Hi, I've read this site extensively since I bought my old '96 1.5 LXI. It was a great car, pretty much the only times it went wrong (aside from the MOT's) was when I didn't do something I should have!

Needless to say I was a bit heartbroken when some woman belted down a car-park road at Alton Towers, slammed her brakes on and slid out into my path. I was only doing about 20, uphill from a roundabout, but apparently the sides of a Peugot 206 are a lot tougher than the front of a 323.



She hit me going at such a speed my car got dragged across the road, if you look in the second pic you can see where the debris is; Where we stopped sliding.



Obviously, it's a write-off, and valued at a mere £445 by the damned insurers. But at least there is some good news! Now I get to buy another 323! Yay! I would like a Zxi but I'm 26, only been liscenced for 3 yrs and the insurance would be prohibitive (ie £1k+) so I've decided to settle on a 1.8 Exec.

I'm torn now. I've found 2 that really interest me:

Silver metalic, 1997 1.8 Exec. £1,000
52,000 miles; fog lights, electric sunroof, some random alloys.
Owner claims regular servicing by a mate (Ferrari mechanic?) and had cam belt, break pipes, exhaust and 2 tires replaced in recent history.

Green metalic, 1997 1.8 Exec £1,190
84,000 miles; factory alloys, almost full service history. Not much else though.

I'm leaning towards the first one, especially as it's cheaper, but the second is from a dealer and I walk away with a few more buyers rights in that one.

Another red F gone. Dude regards to the 2.0 V6 do some more searching....Bet you can get insured on the V6 for a good price.

thank God you're ok
can't the car be fixed?
looks to me as a bumper, hood and a headlight
when a police jeep hitted my father my car was uglyer

Yeah total shame, another F bites the dust.

As for choices i would go for the silver one 100%, have you seen the silver ones on here modified?? They look amazing. I have a green metallic and it is a nightmare to modify (colour coding wise) and you see every little scratch. Also 52000 miles. Amazing. Cant fault that.

x2

Its not as bad as you think. Especially for a group 14 car.

am only 23 n insured on a v6 so am sure u will fair a lot better. i pay less than the 1k mark but only just.

I'm off to view the silver one this afternoon (It's in Leeds... I'm in Stoke so unless it's nothing like advertised I'll probably pick it up). I think I'll pass up on the 2.0 this time, between insurance (2 non-fault write-offs in last 3 yrs now... fingers crossed on this one eh?) and a girlfriend horrified at the thought it'll just be easier lol.

I'll be taking good care of this one. I've got the use of my grandmothers old garage once I've cleared it out, and have a mate who at least knows more than I do about cars. The garage makes the biggest difference... I hate fixing things outside in the cold and rain!

Nah the whole front frame will be caved backwards, making it a b*tch to repair, plus his rad will be truely f*cked and many other parts... Too much money to repair.

go for a zxi! you won't regret it

I had a pretty good look at it, forgot to do a couple things (remembered stuff like oil stains, wires, rust etc but forgot to check suspension, d'oh) but it ran well on a short drive. Felt pretty solid. The body was very good. The small amount of bubbling on the driver side rear wheel arch looks to be just surface rust. There's no cracks on the rear reflector either .

All the electrics worked fine, right down to the electric sunroof and keyhole lights. The mazda fog lights are a replacement for an aftermarket set and have a pretty average looking switch in an odd place next to the handbrake. I might rip out some parts from my dead car and a second proper fog light switch will be high on that list! Will follow the guide on this site for replacing that lol! The alloys in the picture look a little miserable but I think they just photographed badle, they seem pretty decent in person.

Needless to say I went for it. I was happy to pay the £999 on condition the owner makes life easy for me and sorts me out some tax (which I'll pay for, just don't want the hastle in a strange city), puts enough fuel to get me going in and gets his personal plate removed and the old reg restored by saturday afternoon. Oh, and it'll be getting a full valet too of course .



#

Now to swat up on alloy cleaning and debadging...

edit: I tell a lie... there was but one thing that bothered me, but as a regular-joe could not be sure if it was a severe, minor or even a problem at all. The clutch felt odd, it worked great but the engine seemed only to bite when the clutch was almost completely released, making for very senstive gear changes. Is this normal? Will it soften in? Given the overall standard of the car and the work done during it's last service (cam belt, brake pipes, brake pads I think too, oil etc and I'm sure more) I can't see something so vital being missed?

ouch!! poor red f!!

I think it has massive potential. As long as the clutch is still working it might just need adjusted. Have a look for the guide on here somewhere.

I paid 995 for ma F but thats cos the guy gave me a grat trade in on my astra. It was held together by super glue. No lie.