If you buy a COE Car and have $3K to spare. . .

[kobayashiGT]

20 minutes ago, Agnoxis said:

I have the same COE car as TS but mine is the CL7A. For me, it's my second car so my motto is: as long as it runs, I'm ok with it. Here's what I spent on it so far though.

$300 aircon compressor, broke down in Melaka and fixed at an aircon repair shop there. Nearly died from heatstroke for the 24hrs it wasn't fixed.

$700 radiator, engine overheat in middle of night. Managed to slowly make my way home and then to the car workshop the next day with about 3-4 restarts.

$80 reverse cam + installation. Camera was $10, installation took up the rest =S

$350 Enkei rims + tyres. Previous set of tyres was getting botak already so I just bought an entire set of rims + tyres from Carousell for a song. Lotsa good deals there if one looks hard enough.

And in the 1 year I owned it, I've done about 40,000km so about 4 engine oil changes. That's all folks! Amazing reliability. Honda rocks!

Hhaha. Cool! You can consider to change your fuel filter and pump too!

I once drove to cameron highlands and it spoilt halfway. It is an "assurance" kind of maintenance. Good for a piece of mind.

I also have changed my compressor before. I never state much about my repairs here. But definitely I have done a fair bit of repair for this old car.

 

[boonhat_91]

30 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

I still see a few S2000 on the road. But celica like not really.

I always find Tuscani looks abit like celica. 🤣

I remember playing both Tuscani and Celica in NFS Underground 😆 That era both were a bit more common to see

[Vinceng]

On 5/19/2020 at 3:57 PM, Mockngbrd said:

U buy old w124 your 3k will go to replacing all the undercarriage bushings, rubbers, engine mounts, wheel bearings, shocks, suspension mounts, window seals, steering linkages, replace leaking seals. Mayb 3 k no enough. 

Share the same sentiments. Very practical. Best to keep such classics as stock as possible.

[Yeobt]

14 hours ago, Verno said:

'88 civic shouldn't be EG, should be EF if am not wrong

Maybe late 88. Cant remember le.

[Vinceng]

On 5/19/2020 at 11:36 AM, kobayashiGT said:

So this time, I went to sgcarmart and hunt for COE cars! And I have chosen a Mercedes Benz 200E.

https://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=901596&DL=3417

 

I would go for the 16V version reg from 1993 onwards, rather than its 8V predecessor. This is the original E Class. Most pre 1993 W124  on sale had a facelift done.

Most importantly, this comes with 10 year renewable COE. Your example will head to car heaven very soon once its 5 year COE extension ends. 

This W124 is a very reasonably priced classic to work on. Owner is asking just a few grand above the paper value. Those sold by dealers are asking at least $10K above paper value.

https://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=900688&DL=1000

Edited May 21, 2020 by Vinceng

[Yeobt]

1 hour ago, Scholesy said:

I thk that’s a good choice. Can go topless is shiok.

Ya, feel like 宠一宠自己 for once since it's affordable now. But must set aside some money for the high maintenance. @_@

[Mkl22]

1 hour ago, Vinceng said:

I would go for the 16V version reg from 1993 onwards, rather than its 8V predecessor. This is the original E Class. Most pre 1993 W124  on sale had a facelift done.

Most importantly, this comes with 10 year renewable COE. Your example will head to car heaven very soon once its 5 year COE extension ends. 

This W124 is a very reasonably priced classic to work on. Owner is asking just a few grand above the paper value. Those sold by dealers are asking at least $10K above paper value.

https://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=900688&DL=1000

16V parts more ex. and harder to find now.

[Agnoxis]

3 hours ago, PSP415 said:

Wa....engine overheated and u slowly drove it to the workshop with 3-4 restarts.

I presume its to top up water till reached max red line then stop to cool down and then top up again?

Why not tow it to wkshop instead? At most $50.

Radiator cost u $700 but engine kaput will mean lots more. 

My heart not so strong and i will be too stressed driving and watching water temp rising at same time. Heck, my blood pressure may be gg up as well😅

But that's just me.

Thanks for sharing 

Stay safe 

Cheers 

 

 

 

Not the first time I've done this, happened to my Audi A6 before and that was what the workshop owner advised me to do. Towing is $120 after midnight usually.

It's not like what you mentioned. Your issue will be a water pump issue, where almost all the radiator coolant drains very quickly. Both times I had the prob, the temp will take about 10-15min to increase beyond the usual 90deg (but coolant level is not dropping). So what I did was drive as far as I could until I see the temp gauge start to increase, then stop. Rest 15-20min then repeat. Both times I was less than 10km home so no issue.

Honestly, I'll probably protect the car a lot more if it was a newer one. But both times, if the engine went kaput, I was fine with just scrapping the car on the spot. The A6 had 1.5 months of COE left and the Accord was bought at close to paper value so no loss.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Agnoxis

[PSP415]

1 hour ago, Agnoxis said:

Not the first time I've done this, happened to my Audi A6 before and that was what the workshop owner advised me to do. Towing is $120 after midnight usually.

