Bought the beast August 1995, so it'll have its 14th birthday this August. Last week I replaced the battery, only the second replacement since new. Car has now done 215,000 km.
I was asked about my service history (thanks hako
), so here goes:
1000 km gearbox replaced due to gear noise in 5th gear, no further problems since.
46,000 engine partially rebuilt with new pistons/rings/bearings. On a trip around Australia, we had a horrible rattle on start up, which turned out to be piston slap. The car was about 5 months out of warranty, but GMH paid for the complete job! The dealer argued for a new short motor, but the motor was rebuilt instead, and it's been very sweet ever since. :thumbsup:
150,000 changed oil in transmission and differential
160,000 replaced most of the front end consumables, struts, tie rod ends, bushes, due to a misdiagnosed noise - turned out to be an unbonded steel in rubber bush at the top of one of the struts, only discovered after I'd spent about a grand, but the front end is tight as new, so all good.
Actually, that's about it! The rest has just been the usual consumables - brake pads, plugs, have changed leads once, brake fluid and coolant changes. Most of the maintenance I have done myself for the last 7 years or so, the car is pretty easy to work on with a Gregory's manual on hand and a decent tool set.
No rust at all, despite being on Bribie Island for the first 4 years, in a salt air environment. Some corrosion around the battery tray area that I repaired and has not reoccured. Still have the original windscreen.
Economy has been sensational, as high as 37 mpg, regularly 36mpg on trips. She likes a drink around town. 700 km on trips, down to 450km just around town.
My only modification was a set of white alloys (15" was okay in 1995!!!!!) because I didn't like the silver S pack mags. An aftermarket cruise control helps ease the pain in my right leg ( two episodes of multiple compound fractures from motorcycle crashes, that's another story...)
I bought the car with the intention of keeping it for 15 years, but I can think of no reason to sell it.
I was asked about my service history (thanks hako
), so here goes:1000 km gearbox replaced due to gear noise in 5th gear, no further problems since.
46,000 engine partially rebuilt with new pistons/rings/bearings. On a trip around Australia, we had a horrible rattle on start up, which turned out to be piston slap. The car was about 5 months out of warranty, but GMH paid for the complete job! The dealer argued for a new short motor, but the motor was rebuilt instead, and it's been very sweet ever since. :thumbsup:
150,000 changed oil in transmission and differential
160,000 replaced most of the front end consumables, struts, tie rod ends, bushes, due to a misdiagnosed noise - turned out to be an unbonded steel in rubber bush at the top of one of the struts, only discovered after I'd spent about a grand, but the front end is tight as new, so all good.
Actually, that's about it! The rest has just been the usual consumables - brake pads, plugs, have changed leads once, brake fluid and coolant changes. Most of the maintenance I have done myself for the last 7 years or so, the car is pretty easy to work on with a Gregory's manual on hand and a decent tool set.
No rust at all, despite being on Bribie Island for the first 4 years, in a salt air environment. Some corrosion around the battery tray area that I repaired and has not reoccured. Still have the original windscreen.
Economy has been sensational, as high as 37 mpg, regularly 36mpg on trips. She likes a drink around town. 700 km on trips, down to 450km just around town.
My only modification was a set of white alloys (15" was okay in 1995!!!!!) because I didn't like the silver S pack mags. An aftermarket cruise control helps ease the pain in my right leg ( two episodes of multiple compound fractures from motorcycle crashes, that's another story...)
I bought the car with the intention of keeping it for 15 years, but I can think of no reason to sell it.
