View Full Version : The Italian supercar
is no more.
Long live the Pug 106. :)
walkaboutandy
02-02-10, 09:49 AM
:-s!
Couldn't have been a very 'super' supercar if you replaced it with a French motor. Although at least you've got a older well handling pug unlike the horrible new ones. Is it a Rallye or a GTI?
It's a 1.5 Diesel non turbo N reg 125k miles one. The sports car was a 0.9 Fiat Cinquicento L reg.
Things I have noticed in the hours I have owned it.
It sounds like a tractor, the right headlight is loose with the mountings broken. The rear wiper blade needs replacing. The exhaust rattles like you would not believe. I can hear it over the tractor engine. I've been informed this could be the plate that covers the Cat. It pulls to the left quite a bit which I assume is the tracking. The cigarette lighter socket comes out when I pull the power cord out with the satnav. The radio does not fit in the slot properly and sticks out. The heater when on 3 makes a hell of a noise. I think this is the fan hitting something as it flies round. It has a sticker in the engine bay which says the cambelt was changed less than 15k ago. I don't believe that for a second though. It has 125k on the clock.
Good points. It's economical to run. It has 6 months tax and 12 months MOT (time to get the headlight sorted then). I have already fixed one of the issues (wiperblade :lol:) It does 70 mph without screaming in protest (as the Cinq did). It has a boot which is useful.
Going to put it in the garage for the tracking, cambelt and the noisy exhaust. Hopefully they won't discover anything else.
philbut
02-02-10, 01:12 PM
Had the same engine in my metro (but only 1.4 - they bored the pugs out slightly). It couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding and I blew the head gasket trying to get it up a hill full of all my stuff on the way to Plymouth. anyoen who knows THAT hill on the M5 will know what I'm on about just past Exeter.
Still it ran OK after I replaced it. I think I even saw 95mph one! Oh hapy days.p
Warthog
02-02-10, 01:47 PM
Oh the reality of owning ones own sports car! I can but dream...
I forgot. Included in the sale were two new wing mirrors. One is currently held on with gaffa tape and the other has the back missing and is a bit loose. I went out at lunchtime to have a go at fitting them. They are not in a million years ever going to fit. I can see now why they were still in the boot. Fleabay here I come. :roll:
walkaboutandy
02-02-10, 04:48 PM
I worked out last weekend that my diesel Beemer has now done 240,000 miles. I had to calculate it as its had a new set of clocks since I've owned it. That means I've done 90,000 miles in 5.5 years. I want to keep it till its got 250,000 then I can write "only done a quarter of a million miles" in the for sale advert. :cool:
Long live the Pug 106. :)
Or not.
The car was pulling to the left so today I put it into kwikfit to get the tracking sorted. He came back and asked me if I had any work done to the car recently. I told him I had just bought it, he asked if it was MOT'd.
It was just a few days before I bought it. He said he could not do the tracking as the right front suspension unit had collapsed. Not only that but he said the big ends were rattling and had the car gone through the emissions test for the MOT the engine would have blown up. So what do I do now? I have tried to phone the person I bought it from but got no answer so sent him a text telling him what I was told and that I wanted my money back.
I bought the car for cash. Do I have a right to demand my money back?
Just spoke to the bloke who sold me the car. He is going to give me a full refund. Still now without a car though. :(
Anyone got one for sale?
philbut
03-02-10, 04:07 PM
Well at least you got the money back dude! I thought you were buggered there. Pleanty of cheap motors about man, just keep lookin.
Strewth. Lucky about the dosh (hopefully).
For future reference....
Don't buy a car that doesn't steer in a straight line.
:rolleyes:
My housemate just bought a non turbo diesel 306 or 309? R reg £500 with 6 months tax one years MOT. was delivered to him with a known water leak (something like a 30 mile delivery & it takes about 20 mins for the water to all p1ss out :roll:) £100 to fix it so he's still happy enough.
But I am still out of pocket. Fuel costs to get there for one car. Fuel costs for two cars on the way back. Change of insurance detail costs. Spent £15 buying a replacement mirror that I no longer need. I am something like £75 quid out of pocket and still have the fuel costs to get the car back before I get my money back. Then there is the insurance costs again for another change of car. Not happy at all.
Looking at part ex cars from dealers now. Need another car before Monday. :roll:
walkaboutandy
04-02-10, 11:05 AM
Sounds like a bit of a misery.
My previous experience of Kwik Fit is that there advice should be taken with a pinch of salt. I took my Metro in there once to check the brakes and told me that the discs and pads were worn out, the rear shoes were on upside down and it was missing bleed nipples. They quoted me a couple of hundred pounds to fix. I thought they were talking rubbish as if there were bleed nipples missing I would have no fluid left! I took it home replaced the front pads and ran for a year with no probs. If your car had collapsed suspension it would be undriveable never mind just pulling to one side.
Anyway sounds like you did the right thing and get shot, so good luck with car hunting!
