September 2020
Hi
Just considering next car, looking for a Fiesta / Clio sized auto. I realise the proper auto box are more desirable - Kia Rio for example for reliability or the Mazda 2, has anyone any experience? Considered the Honda Jazz but only the previous model just replaced with the brand new hybrid. Some mixed reports of the CVT in that though on how it revs and drives different to normal automatics. I think Ford now fit decent automatics to the Fiesta which might be a safe option. Read more
Interesting figures published by Volvo regarding the footprint of a Polestar 2 vs an XC40.
To produce the cars, it's 14 tonnes of Co2 for an ICE car, against 24 tones for the Polestar 2.... Read more
Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for decades. Pumping out more, and cutting down trees simply advances the rate of climate change.
Planting trees is a short term expedient - they grow to maturity over ~ 25-200 years, fall or get cut down, release stored CO2 and the cycle starts again....
It’s a tad dry but if anyone here has an interest in American cars, MOPAR or just something a bit different, the YouTube algorithm gave me this today.. youtu.be/bJvL5vgIPKQ
A dealership training video from 1976, I did laugh at them feigning disgust at having to share an arm rest with another passenger as in the GM products! I do wish pillow topped seats would make a comeback, along with cars you can see the corners of from behind the wheel.
Another video which was used for training and apparently even shown to customers was this one for the Dodge Monaco, a more enjoyable clip imo. Cars have gone backwards.
youtu.be/TBiJX0uC-cE
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In 1974, all their new full-size C-bodies, from the Plymouth Fury to the Imperial ... of the 1976 Chrysler brochure–no longer as an Imperial, but a New Yorker Brougham. ... Plymouth Gran Fury, and Chrysler Town & Country wagon had all ... I bought my 66 Chrysler 2-door hardtop from a used car dealer.
I buy my tinned meat products from a supermarket in Tainan....
Hi all!
I need some explanation and advice regarding my Mitsubishi Lancer. I'm not much of a car guy so some basic dumbing down of whats happening would be appreciated!... Read more
If the DPF is intact but removed from the map, especially if the car has been mapped for more power, increased fuel inevitably increased soot, then the DPF will block up in even shorter order and there's no program running to clear it.
The EGR might be doing nothing, maybe there's a blanking plate in the pipework, these are used sometimes but sometimes they need a small hole drilling through or the MiL gets triggered...but this is mainly when EGR's are not programmed out but people blank them off in order to stop the high amount of carbon that invariably builds up on the things....
Our old but so far trusty Note is due for its MOT and annual service. It has done 47,240 miles.
Due to the current and our previous personal circumstances the car has only covered just over 2,000 miles in the last 2 years. At the last service the oil was just like new so I decided not to have it or the filter changed. It now is a slightly murky brown but still transparent.... Read more
<< We used to have a saying in our workshop when customers asked us about oil change intervals: "Clean fresh oil is much cheaper than piston rings, big end and main bearings, and is also much cheaper to fit" >>
Let's revisit the discussion by starting from one unarguable fact: an engine cannot be harmed by a fill of fresh oil (correctly done of course). An OCD person might choose to do that every 3 months or 500 miles for peace of mind. I hope most of us would agree that would be OTT....
3 years ago I entered a pcp arrangement with VW Finance. I have been discussing changing my vehicle.
No where on my PCP documentation is there any mention of guaranteed market value ( balloon payment). When asking VW Finance for this they referred me to the dealer, who has made me an insulting offer for trade in. ... Read more
I find this hard to understand. I don't know whether all PCP agreements follow the same format but they must all contain the same information.
Looking at mine:...
Sunbathing yesterday idly listening to Radio 4 'Brain of Britain', as usual knowing very few answers, I was dismayed by the four competitors' ignorance about what I thought was a very easy question........ 'In the Otto 4 stroke engine cycle, the elements are induction, compression, ignition, and...? What is the fourth? Not knowing throws it open to the other three. Not one of the aspiring eggheads' wild guesses was remotely accurate. Heigh-ho. Read more
The MPs essentially let the officials off the hook by not following throught on their initial questions. Why - because as people without expertise on the subject (and as many of them have little experience in the real world outside of politics) don't have the knowledge to keep going after posing that question, which again, I say is likely to have been fed to them by their assistants.
And yes, IMHO most MPs are 'decent', and by that I mean - not particularly good at what they are supposed to do, not necessarily referring to 'decent people'....
I’ve often said that today’s list prices are nuts, They’re wholly unrealistic. I’ve seen a near doubling in price of some smaller cars in the last 4yrs. You’ll see Fiesta’s and Honda Jazz’s with ridiculous £20k plus price tags, tiny city cars approaching £15k and small family hatches touching £30k.
Yesterday I (begrudgingly) agreed to go car shopping and with arm twisted we’ll up my back I bypassed the Honda and Mazda dealers and proceeded direct to the local Volvo dealer so that swmbo could test drive a nice £25,000 68 plate XC60 they had sat on the lineup. Sadly it was sold when we arrived but the keen salesman in me was almost annoyed at the polite but possibly overly relaxed efforts of their man when he simply said that he’d call if something else came in instead of doing as I would do and trying to push something else onto the agenda.
I decided to see what sort of deal I could achieve on a the new in stock model he had sat in front of the showroom. This being a desirable and in demand model with plenty of spec I wasn’t expecting miracles but it took no time to scrub £8700 off the list price of I took their PCP at 4.9% APR and £7200 if I opt to fund it elsewhere. Makes me wonder how much give there is in general with list prices if I managed to get more than 20% off without any real effort.
