Winter is upon us and the time has come where it is a pointless task cleaning the car. Road grime instantly reattaches itself. While we are on the subject of road grime, the flat blade wipers I have fitted to the Fiat have not performed so well. I have tried several times to get a clear and even sweep of the blades but failed. I tried bending the arms as well as the blades but all to no avail. They are not totally useless, but the best I can get with them is a slight skipping of the blade on the return sweep for the driver's side and the corner of the passenger side remains untouched by the blade - but at least the main visible arc is clear. Nothing worse than smearing wipers in winter as the barrage of misadjusted headlights dazzle you.
I should also mention that after almost 5,000km the Fiat it is still running without major faults. Notice the word 'major'. The temperature gauge is random, sometimes being slower to wake up than myself and I also wonder if the readings are accurate. One of the number plate lights was out, so after buying a bulb I removed the plastic lens and the rubber housing only for the latter to fall apart and the same to happen to the edges of the plastic lens where the screws affix it to the now perished rubber housing.
The front brakes have started to groan when asking them to slow the car down, though in fairness they have never really been any good at actually doing that. The oil leak in the engine bay has covered the engine - there could now be more oil on and around the engine bay than there is inside. But other than that it has been cheap bangernomics transport - taking me about 200km on €20 of fuel and maybe more, but I don't trust the erratic fuel gauge. It varies wildly depending on the incline the car is on at the time.
The cost of this little car is so negligible it makes me smile. Insurance is extremely low due to the car's value, small engine and standard engine immobiliser. Factor in one of the lowest tax bands, good fuel economy, no depreciation and it all makes sense. Budget motoring is fun.
So I may look like a penny pinching grumpy old git (perhaps I am?) or even a student (OK, mature student then) but I get to my destination on time, dry, warm, comfortable and stress free. I can even sing along to my music at the top of my voice without the funny looks or fear of getting thrown off the bus. Without fuel costs (we all have to pay those, regardless of what we drive), insurance or the tax (negligible anyway) those 5,000km have equated to around six cents per kilometre driven. I may be out on a limb here but for me that beats any travel card anytime.
In other news, I am still getting myself into an ancient Disco. That's short for the Land Rover Discovery - not an OAP dance event you understand. I'm just taking my time in getting it delivered to me and doing something with it. I enquired about the cost of a battery for one and it's around €100. That's some 33 per cent of what the Fiat cost me in total to buy. Still, something like this is never going to be a cheap banger, but it will make a great winter hack, especially once the ice and snow returns again this year.
I had a good look over it and everything seems serviceable; it will just need a full service, a proper valet inside and out (ever seen the state of a car left for two years?) and a good run. That's what I hope anyway, but this is bangernomics motoring at sub-1,000 Euro prices, so caution is always advised. Still, it has a full service history, the tyres are holding air and the body is remarkably rust free from what I have seen. A quick glance at the chassis also appears to show no evident large scale rust concerns. Of course a proper inspection will be done once I have collected it. I'm looking forward to it in a perverse kind of way - winter hacks make sense.
What will you be driving over these coming winter months?