chubbster

Please stop saying things like that. You're upsetting me.

:lol: And how exactly would that work in the real world? Me - "If you get a Smart I'll never make love to you again." She - "I'll get two, in case one breaks down." Edit - I could always threaten the opposite, though - thanks for the idea.

Aaah - now we're getting somewhere! Thanks for that mate.

Christmas is coming. Someone with £50k asks you the question. What a lovely problem to have. Which would you choose, and why?

Yes, I know, weird isn't it?

2 stories... 1. PRIVATE FIRMS - Went on holiday to Wales about 4 years ago & thought I'd go & watch Cardiff City play. Parked on a bit of 'waste ground/roadside verge' and returned to a parking ticket. A lady passing by told me to ignore it. "We always do - Eventually they just go away.", was her advice. So I got lots of increasingly threatening letters and just ignored them all, including the one that said court action was being taken within 7 days. And do you know what?... They just went away! lol 2. LOCAL AUTHORITIES - Parked my campervan on the street near to the British Museum, on a Sunday last year, on a single yellow line. Had a lovely few hours at the museum. 2 weeks later, got 2 fines for the same 'offence' (I'd been there more than 4 hours, so it was 2 offences). I'd been spotted by some bloke operating a CCTV camera (you can tell it's CCTV because of the high-up angle of the photo they provide). Apparently there were also yellow stripes on the kerb, making it a 'loading bay', so parking restrictions were still in force even on a Sunday! Bummer - I'd even checked the Camden parking regs online before I set off and it said you could park on yellow lines on a Sunday. Grrrr! Beware of yellow chevrons on the kerb. I was in a line of about 10 other vehicles they must have fined too!! However, I successfully argued it was only one offence and 'got away with' only £60. Having said all that, I can't see any problem with Councils using CCTV to impose parking fines. If you're parked illegally, you're parked illegally, so it doesn't matter how they nobble you - you're nobbled. Keeps the Council Tax down a bit, I suppose.

The weird thing is that she's been on the point of getting either a Juke or a CashCow. I want her to have a Range Rover Evoque Coupe, preferably with lots of extras - just for her comfort, you understand, don't you? My first attempt at a deal was, "Yeah, fine, you get a 2-seater Smart and as we'll need a 4-seater I'll have to get a GT-R. That didn't go down too well, so maybe I'll just have to go out and get one, like I normally do. Do you have any suggestions of actual CARS (I don't class those Smart things as cars and I refuse to use the two words together) that might turn her away from this embarrassment?

I've just fitted Falken 453's (asymmetrical) on the rear - £146 each, from Oponeo. Much quieter than I expected and a totally different tread pattern to my previous 452's, which are directional. They seem ok (only had them on for 100 miles). The one thing I like about Falkens is that they last. I tend to get over 20k miles out of them (up to 25k on the fronts).

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate your efforts. I've seen that Fifth Gear item in its entirety and sadly it doesn't help my cause, because the Smart comes out of it quite well - the passenger cage stands up well - it's just the lack of crumple zone that lets it down. I reckon 350 Russ has the answer.

Got home knackered from work tonight and I was greeted by this news. And it's serious. I hate the f**king things. They're an embarrassment. Do I help her and minimise the damage or what? Help.

How long do the MPSS last? I know it depends on the driver, but is there an average time?

Yes, seems to be a bigger problem in The States. Just a thought but the 3.5 engine was built at 2 sites, one of them in Kentucky or at least somewhere in The Deep South, just wondering about quality control. Also 98 Ron isn't easily available in some rural parts of The States, could be a factor. Pete It was quite a big problem here too. I don't think it was a local USA quality control problem. Nissan have never admitted knowing what it was, but I bet they know. Partly, they'd taken the VQ35 engine to its limit and maybe there was a problem with some batches of the piston rings (or were they assembled wrongly? These theories could explain it). I have known of a few UK cars - presumably built in Japan - whose engines blew up through lack of oil and quite a few more who had excessive oil consumption, but Nissan wouldn't recognise it because it fell just short of their ridiculous oil consumption limit (I think the car had to use more than 2 litres every 1,000 miles before they'd do anything, so if you used something like 1.5 litres per 1k miles you were stuffed). I think there's more said about it in the USA because they have more 350z's over there and they shout louder (class actions, etc).

