Seatkids 19 Year Old Alhambra

[seatkid]

Some of you know may not know me as I haven't been on the forum for years now. Ive simply had no problems with my 1998 Alhambra 1.9 tdi but just thought I'd post a brief update.

 

The old girl passed her 19th annual MOT with no advisories a couple of weeks ago. However with another car out on the drive and the cost of VED I've finally decided to SORN the girl and suspend the insurance, after all the VED and insurance probably costs more than my annual fuel bill nowadays.

 

She's still in great condition however the cambelt is overdue by god knows how many years and miles and that g62 sensor I bought 4 or 5 years ago still needs fitting. So at least £500 to bring her back up to scratch. She did get a new CAT (tiny hole in tail pipe) and new ATE brakes/discs last year (18 years / 147k miles on original pads and discs not bad eh, pads still had 2mm left) also some new Conti tyres, everything else original but sadly the VAG scrappage schemes are tempting me to finally say goodbye to her. Decision not yet set in concrete. My wife doesn't want me to let her go. We'll see what the chancellor has to say about our old diesels next week...

 

She's been the most reliable, economical and versatile vehicle I've ever owned and has definitely become rooted as a loved member of the family.

 

Thanks to this forum I've been able to maintain and fix the girl's little problems over the years at next to no cost.

 

Oh...and the new Alhambra? No, its too wide to go in the garage, looks very dull and try getting into the back row of seats, what a joke and its a diesel.... I'll be going for some largish petrol estate, Octavia/Superb/Passat probably to be delivered next March.

Edited November 15, 2017 by seatkid

[sparky Paul]

Very good to hear from you again seatkid, not many of us left with old mk.1s. In fact, you don't see so many mk.1s about these days - it would be a shame for a decent one to end up in the fragger.

 

 

She's been the most reliable, economical and versatile vehicle I've ever owned and has definitely become rooted as a loved member of the family.

 

 

That's exactly how we regard ours... well, apart from the 'economical' bit. The VED is a bit steep, but insurance for me this year was about £148, and that was with business use, in case I needed it.

 

It has, without doubt, been the most useful and reliable vehicle have ever owned... If it wasn't, I don't think we would have kept it for 14 years. Sadly, a cracked screen and rotten nearside outer sill might be the end of mine after 18 years and 160,000 miles. In all those years, I managed to avoid the dreaded crushed sills, but sadly they are still succumbing to the rot.

[gregers]

wow seatkid,long time no hear.

 

and even bigger WOW on how you have managed to keep the ole girl going,its peeps like yourself who have contributed to this forum

and managed to build the faqs over the years that has kept it going.

 

1 thing i must ask is...........you still getting 60mpg out of her?lol.

[seatkid]

Hehe....She can still just crack a real 54 mpg on a long run. The long term average on the trip is in the upper 40s over the last couple of thousand miles. She is starting to sound a little noisy at idle when cold, mainly due to a twitchy aux belt which I changed but made no difference. The tensioner is fine and I'm pretty sure there's no one-way clutch on the alternator so I think its the g62 sensor (shows faulty when scanned with vagcom) and maybe a stretched cambelt throwing the timing out a bit.

 

Unsuccessful regas last summer so I think the a/c compressor has finally had it.

 

And the lh tailgate rubber boot wiring is a bit of a bodged mess but it works.

[sparky Paul]

You've done well to the keep the aircon going, I gave up on mine years ago after several expensive (parts) repairs. Didn't seem worth the expense or effort for the sake of the 3/4 days a year we actually used it.

 

I wish I had bought a diesel 14 years ago, or gassed this one. :unsure:

Edited November 16, 2017 by sparky Paul

[seatkid]

Well I've ordered a Superb. Supposedly got 8k off list including 4k scrappage for the old girl. Only a couple of weeks later I realised that by manipulating PCP (i.e. cancelling within 14 days) I could have got exactly the same deal plus get free servicing/breakdown and NOT have to give the old girl in!!

 

Too late now. Its going to be difficult to see the old girl go in March, especially as shes still looking so good.

Edited January 13, 2018 by seatkid

[sparky Paul]

I don't really want to see mine turned into frag, because that's where cars that old end up.

 

I'm casually looking for another one, maybe a late mk2 Sharan - not 100% certain at the moment. Relying on car number 2 these days, other half's Honda Jazz.

Edited January 17, 2018 by sparky Paul

[gregers]

bet you wont get 60mpg out of the superb seat kid,lol.

[Scorpiorefugee]

Hi Seatkid,

 

As I remember things it was you that was always helping others to keep things going not the other way around. I can fully understand your reluctance to let the old girl go. I handed my MK2 Gal to my son 5 years ago when I landed myself with  with a MK3. I got it back 1 year last November when his garage wrote it off and spent less than £300 getting it back on the road and the next 6 weeks trying to convince him to let me keep it but lost.  It is still running and passed it's MOT first time. The MK3 is still rarely used but it seems impossible to find a replacement. I looked at the Skodas but the only one that I could get into was the Yeti although I can still get into a 1960s Mini. The way things are I might just try to put in an offer for your old Seat. :)

 

I always believed you'd keep the Alhambra for ever. My old Gal scored all zeros on it's last MOT with 200k on the clock so I can't see any justification for forcing them off the road.

[Bigjeeze]

Hi Seatkid

 

Sorry to hear your sad news. It's almost like a bereavement. I sold my MK1 2 years ago - it had 180K on the clock and was running fine on the original clutch and engine. Good luck with whatever you buy.

[seatkid]

Hey! Great to see the site is back up and running. So much info here for Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra owners who want to keep them running. Certainly helped me keep mine going for the best part of 20 years. Thanks to all the members who added so much!

 

Anyway my Alhambra was due to go into scrappage on March 1 but due to the bad weather and a scratch on the new Superb, was delayed by 5 days. Its as if it was trying to say "I don't want to leave"

 

Much sadness as the old girl was in great condition with new Conti tyres, new ATE brakes and discs, new Cat in the last year. Great bodywork and interior. But the temptation of £8k with scrappage was too great and hopefully the Superb will keep me going another 20 years.

 

And hey gregers.....even though it's a petrol (1.4tsi ACT), its easy to get over 50mpg, in fact indicated 52mpg at indicated 75mph. Remarkable.

 

Only downer is I think it unlikely I'll be doing much DIY maintenance on this, too awkward access and old age.....