Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[ChaosphereIX]

fantastic find there Firm with the QP, the ZF ones are pretty reliable other than the aforementioned cam variators. Proper colour too, in black it is menacing.

For big sedans, it is on my list in the dream garage. They are stupid cheap to buy right now and many were well cared for.

jealous

[rrocket]

fantastic find there Firm with the QP, the ZF ones are pretty reliable other than the aforementioned cam variators. Proper colour too, in black it is menacing.

For big sedans, it is on my list in the dream garage. They are stupid cheap to buy right now and many were well cared for.

jealous

They have lots of issues that add up. That's why they're so cheap. The ones I looked at were impeccably maintained, yet still needed thousands in fixes.

[quadzilla]

Replaced with a 2007 Maserati Quattroporte; somehow they found this thing traded in at a local Chrysler dealer with <20,000kms! I wish I had better pics, but it's literally spotless everywhere, doesn't even look like it's ever been in the rain. It's also one of the first with the more desirable ZF 6-speed auto over the weird e-gear setup the earlier cars had. I haven't had a chance to drive it yet, but should get time for a spin this weekend....It sure does sound good.

It's going to hurt a bit seeing this winter'd....but, her perspective is something like; "at this point in life what would I be saving this for?", which I guess is more than enough justification.

This is awesome and I like the way your mom thinks. Also looking forward to your driving opinion.

[ChaosphereIX]

fantastic find there Firm with the QP, the ZF ones are pretty reliable other than the aforementioned cam variators. Proper colour too, in black it is menacing.

For big sedans, it is on my list in the dream garage. They are stupid cheap to buy right now and many were well cared for.

jealous

They have lots of issues that add up. That's why they're so cheap. The ones I looked at were impeccably maintained, yet still needed thousands in fixes.

just relaying what my Maser tech told me, all relative I guess: you are used to Lexus, and he works on Italian cars all day. What is reliable?

Guess we will have to hear from Firm down the road how the Maser fares

[rrocket]

Didn't he say it already needed thousands in maintenance?

Apart from the very expensive cam variators, every one needed window regulators for whatever reason. Was a common, recurring issue.

It's been a maddening slightly depressing round of car shopping this time around with all the costly issues I'm finding in impeccably maintained European cars.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Haven't done ** with my own cars for a couple weeks....cept drive and dirty them, but I am not sure where else to post this and it doesn't exactly warrant an S&S...

My parents purchased a 'new' daily for my mom to replace the 1980 MGB she's been driving for the last 7-8 years. The MGB was doing great, but she's in her early 60's and I guess the novelty of driving a crude old British sports car has finally started to wear thin....She's been driving them pretty much exclusively since her first car, a Spitfire back in the 70's. MGB was sold to another enthusiast in New York and shipped out earlier this week:
 

Replaced with a 2007 Maserati Quattroporte; somehow they found this thing traded in at a local Chrysler dealer with <20,000kms! I wish I had better pics, but it's literally spotless everywhere, doesn't even look like it's ever been in the rain. It's also one of the first with the more desirable ZF 6-speed auto over the weird e-gear setup the earlier cars had. I haven't had a chance to drive it yet, but should get time for a spin this weekend....It sure does sound good.
It's going to hurt a bit seeing this winter'd....but, her perspective is something like; "at this point in life what would I be saving this for?", which I guess is more than enough justification.

[Gurgie]

Cool purchase by your Mom Firm!! Those are pretty sweet cars, but I don't think my cheque-book is thick enough to maintain one 

[Firm]

Didn't he say it already needed thousands in maintenance?

Apart from the very expensive cam variators, every one needed window regulators for whatever reason. Was a common, recurring issue.

It's been a maddening slightly depressing round of car shopping this time around with all the costly issues I'm finding in impeccably maintained European cars.

So for the record; the thousands in maintenance was actually all fluids, a brake service and a general inspection. Car has zero known issues...currently. Remember, only 19,000kms on it.

As for reliability; I wasn't too close to the shopping here, but my parents had narrowed it down to one of these or a Continental GT of similar vintage and apparently between the two of them the QP is considered way more reliable. It's all relative though; she only does about 5000km/year and has been driving an MGB....so I suspect the QP is going to be relatively trouble free for a few years at least.

The other factor is that while dropping a few grand a year on random repair/service wouldn't fly with me, or many others, my parents are in a position where they can/do and don't have to sweat it. So nobody is gunna lose their shirt on it....and there are plenty of other cars in the house to drive while it is in the shop.

[ChaosphereIX]

exactly, they are not a Corolla and maintenance can be more dear than your usual Toyota...but other than the cam variators which need watching, QP with the ZF are about as reliable as you are going to get with a European car. I still want one.