As has already been said, this looks ok at the moment. If you had a real problem you'd have been down to the low mark on your dipstick - or even lower - after 1400 miles. If you're at all concerned, make a table in a Word file, check your oil every week and keep a tally in the Word file. This will give you a clear, objective picture over a period of time and it will also help any garage/mechanic if you ever need to do anything about it. Trust me, the hi-rev engines that had this problem were losing oil at a far greater rate than this. You are using oil, but it's manageable at his stage. I don't want to worry you unduly, but some of the hi-rev engines started off with no problem and then suddenly developed it. So, keep a regular eye on your dipstick.

Yes - it's lovely to have unmarked wheels and the opposite is also true. Even a small scuff plays on the mind when you're like me.

Which reminds me - I had just bought a 'lovely' Vauxhall Cavalier Commander. I'd had it for a couple of days and was really chuffed with it. We were going on our family holiday the next day, so I drove into town to get some last minute stuff, parked in an on-street parking bay, locked the car and walked away. As I was walking away I turned (as you do) to look back at my lovely new car, only to see a dirty great big old delivery lorry (or was it a truck?) reverse straight into my driver's door, stoving it in completely. Aaaaargh. I don't think I'm quite over that one yet - 25 years ago. I still have no idea why he did it.

Probably. Im wrong but still wouldn't call it a truck. Like I said though does it matter? Only when you contact your insurance company because you just reversed into it. Yayyyy - thread's back on track again. Go meee Go meee

Back in the day, every Z owner used to wave. Now they don't do it nearly as much. ...and you could buy a pint for 7/6d. I think it's inflation.

Edit - on a 370z - silly me, forgot to mention that small detail! I really need to hear one in real life, but I don't want to travel to the other side of the planet - like Hampshire, or somewhere. If you live in Herts, N. London or West Essex and you have an Invidia Gemini True Dual catback system I'd love to hear it. I've already heard a brief bit of a Milltek recently, on a gunmetal 370z outside a campsite at the British Grand Prix - and it was lovely. I wonder if the owner's a member here.

This isn't exactly reversing, but when I was 16 my mate let me have a go on his Lambretta in a car park. Next thing I knew I'd driven straight through a white picket fence. "Oh," he said, "I forgot to tell you. The footbrake doesn't work." By then I already knew.

That looks really nice.

Very good - made me laugh out loud.

The mind boggles Edit - Were the bonnet and your 'ex' in contact with one another at any point in the story?

By the way - you can start your story with the phrase, "I know a bloke who...", if it helps.

I did a similar thing at the Wales meet in 2011, rolled back in to a wooden fence pole, luckily did no damage but the fence pole made a rather load cracking sound. I used to leave it in gear but my HB seems much better since I had my brakes upgraded. Ooo - Ever since that scarey day I've left my car in gear too - just to be safe. :lol: Life's a bundle of laughs, isn't it?

...with added tales of handbrake failures that weren't your fault either. When my wife reversed out of our driveway into a stationary bus yesterday (in her car, thankfully - so it didn't matter), it reminded me of my own embarrassing reversing moments. Here's a couple to get the memories flowing... 1. Reversed into my wife's parked car in our own driveway. Her fault, because she didn't park it where she always parks it. No damage to my car - phew. 2. Reversed into my front garden wall. Some damage 3. Opened the front door to be confronted by a WPC asking me, "Is that your car, sir?" and seeing my pride & joy (my 1st 350z, having owned it for only 2 weeks) stradling the carriageway, at 90degrees to the road. I then became aware of the fact that 350z handbrakes need to be pulled up hard, or your car may roll backwards out of your drive, onto the road and sit there while the world and his wife drive around it. Nissan's fault, for making a handbrake that doesn't work quite as well as it could. Do you have any embarrassing reversing stories that weren't your fault? Edited to add the bit about handbrakes, as they seem to be almost as popular as the reversing stories.