Why do you own a 306?

[toseland]

I don't....I just seem to be compelled to buy the damn things!


Nah seriously, back in the day my neighbour had one, horrible old ph2 1.6 in diablo...  For some reason I liked it though and wanted one.  Then I found they were cheaper to insure than the 106s and Fiestas that some of my mates had bought so I went after one.  Found a really nice china ph3 1.4 Meridian - missed out so ended up with a horrible old ph2 1.4 Miami in Diablo.  

Soon got bored with the lack of spec and aesthetics and bought a ph3 1.4 Meridian in diablo, which was shit, so 2 weeks later and a lot of money down, bought the china 1.4 from a .net member - one of the best cars I ever owned, had it almost a year!!  Started doing a lot more miles, wanted more power and comfort and was getting reasonable income so wanted a change.  Especially after it broke down and I had an IBS incident, couldn't trust it again.

So bought a China 1.8 Meridian stop gap - most reliable car I ever bought, probably the most fun too, had been driven 4 miles a day for years, not looked after and had no service history, but you cant break a 1.8.  After that I started on the diesels with a couple of Golfs, a few too many mods later and my blue Golf died.  

Few panic bought stop gaps in between but Rowell let me borrow his HDi estate on the condition I fixed it first lol.  Really didn't like it, not a patch on the 180bhp GT TDi Golf and it was full of bodges, had a dead MAF, dodgy tracking and the brakes were glazed...eurgh.  Anyway, persevered with it, eventually got it to a reasonable standard with Sam covering part costs and I really liked the huge boot space.  That car even took me further that any other!  Up to Norwich to play with JJ's 306 lol.  After a few months I gave the estate back to Sam and bought my own estate (in China of course) from a guy up the road, had driven past it every day lol.  Had got used to 306s again by this point, despite still craving something decent like another Golf (lol).  Done a few mods, looked alright for an estate but was falling apart.  Then my Nan got ill and we had to rush-move her from a hoarded massive cottage to a small flat....completely abused the estate moving stuff, dump runs, storage runs and bits started dropping off, exhaust, door handle etc, rear arch rust had set in, the clutch was slipping and the MOT was due...time for it to go lol.

So broke that for parts and decided to go for another Golf...found I could get a Vectra for not much more and did that, bad choice, let me down the first day of ownership and never did trust it, not to mention all its faults....it was only 6 years old ffs.  Managed to keep it a year though, but only did 6k in that time and then sold it on for the same amount as I paid, result!

Then had a brilliant idea about releasing some of the money from the horrible Vectra and moving out - needed a cheap to buy car but wasn't so fussed about running costs.  Bought a 1.8 Meridian.  Hmm, plan didn't work out so now I'm stuck with a thirsty car.  So then to buy a HDi...hatchback this time for another forum member.  But it'd done moon mileage, had lots of niggles that annoyed me and worst of all didn't have enough doors.  So I bought another HDi hatch, this one was in a crap colour but had the right amount of doors and was cheap due to a snapped cambelt.  Chucked another engine in, did a few mods, lasted a reasonably long while with me but wasn't really what I needed and was always looking for something cheaper to run.  

So bought a 107, yeah, I know, that was a mistake lol, fortunately the dealer had messed up so I could send it back.  Kept the Moonstone HDi a bit longer until I found the only car I've owned that's beaten the Golf so far - the Focus!

However that does everything I want tbh, its big enough, 5 door, comfy, well specced, economical....  But for some reason I want another 306, wtf is wrong with me!?  So ended up buying a GTi6 for a reasonable price on ebay to sell on....but decided I want to keep it as a second car for a while first.  

I just can't seem to keep away from these bloody 306s.

Welcome to toms life story lol.. Everyone else writes a paragraph, you write a 15 page account lol..



I bought one cause it was cheap and because the vitara pulled 35mpg at the best of times