Fordmad!

Just had my xr3i mot'd today which it passed after 14 months of not being used.
Now if i go out in it im always worried about breaking down even though ive spent a small fortune on new parts!

Does anyone else worry about this in old cars?

What do people have in the car just in case of any problems....?

bubs_rsturbo

iTrader: (1)

always had this with the rs turbo, did my head in!

Chopshop85

iTrader: (4)

nah shouldn't worry about that. Its the same with any car really, the plus side of old cars is they are cheap to fix!
Just take your mobile with you in case of emergency's.

N.Saph

yea, my sierra passed mot there last week, its 89, im always worried about going to far in it
so i either take my 93 cav or the 04 bora,

i no not much faith lol

CrOwSoN15

I wasn't too fazed about it until it conked out last week, turns out it was only the oil filler cap breather blocked, but now I'm paranoid to fuck

howie1989

lol my xr3i broken down a few times but i have recovery so i'm not fazed

Fordmad!

Im guna get recovery, but while it was off the road getting sorted i took it down the road a few times and it broke down loads (ecu and a dodgy earth) now im paranoid everytime im in it!

Going to carry spare wheel, tool kit, water, jack, jump leads etc just in case!

zetecnovice

think if it this way, if you have serviced it, given the car a good going over, checked all the electrical connections & serive items in the engine bay, ht leads, plugs, fluids, etc etc etc it should be as reliable as when new if looked after!

it was designed to be used daily back in the day remeber, if you dont have faith in it being reliable buy a toyota yaris-if you worry about running an older car thinking it'll break down then that because you have some reservations about it for a reason?????

my daily is a 1976, i am still using points & ondensor ignition (whats that i hear you all say)
manual choke eh WTF

hey its all somple & reliable, just i wash the car & check these things every weekend & if somthing looks dodgy i change it or fix at the weekend, i'm no mechanic!!!!

i ask the question, when you take your so called modern car for a service so you actually check the colour & fluid levels after it has been done & you've been fleeced out of a small fortune????
do you know where the oil filter is on your car to know its been changed, i know plenty of garages out there not doing the jobs people are paying for!!!!

i'm a bit of an oldschool car fan & oldschool way of thinking, the cars age ha bugger all to do with reliabuility, simple checks/maintainance is all thats needed, i mean how many people that buy new cars actually read the owners handbook these days!

hope you see the angle i'm tryin to come from, its not a rant or anything

just cause its old dont mean it'll break!!!! where have i heard that before lol

zetecnovice

Going to carry spare wheel, tool kit, water, jack, jump leads etc just in case![/quote]


everyone should have these things in the car anyway "just in case" plus a good few other items


fix the cause not the sympton with ya old motors.............

remeber alot of garages are out of sync fixing these older motors now & are clueless about how to diagnoes a prob unless its showing in a diagnostic machine/computor!

find a garage that knows there beans from there peas

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

The last time I drove an XR3i I was more worried about being seen than breaking down

thebronze

If You don't trust it to drive it.... what have You got it for??.... just drive the dammed thing and fix what breaks..... When I 1st bought My XR4Ti, I drove to Seattle WA. a 400mi round trip... I just brought some basic tools with Me and the trust in choice of the car I had just bought.

Fordmad!

I do carry most of that anyway.

Yeah i do see where your coming from and i no some newer cars that are forever breaking down Lol

I do check mine and fix/repair what needs doing im just constantly worried!

Its not my daily as that is my works van, its just a toy that i use occasionally!

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

I don't worry... I make sure the cars maintained very well and needs for nothing... So unless something fails through my own negligence... I've nothing to worry about.

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

ROFL....

Fordmad!

No, i LOVE my xr3i.
I can count on one hand how many i see on the roads in a year now!

If someone dosnt like it not my problem!

matts1

one of the main reasons I flogged my Series One, it was fine, but you always worried that it might not start and it meant i would just jump in my other motor to go somewhere.

My first two RS's did occassionaly break down and it was always the worst time and place. All part of the fun I guess but when I started leaving the rs in the garage more and more due to me not wanting to use it, it was time to pass it on.

jameswrx

Amen to that!