With mum Firm's low kms driving, the worst issue she will encounter is the car will be sitting - but I guess considering the family's garage this wont be an issue.

Window regulators are a wear item for European cars it seems, and many owners put them off as they are mainly an irritant, not vital. My Mini needed 2 over my ownership. My Audi needed one. My Alfa got one done on delivery. My Saab needed one.

Again Ron, you are used to Lexus and reliability (perceived or otherwise) is seemingly #1 priority for you. A FIC or FGC would eventually infuriate you with issues, even minor. The QP stood no chance in your shopping quest 

My Alfa's signal doesn't self-cancel when turning right. Low-fuel level gauge is wonky, oil pressure sender is same. Sensors for washer fluid and side marker lights are wonky. The Fuel pressure valve in the pump is broken, again. Takes a little longer to crank to fire up. Do I care? No. Car still drives like a dream. But for you, I am sure they would be deal breakers.

I wish Firm's mum happy motoring and trouble free cruising.  Will be interesting to see how the QP fares.

[Gurgie]

exactly, they are not a Corolla and maintenance can be more dear than your usual Toyota...but other than the cam variators which need watching, QP with the ZF are about as reliable as you are going to get with a European car. I still want one.

With mum Firm's low kms driving, the worst issue she will encounter is the car will be sitting - but I guess considering the family's garage this wont be an issue.

Window regulators are a wear item for European cars it seems, and many owners put them off as they are mainly an irritant, not vital. My Mini needed 2 over my ownership. My Audi needed one. My Alfa got one done on delivery. My Saab needed one.

Again Ron, you are used to Lexus and reliability (perceived or otherwise) is seemingly #1 priority for you. A FIC or FGC would eventually infuriate you with issues, even minor. The QP stood no chance in your shopping quest 

My Alfa's signal doesn't self-cancel when turning right. Low-fuel level gauge is wonky, oil pressure sender is same. Sensors for washer fluid and side marker lights are wonky. The Fuel pressure valve in the pump is broken, again. Takes a little longer to crank to fire up. Do I care? No. Car still drives like a dream. But for you, I am sure they would be deal breakers.

I wish Firm's mum happy motoring and trouble free cruising.  Will be interesting to see how the QP fares.

With my 32yr old Porsche I was able to take apart the window regulator, clean the contacts & put it back together and it's worked fine since... did it 4 summers ago in ~30mins... how's that for a FGC!! 

[rrocket]

exactly, they are not a Corolla and maintenance can be more dear than your usual Toyota...but other than the cam variators which need watching, QP with the ZF are about as reliable as you are going to get with a European car. I still want one.

With mum Firm's low kms driving, the worst issue she will encounter is the car will be sitting - but I guess considering the family's garage this wont be an issue.

Window regulators are a wear item for European cars it seems, and many owners put them off as they are mainly an irritant, not vital. My Mini needed 2 over my ownership. My Audi needed one. My Alfa got one done on delivery. My Saab needed one.

Again Ron, you are used to Lexus and reliability (perceived or otherwise) is seemingly #1 priority for you. A FIC or FGC would eventually infuriate you with issues, even minor. The QP stood no chance in your shopping quest  [emoji14]

My Alfa's signal doesn't self-cancel when turning right. Low-fuel level gauge is wonky, oil pressure sender is same. Sensors for washer fluid and side marker lights are wonky. The Fuel pressure valve in the pump is broken, again. Takes a little longer to crank to fire up. Do I care? No. Car still drives like a dream. But for you, I am sure they would be deal breakers.

I wish Firm's mum happy motoring and trouble free cruising.  Will be interesting to see how the QP fares.

Well some of those would be a deal breaker because I like things that..you know...work. When things don't work, it would feel like a shitbox. I don't like shitboxes. Shrugs.

And I don't think wanting windows that work or not having premature catastrophic engine failure is asking too much, really. Especially for the price they charge.

I've owned a few FGC. The 911s were fine (ish). The TT less so.

And the Quattroporte stood no chance because it wasn't a very impressive car in any way, really. Everything was "fine" or "good" but nothing "great" or "spectacular" that couldn't be found in another car. It was disappointing.

Given the limited KMs his mom drives I'm sure it will be fine.

[ChaosphereIX]

exactly, they are not a Corolla and maintenance can be more dear than your usual Toyota...but other than the cam variators which need watching, QP with the ZF are about as reliable as you are going to get with a European car. I still want one.

With mum Firm's low kms driving, the worst issue she will encounter is the car will be sitting - but I guess considering the family's garage this wont be an issue.

Window regulators are a wear item for European cars it seems, and many owners put them off as they are mainly an irritant, not vital. My Mini needed 2 over my ownership. My Audi needed one. My Alfa got one done on delivery. My Saab needed one.

