11-08-2021, 07:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-08-2021, 07:47 AM by Murphyv310.)
Hi Andy.
In my younger days I had loads of cars, less so in recent years and wanted to keep the Panda for many years.
Some of the most unreliable cars I've owned were VW & Ford, the saving grace for Ford at the time was cheap parts, good availability and relative ease of repair.
For a very long time I drove rear engined Skoda's and contrary to the comedians, garages and those in the know I had very little trouble with them and drove them like a rally car, two I seriously tuned, most of my motoring mileage was clocked up in them with journeys to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Cannes and round the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It was once the car that I never thought of having an issue with on the road and never had breakdown cover with them, I knew their weaknesses and made sure they were corrected in those areas. Very few to be honest, like correct head bolt torque which was supposed to be set at the 500 mile service and again on their first 3000 miles, dealers didn't bother and subsequently head gaskets failed. Top hoses then also failed due to excess coolant pressure. Clutches failed with some drivers at 50,000 miles but QH supplied a good kit with a diaphragm pressure plate that was much longer lasting, the job took an hour with tea and biscuits in between.
Modern engines are dreadfully weak with ridiculously long service intervals, in fact I'd say the older engine designs with modern synthetic oils would last with longer service intervals much better than the tat car manufacturers make now. This BMW PSA prince engine has an on demand water pump, electronically controlled thermostat with the coolant temperature running at 100 to 105c at light throttle which drops to 88 to 90c when under load with more throttle, madness IMHO a PCV system that carbonises the backs of the inlet valves and many goodies that ruin the engines reputation.
I'll hold onto it if is now cured, with a bi annual oil and filter change and yes the correct spec, oil level will be checked weekly.
In my younger days I had loads of cars, less so in recent years and wanted to keep the Panda for many years.
Some of the most unreliable cars I've owned were VW & Ford, the saving grace for Ford at the time was cheap parts, good availability and relative ease of repair.
For a very long time I drove rear engined Skoda's and contrary to the comedians, garages and those in the know I had very little trouble with them and drove them like a rally car, two I seriously tuned, most of my motoring mileage was clocked up in them with journeys to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Cannes and round the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It was once the car that I never thought of having an issue with on the road and never had breakdown cover with them, I knew their weaknesses and made sure they were corrected in those areas. Very few to be honest, like correct head bolt torque which was supposed to be set at the 500 mile service and again on their first 3000 miles, dealers didn't bother and subsequently head gaskets failed. Top hoses then also failed due to excess coolant pressure. Clutches failed with some drivers at 50,000 miles but QH supplied a good kit with a diaphragm pressure plate that was much longer lasting, the job took an hour with tea and biscuits in between.
Modern engines are dreadfully weak with ridiculously long service intervals, in fact I'd say the older engine designs with modern synthetic oils would last with longer service intervals much better than the tat car manufacturers make now. This BMW PSA prince engine has an on demand water pump, electronically controlled thermostat with the coolant temperature running at 100 to 105c at light throttle which drops to 88 to 90c when under load with more throttle, madness IMHO a PCV system that carbonises the backs of the inlet valves and many goodies that ruin the engines reputation.
I'll hold onto it if is now cured, with a bi annual oil and filter change and yes the correct spec, oil level will be checked weekly.