I look after my cars with 6 monthly servicing plus check them over all the time. 9 times out of 10, people that say cars are unreliable are the sort that buy them and never service and maintain them. I know so many people that just buy a car and have it for 2 years and don't even think about servicing them. So many instances stick in my mind. Back in the day, guy I knew bought an r5 turbo, it'd obviously been owned by a string of neglectors and he thrashed it for a couple of months never lifting the bonnet until it died. Then it was "ah, they're so unreliable" On the other hand I knew a bloke that had one from almost new, looked after it as it should be, never let him down and sold it with 105,000 miles on it and it was still perfect.

I've always been very anal about stuff like that, my old man drummed it into me and it's stuck with me. Even if I bought a Ł200 runner I'd still maintain it properly. I guess that's why I'm yet to break down in one of my cars after 18 years of motoring!

Sjieter

got the same problem with my s2, since the engine died of oil starvation i always put of my radio when i hear some weird noise. love my car to dead but sometimes it makes me paranoid..
done about 4k kms in it with the rebuild engine still no rattles or anything drives and sounds really good.
Now thinking of buying another car as a daily, and use the s2 for weekends.

fuzzy

get yourself a vauxhall. theyre much more reliable.

xr_craig

iTrader: (2)

No point worrying about it, if it happens it happens.

As said above though, as long as the car is well maintained it should be fine. Having said that i do tend to take a few tools if i'm going far after being caught out before. Mainly due to being stuck before for a simple fix but having no tools to sort it. Other than that just make sure you've got recovery.

zetecnovice

never leave the house without a pair of your miss's tights on your person LOL you never know what you might need them for!

dave_s2_rst

iTrader: (2)

lol,

I always had tools kept in the back just incase (not good security wise) but came in handy on a few occassions lol

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

just make sure youve got nationwide recovery.

howie1989

your worrying and you have a efi xr3i i have a mfi one i use it as a daily driver starting thing is the first challenge then starting after it's well that's even more fun tbh i like a car that always is problematic i dunno how ppl can live with a modern car it's all computers. If something goes wrong it's piss easy to figure out and fix or bodge to get home

Danster76

iTrader: (2)

That really amused me.

In answer to the OP.
I don't often go far enough from home (without a trailer) to let it worry me. But if i do, mine is reliable as it's been made so and gets maintained well.

martin24uk

Cant believe you mentioned vauxhall and reliable in the same sentance

Garethw1986

had plenty old 8 valve cavaliers and astras and a red top, no bother with any, the later eco tecs are pants

martin24uk

had a couple of red tops calibra that were shocking and like there intermitting faults
and one eco tec astra and i totaly agree it was s**t

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

When i first bought my cossie it had a fault on it where the car would cut out and not start.I was the same as you i was scares to go out in the car.

My cossie has been spot on for the last 5 years.I use the car everyday too.Just keep going out in it and your fear will go away.

johnmcgowan83

mk1trb

all part of owning an old ford but as said with proper maintenance and servicing any old car can be reliable, i'll drive my orion anywhere. well not at the moment as it needs a wheel bearing lol

Bailes1992

I get into 6 month old BMW's and worry weather or not it's going to make it when going on long journeys. Sometimes I even get anxiety, usually I'm ok once I'm going though.
Used to get it every time I got on the motorway, but as I'm on the motorway all the time now it's not an issue. Only an issue when I'm going 150miles +

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

True, each to there own I suppose but I want to rely upon my daily, not be wondering is it going to start and get me to work or not and vice versa. I woulden't say a modern car is any worse in terms of things going wrong, if a sensor goes for example you have a limp home strategy.

It's progression for you, when you look at older cars you realise just how far cars have come on and how inefficent old cars are, for example a 'shopping cart' of today will be just as powerful if not more than a XR3 or other hot hatch of the era, this could not be achieved if still running on a carb or MFI.

Martin

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

If it's an efi 3i,shove a spare flywheel sensor in as that's a common fail,only a Torx to remove it and perhaps a throttle position switch,those are the only things that ever let my old xr2i down and they were easy fixes.
Cheapish toolkit and your away.
Very reliable cars in general.
Vauxhalls of the 90's era are stupidly reliable,totally lost their way with the diesels and later models,a good 2.0l Sri cavvy will literally go on and on and on.
Oh,scrub the above for the 1.7td isuzu,awesome lump.

Lambchop

iTrader: (1)

Really? I thought it was garaged most of the winter?