Again Ron, you are used to Lexus and reliability (perceived or otherwise) is seemingly #1 priority for you. A FIC or FGC would eventually infuriate you with issues, even minor. The QP stood no chance in your shopping quest 

My Alfa's signal doesn't self-cancel when turning right. Low-fuel level gauge is wonky, oil pressure sender is same. Sensors for washer fluid and side marker lights are wonky. The Fuel pressure valve in the pump is broken, again. Takes a little longer to crank to fire up. Do I care? No. Car still drives like a dream. But for you, I am sure they would be deal breakers.

I wish Firm's mum happy motoring and trouble free cruising.  Will be interesting to see how the QP fares.

With my 32yr old Porsche I was able to take apart the window regulator, clean the contacts & put it back together and it's worked fine since... did it 4 summers ago in ~30mins... how's that for a FGC!! 

well done, if mine go again I will be ringing you up for some tips

[blur911]

^^ Vice grips are my last resort. 

Ordered a 6 point wrench from Amazon & it’s supposed to be here today. Then will take it to a buddy of mine who owns a welding shop to have the head welded on top of the shaft, rather than on the end of it. Should work. 

There’s also a Triple Square insert in the bolt head, so I suppose I could get one of these from Shap-On if all else fails. Couldn’t find the specs on it to make sure it would fit, though.

You can get triple-square Lisle bits at Princess Auto.  They are good quality, but might be longish.

[KD]

 Quattroporte is definitely an interesting car!  Congrats to your parents Firm! 

Come to think of it i've only ever seen a couple in the wild, and one sighting was this summer in NS.  The guy I bought my Z3M from said he was looking seriously at a Maser GT Spider as a replacement.  Not sure if he took the plunge, or not. 

[Arthur Dent]

^^ Vice grips are my last resort. 

Ordered a 6 point wrench from Amazon & it’s supposed to be here today. Then will take it to a buddy of mine who owns a welding shop to have the head welded on top of the shaft, rather than on the end of it. Should work. 

There’s also a Triple Square insert in the bolt head, so I suppose I could get one of these from Shap-On if all else fails. Couldn’t find the specs on it to make sure it would fit, though.

You can get triple-square Lisle bits at Princess Auto.  They are good quality, but might be longish.

Cheap tool + angle grinder gets you to the right size. 

[Arthur Dent]

A modern Quattroporte is quite the change from an old MG B! Congrats.

[HeliDriver]

^^ Vice grips are my last resort. 

Ordered a 6 point wrench from Amazon & it’s supposed to be here today. Then will take it to a buddy of mine who owns a welding shop to have the head welded on top of the shaft, rather than on the end of it. Should work. 

There’s also a Triple Square insert in the bolt head, so I suppose I could get one of these from Shap-On if all else fails. Couldn’t find the specs on it to make sure it would fit, though.

You can get triple-square Lisle bits at Princess Auto.  They are good quality, but might be longish.

Cheap tool + angle grinder gets you to the right size. 

LOL, yeah. Already sacrificed my 8mm triple square: here’s what I was left with by the time I got it cut down to where it would (just barely) fit:



Not even any of the hex left on it at that point, so had to grind a flat surface to give the vice grips something to bite onto. But there’s still so little there that the vice grips just slip. FML.

So, now I’m at the point of grinding off the pulley so I can get at the the rest of the bolt head. Oh, did I mention that I already totally mangled the exposed part with the vice grips? So, I guess the vice grips weren’t the last resort after all.

[HeliDriver]

Got my Frankenwrenches back from the welder today. Looks like he did a good job, but he said there’d be no guarantees as the welding likely weakened the metal.



So, tried the Torx wrench first and it broke almost immediately. Damn.



Hoped I could get enough grip with the 6-point, and it seemed promising. The pulley was also fubar by this point, so figured I’d make my life easier and grab it with the vice grips to stop it spinning, rather than holding it with the crankshaft bolt on the other side of the engine like I’d been doing before. And I also wedged a big screwdriver to the right of the wrench to force it onto the bolt head.



Damn that thing was on tight for a little bolt, but finally, success!!!



Now I’m just waiting on parts. New pulley should come in today, but I also bit the bullet and bought the proper tool and a seal driver for reassembly. Those won’t be here until later next week, but I’m going to wait - I’m done screwing around with half-assed tools and procedures.

By then, everything will have been apart for over two weeks. Hope I remember how it all goes back together.

[tortoise]

Dear lord that must have been frustrating! 

Go have that beer. You've earned it!

But wait, is there a special tool dedicated to removing just that pulley bolt?  Germans.

[Arthur Dent]

Germans have a special tool for everything. A big part of why I don't own a German car.

Nice work on that.