September 2023
We are looking at a used vw tiguan for around £6k as we like its mix of reliability ( if properly maintained ) and looks
Anything we should also consider in the 4x4/SUV market for that price ?... Read more
Hi All
I am contemplating a 5-seat SUV, mainly for city driving over weekends. Annual mileage 6-7k so not looking at Diesel / Mild hybrid / PHEVs.. Budget was £20k but unable to find a good car, so have extended to £25k (ideally) or £30k (comfortable stretch). ... Read more
For £25-30k there are a wide range of entirely capable SUVs available new or up to a year old. They will have the benefit of warranty for at least a couple of years and probably a level of kit and gizmos at probably the equal of an older premium motor.
An older premium motor will deliver a feel good feeling. But older premium motors are more likely to go wrong (a function of age and mileage) and when they do cost more to repair....
We are currently deluged/submerged by robot registrations for the forum. There are too many for us to cope with anymore It is overwhelming.
As fast as we disable accounts more appear.... Read more
Tangential but related.
I've been partly involved with teaching academic (particularly scientific) writing for the past few years, but stopped (apart from a bit of proof reading) recently, apparently in the nick of time....
Hi
I am planning to buy a car and am confused between Seat Loen 1.4 TSI (2013 - 2017) and Mazda 3 2.0 Petrol (2014-2019). I went through multiple reviews and am still not able to make up my mind. My priority is to have a car that is fun to drive and has decent reliability. My budget is around £7.5K. Would love to know your opinion. Cheers..... Read more
Cars that old will need a good history and look well-cared-for, and is prime importance. A once great drivers car that's not been well looked after won't be a good buy.
My budget is around £7.5K...
In June 2023, I purchased a vehicle.
Before buying, I spotted what seemed like rust in a walk-around video provided by their salesperson. When I raised my concern, I was assured it was just dirt and would be cleaned. However, upon receipt, it turned out to be rust.... Read more
Not sure if it's the same engine as mine which was 2010 (DC4B engine) with 93k on the clock, but I wouldn't have another as mine blew up! Faulty injector seals soot up the engine oil and because of the design you dont have any external evidence. Mine clogged the oil pickup and seized within 10 seconds of the oil light coming on. Cost was 6k to repair so I got rid. It also had rust underneath. Wouldn't have another, which was a shame as it was very practical despite constantly breaking something every 2 months. Not hyundai's best effort.....
I have a just purchased a Mokka SE turbo 1.4 petrol automatic and have a faint ticking noise when accelerating is this common ?
Ken Read more
It turns out that someone had fitted a new timing chain and the camshaft was one tooth out.
Must be a pretty poor engine design or made with poor quality components to need a new chain on a relatively new car. How many miles has it done? Chains normally last the lifetime of the car.
What do you think the government's current proposal* to push back the end of sales of new diesel and petrol cars (to 2035) will do to car prices?
* I heard it on the 6 o'clock evening news on Radio 4 today. Read more
EV fire incidents seem to be increasing, but to determine the rate per 1,000 vehicles, specific data analysis is needI dunno what the point of this these posts are. but they react oddly with the site quoting function.Takes a robot to know one, perhaps
We are currently deluged/submerged by robot registrations for the forum. There are too many for us to cope with anymore It is overwhelming....
When I bought my latest work vehicle, a Piaggio Porter, there was a head unit fitted but the roof mounted antenna was gone (having rusted off). I already had one of the type that is stuck onto the inside of the screen, so I fitted that. It did improve matters in so far as I could on occasion pick up a signal, but it really was poor. So I then bought an exterior mounted antenna off Amazon, one advertised as being suitable for boats as well as road vehicles, and which had decent customer reviews. While this latest one definitely has better reception than the interior mounted one, it is still well short of what I got in the Caddy (which didn't have an external antenna). It will randomly start "seeking", and not necessarily when the reception isn't great.
So what I am wondering is, just how much does the head unit itself contribute to the radio reception?. The unit in question being a brand unfamiliar to me (Autosound), presumably Chinese and presumably dirt cheap. Could this be a factor or is it all in the antenna?... Read more
You can get a pretty good Bluetooth speakers which you can put anywhere in the car, and use the phone ( if you can get a signal ) to listen to music of your choice, or the radio station.
Can I purchase wheel and kit for above vehicle Read more
Its a shame that Toyota UK just don't allow buyers to factory order a space saver wheel kit as an optional extra when they order the car.
Most likely due to extra weight & emissions testing. ...
We're in the USA for our annual stay with a son. Always interesting to see the year on year evolution of traffic on the leafy bicycle and pedestrian friendly avenues of Irvine CA - main racial groups approx 44% asian, 44% white, 10% 'hispanic' - (apparently a debatable concept). It's a clean well groomed garden city built mainly in the 70s and 80s, a bit like Milton Keynes but with hardly any buses, wide roads, huge crossroads instead of roundabouts, and hardly a sc*** of litter to be seen, even near the schools! (lots of kids attend on bikes, some are electric).
100yrs ago Ford made around half the cars on American roads but I hardly see any here now. So at mid-day, on a ten minute walk along Paseo Westpark to the supermarket (a fairly busy suburban main road) I did a car count, noting Fords and Teslas. Total 74 cars including 4 Teslas.....and just one Ford - an old Focus with a loud exhaust! On the return journey; 81 cars, 5 Teslas.....and another Focus! Two small Fords in over 150 cars of other makes, mainly asian. Ole Henry must be spinning his bearings in his cemetery! Read more
I get the impression that in China as a largely "command" economy, if the project fits with the political plan any barriers are simply removed by decree.
Looks as though Ford are in bed with Changan (with the Chinese in control) building EVs in a vast city many times bigger than New York or London (Chongquing) which I doubt many in the 'west' will have heard of. ...
Or just pumping them up.