My Life In Scat - a year in New Zealand

[Jon]

That Mini looks brilliant. A rather off shade of green or brown or something like that and sitting there on its totally unblingy black 10" wheels.

This thread has been epic so far, thanks a lot for all the shots and words so far, definitely something I will read again in the future. I don't know why, but I always had a feeling Lancias the like were never sold over there? I can't quite think why, it could be to do with the fact that like the US, the area has a wealth of local motor industry, and thus, due to the also massive influx of J-Tin, I didn't think stuff like Deltas would even sell single figures, guess I was really wrong on that count!
Also, RE the prolonged camera adjustment, I have done that so many times in the past, along with the looking at street signs trying to feign a mistaken location, or my phone.

Lancias were indeed sold here Brammy but I think they may have had some success from being European and thus seen as a prestige brand. I'm assuming that they were sold through Fiat dealerships (which had in the past sold CKD kits of the Fiat 125 in NZ IIRC and had great sales success with the 124 coupe, judging by their survival rate). If that was the case, it would've been a bit of a double edged sword as most Fiats would have cost less and probably have been seen as just as prestigious. Anyway, this is all surmising based purely on logic, so to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt, especially when you consider that there were a number of car makes/models sold in New Zealand and not Australia which bears no relation to logic whatsoever (when politics is taken out of the equation).


SEPTEMBER

That's right, no August update - seems that absoultely nothing happened/was logged that month; a poor show. Anyway, the 'winter' was slowly coming to an end and family members and friends were making arrangements to come and visit us over the coming year. Since we'd be expecting a fair few guests, it seemed a good idea to look for a car which we could lend out, so they could get themselves about independently to us (I have such ways of convincing Mrs_wagon that more cars make sense). It'd also act as a pool car for us, since we did insist on buying cars that weren't Toyota Corollas and thus would no doubt be spending some time off the road in the future in wait for spares. Logically therefore, I decided another Peugeot would be best [lifted from a separate thread I posted on the original forum but didn't deem worthy of bringing over on its own]:

Yesterday morning saw me scanning the latest vehicular attrocities on offer on Trademe whilst waiting for my wife to rise from the 12 hour lie-in she just has to have on a weekend. As usual the chod far outweighed the rough diamonds but something caught my eye and seemed pretty cheap and I posted a link to it on the Ebay tat, rammel and chod thread. Then, since I was on my own and had no-one else to convince me otherwise, I began plotting...

I'd sold my Sierra (to Ozzy Mandeus), Imp (Macoli) and collection of various toy and model cars when we emigrated, yet had only 'cashed in' about half of it on the Commodore, leaving me a bit of credit, so a trip was organised. The drive was just over 100km and around 90 minutes, taking into account the country roads and the campervans - summer's almost here. Part of the route was a road we'd driven along on our honeymoon a couple of years ago, so it was easy to make general conversation, rather than me banging on about a car, trying to justify its purchase even before we'd seen it. Anyway, this what greeted us on arrival:



In all fairness, we were near to a large lake and not far from the coast but the scale still made me laugh. Further down the driveway this was keeping it company:



It runs an Nissan LD28 diesel engine just like my Commodore, yet this one's supposedly 'good for 160 (km/h)', whereas mine gets very breathless (and sooty) above 100. It was also up for sale, is sort of campervan shaped (something we'd like over time) and didn't get sneered at by the domestic management, so maybe one to look at another time.

Anyway, after some prodding and poking and half-arsed test drive of the car we came to see (I'd pretty much bought it prior to viewing), a deal was struck, money changed hands and I drove home in this:



A 1984 Peugeot 505 GTI in stunning brown with either a 2.0 petrol injection engine. Here it is basking beside Lake Rotorua on the way home, whilst we stopped for coffee and a scones from a newsagents (Total - $4. I know how to show a lady a good time). The GTI bit's a bit of a let down, especially after stepping out of the 205 but in all honesty, I think I was becoming a bit blase` about that car's handling abilities, so this grounds me a little. Within the first few minutes of buying it, I thought I'd made a mistake when I noticed a bit of succeptability to side winds but the weather wasn't that great today, so I'll forgive it. After a few kilometers, I became a little more confident so gave it a bit more beans, which seemed to make a difference. All I knew about these prior to buying it was that they were supposed to ride really well and I can confirm this. Having only owned small French cars previously, this feels so much more solid and refined.