As for buying the thing well I’m still struggling to get my head round paying so much for a car even if swmbo is paying half of it when I’m happy enough pootling along in my decade old Toyota. I’d still rather buy used and fund it via a low rate bank loan which is probably where I’ll go with this, better still I might talk her into the last of the previous shape with are a good bit cheaper. A Volvo XC60 it will almost certainly be however. Moral of the story seems to be, ignore list prices, they’re figures plucked from the sky.
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“ Anyway let's not have a dispute about it, particularly as this thread is supposed to be about list prices. I'm still curious to know why Mrs SLO wants to move from a Polo to an XC60, and whether her husband has suggested that she looks at a RAV-4.“
Snob appeal, pure and simple. It’s the poshest of the options I listed when she expressed and interest in upgrading. I have taken her round a few dealers and she’s kinda relaxed a bit about it all and now opened up to the possibility of a CRV or a CX5 but to date I’ve found everything I’ve looked at is suffering from PCP/Contract leaseitis, the service history is usually missing or incomplete and/or there’s been some horrific cheap paintwork done to cover over damage before returning the vehicle. It’s sadly a real problem when one is looking for a good used car these days. As the first keeper will never own it they care not a jot about it. Neglect is sadly all too common.
We went to view a 16 plate CRV 1.6 Twin turbo SE with leather and 30k at the local main dealer but it had never seen spanners, apparently the last keeper was a local engineering firm who “serviced it themselves” but a quick look under the bonnet revealed no evidence of any such thing. It clearly still had the oil it had from new in it.
Next a 17 plate CRV 1.6 DTec SE 2wd with 13,000 miles and a perfect full history of 3 stamps despite this tiny mileage but sadly one of the rear doors had seen a terrible repair using what looks like a rattle can and some of the trim had been glued back in place.
So much for main dealer approved used. In my day they had to be next to perfect with a full main dealer history to qualify. Seems not at Honda.
We looked at a few XC60’s but the prices were getting too close to the cost of a new one with only £4000 separating the 68 plate with the new one I priced up. The 3yr old previous gen was overpriced too at £21k.
The RAV 4 has been ruled out on account of its styling and seat comfort. It’s lucky we’re in no hurry as Polo and Avensis are both running fine so I’ll drag my feet until something right lands on my lap.
Looking for a car for me 6'4" and OH to share. Weekly 120 return drives 50% motorway 25% A road 25% twisty B road and some local runarounds. Both have spine issues hence the initial choice as the taxis we've been in were fantastic.. I liked the look of the L&K 4x4 2.0 TSI but seem to be very hard to get hold of in NI & I guess has the DSG issues. Any of you wise people got an alternative. ps not keen on low profile tyres or reliability heaadaches. I would love 6 cylinders+ really oh & I may need to tow a small boat. TIA Read more
But, he always asks for a top spec Superb estate. Really rates them. Says he sees no point in having an Audi or VW equivalent because it's not giving him more car, and the tax implications of those as a company car would be higher.
I removed myself from the company car scheme which gave me better tax breaks and more choice. A double win for me. The main factor in the pecking order for company cars is the list price. So your salary/position in the company dictates your maximum allowance for a car. Sometimes you can add to this by contributing for a higher spec but I never saw the point in that. The main factor for BIK tax is the emissions. Being VAG the engine range is pretty standard across the range so whatever engine he chooses the emissions will be the same for Audi/VW/ Seat and Skoda. The real bonus comes from the his allowance, it will go further on a Skoda than an Audi for the same money. Top spec Skoda or mid spec Audi?? Choices, choices. In any event I would do exactly what your friend is doing too....
Hi all.
(btw - Had a look at some VW forums but they don't seem very active for some reason)
After a window fail (whilst in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago - rear passenger window dropped and wouldn't release back up....gaffer tape and layer of plastic sheet until we got back!) myself and a neighbour helping me have had a look at a fix. The retainer clip had broken so I sourced the appropriate regulator kit.
Managed to get the new plastic clip back on and all seemed ok. Tricky getting the dowel into the window glass and cable in but we eventually managed it.
However, once tested we heard a crunching noise and soon realised the cable was being shredded intside the spool. Fortunately the kit included new spool and cables...unfortunately we couldn't work out how to (or how much to) wind this into the spool...I have no instructions whatsoever and don't want to shred the new cable.
The two cables are of different lengths (slightly)...we worked out from taking the old cable which length goes where but we had to abandon ship late last night (so the window is currently held up with gaffer tape.
Anyone managed to replace one of these before and/or have access to any instructions?
Thanks very much.... Read more
We were so close...everything fitted back on (and yes - incredibly tricky) but we've no idea how to (or which way to) spool the cable...complete guess work without a guide.
How much to spool...which cable to spool etc. That's the only element that is now foxing us.
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We have just spent slightly more than 3 years with a 2017 Jazz CVT. First thing I will say is that in the case of the’stepped’ CVT, such as the Jazz and Yaris has, they don’t actually drive different from a normal (t/c) auto. I am well aware that the motoring press in general, along with many folk who have never actually driven one, rubbish CVT’s. But they are absolutely fine!. The supposed issue with revs is another source of irritation to me, not that it doesn’t exist, but because it has nothing to do with it being a CVT. Simply that as a high revving (peak torque arrives at 5000rpm) n/a petrol, the Jazz has to be singing to access what performance it has. The Yaris has slightly more torque at lower revs so shouldn’t be as revvy as the Jazz. Both however are exceptional choices for an auto of that size, spacious and reliable.
Just to clarify though, Kia Rio (and its Hyundai i20 cousin) both use a dual clutch automated manual (DCT). Not sure exactly when they started using the DCT, but I do know the n/a 1.4 continued using a t/c auto for a while longer alongside the 1.0 and 1.4 turbo’s with the DCT. ...