Lorne
New Member
Following the untimely demise of my silver dream machine; a rather old but much loved Peugeot 406 coupe I decided this time to obey rule number 2 in life, which of course is ‘always buy a German car’. Rule number 1 incidentally, and the reason for having bought a French car in the first place, is ‘rules are for idiots’.
My wife has an Audi TT and we have 2 young children so I figured I’d better not mention it lest my new baby become a 4 door saloon, so I got the train to work, surfed Autotrader on the way and decided an R230 SL would be just the ticket.
After more lunchtime surfing I found an ideal candidate not too far away and persuaded a work friend to take me to the garage to check it out. Impressed? Yes of course I was, who wouldn't be as it felt as solid as a brick compared to the 406 coupe and gave the distinct impression that I wouldn't need to keep a tube of gorilla glue in the glove-box anymore to re-attach any bits that fell off.
The garage had a few earlier SL models and so I tried them out as well and found an R129 that was even more solid, sported a 5 speed automatic, electric roof and a separate tin top for ‘winterising’. It also had rear seats so I could pretend I’d bought it with the kids in mind. Being more than 10 years old a call to an insurance broker yielded a startling fully comprehensive quote of £278 on a classic policy, and with road tax at £220 and an asking price less than half that of the higher mileage R230 it just seemed to be perfect.
So I bought it, and you know what, it is perfect! It has the much missed solid build, plenty of sprawl space, room for the kids, decent comfort and it can shift a bit if you poke it. Interestingly though, no steering wheel adjustment and the stereo has no rear speakers, but what the heck, a warm bottom on a cold day more than makes up for that.
My wife has an Audi TT and we have 2 young children so I figured I’d better not mention it lest my new baby become a 4 door saloon, so I got the train to work, surfed Autotrader on the way and decided an R230 SL would be just the ticket.
After more lunchtime surfing I found an ideal candidate not too far away and persuaded a work friend to take me to the garage to check it out. Impressed? Yes of course I was, who wouldn't be as it felt as solid as a brick compared to the 406 coupe and gave the distinct impression that I wouldn't need to keep a tube of gorilla glue in the glove-box anymore to re-attach any bits that fell off.
The garage had a few earlier SL models and so I tried them out as well and found an R129 that was even more solid, sported a 5 speed automatic, electric roof and a separate tin top for ‘winterising’. It also had rear seats so I could pretend I’d bought it with the kids in mind. Being more than 10 years old a call to an insurance broker yielded a startling fully comprehensive quote of £278 on a classic policy, and with road tax at £220 and an asking price less than half that of the higher mileage R230 it just seemed to be perfect.
So I bought it, and you know what, it is perfect! It has the much missed solid build, plenty of sprawl space, room for the kids, decent comfort and it can shift a bit if you poke it. Interestingly though, no steering wheel adjustment and the stereo has no rear speakers, but what the heck, a warm bottom on a cold day more than makes up for that.
