Update from Purple

[Purple]

Have not been on for a while, so here's what's going on about me and my clio.

The karma's been pretty bad for most of '08. Mid-last year I had a bout of liver/gallstone problem. Almost recovered now, but discovered my wife has a problem with her neck/spine late last year. She is still not quite recovered yet or may never recover back to 100%. So, as can be expected the clio has not been driven much from second half of last year. It's probably done less than 1000km overall, when I would normally do 2k to 3k every month. In fact, my wife's "easier to drive" Lancer has been the main workhorse. Fortunately, with ultralight rims, chassis braces and Tein coil/Monroe shock setup, the Lancer's ain't too shabby to drive.

Which brings me to the clio's future. I nearly decided to scrap it last week!! But decided on a stay of execution by laying it up for the next few months. Here's my predicament: The local Singapore dealer sold off the franchise last year and the new dealer couldn't be bothered to repair my clio. The only workshop that repaired performance Renaults are now doing Porsches. I can't sell it on as hardly anyone knows anything about clio williams. Nor would it be economical to export it (shipping anywhere cost at least 1000GBP). If I were to scrap or export it, I would recover about 4000GBP of the exhobitant car ownership tax (which, btw, is only a fraction of new car prices here).

On the bright side, I thank my lucky stars I was in too bad a shape last year to invest money in anything :-) :-) Though I got suckered in a bit on the first bounce in mid-Oct :(

I hardly read posts these days but will look in on this one from time to time. PM me, if you want to get my attention.

Cheers.

[white16valver]

Keep it going!!

The garage of matbrown should be able to supply parts ;) and if you can get someone willing to work on bodywork etc that you can't do yourself then you'll be sorted :)

Sorry to hear that things have been a bit crap :( Hopefully things will get better soon 8)

[fasterthanjesus]

karmas bad at the moment. my last repair before i ship mine to oz was a simple replacement of the sills.

turns out, that the brown stuff has eaten most of my outer and inner sill and theres not much left to tie anything together.

im supposed to be driving it down to enfield a week on friday. somehow i have to find the money to get this job done before i do.

hope your wife gets better soon.

if your going to scrap it, i suggest you keep some parts set aside. i will always be on the lookout for bits. pm me if you decide not to keep it.

best wishes

dave

[Purple]

The garage of matbrown should be able to supply parts ;) and if you can get someone willing to work on bodywork etc that you can't do yourself then you'll be sorted :)
Erm ... I don't fix anything myself. I had a team of mechanics in the original dealer workshop that I trusted but they have all disappered. No one else would even dare to peek under the hood, save the ex-Renault/current Porsche workshop. Parts situation is slightly better as I can usually get them ship in 2 weeks whether via mattbrown or via my local part supplier. Understandably, almost nothing is kept in stock as I have the only mk1 clio of any capacity in town.

[Purple]

if your going to scrap it, i suggest you keep some parts set aside. i will always be on the lookout for bits. pm me if you decide not to keep it.
The rules for scrapping vehicles are not too stringent here. So, I plan to strip out lots of stuff for keepsakes or sell/ship out the smaller ones to you guys. I have also been hoarding brand new stuff over the years like new wheel caps, unpainted left and right fenders, clutch assemblies, front lamp clusters. Even some of the replaced parts, I am told, are practically mint by UK's "rusty" standards.

For now, am just waiting to see how wife recovers over the next few months. If she starts driving again, it will probably be a small car with auto-trans. Which leaves me with the Lancer, which I hope to eventually change to something nicer. But all that while, my laid up Clio will be eating up the 4000GBP ownership tax until it reaches zero in year 2015. Then, I will have to pay up with another chunk of dough to continue owning the clio for another 10 years. Decisions, decisions!

[fasterthanjesus]

where did you get your air conditioner from? and is it any good?

[Purple]

where did you get your air conditioner from? and is it any good?
Heh, the vultures are circling even before I decide to kill the car! The aircon works fine but it's a well-integrated custom jobbie, so stripping it out is tough and most likely render it useless. Plus the heater is disabled.

[fasterthanjesus]

lol

im not circling (not yet) just interested as i need to buy one!

[white16valver]

I don't think I'd like to live over there, given the particularly harsh tax regime! :shock: lol

I would seriously consider working on it yourself though (if you are allowed?) as if I can do work on them, anyone can :)

We're all here to help! lol

[MatBrown]

Nice to here from you again mate, shame about your (you/wife) situations though.
Hope things get better for you in the future.


Mat.

[northy]

hope everything works out for u mate, pass on my thoughts to your better half

if u need any spares please let me know - you have my details....i will post what i can

[FATBOY]

good to see you back on here mate! hope things get better soon...

[Wobba]

Good luck dude. Hopefully things will get better and settle down a bit.

[Purple]

Thanks for the concerns, guys.

Wife's better now - hobbling around like a woman twice her age, as oppose to screaming in pain all day and night over late Dec. Lots of physio and medication, and the bone doctor says she should be back to a semblance of normalcy march/april time frame (I hope). As for me, being cooped up with her for weeks, I treated myself to some occasional retail therapy - like this Dell 30 inch LCD I am using now :) And the clio is laid up in my warm and comfy basement parking. So, life's not all that bad.

[Purple]

Hello from warm, sunny Singapore ! (Rub it in, I know :-)) Want to say that I am still alive, and more importantly, so is the Clio Williams. Just came back from it's fortnightly 20km exercise run. It has aged remarkably well in it's retirement. Nothing has failed in the last 2 years, though things are getting a bit sluggish and noisier.

Medically, my wife and I are as good as can be expected (not great, but OK). At least, we are financially alright; Heck! just to keep the clio on full tax and insurance, we'd better be.

PM me if you need to catch my attention as I read the forum less often than I exercise the Clio these days.

[Purple]

Just a quick hello. My tropical Williams is still mostly parked up in the basement parking. Recently, replaced the radiator as it had become a rusty, leaky geyser. Other than that, the old girl still get some exercise (gently) once in a while. If my son gets his driving license, I might revive the old girl to her former glory and pass the wife's Lancer to the boy.

Northy, what's up with the auto subscription? Paypal emailed me to say they had problems transferring the funds and will try again later. Do I need to do anything? PM me.

[northy]

Hi mate. PayPal is being really odd recently. I will watch it and let you know.