My New Old Car - Grease is the word... Part II

You can read the original article here:

http://tvspongers.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/my-new-old-car-grease-is-word.html

Shortly after publishing the above article, my car failed the yearly MOT - so I went for another car - this died a year later, while driving on the Motorway (my fault for not heeding the flashing replace oil warning light).

Now, I'm vehicle-less and I need a cheap & reliable car - I usually try autotrader for my lemons, but this time my wife found a car that sounded too good to be true, on none other than gumtree - a car that has everything that I was looking for, cheap & reliable.  
 

Low Milage - Kia Mentor  54k

FULL MASSIVE COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE HISTORY FROM BRAND NEW
Fully serviced and full up to date service history from brand new. All documentation, books, manuals and owners guides etc...

Starts on the button, first time every time at the first flick of the key. Engine is full of power and so silky smooth that you can't even hear it running, it purrs like a kitten. Gearbox is clockwork crisp precise, with no play whatsoever. Engine bay is totally pristine just like when it came off the production line, and you could eat your dinner off the engine, its that clean. No rattles, noises or leaks whatsoever.

Wonderful car throughout. Beautiful, clean interior, from a non-smoking household - Lots more....Please ask if I missed anything important to you...

This car has clearly been the owners pride and joy, and has wanted for nothing, regardless of cost. Fully Maintained to an extremely high standard indeed. Everything about this car feels crisp, sharp & Factory Precise 

A real pleasure to look at, and a real pleasure to drive 

And now for the reality - driving this from Sale (Manchester) to Bolton wasn't bad - the car did perform admirably, apart from the slight knocking sound when I set off.

12 miles later and all hell broke loose - the engine lost all power and instead a jumpy and jerkiness replaced the smooth movement.

The cat stopped purring - the motor-shed started roaring - The bracket holding the exhaust pipe in place fell off in the road, the smell of death or dog / cat piss has become apparent within the interior of the car...

#According to the seller, the car only covered 54k miles & yet, the last MOT 12months ago, the car had already covered 63k - so somebody was driving the car in reverse for a full year...

And now, I'm the proud owner of another lemon....