Something old

Well now I had the chance to buy one of these for £100 in the early 90s. I bought a shagged out Citroen GSA instead. Anyway, is this the mentalest interior and dashboard of any production car ever? I am in absolute awe and love with it:

www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1232638

Or:

www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1266109

Swoon and sigh.

Oh Lord! The Swiss cheese dashboard... it's all coming back. Lancia Beta with a boot and even more rust. No wonder this one's £28,000. How many survived??

Speaking of "old" cars. "Her" Qashqai was first registered in the March of 2008, so it's near as can be 12.5 years old and 84,000 on it so not in the first flush etc but not mega miley for its age.

Anyway, I rarely drive it, especially in current circumstances, and frankly, she hasn't been using it much either since lockdown. So, today, I thought I'd take it for a run while attending to another errand and put some petrol in it. Don't think it's been filled for months in truth.

It's a manual, 1600 Visia spec ( poverty model ) so it was never going to feel like a limousine or a sports car, but you know, it was as tight as ever, no creaks or rattles, engine sweet, suspension and brakes all good, aircon working, gear change slick and positive, clutch felt fine, no real way to distinguish it from a much younger car.

A bit of fraying on the leading edge of the driver's seat squab, and the "chrome" is peeling a bit on the internal driver's door handle and apart from a scuff on the near side front corner of a bumper, ( every car she's ever had has that feature ) it's in very good cosmetic order.

Worth naff all now I suppose.

Which makes me think it's probably worth just keeping it until death us do part sort of thing.

The Nissan-Renault alliance was in place by 2008 but I don't think Renault had had any influence over Nissan's components and build quality by then. So the Qashqai should keep going as long as you want it to - i.e. until such time as your heart rules your head and you persuade herself that she needs to have a mid-life crisis, and that she really wants a sports car / convertible / coupe. Meaning of course that you do.

Edit - if she sees Dixi's post, she could go off on a different tack altogether....

Well, you're not too far off the mark Avant, every time I've suggested that she might want a new car over the years, ( she's had this one since 2010 ) she decides that there's something else we should be spending the money on. House improvements, holidays, tech, stuff for our son including his uni accom etc, and she even, thank the Lord above, is not averse to excess outlay on MTB related purchases and activities.

Tangentially, I'm beginning to wonder if I should use it more, the Merc is of course a diesel, and in the current situation, it's not getting nearly as many long runs. It occurs to me that it's probably not best suited to local hops and that they may in fact be bad for its general wellbeing. It hasn't complained yet, but as Al can testify, when an E Class does become disgruntled, it gets expensive!

Actually, it was just as well we took the automatic car this morning, my left leg was sulking quite a bit too much on the way back, and continues to be rather too attention seeking even now ...( see cycling thread for details )

That's just bad manners, I always hold the bikes above my head until I'm round to the back of the car. Well, that and a high dose of stupid eh? My nephew ran his pedal along the side of my Mondeo when he was about 6. I saw him do it but he flat denied it, and it wasn't worth a family at war scenario. He's 22 now and is still a slimy little ( insert adjective )