Just time to catch a long (and slightly soft) shot of this heroic giffer driving a Honda Jazz Turbo, then onwards home.



Arriving back in style, I park it up to take a couple of shots and then notice a pool of oil on the driveway 5 minutes later. the oil cap has DIESEL written on it so obviously isn't standard and the vendor said not to loosen it, as it leaks if not put back on properly. Wanting to check for mayonnaise, I obviously didn't listen to him and seem to have paid the price. Oh well, it made it home and didn't sound bad, so I'll check it in the daylight. Anyway, more pics:



It'd be nice to have a full set of the original wheels but the front ones are pretty smart so I'm not complaining. Yes, that is a patch of gaffer tape hiding a hole in the wing. Other than a couple of holes in the bottom of the front doors, I didn't find any other rust. Give me time.



The interior really is very clean - a welcome bonus on a cheap car, especially one being lent to others more fortunate.

What works:

Electric windows
Power steering
Econoscope

What doesn't:

Rev counter
Electric sunroof
Central locking (?)
Radio - but it does look cool.




Forgot how elegant the rears of the early ones are.



I'd totally forgotten to empty out the boot before leaving for home, so I've inadvertantly stolen a trolley jack and a vacuum cleaner, amongst other bits. Bonus!

Anyway, plans are to matt black the sides, lower it and then give it some inappropraite headlights. Or perhaps just fix up the relevant bits and hoik it around to friends and family.


The following weekend, I attended the local school fete, since I'd joined the local volunteer fire brigade a few months previously and they were hosting a chip pan fire demo. They were also going to make use of this:



Three guesses for its role in the day.....





Mrs_wagon took these photos, many of which were cropped to suit as she's not that great with an SLR. She did manage to capture a snapshot of rural NZ childhood quite effectively though.



Yes, that is an Iveco appliance in the background; best for emergencies. It's already had a few comedy electrical gremlins and is a 2010 model. I'm the lofty one on the far left...



It may have seemed a shame to have killed it, especially as it was for attraction rather than proper training purposes but in reality, it was absolutely beyond hope. Neither rear wheelarch was there, resulting in the struts flailing about in thin air. Certainly in stark contrast the the early GC 626 we cut up in practise a while back, which was very solid and had a lovely interior until hacked about. I shed a private tear in its memory.

[Jon]

OCTOBER

I suppose all good(?) things must come to an end, so here's the dregs of what we encountered in our first year of immigrant status. The school fete attended in September had a bit of a fundraiser, auctioning off various donated items from local companies and individuals, much of it with a rural/farming twist, such as whole a whole lamb, beef cow and a $100 voucher for the local Honda motorcylce and quad bike dealer. Wanting to stay near the fire display which had been put at the opposite end of the the field to the auctioneer and his wares, I was keeping out an ear for anything of interest. I'd seen some kids messing about on a trailer next to the auctioneer and had half-jokingly mentioned to Mrs_wagon that if it was up for offer, I'd put in a cheeky bid. Unfortunately for me, it did.....

It being the last item on sale and the afternoon wearing a little thin, it was hardly a bidding frenzy and I started out at $20. One of the firefighters bid too, so I bid a little more until finally the gavel fell at $50 and the trailer, much to people's amusement. Here's what I ended up with:



Not having actually looked round it properly before bidding, I'd assumed it would have perhaps a little more to it than it does - like perhaps some lights, or even some cart springs. It did come with some nice* Ford rims though:



The tow home was uneventful, if brief (and illegal), at around 1km. All vehicles that travel on NZ roads have to be road registered and pass a WOF twice a year, including unbraked trailers. Therefore, I quickly came to the conclusion that the purchase of all the missing pieces, along with two expensive new tyres for the rims really wasn't viable, especially as the regulations for homebuilt trailers seemed to have changed very recently, now necessitating all welded components to be undertaken or checked by a certified welder. Despite this being ancient, it's obviously never seen the road before and as such would be classed as a 'new build' if it were ever certified. A ballache quite frankly for something we'd only ever use for short runs to the tip. I think we'll carry on borrowing one for the time being and drop this one over at a mate's farm.


