I'm in a dilemma. I have, as previously mentioned in the BR, a 1986 2.0i Auto Granada with nearly 130k. The gearbox is as sweet as a nut (uh-oh, tempting fate!) with crisp changes, but the engine is, I fear, in need of attention. It knocks from cold and emits grey-blue(ish) smoke on start up and hard acceleration. Other silly little things are starting to go wrong too like wiper linkages, petrol cap locks, sticky and intermittently not working rear electric windows. And the bodywork is getting a little tatty. Having said that, it is an excellent car, perhaps the best I have owned. It is comfortable, capable, reasonably economical and totally reliable (I've done it again!). It has never refused to start or let me down in three years.
My question is this: should I carry on spending money on it, or quit while I'm ahead and get something else. I should mention that I am very hard up at the moment, so I would be buying another banger. Is it a case of 'better the devil you know'? Any help would, as always, be much appreciated.
(I can hear Richard Hall at his keyboard already...! ;-))
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Stick with it! I had a trusty Renault 5 from my college days that I ran up until 2 years ago. It didn't ever really let me down, despite London driving and motorway blasts. It is still alive and well (180k miles!) taking retirement with my parents. I just had work done on it when it needed - wheel bearings, gearbox ..... but I knew that car was basically safe as it was well looked after. A few quid keeping it tip top is better than a grand or so on another banger which you don't know the history (driving and service) and which could be a source of a whole lot more problems.... my 4penneth!
Y
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Normally, I'd say stick with it, but given the mileage that you do/are planning to do, Rob, I'd suggest you trade it in for something more econmoical. Probably, at this age, in anything less than perfect condition, the car's going to be scrap though.
Of course, there's no need to rush into anything if the car is basically okay. When the engine gets smoky, it's a major job though and rather than say, swapping a second hand engine, I'd just use it until it fails an MoT or something nice and genuine comes up.
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There's a lot of them about, many with decent engines and some with decent autoboxes. My '89 Scorpio 2.0i has a lovely 104k engine - no oil needed between changes - and a slightly less lovely gearbox.
They are virtually worthless, except to us owners, so I would say keep a look out for another car/engine, but run your existing one until a big bill looms.
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