Mondo

I checked just before I posted this thread and it said he hadn't been online since September. I guess he must've been on between my initial post and yours.

I sent him an email through his website a few days ago, Gaz. Just wondered if he's still off his feet or not, mate.

As above, guys - is Mike still ill or is he back on his feet now?

You haven't knocked the switch at the top of the driver's controls, have you? Worth checking that isn't depressed first of all :thumbup1:

I've had dogs all my life and, whilst the current pair we have are both undeniable pains in the ass :lol: , I simply wouldn't be without them.

I'm all for our cars increasing in value BUT £6k for one without an MOT...?? :blink: That's it. Mine's up for sale now. £11k. :thumbup1:

As you know, I'm in. :) I'd love the NE owners to do more this coming year - I'm sick of going to local shows and having to tag along with the Escort Cabriolet lot. :lol: That said, I think the problem will (could) be that, as far as I'm aware, there's only mine and Paul's cars that are actually on the road. Do we need to organise some weekends of throwing spanners around (or, in Kev's case, throwing soldering irons and laptops around) and getting Zeds back on the road...?

What did I do to my Zed today? I washed the damn thing... and the Celica... and Mrs M's Suzuki Swift...! Always fun doing these things when there's rain and sleet coming down, but the Zed and the Celica were both absolutely filthy and spoiling the aesthetic of the house... :lol: That's enough for one day, I reckon :)

If you'd fancy running the wing mirrors and headlights over to Jimmer (in exchange for some petrol money, of course), I'd be happy to take them :thumbup1:

You might as well introduce yourself properly... ;) Much familiarity with any members on here? :lol:

Mondo's Christmas: Tomorrow (Christmas Eve): work. Probably right up to the moment that fat bloke tries to force his way down our chimney. Christmas Day: Get up. Walk and feed the dogs. Exchange presents with Mrs M. Pack things up and head over to her parents' house to eat too much, drink too much and generally try to double my body weight! Boxing Day: Me and Liam Neeson (her dad - the resemblance is uncanny!) will get up and walk our collective three dogs, then it's back to theirs again for yet more food and drink. I'll no doubt end the night in a double bed with Mrs M and our two dogs... and I'll be trying to sleep on an inch of mattress! Tuesday: Walk the dogs, pack everything up and come home. Then straight back to work! My dad lives in Somerset so I never see him over Christmas. Luckily, her parents are more than happy to have the Family Mondo at their house for a couple of days. :) I normally want to get home on Boxing Day morning, but her folks always petition us to stay another night. Like Groover, I'm not feeling particularly festive this year... I think it's down to all the stress and deadlines of the last couple of weeks. But it'll be nice to have a couple of days off :thumbup:

New seal kits are cheap enough on eBay and the dismantling and reassembly of things is pretty straightforward. £150 for the front seals is steep... unless they're either going to split the calipers into their component halves and replace the internal seals or they're replacing the pistons as well! The Brembos I currently have fitted cost me £100 to have dipped, blasted and painted in candy red. I applied the new decals and replaced all the seals and they're as good as new :thumbup1:

Welcome back, chap! :thumbup1: Oh, and hurry up and get that Zed finished too! :lol:

Loads of people replied! Must be something wrong with your notifications, chap...

The Americans have to remove the entire dash because the clutch pedal is up against the side of the car on a LHD. Us RHD people can simply remove the gauge cluster and have easy and complete access to that awkward top bolt when fitting the clutch pedal. :thumbup1:

We have an update! Sounds very much as if the owner (who isn't the person selling it on eBay) has been slightly hoodwinked... :(

I was going to mention this yesterday, but wasn't 100% sure whether I'd be correct in saying it.

Am I criticising it? No. Simply asking for verification of the seller's claims, that's all.

So I've asked a question: Let's see what's what.

I'm gonna call "Bobbins" on this. Sounds to me like the importer or owner or whoever has been massively misled or lied to! I stand to be corrected, but I can't see it happening. Any car like that should presumably come with documents relating to it's rare nature, or a plaque of some description. I'm guessing this gen has none of that... Looks like an ordinary TT to me.

Exactly. For first impressions, appearance is absolutely everything!

Ah, but none of my "criticisms" have related to styling choices or anything like that - they've only ever been to do with things that spoil the appearance in a most basic way and thus bring down the overall appearance of a car. Like a scrap seat, for example... There are countless styling choices and decisions that people have made that I've had to double-take on but, by and large, I don't comment on those. Maybe because I have a red interior in my own car. But if someone wants strong money for a car and there's something glaringly obvious that's ruining the saleable look, then I'll pipe up. For what it's worth, that yellow SWB is a very nice looking example. A couple of bits I'd change if it was mine but, overall, very nicely presented and looks in really good condition :) Detonation and reliability are different stories though, and those are my issues with it.

