After I'd paid £50 to get my AC topped up, and seen how easy it was - basically easier than pumping up a bike tyre, I thought, ho ho - I decided to get the necessary gas & hose and do it myself next time. Which looked to be going fine, until I discovered that the (male) thread on the can doesn't engage with the thread on the hose. It's *really* close - both look to be 1/2", and to look at them you'd swear they're a perfect match...but they won't connect.

The can's a bog standard R134a can, as far as I can see (about the size of a coke can, with a threaded stub in the top) and the hose is just one of a gazillion listed on ebay/amazon, with a pressure gauge and a fitting on one end that *does* fit the connector on the car, and one on the other that looks like it should fit the can - but doesn't. Thanks if you can offer any ideas/suggestions/enlightenment. Read more

Just noticed what an attractive small suv the Matrix is.

Designed by Giugario ? Spelling and Hyundai reliability .Even in diesel format... Read more

I've been advised i should idle my fabia 1.9tdi 57 plate to cool the turbo

Is this correct? ... Read more

I suppose it's competitive - when compared to other hugely expensive EVs.

It's been a few years since EVs first went on sale but those prices are still not getting any cheaper. More range maybe, but certainly not cheaper as people were led to believe as they became more popular.

I still can't possibly consider an EV as a good way to spend my money. Even if it cost nothing at all to run (which they don't as electricity isn't free, especially if you buy it away from home, they still need to be insured, which is probably very expensive as they accelerate like a rocket, serviced, covered for breakdowns that they can't be towed from, and wear and tear items like any other car) it would still take many years to recoup the price difference with an ICE car that fits my requirements for a family car .

And by then it would probably need a new battery costing many thousands of pounds too. Read more

Last weekend I was all set for one of my life’s greatest pleasures, car shopping with someone else’s money. My wife’s aunt decided that due to health issues and a little knock of her confidence that she’d like to change the 16 plate Mini Countryman that I told her not to buy last year for a small automatic.

Great thought I, I get to tour showrooms on someone else’s cash. But how wrong could that be.
I made a wee shortlist of all the available small automatics that I’d recommend and expected an easy deal on a nearby 67 plate Jazz Auto at £9995 or a facelift 66 plate Peugeot 2008 Allure 1.2 Auto at £10,800. Both low mileage and both very tidy.

The Jazz was instantly swatted aside by auntie who decided it wasn’t high enough, this despite having no mobility issues what so ever and the car being maybe an inch shorter than the Mini she drives now and has decided is too bulky for her?? Front runner down.

The Kia Venga is again passed by for its styling, he wouldn’t even sit in it. The related Hyundai was also ignored. I’m fast running out of options. No to the Yaris, no to the Mazda 2 and no to the gorgeous Suzuki Swift I found.

Next up the Peugeot 2008 which at last drew a smile. It’s the right size, it’s comfy, it looks good to her eye and it uses a simple and well regarded engine and a robust torque converter gearbox. All is well. Having done my homework I know the Mini she paid £11,000 for last year is worth around £8400 in part exchange so into the showroom we go and spend time (too much of it, it turns out) talking to the salesman who has returned from valuing it or rather not. After much time wasting he announces its worth £7000, this despite a near exact car being sat on his lot at £9995! Our contempt unhidden, we stormed out. It seems this big mostly Scottish national chain doesn’t want to deal or they’ve lost the knack of valuing cars in this new world of PCP and contract lease.

I’m now at a loss. The Mini is too valuable to sell from the drive for the right money and buying services like WBAC aren’t offering strong money right now as auctions are quiet. It seems we’re in a strange place of high retail but low trade prices right now thanks in part to Covid and in part to exploding new car prices.

She won’t accept any sensible supermini autos and a larger diesel MPV is unsuitable due to the typical pensioner usage of shops and back then to the sisters 200 metres away. A small SUV/MPV is required and she’s has now horror of horrors got her eye on the God awful Ford Ecosport with the fragile 1.0 Ecoboost and the even more temperamental Powershift gearbox. She’d need a lot more money to get a post 2018 example with the newer torque converter gearbox, even at that I won’t recommend one.

I can get £8300 for her car by selling to another local dealer but she doesn’t want to put in much if any money. She’s refused all sensible options and a Pug 2008 auto cant be had in budget unless it’s a pre facelifted example with the horrid jerky single clutch automated manual which she won’t be able to drive properly.

I’ve suggested three options to her.
1- Keep the Mini. It’s done 17,000 miles and it’s as new. I’m no fan but it’s a good example.

2- Add at least £2500 to get a 2008 facelift auto. I like these but it’ll cost her.

3- Accept that her budget is only enough to buy a conventional automatic supermini like a Jazz or a Yaris. Both will be easy to drive and utterly reliable.

Any suggestions from the regulars? Hide under the blankets and refuse all calls? Currently I’m just using distraction tactics and hoping she’ll forget all about it.
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