potato goose

So I'm thinking about trying to fit a tow loop to the front (maybe the rear too) of the car - but there's no obviously good hard point to mount to within easy reach... I also don't want to do any cutting of bumpers or anything - I've got an Aero, so I quite like the look of the stock bumpers and I don't want to be trying to buy a new bumper to get back to stock. How does anyone here that's got one fitted do it? Do you have a neat install? The motivation for wanting a tow loop is I've looked at doing a track day that requires a tow loop to be fitted. Thanks for your thoughts!

This might be contentious, but I had a '17 1.2 fiesta as a courtesy car that I thought was pretty awful. While everything (bar the drivetrain) was inoffensive, it was all just disappointing. The seats were flat and shapeless, so while not being actively uncomfortable they were not a nice place to sit. The position was upright and the cabin was clearly set out for packaging and not for comfort. The stereo had an absurd number of buttons and a diddy screen hidden away in the far recesses of the dash. There was some bizarre orange downlight that came on at night and illuminated only the empty cupholders in the centre console. The handling was sort of capable, but had no feel or sense so even when stuff happened at the front wheels you had no idea what or when. But the engine, my god. It felt like the literal equivalent of flogging a dead horse. You had to redline it to accelerate, and in top gear it seemed to have just enough torque to maintain 70 on a motorway and no more. I regularly upshifted, welded my foot to the floor, and found myself slowing down. After some googling realised that they were using some ancient duratec engine. Which had less power than my '97 1.2 Clio. On the OP's experiences, I have never experienced a gearbox as bad as a peugeot or citroen. We have a citroen nemo work van and the gearstick is apparently gateless and positionless, so gear selection feels like a lottery at best. We've got an old 60s Massey Ferguson with a more positive gearchange.

Made these at work today - bit rough and ready but I quite like them!

Well after a bit of an interlude I'm back with a new car - another red aero... Hoping I have more luck this time around, and hoping to meet plenty of the good GT86 people at some point!

Wow, that doesn't sound promising! It sounds like any sort of playing with the wiring for these might be asking for a headache...

Really sorry for you! I had mine written off at the start of January having just bought the car - so I feel your pain. 1. I second everything OllyW says. Make sure you get the witness to follow through on their statement so you make the fact you're not at fault as concrete as possible. If it's sensible drawing diagrams of what happened might help make the situation totally clear cut? 2. Valuation: this is hard, as the insurance companies will probably base their valuation of the car on trade guides (Parkers, Glass's, CAP), and it's a serious uphill battle to get them to deviate from this. They tend to take this page as their guidelines: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html Mine was an aero, so rare and the trade guides did not give a fair representation of price to replace it, but trying to tell them this was like headbutting a wall. Also important, their valuation is the basis of whether it's written off... 3. You have the right to choose where it goes for repair - and choose carefully. You can probably influence whether the car is written off as you'd be amazed at how big the difference in repair cost can be between garages. As an example, the write-off value for mine was if repair was >66% of their valuation (this will vary between companies). BUT if you choose somewhere that's not one of their 'approved repair centres' (read: industrial chopshop) it will affect their liability for guaranteeing the quality of the repair. Also, if they are presented with multiple quotes, they will query any cost discrepancies. 4. Get photos of literally everything. Even bits of the car that you don't think are relevant. I was rear-ended, and during recovery a tow truck crunched the front bumper. When I told the insurance company that I expected them to handle this repair, they responded that unless I could prove photographically that the bumper wasn't damaged prior to recovery, then they wouldn't pay to repair it. Any damage that can't be explained by the specific circumstances of the accident, they will try not to pay out on - so I'd try to work out what your mechanical damages are, and figure out how the accident caused it. 5. Claim on your insurance policy. If the van driver's insurance contacts you to settle, don't accept. If you claim on the other driver's policy to protect your NCD or save on excesses, you lose the right to complain to the financial ombudsman about their handling of your claim, as you are not the person the insurance company has the agreement with. Then when they undervalue your car, or mess you about in any way, you cannot have the claim arbitrated by an independent body. My understanding is that in a non-fault claim if you claim on your own policy the insurance company should recover 100% of the costs (including excesses) from the other side, so you shouldn't be hit by those. Although I'm not 100% sure on that - something to ask your insurers about. Sorry for the essay, but I hope it helps and hope you get it all sorted out as best possible!

Sorry for the ancient thread revival! Did you get the seat swap and the heaters to work in the end? And do you remember how complicated the wiring loom was - are the seat and switch looms just short branches that plug into a primary loom, or are they actually part of the main loom? I'm looking to replace my written-off gt86, and running out of patience waiting for one with the half leather seats, so just trying to work out how feasible/how much hassle it is to retrofit the wiring for the seats? I've found this stuff on one of the american forums, and doesn't look promising...

I'm not selling or breaking the car - the insurance company has taken it for salvage. But the front bumper received a crunching from one of the recovery companies involved.

Bump. Having bought a GT86 at the end of December, I had it for 2.5 weeks before someone rear-ended me and wrote the car off. So now I am looking for a replacement, and my criteria haven't really changed: Aero Red Manual Leather/half leather seats, preferably black FSH Ideally the JBL upgrade, but I realise that really is pushing it on spec. I'll consider modded cars - but highly depends on the mods.

Cheers! Well one brother has already told me 'you'll have to make it as fast as it looks' - which I wouldn't say no to! The best reaction so far has been driving down the main street and a friend pretty much fell over laughing when she recognised me...

Hi Everyone, Finally converted from a long-time forum spectator to a real life owner! I recently bought a red Aero, and instantly became the butt of every fast and furious joke or 'Do you take that tea tray around so you can have a picnic anywhere?' comment that my family can think of. Don't really care though, I'm pretty delighted with the car. So I'm looking forward to many happy miles of GT86 ownership, meeting other members up here in Scotland, some track events/time, and of course small village pariah-dom, ahead!

Seconded. I've also been watching prices, waiting for them to drop. I expected the usual things like the end of the 5 year warranties and the release of the facelift model to cause a dip in values, but it just never happened. There's the odd one appears on gumtree <£10k, but usually some pick'n'mix of high mileage/badly modded/CAT S/N... £12k seems your basic ad price for a '12 plate with 50k miles and a bog standard spec.

Hi James, yeah I was aware the middle section of the spoiler is not body-colour from the factory, although could you remind me whether the standard for that part is plain black or carbon effect? Thanks!

Thanks very much for all the responses! Regarding the wrapping on the car - I'm not a fan so would be looking to get that removed if I bought it. How does the paint on GT86's stand up to UV damage? Am I likely to pull off the roof wrap and find I have a colour mismatch?

I'm pretty certain it looks lowered, and has an aftermarket exhaust. But obviously I can't tell from the pictures if it's been remapped or anything, or if the lowering is just springs or full coilovers. I think it's a manual from the pics?