It's not like what you mentioned. Your issue will be a water pump issue, where almost all the radiator coolant drains very quickly. Both times I had the prob, the temp will take about 10-15min to increase beyond the usual 90deg (but coolant level is not dropping). So what I did was drive as far as I could until I see the temp gauge start to increase, then stop. Rest 15-20min then repeat. Both times I was less than 10km home so no issue.

Honestly, I'll probably protect the car a lot more if it was a newer one. But both times, if the engine went kaput, I was fine with just scrapping the car on the spot. The A6 had 1.5 months of COE left and the Accord was bought at close to paper value so no loss.

Ah ok. Thought u mentioned its the next day that u did the 3-4 restarts while on way to workshop.

$700 was a re-con radiator? Cos it (Audi) had only 1.5 months COE left. 

I am asking cos it seems alot to spend on a brand new one if its so close to scrap unless of cos u extended the COE.

Thanks for sharing. 

Take care and stay safe. 

Cheers

[Verno]

7 hours ago, Yeobt said:

Maybe late 88. Cant remember le.

Because EG start from 92

[Verno]

9 hours ago, kobayashiGT said:

This one must be super rare in SG.

DC2 integra type r or EK9 civic type r just as rare if not rarer

[Stratovarius]

On 5/20/2020 at 5:12 PM, Lala81 said:

what's your mileage? Sounds a bit too high.

My mileage is surprisingly low. On my Swift sport, stock shocks leaked on the 2nd year as I've changed to lowering springs. Changed to 1st set of coilovers and it gave way on the 5th year. Changed to another set and it starts to leak on the 8th year. Sold it after changing another set. Lol. I think coilover are not as reliable as stock shocks.

[Briansoh]

9 hours ago, Vinceng said:

I would go for the 16V version reg from 1993 onwards, rather than its 8V predecessor. This is the original E Class. Most pre 1993 W124  on sale had a facelift done.

Most importantly, this comes with 10 year renewable COE. Your example will head to car heaven very soon once its 5 year COE extension ends. 

This W124 is a very reasonably priced classic to work on. Owner is asking just a few grand above the paper value. Those sold by dealers are asking at least $10K above paper value.

https://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=900688&DL=1000

W124 still one of the cheapest modern classics to get into but parts are no longer so easily available as compared to a few years ago. The car is very mechanical and easy to work on. No need specialists as long as you do abit of research on your own and know what to change. Ran one for more than 10 years and also a 190E. $3k can do many things on a W124 but most are very tired and would need another 3-4K in preventive maintenance first. Picture of my old car before scrap. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by Briansoh

[Vinceng]

For  a car of such age, close to 3 decades old, if it is extended with a 10 year COE, it's advisable to do a complete engine overhaul, replace the shocks and absorbers and renew the interior seats and roof linings. Throw in S10K and the car will drive like new till the COE expires in 2029.

[Agnoxis]

5 hours ago, PSP415 said:

Ah ok. Thought u mentioned its the next day that u did the 3-4 restarts while on way to workshop.

$700 was a re-con radiator? Cos it (Audi) had only 1.5 months COE left. 

I am asking cos it seems alot to spend on a brand new one if its so close to scrap unless of cos u extended the COE.

Thanks for sharing. 

Take care and stay safe. 

Cheers

The $700 was for brand new radiator for CL7A. Did at the local Honda specialist workshop, SKM. TBH, I can't remember what caused the overheating for the Audi but I fixed it even with just 6 weeks left because it kinda made sense (I got 1.4k export body value at scrap but I would have had to just scrap it for $100 if I didn't fix the overheating). Wasn't too ex either, def a 3-figure sum. Sadly, the PQP then didn't make sense to renew otherwise I would totally have done it.

Keeping my eyes on the PQP for last few months of 2020 though, cos that's when my other car expires and if the COE really tanks soon, I may really just renew and have 2 x COE cars in the garage lol.

Also forgot to add another item to the CL7A repair list, I just replaced one of the rear wheel bearing hubs for about $150. After you've driven a Conti, the repair costs for Jap cars really just seem so manageable haha!

[Vinceng]

1 hour ago, Agnoxis said:

Also forgot to add another item to the CL7A repair list, I just replaced one of the rear wheel bearing hubs for about $150. After you've driven a Conti, the repair costs for Jap cars really just seem so manageable haha!

But many here say that conti car parts are cheap if you know which stockist to source from. 

[Sdf4786k]

On 5/20/2020 at 4:03 PM, Adrianli said:

The car remote battery of an Audi is CR2032 type of button battery. Brand new at PA will cost you $10. It comes in a VW ziplock bag and the battery is with a Made in China stamp on it.

Anywhere else, a CR2032 button battery cost few cents if bought in bulk to $1 to $2.

 

But there are still ppl who believe that the $10 battery from PA is far superior than the battery bought at a supermarket.

 

A visit to the Value shop is way cheaper and works well .. no problem with cheap batt..

[Sdf4786k]

7 hours ago, Vinceng said:

But many here say that conti car parts are cheap if you know which stockist to source from. 

yup.. Eng Soon for BMW is rather well stock up.