It seems I'm a little bit sold on my newly acquired coupe, a 'black' S-reg V6 with 74,000 mile on the clock when I bought her off my mechanic. It was his car for two and a half years but not so many miles, only 500 or so in the last year, and I was in desperate need for a vehicle... £700 changed hands and she was mine along with 10 months MOT certificate, four good tyres and a brand new battery. It had been stood for a couple of months that I remember and the other option was a Chrysler Neon for £350, a fully loaded sports model but it was a Neon. Strange cars indeed.
So I'm 51 years old and really into my climbing - I rented out my house a while back, bought a bigger van and cleared off to Europe, mostly Spain. That was in a Ducato that rolled upside down 15 months back when someone hit me on a motorway in France. Bought a Citroen Relay from a friend to replace it but that turned into a nightmare, £3500 to buy, 2k to convert and £5000 in repairs in a year, including a new gearbox but I was living in it pretty much full-time whilst climbing and I kept justifying the bills. Last month when I was in Switzerland climbing, the van was playing up and my breakdown cover turned out to be not what I was sold, so I made the decision to walk away from it. Sold the solar power etc to friends in Swizzy and the van for 200CHF to some Lebanese guys for parts.
Hence me ending up with a totally impractical Honda coupe! She's called Spex due to the blue specks in the black paint, this was a surprise as she was so filthy when I got her I assumed she was flat black. Black interior too, which worries me slightly as I'm a decorator and I always, always have wet paint on me somewhere.The interior is in good nick apart from small damage to the side bolster on the seat and a couple of illumination lights not working, the clock one being a bit of a pain. A Pioneer head unit, the usual extras but non cooling aircon which I'd like to sort if I'm honest.
Engine is obviously fine, it's had a recent oil change with 10/40 and the gearbox seems reasonable given I've never driven an auto before and am completely confused by it. The oil in that is a nice colour but as soon as I can, I need to get up to see Stuart and start the part change regime and get him to have a nose at it in general. The gearbox is smooth enough as it is but keeping it in good nick is key and I'm not one for changing vehicles unless I'm forced to. The chap who had it before my mechanic said the cambelt had been done and my mechanic thought there was no reason to doubt him, as the car has been maintained well. There is a Honda service history for the first 8 years which was 54k on the clock and checking the MOT history for the last few years online, the mileage seems genuine enough. Which begs the question of whether the cam belt was done as Honda recommend at year 7? And has it been done in the 20,000 miles since? Pure guesswork without a receipt sadly.
Fuel and car's ability to drink it is interesting - so far BP Ultimate has managed to give 30mpg on a run and 24mg in town/village. Shell V-Power 27mpg on a run and 17.5mpg in town! Currently powered by Esso Synergy and at the weekend it did a 280 mile round trip on A roads to Poole, resulting in over 35mpg and at the minute it's doing it's first tankful of Esso in town but it's looking optimistic, at least as good as the BP. The top half of the gauge at very best gives 150miles of range, less than everyone else it seems but that's fine, as long as I know how it works but it does seem like I'll be sticking with the Esso for the moment. The Shell ran nicer than the BP, I'll give it that but it definitely drank more but the car seems to be smoother and quieter on Esso. I'll ask Tom what he used to feed it when he had it, it'd be interesting to know.
The best bit! After realizing that with the back seats folded down, I can easily lie down with my feet in the boot and shoulders in the car - Spex is more than likely heading to Spain with me this winter and a camping car she will be! I'll have to raise the boot floor slightly, a couple of inches where the sleeping pad goes but otherwise it's perfect. I see some cars have insulation/carpet on the underside of the boot lid but mine doesn't and that'll need addressing. Until the insurance claim for the rolled van is sorted, I'm a little short of spare funds to buy another van and I had thought that this winter would result in a flight down and sleeping in caves or in mate's vans at the crags and working for lodgings if I'm in a village. Spain for climbers is pretty easy in regards to this and I now know my way around and plenty of locals and other climbers. When you have friends who sleep in Toyota Aygos that they've hired for a month... Spex will be pure luxury. V6 luxury!
I'll sort some pictures at some point - but the paintwork is not so good, it definitely needs a claying and polish and I don't think it's too far from the lacquer letting go in places. The wheels also need a refurb at some point but the one thing I'd really like to sort looks wise is a front splitter/spoiler. The kitted cars look so much better at the front, really well balanced and mine just doesn't. It's also got clear indicator units at the rear which my mechanic fitted and I know they're not liked so much on here but I think they suit my black car.
I thought the car would be a stop gap but she's grabbed my heart in a month and I've worked out I only need to work 3 or 4 weeks extra a year to own and maintain her - gotta be worth it!
