(picture pinched from http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/visitors_renault25_2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; without permission - my apologies, and thanks [I can sort out pictures of my own car soon, but this one really is identical])
Firstly, does anyone have any experience with renault 25's slipping into limp-home mode? It's the 2.0 litre injection engine, and I believe the gear box is the AR4 model.
Secondly, are spare parts as rare as rocking horse poo, or can they be found if you know the right people?
Thirdly, would I be opening a proverbial can of worms into a cavernous money pit in trying to get this thing up and running again?
... unluckily for me it has been non running and sorned for the last four years, and stored in a garage. It is suffering from a cylinder 3 misfire, which caused it to frequently slip into limp home mode, and after a period of weeks limping around town, followed by repeated futile repair attempts at my local garage the alternator went too... I stuck the car in the garage and declared it off the road.
Now, four years has slipped by, and nothing has changed with the car. I have moved town, and I have got really good at riding a bike, and I need to move the car. I really don't have the need for a car right now - I love Monsieur Vingt Cinq (that's it's name), but I am starting to think I should just let go.
With that in mind, if you know of another Renault 25 enthusiast out there who would be interested in either resurrecting this sleeping beast, or otherwise stripping out its more useful bits, then let me know. I can't bring my self to have it crushed, I don't have the know-how to fix it myself, and if someone wants to come and tow it away and fix it themselves they should make me an offer I can't refuse.
It's in a garage in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, it's got a new-ish exhaust, fsh, vo5 and other paperwork, all leather interior, sunroof, all the other electrics work - including electric seats and six speaker stereo with steering column controls, the body work has only minor rust on the wheel arches and not a dent on it.
To summarise, do you think I should:
a) Have it crushed. Be done with it. It's an old car - don't you think it would be more useful if it was recycled?
b) Save up and get it fixed in the future, because that thing is a beaut, and there's a load of good reasons you love it so much, and why would you let someone else have it?
c) Just let someone else have it. There are plenty of knowledgable, caring, proud Renault owners who could show that car a good time.
If this all sounds intriguing, or if you know any of the answers, please get in touch.