Well I was thinking along the same lines. But there are a few things that point to the possibility they could be talking the truth about a dodgy MOT certificate. First of all they pointed out the car was leaning to one side at the front. This is true, I can see that it is. Then there is the squash test. I pushed down on the good front side and it rises quickly with no bounce. Doing it on the side which is supposed to have the knackered suspension, it rises quickly but the bounces a couple of times before settling. Maybe collapsed was the wrong word. Non working strut might be better. There is no damping and the one side is definitely lower than the other. It seems the spring is doing all the work.
The guy did not even bother starting the tracking process and did not charge me anything at all. The engine is loud, really loud. My untrained ear would not have been able to tell what a big end knock was, but he was completely sure about it as were two other mechanics there.
Looking at another Pug tonight and have a friend going to car auctions tomorrow morning. Ho hum!.
Warthog
04-02-10, 12:06 PM
Christ, that sounds a bit crap! Just hope you get your money back, that sounds like a wreck.
speedplay
04-02-10, 01:20 PM
anyoen who knows THAT hill on the M5 will know what I'm on about just past Exeter.
Telegraph hill.
Killed an old mk3 xr2 on that stretch.
philbut
04-02-10, 02:12 PM
Telegraph hill.
Killed an old mk3 xr2 on that stretch.
I think so. Was being overtaken by all sorts - very embaressing. Poor little metro wasn't used to hills like that.
Well I still have the Pug. The bloke refused to take it back and give my money back. Bell end that he is. :( So now looking at resolving the issues that I have with it. Anyone ever done an engine swap on a Pug? :( I have phoned and emailed around, I can get a reconditioned engine from £150 - £250 depending on mileage it has done. Or a new one for around £400 (if memory serves me correctly) but not sure how much of an engine that actually gets me.
List of things to do.
Replace the engine
Get Philibut to do some welding so the drivers seat is secure :wink:
Get new mountings for the OS Headlight
Get the reverse lights working again
Replace the wing mirrors
Replace the bonnet
Replace the OS shock
Get the tracking done
Get the rear demister working again
Fit the radio properly
Replace the door speakers
On the plus side, I did from full to empty on the fuel tank and got 55 mpg out of it. That was with a steady cruise of 75 up and down the motorway.
Warthog
08-02-10, 11:32 AM
Could you please save yourself a lot of typing and tell us what isn't broken on it? :-P
Bugger that he won't refund you though :(.
philbut
08-02-10, 12:33 PM
happy to help with welding mate so long as you don't want it to look pretty (if you do, you'll need to borrow me a MIG welder). I hope that car was cheap, cos it looks like you are going to have to spend on it :-(
Well would you believe I found out the au pair we have is a qualified mechanic. With the Pug being a French car and her being French, it sorted of worked out well. Went out on Saturday and came back to find she had given the car a good look over.
She found in no particular order.
Hand brake cable needs replacing
Throttle cable needs replacing
Air filter looks like it was the original so needs replacing
Cam belt could be used for a skipping rope so needs changing
Alternator belt needs changing
Driver seat needs welding
Front right suspension strut needs replacing
Needs an oil and filter change
Reverse lights don't work
Tracking needs sorting
Exhaust is rattling
I'm sure there were a few other little things as well. But the good news is the Big Ends are just fine.
My Dad came for a visit on my birthday yesterday so he took the car for a spin and confirmed there was nothing wrong with the engine. He's worked on Diesels all his life and knows his stuff.
So next weekend he is fixing the cambelt and tensioners and the alternator. £85
I can get both front suspension struts for £50 delivered so he is going to do them too.
He has a welder so will also be doing the driver seat brackets. I have bodged it for the time being. (your saved Phil :))
The other bits and pieces I will sort out next month after I get paid. Now trying to get the bloke who sold me the car to cough up some sort of compensation regarding my costs.
... But the good news is the Big Ends are just fine.
My Dad came for a visit on my birthday yesterday so he took the car for a spin and confirmed there was nothing wrong with the engine. He's worked on Diesels all his life and knows his stuff...
Ahhh too slow - was just about to post mine rattles away making a grand din - and has for the last 20000 miles plus.
In 5 years apart from a yearly standard service and a water pump motor all it's needed was a clutch.
cheap to run too.
Warthog
08-02-10, 01:48 PM
Almost looking up! Almost.
Update. I traded the Cinq for a cambelt kit and alternator belt. :)
Car has now done 4500 miles and does on average 65mpg. This was from 55mpg before I changed the air filter. I have bodged the driver seat for the time being so now it only moves a little rather than loads.
That's it. That's all I have done to it.
Planned for end of month is a two new tyres. Spare has no tread at all and rear right looses 15 psi through the course of the day. :roll: New handbrake cable and throttle cable, oil and oil filter change and possibly new shock for the front.
Next time my dad comes round I will get him to weld the seat mounting. :)
Very economical car. I was amazed last time I filled the tank it had done 71mpg.
philbut
11-03-10, 10:09 AM
Drivin Miss Daisy? - I used to get about 45mpg out of the same engine!
OK, I was 18 and had a heavy foot.
I drive mostly A road (A4) to work and back. Steady 60-70 mph with other A and B roads being driven around 50mph. Virtually all the miles I'm in 5th gear. At the time I leave for work, traffic does not tend to be an issue. And the A4 being what it is, if I do come up against a slower vehicle, overtaking is easy.
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