Be Excellent To Each Other

I'd still be inclined to get rid before the warranty expires mate.
If (or rather, when) it bins out after the 6 months, you're holding the baby - an expensive old car that keeps going wrong and each time costs a fortune and is a money-pit.
I really hate to be negative/miserable about this as I can tell in your heart of hearts you like this car, but seriously I just think it's too much of a risk.

Where's your sense of adventure, Cavey?

Heh! True.
I've turned into a right miserable old twatto, I must say.

Fair point Cavey but here is my (entirely logical, lol) reasoning for keeping the Merc.

1) Once the Parktronic is fixed it's 100% operational, remember I've got my own scanner to plug into it so can monitor its health. It's got just under 30K on the clock, and apart from the valve body control unit (which admittedly would have been a £1000+ bill), the other stuff has been niggles.

2) If I do change it after six months of ownership I'll take a massive hit, I'm being offered £8K on trade-in and it was an £11K car (£10.5K for the car and £500 for the Dension purchase and installation). Then you have to add in the fact I'd want to replace it with a car costing about the same, so that's maybe another £3000 to find. So by changing to something else I'm basically spending £3000 as a hedge against something costing even more than that going wrong with the Merc in the next 18-24 months. (As I change my car every two years or so anyway.)

3) Despite ample evidence to the contrary in my case (:D), the CLS is well regarded as a reliable car, being as it is largely based on a facelifted E-Class which executive taxi companies are very fond of, the valve body control unit is the only 'big' thing known to go on them, and that's common to the 7G Parktronic of the era, not specific to the CLS - and that's now been replaced with a brand new unit of the new design, which don't go wrong.

I've got another three months to make up my mind, but if it behaves itself for those three months, I'll probably see it out to my usual ownership cycle. (Whereas on the other hand if random shit keeps going wrong with it, I will indeed bin it off when the warranty expires.)

Aaaaaaaaaaand the Parktronic still isn't fixed.

Having taken off both bumpers, and removed and cleaned every sensor on the car (it has 10), and checked and reseated all the wiring and so on, they have now narrowed it down to a single sensor having gone faulty (in addition to the one that originally went faulty and was replaced).

The new sensor is now on order, they're expecting it in next week, at which point I'll take the car back to them again to get the new sensor fitted.

Apparently they cost £100 each and they don't come painted, they'd already had to order paint to match my car for the previous sensor, so they'll use that again to paint the new one.

Thing is though, my way of looking at it is that's two down, eight to go, with a combined cost of £800 for the parts alone, before you factor in the labour.... Hopefully the other eight will break in the next three months and I'll get them all replaced under warranty

New battery in and the Rover has returned back to Saltaire! I have pulled the fuse out that does the cd player the interior lights and the clock. .... fingers crossed.

It's funny to think that replacing the rest of the parking sensors in my car, once labour is factored in, would cost twice as much as your entire Rover did.

I had to attend one of our data centres today with a colleague, amusingly we had to go in his car because mine was off the road again. His car is a 1.5 diesel Nissan Micra that he bought for £600 (and that he's now had for two years, in which time it has needed exactly nothing doing to it except one new tyre when he got a puncture), it wasn't lost on me that his £600 car was functioning better than my £10,500 Merc, that cost fifty grand when it was new.

'Remind me again why we can't go in your car Al? Oh yes that's right, it's broken again.'

'Fuck off.'

Bits ordered for me to fix my occasional leaky doors (common fault on mk1 Leon's). And I'll chase down the break in the rear wash wipe water line (two places that are common on mk1s).

Springs on their way too, going on when my cousins over and an oil and filter change at same time too.

Think I'll spray my lower bumpers next, now the weather's better and there's more daylight to get things done.

I found a button that turns all the dials red like Gaz's M5.

I found a Civic for less than the cost of Myp's clutch but it only had 6 months MOT.