I feel, perhaps unnecessarily, that I need to justify my standpoint regarding Zeds that pop up for sale and that are discussed here. So here goes. The prices are on the climb. I'm very happy about that, because it means that mine is now worth more (theoretically, at least) than it was previously. This can only be a good thing. :) But we're not yet at the point where even sub-standard cars can command high price tags. The two most notable examples I can think of where I've been seen to "knock" cars for sale are the yellow SWB that's currently under discussion, and Shifty's red one that sold in recent months. Now, I don't think that I've been particularly critical of either of them. But that's just my opinion. Regarding the yellow one, my only "concern" has been the NA front bumper and just how helpful or destructive that could be regarding the engine. I mentioned that last year and I've mentioned it again this year. The car is currently for sale with an asking price of £6495. The trader who's selling it bought it recently for £4400. I have absolutely no problem with him wanting to make a profit - no problem at all - but it's strong money he's asking for and I feel that a price tag like that should be attached to a car that is very obviously worth it. Why do I think it's not worth that price? For a start, the aforementioned front bumper. Regardless of what any previous owner may have to say on the subject, I can't see how completely blocking the airflow to the intercoolers can ever be a good thing! So that, for me, is an issue on a car that's up for £6.5k. The latest MOT also states that there is an oil leak and that front and rear balljoints are slightly worn - for that money, I'd want those issues putting right as well. Another thing is the engine bay. The main fusebox cover is missing. It's a bit obvious. So the trader wants to flip the car and turn a roughly £2k profit (which is all well and good) but that missing item suggests to me that there's been no money spent before the price increase. Maybe it's only a little niggle, and one easily rectified, but (personally speaking again) I'd want these issues sorted if I was going to end up spending that sort of money on a Zed. £6.5k is big money for these cars. Yes, we're seeing more and more Z32s coming up for sale with this sort of price tag attached, but they still need to be worth that money. I'd be wanting a very nice example indeed for that price, not one with parts missing or one where I had to wonder if the engine had been unnecessarily stressed during its life. Yes, it's a lovely looking Zed but those issues have me questioning the cost. What makes it worse in a way is that Nissan Mad (last year's owner) confirmed that the car has been resprayed since he sold it. That was a golden opportunity to have the correct bumper reinstated, but it wasn't done. I know that's nothing to do with him or the guy who's currently selling the car, but it's one of those things that has me scratching my head and grinding my teeth a little bit! Now onto Shifty's car. Been on this forum for years, known to many many people. And went up for sale at nearly £10k. I have no problem with that whatsoever but, again, a car has to be worth that cost. So when I see that the driver's seat isn't just worn, but actually worn to the point where the metal framework is showing through what's left of the driver's leather bolster, then that's a big black mark against it. Perhaps it's just because interiors are what I specialise in, but that's a big issue. I don't think you can ask £10k for these cars (not yet, anyway) and have such a glaring blemish, whether or not you've already "discounted" the price because of it. So I suggested that he maybe find a better driver's seat. That was when I was told that the price was already reduced because of the seat wear. There then followed lots of back and forth involving me, him and a couple of others, and I ended up with this reputation for "knocking" cars that come up for sale. I don't think that's justified. I don't "knock" cars for the hell of it - I simply speak up with obvious issues that have made me question the price. I don't sit there, as others do, and just say "It looks ugly" or things like that. At the end of the day, I want our Zeds to increase in value. If I personally can't query how an NA front bumper is beneficial for a TT car (for example) without being accused of slagging off a car that's for sale, then what's the point? It's a legitimate question and, frankly, a sizeable concern, but I come under fire for bringing it up. Same goes for Shifty's driver's seat; how many people would've felt hugely disappointed to go and see a £10k Zed and be greeted by a seat that looked like the mice had been at it?? This is basic selling stuff, guys! If somebody wants to ask big money for their car, go right ahead. But, if there are obvious issues like restrictive bumpers, missing items or scrap seats, why not spend a little bit of money putting those things right? Make your car look like it's blatantly worth the asking price, instead of simply giving a prospective buyer (or a keyboard warrior like me ;) ) plenty of ammo to try and drag your price down! I suppose I should be grateful for one thing in the current climate... my own Zed is clearly now worth in excess of £10k at the moment :lol: There you go. Rant over. If I have a reputation on here for slagging off cars for sale, then so be it. But feel to explain to me how the concerns I've mentioned above were unjustified, unless of course people simply feel that I shouldn't be commenting on cars that I have no intention of buying....??

Have the MOT advisories been fixed?

I only care that someone may end up buying a Zed that is potentially a bit of a dog that's had an unnecessarily hard life :thumbup1: