GR86 Grey ‘86 in South Wales

Completely forgot about this thread!

Car just ticked over 5,800 miles. Had the previously mentioned damage sorted under insurance, came back pretty good. New paint is a bit orange peel-y but only really notice it if I’m looking for it.

Scorpion S7 tracker fitted and works a treat.

Upcoming plans: Interim 5k service (with oil pick up check and clean), Tein Lowering Springs, either stock wheels refinished in Bronze with spacers or new wheels.

Ignore the curb rash on the wheels, no excuse I’m just shite at parallel parking 😂
 

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Just had an interaction that proves there are indeed still good honest people around.

To set the scene, my car is currently parked facing up quite a steep hill outside my house. Steep as in you’ll need all of first gear to get to the top.

Came walking back from picking up some bits to find a group of people I recognise as living on the street milling about my front gate. Then the dreaded question:

“Is that grey car yours?”

Immediately I go to “oh god, what’s happened”. Turns out someone was trying to park facing up the hill and had gotten a bit too close (I mean, about 5mm) from my front bumper whilst trying to park. “It looks like a nice car and I didn’t want to damage it”. Instead of rolling into it and hoping for the best, they’d made the effort to find out who’s car it was and asked me to roll mine back so that they are further away from it ready for when they pull off.

Moved my car back about 6 feet, relaid my gratitude to the (now crying) lady driving the car in front of mine and assured her it was fine and she’d done the decent thing of finding out who’s it was.

Just a bit of an uplifting story compared to a lot of my other posts in this thread, not everyone is bad and some people do actually care.

Have a good bank holiday weekend everyone.
 
Just had an interaction that proves there are indeed still good honest people around.

To set the scene, my car is currently parked facing up quite a steep hill outside my house. Steep as in you’ll need all of first gear to get to the top.

Came walking back from picking up some bits to find a group of people I recognise as living on the street milling about my front gate. Then the dreaded question:

“Is that grey car yours?”

Immediately I go to “oh god, what’s happened”. Turns out someone was trying to park facing up the hill and had gotten a bit too close (I mean, about 5mm) from my front bumper whilst trying to park. “It looks like a nice car and I didn’t want to damage it”. Instead of rolling into it and hoping for the best, they’d made the effort to find out who’s car it was and asked me to roll mine back so that they are further away from it ready for when they pull off.

Moved my car back about 6 feet, relaid my gratitude to the (now crying) lady driving the car in front of mine and assured her it was fine and she’d done the decent thing of finding out who’s it was.

Just a bit of an uplifting story compared to a lot of my other posts in this thread, not everyone is bad and some people do actually care.

Have a good bank holiday weekend everyone.

Just had an interaction that proves there are indeed still good honest people around.

To set the scene, my car is currently parked facing up quite a steep hill outside my house. Steep as in you’ll need all of first gear to get to the top.

Came walking back from picking up some bits to find a group of people I recognise as living on the street milling about my front gate. Then the dreaded question:

“Is that grey car yours?”

Immediately I go to “oh god, what’s happened”. Turns out someone was trying to park facing up the hill and had gotten a bit too close (I mean, about 5mm) from my front bumper whilst trying to park. “It looks like a nice car and I didn’t want to damage it”. Instead of rolling into it and hoping for the best, they’d made the effort to find out who’s car it was and asked me to roll mine back so that they are further away from it ready for when they pull off.

Moved my car back about 6 feet, relaid my gratitude to the (now crying) lady driving the car in front of mine and assured her it was fine and she’d done the decent thing of finding out who’s it was.

Just a bit of an uplifting story compared to a lot of my other posts in this thread, not everyone is bad and some people do actually care.

Have a good bank holiday weekend everyone.
Loved reading this 🙏 Thanks for sharing. Have a great bank holiday weekend 👍😎
 
Forgot about this thread. Not a lot going on with the car at the moment. First service is booked for 06/01/2024 (364 days after collection) and will likely be around the 8,000 mile mark which is 2,000 fewer than expected.

Have lots of things I’d like to do to the car such as new wheels, lowering springs, and some PPF but my insurance is due for renewal in March and I’m having to hold off until then. Quotes are coming back north of £3k and if that hold true come March then I’ll likely have to sell up!

Time will tell.
 
