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        General >> News >> And another newbie
        
(Message started by: DazRSK on Feb 16^th, 2006, 1:35pm)

Title: And another newbie
Post by DazRSK on Feb 16^th, 2006, 1:35pm

Thought I would say hi as I have just joined the forum yesterday. I bought my first Scorpio last weekend - a 2.3 Ultima saloon with manual transmission. It's in the aubergine/metallic purple colour, done 124k miles and is in fairly good condition.

I bought the car off ebay, which is not a first time for me, however, trying to find one which was relatively respectable on that auction site did take quite a few months. Even in Autotrader and the like, there wasn't much out there that I liked.

What was a first for me - and I wouldn't recommend this for the faint hearted - buying without viewing. Luckily, when I turned up at the guy's house in south London, the car was pretty respectable with no holes, dents, problems. And now, having driven the car 200 miles, I think I got away with it. I did ask all the right questions beforehand, however, there is no substitute for viewing/test driving the car before you buy it, I believe. Anyway I got off lucky.

Now I have one, they're fantastic motors. Strange, as I work for Henry Ford, but when they were being made in the 90's, they kind of took the world by storn with their 'odd' looks and whilst they drove extremely well as a new car (and still do as a used), you had to walk past the subjective front or rear end to get into it. Hence there weren't many supporters at the Ford offices/factories, but it's good they have a following here and hopefully, in time, they will be recognised more for their unique appearance. Anyway, I'm well pleased to have one now after probably 10 years since I drove new ones.

It's also good to be back in a rwd after 6 years in the wilderness of fwd machinery. You can't beat the rear end push, in my opinion, having grown up on Opel Mantas/Monzas, Cortinas, older Escorts. The gearbox is always nice and slick when it doesn't have to operate through so much linkage and, in my opinion, the balance of a rear drive machine always outweighs a front drive. I'm sure that if there are any front drive supporters on here, they'll argue I'm wrong on this!! Anyway these are just my opinions.

Anyway, after a long introduction just thought I would say hi.

Daren

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by Dave on Feb 16^th, 2006, 1:41pm

Hi Daren

welcome to the site :D

Its nice to hear the background to you buying a Scorp - wish I had driven one when new!

Hope you enjoy the car :)

Cheers

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by locky on Feb 16^th, 2006, 9:23pm

Hi, and welcome!! ;)

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by nuttyscorp on Feb 16^th, 2006, 10:32pm

Hi Daren,

we all love our scorps here, glad to hear you found a great car.
working for ford, when scorps were new, and, as you say "walking around the car before you got in it"..........a decade down the line.......would you not agree..... the scorpio was developed "ahead of its time?"
.......anyway, a big welcome to you mate.

Russ

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by janspeed on Feb 16^th, 2006, 10:45pm

:)
Welcome Daren.
A good set of people on here, and you couldn`t wish for more help if your in deep poo with the motor.

Jay

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by music_master on Feb 16^th, 2006, 11:09pm

welcome to the site darren happy motoring m8 any probs just leave a post somebody on the site will help rest assured ;D

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by DazRSK on Feb 17^th, 2006, 2:38pm

Thanks guys for your welcoming me onto this site and for your offers of assistance, if I ever require it. This is very welcoming when you consider there is no Haynes manual and there is nothing like speaking with somebody who has done the job before!!

I hope I can bring some useful info from my experiences as well and from the inside of the manufacturer, who chose to make these excellent flagship cars, for anybody who needs it. If you have any Ford Motor questions, I can certainly ask the people who know but bare in mind, Henry does employ a few people and tracking down the right one can be impossible - especially on cars which are 10 yrs old.

This is an excellent site and is a must for anybody who has even a vague connection to a Scorpio. I can see from the forum that the people are helpful and friendly.

Russ - I totally agree with your comments. Hugely under rated car and well ahead of its time. A little like the first Sierra, I guess.

I showed the car to my Dad who drove 4/5 Mk3 Granadas over a 10 year period until 1996. He also drove brand new Mercs and BMW's in those days, but the Granada was the best drive of the lot. He jumped in mine at the weekend and forgot how good they really are - 10years on.

The saddest thing about these motors - and ford is entirely to blame here as they never fail to do this with all vehicle model runouts - the bodywork quality is appalling. By this I mean the rust protection. They come up with a great design, then can't build the bloody thing to last more than 5 minutes. Unfortunately, what i do know from inside the Ford camp was that they were losing ground to the Omega at the time and a shift in what people wanted for their money meant that they wouldn't cough up £k25+ for a blue oval. Therefore, Ford didn't care too much for it and let it slide into the unknown. You can see this poor bodywork quality when you compare other models in the Ford camp of the same age. Eg - You never see this extensive rear arch rot in Mondeos.

Anyway, that's enough from me.

Actually just a a viewpoint - what do any of you think of the facelift Scorpio rear lights vs earlier ones with the chrome ? I'm wondering about updating mine since I think they look a little better. Keep it original or update it ?

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by Baw_Flinger on Feb 17^th, 2006, 5:51pm

Hi there and welcome to the site. Totaly agree with you on most points and you will get a lot out of this site to keep your baby on the road, I know I did ::) ;D :'(
Even though I have shell'd out a fair few sheckles up to now and need to spend a good deal more, I know I am getting my money's worth as a keeper. You just cant get that amount of car anywhere else for cheaper. I like the de-chromed darkend ones on silver, but then again, they were on Baz's and there is absoluley no point in trying to compare your own to his. It just starts to give you ideas involving bits and super glue ;) ;D. Down to personal choice at the end of the day but are easy to change over again, so what the heck.

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by nuttyscorp on Feb 17^th, 2006, 11:25pm

Daren,

facelifted front and rear light lenses, and front bumper are fairly hard to come by (only 6000 models made?), and tend to hold onto a good value (let us know if you can get them)
however, you can very easily convert your headlights yourself for less than £10, without touching the glass. the finished article is not exactly the same, but, it will take a good eye from a scorpio club member to tell the difference.

Russ

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by DazRSK on Feb 18^th, 2006, 11:58am

Russ

I went into the local dealer parts dept this week to pick up some service bits and enquired about the facelift rear lenses. They still have them listed on the machine, therefore, should still be available from Ford anyway. I haven't gone down the route of ordering them yet and that may be where the issue of none available may kick in. I'll certainly be trying to get some though in a month or two, when I have saved up the pennies and will let you know.

However, as you say, they're probably as rare as hen's teeth.

Daren

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by playgirl on Feb 19^th, 2006, 2:41pm

me too,looks a brilliant and friendly site,really looking forward to becoming part of it....

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by nuttyscorp on Feb 19^th, 2006, 6:41pm

hello and welcome playgirl.

Russ

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by Paul B on Feb 19^th, 2006, 6:42pm

on 02/19/06 at 18:41:18, nuttyscorp wrote:

hello and welcome playgirl.

Russ

Down boy! ;)

But yeah, welcome

Title: Re: And another newbie
Post by music_master on Feb 19^th, 2006, 6:43pm

welcome to the site playgirl :)