Data-Cain

"Now at the end of the day wouldnt you raterh see more police on the roads then stupid cameras that have no discretion...." Yeah I'd totally love to see more funding spent so more cops with a bone to pick can follow me around and pull me over.

I've been burnt by Autotech. >.< Shame because Ed and the others there are great guys. Plus, I don't think they are cheap. For mechanical I'll be taking mine to TopSpec in Hume. I haven't had anything 'big' done with him, but he's been great for the things I have had done there and all for a good price. Also, girlfriends dad takes all his business cars there and recommends him.

Car make/type/model: Silvia S13 with RB20DET + 5speed Manual Year: Overall condition of car: 7/10; Mechanical - rubber and plastic parts perishing (water hose burst on the back of the engine - that was a real pain). Gearbox is getting a little crunchy, mainly 1st to 2nd and now a little on 2nd to 3rd. Engine wise, she's been on a couple of dyno's for diagnostics and always come back with a gold star. Cosmetics - paint fractures (only on body-kit), stone chips, a few tiny dents from people banging my car with their doors, fabric on drivers seat is worn, carpet is worn through under drivers feet. How is the car treated: 6/10 - I give her a fair bit of stick quite often, however tacho does not match the engine (it reads higher than engine sounds) so don't know how high I've actually revved her, but at a guess only rev to 5.5k - I plan to have the tacho fixed soon though. Maintenance level: 5/10 - at first I neglected it a bit and didn't change oil very often (and I think I'm paying for it now with a little power loss), but now I'm pretty good - use good oil and change it more often, and do my sparkies, etc. Modifications: usual bolt on's - FMIC, 3" highflow exhaust, POD, JUN Tuned stock ECU Insurance: Full comprehensive - 1600$ a year, excess is 600$ (over 25now) Power: 150rwkw @ 12psi (I generally run 14psi and feel a pretty big increase, but don't have a dynograph for it) Estimated to the tank fuel usage: 350KM to a 55L? tank (I use to get about 400-450, with the powerless I seem to have lost efficiency too) Estimated $ spent per year to maintain: with the issues I've had it's probably around 7k over the last 2-3 years. This includes a few mistakes with bad mechanic workshop choices - without thoes mistakes probably.... 5k? Tip for keeping costs down; Do jobs your self if you can. I saved between 600-1200 (quoted) on replacing the water pump with the help of my dad. If you can't do it yourself, try to find a good mechanic with reasonable hourly rates! I use to take my car to a place recommended by a mate (and a lot of people on here) but they charged to much. Doesn't help that my experience with them is soured by the fact that they didn't really do much for the amount of money I paid them and to top it off they made a mistake that almost cooked my engine.... anyway, there area few more details to that story but mostly I've forgotten them now - it's a shame though because I quite like the guys working there. For mechanical stuff I now take my car to a place around to corner from them. The guy does good work for a good price and he's an honest bloke.

haha yer I drive a different car now with a working horn! Definatly works... I used it the otherday on a taxi who almost squished me between him and a barrier. >.<

lol yep! I love cooking my engine, it's the only reason I drive a car! XD I brought it back to Ed and he's gonna sort it out. So I'm happy again.

This was a while ago now but probably the 'best' close encounter thats happened to me on the roads so far. On Drakeford Dr heading towards Tuggers I was in the left lane coming up to a set of Red traffic lights. I knew it was about to turn green so I was still doing about 80. In the lane to my right a lady in a old laser was stopped at the lights and as soon as it turned green, she took off changed lanes... guess which lane she changed into >.< No indication, she just yanked on the wheel and pulled over right in front of me. Lucky there was an empty slip lane (or bus lane - I can't remember now) for me to swerve into (only just missed her) or I'd have knocked her eyes out of thier sockets and probably her pea-sized brain as well. The look on her face and her whaling around in her car as she freaked out when she realized what was going on as I flew passed her was pretty funny though (in a "what a f'ing retard" kind of way). But the thing that REALLY topped it off for me was when I passed her I was bashing on my horn... and it didn't make a sound. @!#$*()^

Yer I like Ed. I'm a little miffed about the work I just had done with them though. I spent a lot of money over the last two weeks on a bunch of small shit and almost came out with a cooked motor, due to a couple silly mistakes which I didn't notice straight away. I'm a pretty easy going guy and as I said I like Ed, so I mentioned it but didn't drill him about it. Although I am going to get him to check a couple things for me because of it.