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Quotes are coming back north of £3k and if that hold true come March then I’ll likely have to sell up!
Oh wow, sounds really expensive, are you a young driver? Insured mine back in September and the cost for the year was just over £400
 
Oh wow, sounds really expensive, are you a young driver? Insured mine back in September and the cost for the year was just over £400
Non fault in 2021, fault in 2022 (wasn’t my fault but involved a cyclist so had to claim on my insurance for fixes), 2 non faults in 2023. Been super unlucky unfortunately. And I’m 30 with 7 NCB and been driving for 13 years 🫠
 
First service completed without issue at FRF Cardiff. £267 all in with the Toyota Owner’s Club discount.

Insurance is starting to look better as well. Quotes coming back at around £2.5k now which whilst is still horrendous, is manageable this year so can start planning mods again!
 
First service completed without issue at FRF Cardiff. £267 all in with the Toyota Owner’s Club discount.

Insurance is starting to look better as well. Quotes coming back at around £2.5k now which whilst is still horrendous, is manageable this year so can start planning mods again!
My insurance went up about 45% this year. It's an absolute joke. I asked around friends and family and they're reporting similar increases.
I'm 35 with 18yr NCB and live in one of the lowest crime areas in the country but it was still £490 for basic cover.

Last year i paid less than £300 to insure a FK8 type R - they gave me £15 back when i changed my car to the GR86 with 2 months left on my policy. I hate to think how much it would have been to insure the civic this year.

I found that quotes for 1 week+ in the future were around £150 cheaper than quotes starting in a day or two. Just shows that they'll have your pants down when they can. luckily I don't drive the car daily so I could wait.

Car looks great. I've got a noisy exhaust on the way too :)
 
As a lot of other people probably are now that the weather has warmed up, I gave the car a good going over today.

I know people say the paint on these is thin but Jesus, either that or the birds around my way have Stanley knives on their feet.

Most of these catch my nail and pretty much every panel has something that looks like this on.

I’d imagine most of them would either need a respray or a very skilled detailer to minimise them at best.
 

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As a lot of other people probably are now that the weather has warmed up, I gave the car a good going over today.

I know people say the paint on these is thin but Jesus, either that or the birds around my way have Stanley knives on their feet.

Most of these catch my nail and pretty much every panel has something that looks like this on.

I’d imagine most of them would either need a respray or a very skilled detailer to minimise them at best.
Wow didn't expect to be able to see much in the photos but jeez that is shocking! That A pillar!! How many miles has it done?
 
Would that be in the lacquer or is it down to the base layer or worse? If the lacquer then it should polish up okay.

Would these have been from overhanging branches along verges? They're not nice to see in any case.

Good luck with their removal.
 
Would that be in the lacquer or is it down to the base layer or worse? If the lacquer then it should polish up okay.

Would these have been from overhanging branches along verges? They're not nice to see in any case.

Good luck with their removal.
The one on the a pillar perhaps, I’m sure the rest are from birds/cats/foxes. Live slap bang in the centre of a city so wouldn’t be unheard of!

I’m likely going to sort them as best I can and then wrap the car to be honest.
 
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Im pretty sure wildlife hasn't done this, have you taken it to a cheap car wash? Looks a lot like grit in a cleaning mitt to me, especially on the A Pillar.
 
With all the talk of animal claw damage I’ve dabbled with the idea of a full wrap to protect it and change things up a bit, along with wheels and suspension being sorted.

Nice surprise to see that Admiral don’t want to take the piss with adding mods at least.
 

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Second service booked in, car will be on around 13,500 miles when it goes to the dealer. Toyota Owner's Club 15% discount coming in clutch again by knocking £70(!) off the final cost of the second service.

All 4 tyres will need changing soon (probably just the rears, but would rather just do all 4 at this point) and am considering Conti sport contact 7s as they're not too pricey in the 225 width.

Paint is still knackered, decided there's no point fixing it until I can guarantee it won't just happen again which essentially won't be until I move. Sometime next year hopefully.
 
Second service completed ar FRF Cardiff today. Exceptional service as always, Toyota Owner's Club discount applied and they even honoured the 2024 price as I booked it in December. £399.50 all in which while chunky, isn't as bad as I planned for.

They flagged up the tires, rears both being on around 2.5mm so I've just ordered 4 225/40/R18 Continental ContactSports 7 to be fitted on Wednesday. Also came in at £399 on Blackcircles so I'm down £800 today!