True, but you should remind him that in the name of frugality and reliability - he's sacrificed his very dignity.
Old 1.5 Nissan Micra diesel.... cripes, that's a 2,3,5 three card brag hand if ever there was...

Top of the spray can?

Dignity is expensive.

It started first time this morning so you're right!

And then this turns up on my Facebook news feed.

I clearly must not go anywhere near this car to even so much as look at it, for fear of buying it. The dealership is about a 10 minute walk up the road, so totally doable at lunch time.

Yeah there's nothing much at all to go expensively wrong with that.

Didn't The Egg have one of them?

I think so, yeah. Predictably, it was amazing and then needed fixing and then was amazing and then needed fixing and then was amazing and then...

I had a go in at when we went to get McDonalds at the Cottage, though. It was ace.

Buy a fleet of diesel micras.

Probably about the worst possible car choice - an Audi with Lambo engine lulz - but man, I *love* these. The ultimate 'Q car', boring looking as fook yet fast-as-you-like, and an absolute hoot to drive.

I did test drive one of these years ago, as I think I've mentioned before. Used to have an Audi TT V6 Coupe many moons ago, so got invited to various Audi events - took a beeline to one of these. Picture the scene: Mrs C sat in the back bollocking me like crazy, Audi bod telling me "I have an emergency stop you know!", as I ranted it at c.140mph with that monstrous V10 yowl filling the very nicely appointed light grey leather cabin. I never did get another invite, which is weird.

You're totally going to buy that Hearthly.

Scraped my driver's side wing mirror while parking on my girlfriend's very narrow drive.

ToyST

Is that a euphemism?

But seriously, sorry to hear that. Infuriating, gutted for you

And new wing mirrors are £70 unpainted as well. Bah.

How much for the painted ones, or do you have to get an unpainted one and then a separate quote for the painting?

I can sympathise, myp - I scraped the door and rear quarter of the Leaf on Jem's gatepost last month. £240 to repaint.

They only come unpainted, so I'd have to get it painted after. They do prime it though.

Can't it just be filled and touched up? A tiny colour mismatch wan't really show up on a mirror.

I'll take a pic and see what you guys think.

Probably find a 2nd hand one in the right colour* on eBay for less.

*Dark pink.

By that measure it would be easier to buy a pair, and smash both his wing mirrors off. Would still look balanced then.

Plz do duckface

I hate having pristine cars anyway, the odd ding, scrape here and there means you don't feel like you're day's ruined every time a new stone chip or tiny dent from some twat in a car park appears.

Euphemism

Hah, it's far from pristine. But I look at the wing mirror every day.

Get some carbon fibre effect vinyl wrap stuff and put it over the affected area, it'll be stronger, lighter and more like a racing car then.

Smack the other wing mirror into the other gatepost

I agree. Here's what happens when you think about boobs and bounce off the gatepost.

Every insurance claim in future:

- What were you doing at the time of the accident?
- Thinking about boobs.

Or breakeryard.com

I was almost relieved when Mrs Fop crashed our car in Sainsbury's on the second day of ownership.

Almost.

But it does take the pressure off. Friend of mine refuses to drive the family car because she's too worried about damaging it and getting an ear-bashing from her husband.

I considered getting MrsA a Defender so she could hit what she liked. I told her this and an hour later I drove the ka through the garden fence

Yeah, unlike some I could mention....

Surprise Rat look makeover for Marks Beemer, coming up!

I'm so shit with cars, had my Skoda for 2 years now, its the highest build so leather sat nav etc

I found out today by accident that if you hold down the lock button on the key fob the mirrors fold. I must have done this at work this moring

This afternoon I spent 5 minutes wondering what I had hit when I noticed the mirrors were back:)

Also discovered my music system can be voice controlled as can the Sat Nav

Ford drivers may not be aware that if you hold down the lock button on the fob the windows shut.

You can hold the unlock button to open them, too.

Yes that was something I found very useful on the C-Max.

If you hold the unlock down on mine then all the windows open maybe 30-40%!