A more interesting introduction than hello or heewooo? I hear that, and, now that I think of it, I rarely hear that. Howerya? (how are you) is probably the most common intro you'll hear here in Ireland, especially in Dublin. Hello..? is, ironically enough, what you tend to say to an empty room when you're not sure there are any other humans present.
I'm the (soon to be proud) owner of a 2000 Seat Arosa 1.0 Select. Just bought it yesterday and I'm still at the 'surprised how spacious it is inside' stage. For all I've read about the miniscule boot space I have to say I think it's bigger than the one in my last car, a Hyundai Atos. The Atos stole from the boot to fill the cabin, and it did that really well. I regularly had three 6ft+ passengers in there and they all had ample legroom. I doubt they'll be as cosy in the back of the Arosa but I couldn't care less - they can fight for shotgun!
I do like small cars. I live in a small town just south of Dublin and something nimble, nippy, easy to park and manoeuvre is what I need. I'm really happy with the Arosa - not least because it saved me by a whisker from buying a Micra. And I'm pretty sure that's something the 26-year-old me wouldn't forgive the 46-year-old me for doing.
I'm here for help and advice. This forum already answered some of the questions I had before deciding to buy the car and now that I have I'm looking forward to it saving my sanity and wallet as I try to figure out how to restore my little car's engine. It's a solid little goer and the body is in fine shape for a 16-year-old. However, the engine is a little tired and needs some care. There's 152k Km (95k Mi) on the clock and even though it has been well maintained overall, I think the previous owners let it slip in the last few years.
I'm just a DIYer when it comes to cars but I'll give most anything a go. The engine sounds fine, with no nasty clunks, rattles or wheezes. I have no idea of the service history so I'm going to ignore the 'TB 63' written with Tipex near the cam belt and presume it needs to be done. I'm going to pop in a new water pump and and tensioner while I'm at it, so any advice on brands/models there would be helpful.
When I finish this intro I'm off down to my local motor factor's to pick up a new temp sensor and some coolant. The needle drops to zero after a few minutes driving and hops between there and normal temp after that.
I have an oil leak somewhere and I suspect it's the gasket on the sump or perhaps the sump plug. I fancy a good engine bay cleaning before I start doing too much to it, but maybe I'll do a simple service first (filters and fluids).
The engine occasionally takes a little encouragement to start and it idles a little low (800). I've also noticed that rise to just under 1000 and back as it sits running, so I'll need to look at the timing.
When I have the engine freshened up and perky again I'll start moving through the car and replacing perishable parts like rubber bushes and mounts that have seen better days. I think these are good engines wrapped in good bodies and I think my one is at that point where a little intervention can save it from the scrapyard and see it go a good mile or two yet.
Car insurance in Ireland is in a chronic state. Despite having yearly tests on all cars over ten years, and police accident statistics showing that only .02% of fatal and serious injury collisions are attributable to the condition of the vehicle, insurers here have begun to withdraw cover for cars older than 15 years. That's going to result in a lot of perfectly decent older vehicles going to scrap prematurely. But I prefer older cars that you can work on yourself and there's no greater incentive to do a good job than to put yourself behind the wheel of something you've worked on personally and had in bits on the kitchen table a few hours previously.
I think that'll do for an intro. I hope I don't annoy anyone with newbie ****. If I ask a question you can take it I've failed to find the answer by searching the past posts. I know that doesn't mean the answer isn't there - I might just have my terminology arseways.
So, that's the craic with me and my little Arosa, time now to go buy some bits and start getting dirty. The adventure begins!
I'm the (soon to be proud) owner of a 2000 Seat Arosa 1.0 Select. Just bought it yesterday and I'm still at the 'surprised how spacious it is inside' stage. For all I've read about the miniscule boot space I have to say I think it's bigger than the one in my last car, a Hyundai Atos. The Atos stole from the boot to fill the cabin, and it did that really well. I regularly had three 6ft+ passengers in there and they all had ample legroom. I doubt they'll be as cosy in the back of the Arosa but I couldn't care less - they can fight for shotgun!
I do like small cars. I live in a small town just south of Dublin and something nimble, nippy, easy to park and manoeuvre is what I need. I'm really happy with the Arosa - not least because it saved me by a whisker from buying a Micra. And I'm pretty sure that's something the 26-year-old me wouldn't forgive the 46-year-old me for doing.
I'm here for help and advice. This forum already answered some of the questions I had before deciding to buy the car and now that I have I'm looking forward to it saving my sanity and wallet as I try to figure out how to restore my little car's engine. It's a solid little goer and the body is in fine shape for a 16-year-old. However, the engine is a little tired and needs some care. There's 152k Km (95k Mi) on the clock and even though it has been well maintained overall, I think the previous owners let it slip in the last few years.
I'm just a DIYer when it comes to cars but I'll give most anything a go. The engine sounds fine, with no nasty clunks, rattles or wheezes. I have no idea of the service history so I'm going to ignore the 'TB 63' written with Tipex near the cam belt and presume it needs to be done. I'm going to pop in a new water pump and and tensioner while I'm at it, so any advice on brands/models there would be helpful.
When I finish this intro I'm off down to my local motor factor's to pick up a new temp sensor and some coolant. The needle drops to zero after a few minutes driving and hops between there and normal temp after that.
I have an oil leak somewhere and I suspect it's the gasket on the sump or perhaps the sump plug. I fancy a good engine bay cleaning before I start doing too much to it, but maybe I'll do a simple service first (filters and fluids).
The engine occasionally takes a little encouragement to start and it idles a little low (800). I've also noticed that rise to just under 1000 and back as it sits running, so I'll need to look at the timing.
When I have the engine freshened up and perky again I'll start moving through the car and replacing perishable parts like rubber bushes and mounts that have seen better days. I think these are good engines wrapped in good bodies and I think my one is at that point where a little intervention can save it from the scrapyard and see it go a good mile or two yet.
Car insurance in Ireland is in a chronic state. Despite having yearly tests on all cars over ten years, and police accident statistics showing that only .02% of fatal and serious injury collisions are attributable to the condition of the vehicle, insurers here have begun to withdraw cover for cars older than 15 years. That's going to result in a lot of perfectly decent older vehicles going to scrap prematurely. But I prefer older cars that you can work on yourself and there's no greater incentive to do a good job than to put yourself behind the wheel of something you've worked on personally and had in bits on the kitchen table a few hours previously.
I think that'll do for an intro. I hope I don't annoy anyone with newbie ****. If I ask a question you can take it I've failed to find the answer by searching the past posts. I know that doesn't mean the answer isn't there - I might just have my terminology arseways.
So, that's the craic with me and my little Arosa, time now to go buy some bits and start getting dirty. The adventure begins!
