What have I done?

rdwarr

I've had a number of cars over the past few years including a Lexus GS, an XJS, a Mitsubishi Sigma and a Volvo V70. Up until last week I was down to one car (a Volvo C70) but thought an economical runaround may be in order to replace the Citroen C1 that was on contract hire.
So I, er, bought a Maestro.

I'm not sure exactly how it happened and am still coming to terms with it. The worst thing is, it actually seems quite good

Trebor16

Not an Austin Maestro?:eek:

Joe_Horner

Oh dear, another victim for the modern classics market...

Always quite liked the Maestro in a "can't admit to it" sort of way, and any that are still around will have been the good ones off the line and / or looked after well to have survived.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Nothing wrong with that, is it one of the later batch made long after production ended.

Look after it and maintain it well and waxoyl it, it won't need plugging in for diagnostics and will cost buttons to fix should it go wrong.

UsernameAlreadyExists

I used to have a Montego. That was OK, apart from the times it didn't start and I had to bump start it on my own by pushing it along by the front pillar, and then jumping in, fumbling with the clutch the gears, and praying.

Good luck with the Maestro. You Hipster!
Is it one of those fancy schmancy MGs?

Strider590

I tell you what, people bang on about how old cars are unreliable.... But compare a 20yr old motor with something modern (4-5 years old) and I reckon you'd be forking out a damn site more on the newer car in repairs. Cars of that era were designed to last 10-15yrs (with proper care), cars now are designed to last 5-6 years.

I've been considering something old to replace the Vectra, once again I find myself in a spot where there are no modern cars I want to buy, i'd have another Vectra, but there aren't that many good ones left.

I reckon an old Ford, with the engine swapped for a modern Zetec, would be a very efficient run around.... But I just don't have the time to do the searching.

vaio

The Maestro turbo was a seriously quick car for the time (late '80s?) and is more than respectable now (6 point something 0-60 & 0-100 in 20s)

Sadly the handling and particularly the brakes didn't match the performance which is I guess why there are so few survivors (that & the '80s rover build quality)

TrickyWicky

Talking of reliable old cars those fiesta populars were pretty solid for reliability. Little square box on wheels but by god you could never kill one easily. They weren't pretty to look at but they were reliable little chuggers.

I know a bloke who has a 26 year old Volvo 340 too. He was (until last year) still using it every day for work and it still looked brand new - even the alloys were unblemished!

Some of the older cars you just can't beat. If you get a good model that was known for it's reliability it will still outlive many modern cars.

cybermat

The 1.6 was a bit of a pest, the 1.3 is one of the trustiest reliable little motors you can get your paws on, they like to rust about the doors,arches - well everywhere really but they are good little cars.
We still refer to my dads old one he had in the late 90s as trusty rusty.

LandyAndy

My first wife had an MG Maestro as a company car in the mid 80s. it wasn't a bad car and reasonably quick. Wasn't a patch on the Pug205Gti I had as a company car at the same time though

fivetide

We had the MG Montego Turbo. Some chavs nicked it and took it to Cumbria before nicking another car to come back in.

Shame really as it was proper mint beforehand too