Frying pan into the fire.

[Slidertogrid]

I used to run a second hand Nissan micra K11 bought cheaply with 80K, that car did 240k until the rust killed it. I then bought a four year old Fusion 1.6 Diesel with 9K on the clock cheaply because it had a little a bit of damage. I still have that car 10 years later now approaching 80K I don't do the milage i used to...
I was advised not to let it go to 9K before a service so the oil and filter is changed every 4.5 K and service every 9K. The car has only needed a rear silencer and a pair of front springs in all that time. I had it waxoyled when it got to 10 years old and that seems to have prevented any rust getting hold.

As an aside I must warn everyone about KYB springs! I had the original springs replaced on the advice of the MOT inspector. they hadn't failed but were rusty and the coating was peeling. I bought a pair of KYB springs from a local motor factor and had them fitted. Two years later one of the 'new' springs failed with a massive bang. By chance I had just pulled onto my drive, the broken spring ripped through the tyre and the collapsed suspension meant the car was stuck fast.
I dread to think what would have happened if this had occurred at speed as I had just been travelling on the A1. The motor factor arranged a meeting with the KYB rep as I wanted the cost of having the car repaired and recovery met. The rep offered me a replacement pair of springs only . He didn't appreciate my concern over what could have happened just saying "Yes but it didn't did it". Understandably I refused his offer of a pair of replacement springs as I wouldn't feel safe driving the car on this make. It wasn't worth taking them to court so I let it go.
The spring clearly had a defect as where it had failed there was a grey mark in the middle of the steel but KYB were having none of it.
I have since researched the problem and found other car owners on line who have had similar problems with KYB springs! Lesson learned!

[PerdioPal]

" It wasn't worth taking them to court so I let it go.", the correct attitude, us small people can't win against the big ones. Just breath that sigh of relief that you are OK and carry on without the stress and stuff (you know that they are wrong, treat yourself to a night out on the saved money and time for court). Waxoyl at 10 years?, do it from new, I have (today) got my new Honda Forza 350 motorcycle, after the first ride (two hours!) a copious spray of the rust inhibitor was done, bikes have rust too, worst place is one of the stands, expensive paintwork job.

[DrStrangelove]

Started off with a Rover 90 P4 which eventually failed due to brake pipe corrosion.

Then on to a Singer Chamois, the less said about that the better, though I did sell it twice by mistake.

Rover 100 P4 which had a bad miss and dodgy brakes which turned out to be due to the servo being full of brake fluid*. They were much better with the servo from the 90 installed instead.

*Impressive smoke produced by the engine every time you applied the brakes & the pinking was unbelievable.

Ford Zodiac MkIV flying pig. You could read a broadsheet newspaper in the front of that. It ate the fibre cam gear twice. Those cast iron heads are heavy.

Vauxhall Chevette 1256. Rust bucket that nearly killed me.

Dutton Phaeces 2 litre Pinto engine: you could do doughnuts in it in 2nd. Last year of ownership I did 30 miles. Hideous car.

Ford Granada MkII 2.3 auto, turned out when my dad said it did 12mpg he wasn't joking, it became a 3 litre that did 20mpg, then a 3 litre manual that did 22 mpg, then I stuck a hideous Holley carb on it & fecked it up, should have left the 38dgas alone. I'd never experienced carb icing before the Holley.

Vauxhall chevette 1256: this one didn't try to kill me but rusted in all the same places.

VW Polo 1043: did 105k in this back & forth to Cwmbran every day, 55 miles there 55 miles back. 3 sets of tyres, replaced the shock absorbers twice, plus a clutch.

Fiat Croma 2 litre super ie: I loved that car, tin worm got it.

Fiat Tempra 2 litre: nice car, wish I'd kept it. Very rare spec with the 2 litre engine.

Fiat Marea: 5 cylinder piece of crap, lasted 2 months. Smoked like a chimney.

VW Passat 2 litre: highly impressive when the dipstick tube breaks off the engine coz it's made of plastic, plus the driver's window motor went t*ts up, then the antilock brake controller did the same. Scrapped it. I'll never buy another VW.

Volvo 940 turbo: it leaked engine oil* like it was going out of fashion but I did 15k in it & scrapped it at 212k.

*You could get a gallon of el cheapo engine oil in Wilko for £5 at the time, the secret was to never put more oil in the sump than it took to touch the bottom of the dipstick. It didn't suffer from under body rust.

Fiat Seicento: fantastic little car: first time I've ever had to replace a fuel tank or a sump. Loved the car. Cheap to insure & run, & fun to drive as long as you haven't got big feet. Sold it for £50 to a neighbour who wanted it for his sons.

Toyota Corolla 1.3 auto: the go slower version. It died from some unknown ignition problem & I couldn't be a****d to fix it.

Toyota Corolla 1.6 auto: the go faster version: nice enough car but £300 tax? It's off to the scrappy at 33k miles along with the other one.

I've given up driving, free buses do all I need these days, after I worked out that it was costing £800 a year just to go to Tesco once a week.