Nowt wrong with contract as long as you know when to slow down! I switched from Virgin PAYG to Three contract and it's about £5 cheaper a month.cdd wrote:THAT is the sort of reason I hate the idea of going on contractJamez wrote:He owes Orange £110
First Car
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Lorns
- Posts: 3149
- Joined: Thu 24 Mar, 2005 22.48
- Location: A room with a view. 15 Hookey street, the Edge.
- Contact:
My first car was a former yellow 1978 Ford B.T van. The previous owner had sprayed it white, put back seats in it and rear passenger windows. It looked a mess and had a very questionable M.O.T. certificate. My friend had an 1989/90 MG Metro.
Mine was a reliable little thing that would start first turn of the key and hers would start first push hehe. It used to really piss her off.
I will never go back to a contract phone. I only spend about £15 a month pay as you go. I hate phones especially mobiles, i only have one because i have to. I really don't see the point in me having a phone at home or a mobile as i rarely answer them or call out on them ( if it wasn't for an annoying ringtone i'd never answer my mobile). The only phone i'm happy answering is my business one as the calls are generally brief. I also hate answer machines (owning one and talking to one) but i don't mind texting.
Mine was a reliable little thing that would start first turn of the key and hers would start first push hehe. It used to really piss her off.
I will never go back to a contract phone. I only spend about £15 a month pay as you go. I hate phones especially mobiles, i only have one because i have to. I really don't see the point in me having a phone at home or a mobile as i rarely answer them or call out on them ( if it wasn't for an annoying ringtone i'd never answer my mobile). The only phone i'm happy answering is my business one as the calls are generally brief. I also hate answer machines (owning one and talking to one) but i don't mind texting.
Mental anxiety, Mental breakdowns, Menstrual cramps, Menopause... Did you ever notice how all our problems begin with Men?
What I think of as my first car was a 1981 MKI Vauxhall Astra 1.3 with 3 speed automatic gearbox (oh yeah!) registered in someone else's name and insured using the 'insurance in parent's name with me as named driver' trick.
It didnt last long...
My actually first car with my name on everything was a 1995 Rover 100 Kensington SE (or a later model Metro, to put it in simpler terms). This thing looked good (or as good as a Metro ever looks anyway) with it's mint condition bodywork, alloy wheels, remote central locking, leccy windows, and full colour keying, but mechanically was a heap. It lasted me 2 years but only through a seemingly never ending series of repairs and replacement parts (the most serious of which being when the -ahem- wonderful Hydragas suspension collapsed and repairs came to some £350).
And on a wider scale most Rover owners won't have much to worry about anyway; production of the Rover 75 (although whether or not it'll still be called that remains to be seen) and of the K-series engine will continue in China, so parts for the 75 and the K-series engine (which was the bread and butter power unit of Rover cars from 1990 onwards) will still be readily available.
Rover also used a lot of Peugeot gearboxes (aswell as Peugeot engines for their diesel models) right up until the present day, who are doing fine.
And, lets not forget the fact that the 1981-1983 Triumph Acclaim, 1983-1990 Rover 213/216, 1990-1995(and 1998 for some models) Rover 200/400, 1993-1999 Rover 600, 1995-1999 Rover 400, and 1999-present Rover 45 were all mechanically similar badge-engineered collaborative developments with Honda, who aren't about to go bust.
Only owners of older Rover/BL cars need to worry particularly about parts as a result of MGR going bust.
It didnt last long...
My actually first car with my name on everything was a 1995 Rover 100 Kensington SE (or a later model Metro, to put it in simpler terms). This thing looked good (or as good as a Metro ever looks anyway) with it's mint condition bodywork, alloy wheels, remote central locking, leccy windows, and full colour keying, but mechanically was a heap. It lasted me 2 years but only through a seemingly never ending series of repairs and replacement parts (the most serious of which being when the -ahem- wonderful Hydragas suspension collapsed and repairs came to some £350).
I have to say, as much as I like my present car, a somewhat more sizeable Rover 400, when driving around time there are times that I miss my Metro days - particularly when I see a space which is too small for my present car but which a Metro could fit into.But it depends what you want it for. I use it to nip in and around town, so a big nice car is unnessassar.
