well, i have sorted out my fianances, cutting the crap and abandoning the credit card way of life (paying it off monthly, but keeping it unless something goes pete tong) means i will have money each month (strange i know) which leads me onto:

car

The Xr2i, i love it, its mintish, going to do the valances and battery tray, fit the sub, put the blue side mouldings back on, get a new bootlid but here's the thing. I worry about using it in the rain, worry about it getting nicked in blackwater, worry about rust, and its to good to use as a daily car tbh as it has 66k on the clock, has a couple of dents but no holes or welding and is original, and if i keep on using it everyday i'm sure it will need welding at some point but i have nowhere to put it

With my new financial sorting out-ness i could get a car from a dealer again so i don't have to worry about rust, theft, age, etc

what do you guys reckon?

I reckon it's just a flipping car, drive it until you sell it or scrap it.

If you're mega worried, get a good alarm/immobilsier in there.

How much was it?

I wouldn't get a car from a dealer again - you've not learned your lesson have you

I also think you have too much time to think about cars. Get a new hobby!

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Rest in peace Ben "Jam" Elvin. Gone but never forgotten.

see i view the 2i as a rare car these days, which is why i don't want to do what everyone else does and run it into the ground, as in my eyes, that is a waste. Especially due to the current condition of my one But maybe thats a ford fan's thing

i'd rather not say but its worth more then i paid for it, without a shadow of a doubt

it has an immobiliser but only the ford alarm (i connected the alarm yesterday that was on there and it did bugger all )

Car from dealer, ok , but warranty = shite, so i would get one that wouldn't need to go back to the dealer for specific things

And my hobby is cars, most people i know piss their money up a wall in camberley. I know which hobby i prefer

I think if you are that worried about it then just spend your money on the important parts that will keep it running, get all of the parts you are worried about on the bodywork fixed and look for all the parts on the engine, steering system and suspension ect. that are rusting or corroding and replace them. And if you are super worried about security, spend £500 on a good alarm/immobiliser and get rid of your locks and handles.

If you want it to last longer then spend your money wisely, if it is still running beautifully in 5 years time then it will be even rarer and you wont be worrying about it anymore because you will know it inside and out.

There's no use buying another car, any money that you could spend on another car you could spend securing the one you have, and if you get a car from a dealer, you will probably end up worse off without the car you really wanted.

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thanks

my main worry is rust and the body.

that should be partly cured when i hammerite both valances, the battery tray and give the underneath a going over

Month's end will see bootlid, stem seals done, and anti roll bar investigated or a top mount, as something creaks on the car

Right...

Do not get another dealer car or new car, you have found out that they still have problems just like any older car.

You now have a cheap older car, which you prefer and realistically is cheap to fix compared to any newer cars.

Keep it, and use it as a daily.

If your so worried about it being nicked then fit some decent alarm system, decent steering lock, anything like that

Regarding rust, tough titties, but your first point of call after getting the bodywork finished is.. (what I think is a good idea anyway...)
~ Take the rear panel cards off, and modify a nice hole into the sills either side so you can put the sunroof drain pipes to go out via the sill behind the kit!, obviously get a nice little drain attachment or something fitted into the hole you have made, and obviously rust proof the hole first and seal it.

This will mean your sills wont rott as fast as normal from the shitty for design!!

Remove all signs of rust under the car and clean it up, Get access to use an air compressor, get an underseal gun and some cans of underseal, spray into every little area you can think of, in the sills, wheel arches, in the little holes etc etc even in the rear quarters on the inside and the bottom of the doors on the inside!

Make sure you wash your car properly, specially over winter

As long as you do all that and keep on top of cleaning it, I cant see rust being much of a problem IMO... if any does show up on the panels, just get it sorted after winter, it be reet.

Most of all, enjoy it and save your money!

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Daily isn't so Special. And it makes me sad.
Need space and time and I'll crack on with Jams si!

Catch me on Facebook as I'm rarely on here.

cheers

i'll look into all that

might get dave to do what he did to his FRST

main priorities are the creaking and the stem seals

i should be sorting the bootlid tonight

yeah money saving is good i'll try and not lavish it on the car

also need some cheap escort gti wheels or something similar

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Daily isn't so Special. And it makes me sad.
Need space and time and I'll crack on with Jams si!

Catch me on Facebook as I'm rarely on here.

fine

some decent tyres then, as the ones on there spun me out on a roundabout at 20mph (in the pissing down rain)

_________________
Daily isn't so Special. And it makes me sad.
Need space and time and I'll crack on with Jams si!

Catch me on Facebook as I'm rarely on here.

_________________
Rest in peace Ben "Jam" Elvin. Gone but never forgotten.

At the end of the day.. its just a mk3 fiesta lol

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Daily isn't so Special. And it makes me sad.
Need space and time and I'll crack on with Jams si!

Catch me on Facebook as I'm rarely on here.

if your worried about money doesn't matter the pro's and con's just don't go on finance
as for the car...everythings repairable, and if it wears it wears? rather drive it than look at it...

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L333SYA - Ford Cougar 2.5 V6
RR - TBC

i can see what you miss from newer cars HOWEVER keep old and cheap mate! I'd give anything for that again!

Just dont have the facilities to clear my debt and get back to the old way of old car and rake it in

Lesson to be learnt

I have thought that when i do get there eventually that i'd buy a VW Golf Gti DSG (mk5) secondhand

But can i not buy a Ford?

cheers for the replies

Ry: Xr2i's are rare around here thats for sure, apart from Rob's one i haven't seen another one minus mine for months. Yes, but the runaround i brought turned out to be very mint

Happypaul: i'll look into it need to sort something out

Andy: Yeah, i treated it to a new bluetooth headunit as the one in there had no pre outs so i'm keeping it

Mole: yes i know you would and well get the golf all you want its hardly upto me is it alhough i reckon if you drove a focus st again you would be swayed

I get the impression you still have a credit card balance? and you say you are at the point of having some spare money, my honest advice would be use that extra cash to over pay the card or you will never get rid.

As for keeping a car, I can sort of see what you are saying about the XR2i, if it worries you then sell it on to somebody will give it the life you think it deserves and buy a cheap runaround which you won't car about running into the ground, Saxo VTR's (as an example) can be got for less than £1000 these days, cheap to run and insure and I am sure you would have no worries killing it.

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we'll see

the new sound system has given me a "sod it" attitude

look at it this way

new car 10-20k
keeping this one running for the next 10 years, including sort rot etc. cant even be a quater of that.

I know what i would choose.

Mate, this tread is silly, you know you need to keep it! A car like yours is just going to go up in value now rather than depreciate like a new car will and when you sold the 3i and got the st you missed the old ford scene so you deffo shouldnt sell this one.

Seriously, rust and welding arnt things to be worried about, they are just one of those things with older cars and can be sorted. With a bit of hard work you can get it like my rst and its just as good as a new car then and if you are still worried, pick up a cheap runabout as the daily driver and keep the 2i off the road over the winter.

At the end of the day its up to you mate but I deffo wouldn't sell such a mint example of what is becoming such a rare car!

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cheers guys

your passionate replies have helped