't be driving anyway if you can't drive without it - Hill Start Assist! - possibly why I made the clutch stink a little because I was unfamiliar with how it operates :roll: :lol:

Another nice thing I found, huge black marks over my front bumper, wing & front driver alloys were only that and nothing more sinister - simply tyre rub off whatever was hit. Cleaned off yesterday incredibly easy (with some acetone I had lying around) and all looks tickety-boo now. k:

Oh, found out the previous owner is a 77 year old dear from Aberdeen - aww, bless.

 

[yippeekiay]

Looking around Youtube at part removal videos etc so I can crack on with the Ka in confidence and without screwing up I came across this guy. Got sidetracked and started watching a lot of his videos. Then I spotted this one as I recognised the headlight instantly - a millenium PUMA!!! :lol:

This guy is an artist - I used to work with metal for many years & thought I was pretty damn good at my trade, well, if you want something big and daft fabricating then I'd be your man. If you want something delicate & beautiful doing - see this guy :lol:

I might have a crack at this on the Ka wing - but it'll be very much less intricate with me :roll:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KpBOqu4SaE[/youtube]

 

[P7TNY]

Hey there, anyone remeber me ???

Used to own a silver 1.4....not been on site in years and years !

Regards from Tony , up North

 

[red]

ose2: of course Tony, you were a very early member!

What brings you back?

 

[Roomy]

I’ve received yet another parcel of puma related items from the press launch, bestowed on me by the amazing John Bull. I now have T-shirt’s, sweat shirts, a watch, a beautiful tie (which makes me sad I dont wear ties!) with a puma logo tie clip. Endless promotional material/pamphlets/brochures and the reports from the initial press releases. 3 gearknobs- 1 brand new unfitted, 1 numbered drivers club and another that has ‘launch team 1996-97’!
Also 4 vhs tapes that I’m really excited to have converted to dvd to preserve and share the contents of :grin: :grin:
Needless to say I’m very overwhelmed and feel extremely privileged to be the custodian of such memorabilia

 

[John Woodward]

That is excellent Hannah, as said previously you're the right person to be the custodian of such important items.
Hope at some time in the future that you'll be able to share some of the documents etc. as I'm sure many of us would be very interested in viewing then.

 

[red]

Blimey Hannah, that's quite a bundle of history! :grin:

 

[yippeekiay]

Quick update....

Just got back from my first drive in the "new" Ka. What a cracking little car, I'm really pleased with it. :drive:

Filled it up to the brim which took ages to do, I stopped at 40.00 litres from almost bone dry, in a 35 litre tank :lol:
Drove 40 miles to give it a decent runout & check everything was fine (which is 40 miles more than the RX has done in the last 2+ years )

I kept going for 6th gear, which is actually reverse, took some muscle learning to get used to the 5 speed box and super light clutch, oh and the high-ish open seating position compared to the RX was strange, but normal by the time I got home.

The fuel range for the tank went up from 375 miles to 430 miles from when I filled it up to returning. Anyone who knows me knows I like tank range numbers haha. Trip said 61.6mpg when I got home so that'd be well over 500 miles on the tank at that rate!! WTF is that all about?? I've been used to 20mpg if I'm lucky for the last 10 years :lol:

Anyway, all seems ok so far. Just got to find someone to sort out the rear quarter panel & she'll be like new again. :thumbs:

 

[yippeekiay]

Finall total in for the Ka - I think :lol:

It is booked in next week for;-
Quarter panel weld, pull & repair, then respray.
Rear bumper repair & respray.
Front wing repair & respray.
Blending in those above with the door.
New wing mirror cap spray.
Couple of "free" touch up areas.

I could've saved £120 by pulling out the front wing myself but gave him the go ahead as I couldn't be arsed once I got a price for all the other stuff.
Also paying £35 to paint the mirror cap! - in hindsight I should've bought the 2nd hand mirror I saw with the correct coloured cap had I know it was that much just to paint the cap (nearly as much as I pad for the new mirror & cap :shock: ). So could've saved £25 with the difference in costs - but meh, I know in future.

The total includes the purchase price. Auction subscription, buyers & admin fees & vat on all that. Transport hire, insurance CDW & fuel to Scotland & back. Replacement door & new wing mirror. Repairs & Respraying.

I'm optimistic about the bodyshop - he had some nice Mercs in there he was working on that I looked at so going to take that as a good sign. :thumbs:

Anyway, for my 6 yr old, sub 3000 mile, full service historied Ka, the total price will be/is £3105.25p - Yip is Happy as I didn't skimp either :happee:

So, coming in well under what I budgeted I think I might actually price up & get a Fraud service & cambelt when it's next due - I know!!! WTF !!! :lol:

 

[yippeekiay]

Not a fcuking chance!!! - Service £300, valve adjustment another £145 if I want it? And belt(s) changed £400. Get a grip you muppets! :lol: