The Workhorse

[jjmartin349571]

Hi guys,

Finally found a cheap turbodiesel that can take a battering on my 300 mile working week so the Lude doesn't have to. Also means that I can take my Golf off the road for some work, as my girlfriend enjoys driving the Prelude so much that she's decided it's now hers

Anyhow here is the new wagon





I know, it's French but this is a car I have bought specifically to bear the brunt of the jobs I don't want the other cars to endure. And if I'm honest, it's surprisingly ok! I bought it on the back of the engine as apparently the 2.0 HDI is a good lump that returned 54 to the gallon when it left the factory, so I didn't look up the trim level. I've been pleasantly surprised to find I have climate control amongst other little things It doesn't handle too bad for an estate either - it's not sporty of course but it feels solid through the corners even if you push it.

The earlier photos were the car's good side by the way, check out the back




That ain't getting fixed

So there you go, my new Xsara. Not sure if I'll do anything to it or not, as it's a tdi an intercooler and remap is tempting, but at the same time I don't want to hurt reliability or economy Who knows

[littlefeller]

how did you manage to get her to drive the lude, sally wont even try, even when her gearbox blew on her polo and she had no car, mine was taxed and mot,d waiting to go but omg trying to get her even sit in it was imposible no no no NO NO
i even fitted it with an adjustable intermitent wiper setting but still no joy, oh well its all mine

[4thgenphil]

dirty hdi rubbish

nothing wrong with french cars mate, cheap and cheerful!

[jjmartin349571]

how did you manage to get her to drive the lude, sally wont even try, even when her gearbox blew on her polo and she had no car, mine was taxed and mot,d waiting to go but omg trying to get her even sit in it was imposible no no no NO NO

Laura would always refuse too, she had a little 1 litre Picanto and said big cars with big engines made her nervous. Anyhow, whilst moving house we were moving the cars up, and with the Golf full of breakables I decided to drive it and Laura had to take the lude. Pulling onto a main road she absolutely took off and left me in the dust, she's been inseparable from the Prelude ever since

[jjmartin349571]

dirty hdi rubbish

nothing wrong with french cars mate, cheap and cheerful!

my thoughts exactly, in a few months it will have paid itself off in fuel savings, so any motoring after that is a bonus. Got long tax and test so I'm hoping it should just take the miles I throw at it, meaning I can look after my other cars a bit better

[preludebaz1977]

looks ok mate to do the job as your workhorse.
my missis would always drive the v6 when i ask her does she want to drive it so i hope she still drives the lude as well because im sure she will love it when i get one .

[rob quilter]

Looks poop, but I guess it serves it purpose as a workhorse

[jjmartin349571]

It's been a while, and in true workhorse fashion I've done drokk all to this car bar service it, replace the front seatbelts for it's MOT, and repair the central locking on the driver's door.

At any rate I've had to work on it again today as I've been using it the last few days and it's been grinding away when braking:





I asked Laura if she had noticed anything whilst using it for work, she told me that yeah it was squeaking when she was braking To be fair to her though I've always taken responsibility for running the cars and I should've been checking these things

At any rate I got thus far today before realising Eurocarparts sold me the wrong brake pads



Apart from some stupid Torx screws it was all fairly painless. The pistons moved smoothly back into the calipers and the sliders seem to be in good shape, so I've got a set of Ferrodo pads waiting for me at the local motor factors tomorrow. I've just got to pay another £30

I shouldn't complain really, we paid £600 for it initially and in the 17,000 miles or so we've done I've spent around £120-150 maintaining it so it's serving it's purpose really.

[jjmartin349571]

Sold this earlier in the week. For all I knock it for being boring, it was a very practical car that served valiantly in the year or so I owned it. Did everything we needed without ever breaking down, which is all you can ask for in a car like this really. So long Xsara