Xantiaman's Blog

[Citroenmad]

A mate had a Zetec S Fiesta, im sure it didn't even have AC and didnt have a CD changer, must have been an earlier one or maybe just poverty spec.

Signwriting looks geat

[lexi]

Nice lil Fiesta. What is with these Ford arches? Are we trying to go back to Mk 11 Escorts?
The van looks good and I bet is a good DD. ATB in your business.

[XantiaMan]

A few changes to the Mondeo -

[lexi]

Yes......looks mean and clean!

[Citroenmad]

It really suits those wheels, the refurb is excellent too.

[ashy90]

That Mondeo does look very very nice indeed. Its an ST right? Is it a V6 or a diesel? (I am sure they done an ST diesel anyway, correct me if I am wrong)

[Citroenmad]

Just about every ST Mondeo you see on the road is a TDCi, very few V6s about.

[ashy90]

Just about every ST Mondeo you see on the road is a TDCi, very few V6s about.

Shame

[XantiaMan]

Its the proper one.

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Cleaned it this evening using water reclaimed from my water butt, the water companies will be happy!

Found out that one of my wheels was 50g out of balance, so had that redone, and also one of the tyres was incorrectly inflated down from 33psi to 20psi, someone is gonna get a bollocking!

[Citroenmad]

Its looking very nice Gareth, and now you have a set of track day wheels

I don't trust anyone but myself with my tyres pressures!

[XantiaMan]

Doubt it will see the track any time soon! Wheels are too tasty for that, i'll swop between wheels now depending on mood..

[XantiaMan]

Been quite some time since my last update, i'll eat my words about not taking the Mondeo on the track, because it happened -



And so has everything else happened this year so far. We were given notice to leave the house we were renting for the past 2 years, no fault of our own, the owner was in the crap so she wanted to move back in. This caused a lot of headaches because we were so well established, my son was just a few months from starting school and with Vicky not driving we were within walking distance of the school so we had to find another place very quickly.

We did get lucky in the end and found a much better house, more expensive, but still on the same estate. We knew how much we had coming in and we knew it was affordable, so we moved in beginning of June.

At the same time, I parted company with the Maestro, I was selling a few bits and pieces I didnt need including Maestro stuff, someone came over and offered me very good money for it, so off it went after 12 years of ownership!

And in its place, someone more modern and turbocharged -



I still had change in my pocket after buying it, so spent some on modifications, mainly suspension and breathing mods, it went quite well, the engine was very good, but the handling still didnt involve me, disliked the steering feel which is one area the Fords excell at.

Lets just say that any chance of me starting to enjoy that car quickly faded, when I had a call a month ago telling me my main contract (about 90% of my turnover if not more) no longer required my services after 4 years..I sold the car one day before they told me!

I saw this coming. After dumping me into a dirty car park just a month previous where my work began to be compromised, like anyone who cares about the standard of the work, I had a good moan about this, why should I accept that my work should be sub-standard because of the environment they put me in? Together with that, It was a 5 minute walk away from the dealership, which quickly added up and wasted a lot of my time during the day. All to do with a new boss starting and not allowing contractors on site. So after so long with me being reliable travelling down to Surrey each week, it was over!

And i've had to be very careful we dont go bankrupt, i've been lucky till now, we had enough work to get us through the month, thanks to some sales calling back in May, last week was a bit poor to say the least but we have just broken even. Plus sides, i'm home every night, I take my son to school in the mornings, I spend less on fuel etc so not all bad, but i really do need a couple of very good dealers in addition to the smaller ones, and i'm looking at ways of increasing my retail work.

So yes its been quite a ride. We wasnt turning over so much due to the bad summer and the upcoming winter doesnt look all that special either, we continue for the time being..And yes, I still miss my Activa..

[CitroJim]

Great to hear from you Gareth, sorry to hear things have been up and down a bit and wish you all the very best in that it'll all come good.

Bet you were devastated to see the Maestro go...

That red thing. It's not a Vauxhall is it?

And yes, I still miss my Activa..

They have that effect on you. One day another may come your way but they're getting very thin on the ground now.

[XantiaMan]

Skoda Octavia VRS, much better than a Golf GTi. I liked it, but not enough to keep it over the Fiesta.

[CitroJim]

Skoda Octavia VRS

Sorry Gareth and there was me thinking it was one of Luton's finest

There's a few characters at work who have them and they all speak very highly of them indeed. They do say that although they're a VW they're better made. Shame we can no longer make jokes about them