Since moving to our house in April, one of the houses neigbouring our boundary had been vacant. However, this month a family moved in, bringing with them quite possibly the most unexpected piece of scat possible:



Bear in mind that Vauxhalls stopped being sold in New Zealand when Chevette production ceased. A check of the plate on http://www.carjam.co.nz reveals that this 1988 Carlton was imported into NZ in 2000, at 12 years old. The equivalent now would be someone going to the trouble of shipping over a 2.0 1999 Omega, putting into context either how attached the owners were to it, or how deranged they were. Either way, I'm glad they did, as it gives an aural reminder of a motoring past from home each time I hear it drive away.

On a scat-related front, I've mixed feelings about our move over here. On the one hand, the average age of cars on the road are undeniably older. However, due to the lifting of import qoutas from Japan in 1987 and due to it's relative proximity, many cars on the roads are now extremely bland, second-hand versions of home-market Toyotas, Nissans, Subarus and Hondas. Early imports such as the Honda City (Jazz) and larger, RWD saloons are less popular but still great to encounter. However, they are vastly outnumbered by down-at-heel Alteezas, Coronas and Honda Streams, all seemingly in either poverty spec, or with questionable OEM bodykits. It seems also that overly large, chromed modern wheels are king.

The aforementioned 6 monthly warrant issues are also annoying. Plus for diesel cars, the registration costs are increased and Road User Charges are made for each kilometer travelled on the road (measured from odometers on cars and hubdometers on trucks). Values of cars are also much higher (thought the 205 was our most expensive automotive purchase and was still safely under £1000) but they also keep thier values much better. If anything, the Commodore and 205 would be worth more upon resale, simply because they were canny buys - I've since found a reference to the Trademe auction of our 205 on a French car forum and a few members mentioned how cheaply we'd managed to nab it.

On the plus sides, rust does seem to be a lesser factor on cars, plus associated running costs are lower. Petrol is about £1.10 a litre for the good stuff (95 - 97!), less so for the 91 I bung in the lawn mower. Diesel is super cheap at about 75p/litre but RUCs are around 2p/km, which is annoying (if your odometer works correctly...). Insurance for the 205 is £80 TPFT with $0 excess and windscreen cover (a must due to the method of repairing roads with gravel chips whilst the other lane is still in use. Traffic is also used as a 'scrubber' for excess gravel once the job has been finished). The Commodore is much more difficult to insure, being over 30 years old and having a modified engine (albeit one with a lot less power). However, only $11 leaves my account each month for the privelage of TPO, since TPFT quotes were coming with such high excess amounts, it just wasn't worth the bother, especially as they wouldn't value it very highly. Seemingly insurance companies are the same the world over....

Roads are much quieter but unlike the UK, there aren't endless alternative routes to be used to get to places - either go a certain way or don't go at all. On longer journey's there's obviously more choice but with a population of 4 million, it just isn't worth building roads to cut corners etc. The knock-on effect of this is that you have to share the road with many people who simply cannot drive. Tailgating is normal, though admittedly in a non-aggressive manner; drivers will simply arrive behind you and then stay there, not overtaking despite there being numerous opportunities. It also appears that everyone's scared of taking corners, so slow down then plant their foot straight after, which is very annoying when all you wish to do is maintain momentum. Roundabouts also easily confuse the average NZ driver, which means that on many occasions you're free to go on your way as others wait for someone to make the first move. However, living on a rural part of State Highway One, the nearest traffic light is at least 50km away. Mrs_wagon's 20 mile commute to work takes 25 minutes, door to door, every day without fail.

Finally though, we were able to buy a house with a double garage when we were effectively being priced out the market for a 'starter' house in the UK. Nuff said.

[Jon]

Interesting to read your first hand thoughts and experiences at the end there.

Hmmm, seems perhaps that I was a little negative in my final summing up in my last post but I think that overall the scat-related experiences of living abroad are pretty positive. Yesterday I returned home from a 160 mile trip to visit my cousin and the journey in the Commodore took 3 hours dead. To say that the speed limit is 62mph and was adhered to (no choice, really), plus there's a fair few hills, a mountain range and some town speed limits to contend with, the average of 53mph was pretty acceptable. There were very few cars on the road and the scenery is addmitedly quite stunning for much of it, so I think this journey alone redressed the balance and made me appreciate the positives of owning and appreciating dull old cars over here. It perhaps helped that I got a few covert spots over the weekend too, so at least my next thread shouldn't take a whole 12 months to generate.....