Topic

Rich great to hear that that F of yours is finally doing what it was designed for and you are able to relax and enjoy it.

WeekendMonkey, remember people, generally, only post on car forums when they have a problem, not when they have had 50,000 miles of trouble free motoring. The F / TF can be used all year round as your daily commute and if something goes wrong, so what, it can be fixed and parts are cheap and plentiful.

I regularly do long runs and have found it to a great little car which I enjoy driving. Just regret not having been able to go on this little run out (click here).

As Badger said

Just enjoy the drive and have a great day.

Yes. Border Patrol drove to Italy and back a couple of years ago. I think the only issue was a clutch failure due to trying to hold the car on a 1 in 2 slope by slipping the clutch.
Certainly my car was faultless and it had already done over a 100,000 miles.


But a low coolant alarm is a must, in my opinion! Regardless of length of journey.
Ours saved the engine on an occasion when a hose ruptured and emptied most of the coolant on the road in short order. And that was less than 10 miles from home.

Yep, as David said, we did Italy and back.

In fact we did Italy in 2007 as well, which involved driving down there and then driving down one side of the country and back up the other side, so we have done around 400 mile stints between fill ups.

The only time my HG has gone is when it was parked up for a while round the side of the house, so I'm now paranoid about not running it and have to constantly drive it round and round.

Paranoia won't stop HGF, but good servicing and awareness of your car can help. Just enjoy it and keep your recovery up to date.

Why drive a car that you have no confidence in?
I have driven many times from Yorkshire to France around 600 miles in a day.
The first F that I brought over was bought on Friday and driven here on the Saturday just usual checks on oil water etc as the car was new to me.
Over the years I have made the trip in many cars for friends here who are keen on British cars but including a Mustang several Lotus Elise (with that K series engine which will blow up if driven). Thinking about it now 7 Elise none of them have "blown up".

Think positive if it happens then so what? But I don't think about it every time I drive the car.

Totally agree with all the above. HGF can happen to the best. I meticulously service and pamper my car. I sop months around with my TT as I use it for business and I average 800-1000 miles a week.

The car I worry about and that breaks down the most...well it ain't it English

Lo - Alarm 2 is a must.

In 127000 miles its had 2 head gaskets new clutch and rebuilt using parts from Martin Smith's Emporium


Tone

Last summer I put 7,000 miles on my 95 MGF without an incident. This included three long drives:
- Weekend trip to Virginia with a total distance 1,000 miles, including 500 miles in one day.
- Weekend trip to Indiana and Kentucky with a total distance of 1,200 miles.
- Visiting my parents in New Brunswick: total distance of 2,100 miles, inculding 750 miles in one day.

So, drive your car on a long trip, it will be fine. And if you do have a problem, don't worry about it, you can get your car serviced if you have a problem. At least your local garages know what an MGF is.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. Payday today, so I have ordered a B&G low coolant alarm. Now I know what I'll be doing next weekend (besides washing and polishing that is)

Good call! Well worth it.
Have fun fitting it.

Well I took the plunge today and visited family in Lincolnshire. 125 miles each way and a lovely drive through the countryside with the roof down ... and the heater on full blast as I'd forgotten to bring a coat. Well it was a lovely sunny day when I left Essex

Nice one. Wish I could have done similar but currently without brakes