My old Espace finally died at the end of last week - clouds of white smoke from behind on the way to work, temperature gauge totally at odds with the outside temperature. I managed to get it to the local garage, hoping (against reality) for it to be a thermostat / hose / pump / anything cheap. The expected call came though, compression test proving the head gasket had gone. I suppose after 220 thousand miles my luck had finally run out.
With Christmas coming we needed another car in a hurry, and with not enough money available for another Espace we had to compromise on a "normal" car. This weekend then was spent driving around the area looking for any straight car with an MOT within a £400 budget. I hadn't realised just how much the second hand car market had changed - next to nothing meets its description in the local ad papers and autotrader, and some sellers are in my opinion simply crooked.
Things reached a low point yesterday afternoon after three viewings when we looked at a Laguna at a local small dealership - took it for a run up the road, and the temperature gauge started mirroring that of the Espace. Stopped, looked under the bonnet, fan not on, white smoke coming out of the back. Went back to the dealer before it overheated completely to be told it had a "Winter thermostat" in to make the heater work better, and the white smoke was just condensation - would we like to make him an offer. I decided against making an offer or suggestion and told him we'd call back if we changed our minds. His final attempt was to tell me he had five other people coming out in the next couple of hours and we could leave a deposit now to secure it.
Anyhow, last straw to be clutched at was a Saab 900 just up the road, a bit over the budget but after the carp we'd seen worth a look. We looked, drove it, and although it wasn't perfect it did at least match the seller's description, had paperwork (I've been amazed at how many people are awaiting docs back from DVLA at the moment) and history, drove well, and the sellers seemed decent honest people. A short negotiation later, and it was ours, only slightly over budget.
Hopefully although it's a short term purchase it will be as dependable as the Espace, and we won't need to go through this process again too soon.
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i often have to await paperwork from dvla
however most people accept that seeing as i am willing to tax it at the dvla for them then the paperwork in the post is not the end of the world
hope the old cruiser works out for you by the way as the cats used to be worth £150 on their own at weigh in and the cars themselves must do £200 on the weighbridge so if you crush it at mot time you will probably break even and have had the use of battlecruiser sarb
just a pity fuel is £1.20 a metre
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Are you going to get the Espace fixed and back on the road as 220k is nothing and will do 400k, for the sake of approx £300.00 better the devil you know.
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I thought similar BigT, though maybe a known lower mileage engine might be easier all round.
If Ash has got the room and the inclination this could be a project over the next few months.
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Got a lovely Daewoo Espero available ;-)
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>> Got a lovely Daewoo Espero available ;-)
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Am I right in thinking Stu that the Saab and Espero have similar Cavalier origins?
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Well the Espero is MK2 Cab chassis and MK3 running gear. I imagine the Saab if its anything is MK3 Cav if its GM anywhere.
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takes about 14 full moons to do one of these engines though and that is when the wolf is on holiday
best leave it go to china ii think
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My mate was selling a beat up P reg Espace on the e bay diesel and with no MOT or tax and a grubby thing it was still the bids were going at £600+
However it did not sell.
If the motor was in good running order before the problem it's worth the cash to fix imop.
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I'd prefer to get the Espace fixed BigTee, however space and money are tight at the moment (we have another Espace as well) and I've been quoted £600+ to get it sorted. Tax back from it and the scrap value will pay for at least half the Saab, which came with a couple of months tax attached, I'd think.
Hopefully in the New Year I can sell the Saab on again at not too much of a loss (not sure whether I mentioned above, we paid £450 for it) and look for another Espace.
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Put the Espace on e-bay with an honest description - you've nothing to lose.
You've got a Saab, you may well be converted. I've never owned one, but driven a few.
I can guess what an addiction is. ;>)
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Put the Espace on e-bay with an honest description - you've nothing to lose.
>
>>>>>>>>> only his sanity if my past experiance is anything to go by
i can see the questions now
q-will it drive home
a-no it will drive a bit if you fill the expansion bottle up though
q-have you got a buy it now because my mates a mechanic
a-im going to let it run because i have two watchers and a mear cat
q-hey up mate,i live near you would you like to buy a roll of carpet
a- thanks but we love parquet floors
q-will it go through another mot because the wife only wants to take the darlings to school in it so it will never get warm enough anyway
a- thanks for your question and i can only say we spent dollops of money on it at the last mot and only had advisories for sweety wrappers stuffed into the seat belt mountings
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Id tend to side with the stick it on and see how it goes, people are very optimistic about mechaincal issues on there, stupidly so. I looked at a couple of Espaces and it seems a high miler with T&T is a grand if its intact, so £500 for a dodgy runner seems possible. Parts are worth more than that.
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Excellent Bellboy - words of wisdom from someone who deals with the car buying public on a regular basis.
This is why I'll be scrapping the Espace - really don't want the hassle of having the questions, the winning bidder not turning up, or turning up and arguing the final price, expecting something for nothing, or turning up, paying the price, then coming back 48 hours later shouting about not fit for purpose, Rogue Traders, Watchdog, my big brother, etc.
I like the Saab by the way Tom, but it'll have to go as soon as we can afford another Espace - with four kids and the hound of the Ashvilles it's not practical.
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only had advisories for sweety wrappers stuffed into
>> the seat belt mountings
Heh heh
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Ash where about in England are you ?? I used a great little place specialising in French cars near Wimbledon -
For a while my headlights, xenon, hadn't worked - Renault quoted 1200 for EACH light, like you for me that wasn't affordable and not worth it on a 9 yr old car with 125k
I bought normal lights from an ebayer for £55 - he fitted them ,a new radiator and new front brake pads and disks and sorted out the handbrake for around 900
Shame I didn't have time to buy an exhaust as well cause a new one cost me 600, but as it fell off I basically needed a new section immediately
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I'm in Weston-super-Mare unfortunately Wotspur - the Espace has been looked at by my local independent garage who I've used before and trust to do a good job at a reasonable price. I normally use a local one man band home mechanic but unfortunately he's booked solid at the moment and hasn't got the space to keep the Espace.
I wouldn't even consider taking it to our local Renault dealer; I've dealt with their spares department on a couple of occasions and they seem equally lacking in customer service and product knowledge.
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>>hasn't got the space to keep the Espace.<<
I like that, not a lot - but I like it :)
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I'd quite like to use an Espace as a huge clay pigeon. I have my reasons...
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Yours for a very modest fee Humph - even the possibility of a part exchange on a bike rack. I do understand the reasons.
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...I'd quite like to use an Espace as a huge clay pigeon...
It would take a biggish catapult to launch one of those.
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Bet that aircraft carrier has one you could get cheap enough.
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To replace the Espace - Bellboy