I wouldn't worry too much - the manufacture of replacement parts was contracted out years ago and the company that supplies all Rover genuine parts have said that they will continue to do so for as long as it remains profitable - so if you've got a common model like a Metro/100 you won't have anything to worry about.That said there are a lot of new small cars that are far better if you can afford them. As Rover are now dead I'm not sure what I'll do if any part of it breaks in the future.
And on a wider scale most Rover owners won't have much to worry about anyway; production of the Rover 75 (although whether or not it'll still be called that remains to be seen) and of the K-series engine will continue in China, so parts for the 75 and the K-series engine (which was the bread and butter power unit of Rover cars from 1990 onwards) will still be readily available.
Rover also used a lot of Peugeot gearboxes (aswell as Peugeot engines for their diesel models) right up until the present day, who are doing fine.
And, lets not forget the fact that the 1981-1983 Triumph Acclaim, 1983-1990 Rover 213/216, 1990-1995(and 1998 for some models) Rover 200/400, 1993-1999 Rover 600, 1995-1999 Rover 400, and 1999-present Rover 45 were all mechanically similar badge-engineered collaborative developments with Honda, who aren't about to go bust.
Only owners of older Rover/BL cars need to worry particularly about parts as a result of MGR going bust.
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Purpleduck
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sat 26 Feb, 2005 11.17
First car - Y Reg Metro City. Crap! Popped out of second gear when I drove around corners.
The car situation has been good and bad since then. Had a Golf GTi a few months ago, but apart from feeling a bit chavish in it, was bloody marvellous. Loved my Toyata Avensis company car - was crap at parking it though, though the sat nav was cool.
As I'm back working for the NHS, I've got a Ford Ka. Small, girlie and hardly flash, but it costs almost nothing to run. It'll do.
The car situation has been good and bad since then. Had a Golf GTi a few months ago, but apart from feeling a bit chavish in it, was bloody marvellous. Loved my Toyata Avensis company car - was crap at parking it though, though the sat nav was cool.
As I'm back working for the NHS, I've got a Ford Ka. Small, girlie and hardly flash, but it costs almost nothing to run. It'll do.
Ahh, the good old Metro City in MKI form. Crappy non-halogen headlights which badly fitted into a huge hole designed for the halogen lights/indicators combo that most of the range had, and as for trim level, well even such mundane items as a passenger door mirror were optional extras.First car - Y Reg Metro City. Crap! Popped out of second gear when I drove around corners.
These cars are so spartan, that I often wonder if the Metro City was a marketing invention to try and hide the fact that disgruntled BL engineers went on strike partway through their construction...
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Purpleduck
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sat 26 Feb, 2005 11.17
Massive thin steering wheel too. No headrests......was lucky - well if you can call it lucky though. The week after I'd got rid of the Metro, bought a Peugeot 205, which got written off in a nasty disagreement with a lorry. A&E said if I'd still been in the Metro, with it's lack of headrests, I would, at the very least have had a broken neck.
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Dr Lobster*
- Posts: 2123
- Joined: Sat 30 Aug, 2003 20.14
All the cars i've owned, in chronological order:
1) Citroen AX 1.0 (blue) - fab little car, never had a problem with it
2) Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1 (gold) - again, lovely car, light, and easy to drive (and a fair bit of power for its engine size)
3) MG ZR+ 1.6 (blue) - a beast, much more power than you'd expect for a 1.6. Eats petrol like anything (current car)
4) Seat Ibiza 1.2 (red) - getting this in a few weeks, the MG is a gorgeous car but it costs me too much to run now i live with my g/f.
1) Citroen AX 1.0 (blue) - fab little car, never had a problem with it
2) Citroen Saxo Desire 1.1 (gold) - again, lovely car, light, and easy to drive (and a fair bit of power for its engine size)
3) MG ZR+ 1.6 (blue) - a beast, much more power than you'd expect for a 1.6. Eats petrol like anything (current car)
4) Seat Ibiza 1.2 (red) - getting this in a few weeks, the MG is a gorgeous car but it costs me too much to run now i live with my g/f.
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