February 2025
Short of asking an owner or a dealer direct , where might I be able to discover ( for free) the actual retail price of a car when it was first registered?
When buying second hand there’s plenty of info around re a vehicles history, MOT passes/fails/advisories , mileage etc plus of course the vehicles current value-but knowing what it cost BEFORE it left the showroom is for me a key piece of consumer data.
All ideas welcome Read more
Hi All
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Good result and good advice. I always pay the deposit £100 plus on a credit card when buying from a dealer for this reason. Some dealers are fly to this however and refuse to take credit card payments or they add a fee for doing so. Walk away if they do.Yes - when I flew over to the UK from France in 2015 to close the purchase of our 2015 Honda Accord Type S Tourer (last few UK car spec preregistered after end of production) I had paid a £500deposit on a UK credit card. They somehow annulled that transaction and I then paid the full amount via my NatWest bank debit card at the point of sale, presumably to avoid section 75 liability. As it was a genuine Honda with 9 miles showing on the odometer, made in Japan from a Honda main dealer, I accepted that slight risk.
Had a short test drive this morning in a LHD Frontera,
Thoughts.... Read more
Interesting. Looks as though it's the hybrids which get the chain engine, while the purely ICE models continue with the belt. For the long term low mileage user (circa 6000 miles a year), will the risks of battery pack plus chain failure outweigh the single risk of a well maintained modern (not the crumbly old DAYCO) BIO failure? Tell you in 20yrs time!
Matt at High Peak Autos has just done a video about a 2015 Range Rover Sport hybrid with 66,000 miles, which had a problem with its traction battery pack. The price that Range Rover wanted to replace the battery pack with a new one is somewhat eye-watering.
I guess any 10-year-old hybrid (apart from a Toyota / Lexus) is a risk, but you're never going to win gambling on an older Range Rover hybrid .... Read more
Of course, although a diesel may have started the fire, the involvement of EVs could well have made things pretty bad ?
More likely things were made pretty bad because I suspect most people would have ensured their fuel tanks were fairly full for the return journey home. I doubt if we are alone in filling up at our local supermarket shortly before a return trip to Luton....
Which Hybrid would you for and why, based on style, efficiency, and room at the rear?
Thank you... Read more
One afterthought re the Yaris (and any other potential choices). Test drive thoroughly to make sure your'e happy with the way the hybrid drives and make sure you're happy with road noise/ ride etc. Some versions have rather low profile tyres fitted that firm up the ride too much and kick up more road noise inside the cabin.
My Swace has 205/55 R16s and the ride is excellent but it still has more road noise than my previous Superb, saying that the Superb was shod in Michelin Crossclimate's (same size!) and I remember when they were first fitted a big improvement in road noise so when I wear the original Bridgestone's out I'll probably be swapping to those....
Hi has anyone got first hand experience of glasses that reduce glare from oncoming headlights? If they made worthwhile difference, what brand?
Thanks Read more
Seen and received plenty of advice against yellow tinted lenses. Can't recall if contrast issues or (more likely) reduced transmission.
Optician I spoke with felt Zeiss Drivesafe are decent, but they are again a wavelength filter, just as a yellow tint is....
Hi everyone,
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Chain driven motors in the 80’s/90’s rarely went wrong, unless utterly neglected.I had an '03 Nissan with cam chain. They were, allegedly, made from cheese. The engine only held 2.7 litres of oil. I changed it every 5K miles and never had any problems during my ownership, taking it up to 50K.
In reality, no engine should give issues up to 50,000 miles - even if abused and neglected....
Sadly after 10 years axed from sale in UK. For many on here one of the best supwerminis available for some time.
Have you any idea when the CX 3 was discontinued or is it still available please ?
The newest advertised here in the UK on Autotrader is 2019. If you live in Oz they're still avilable new last time I looked at the Mazda Australia website....
Lots of nonsense gets taken about this on Reddit and other driving forums. The highway code is pretty clear but people don't get it. I was hoping to get the views of posters here. Do you think it's fine as long as you don't change lanes? Fine as long as you're maintaining speed and passing a MLH? Read more
‘ Average speed check on the motorway.’
That’s a new one on me - I’m not sure I understand the logic of it.
Hi all,
Very grateful for any advice on the above. Specifically, I'm looking for a used Yaris hyrbid for my wife, budget around £10k and preferred trim of 'Icon Tech' in order to get front sensors.... Read more
As for the non-hybrid Yaris, my wife tried it and hated it, much preferring the hybrid/ecvt combo.
I'd imagine the hybrid Yaris would feel more relaxed and perhaps a tad more peppy in town with the electric motor (and its instant torque hit) doing much of the heavy lifting. But at motorway speeds, not sure that would continue to be the case because the electric motor does less the faster you go. Bear in mind the internal combustion engine by itself is only rated at 75bhp, the 100bhp quoted is the combination of both power sources. By contrast, the non hybrid 1.33 and 1.5 make 99 and 111bhp respectively by themselves and I would expect both to feel more at ease if pushing on at main road speeds....
In days of yore, Motor and Autocar mags used to produce buyers guides and motor show editions packed with technical and performance info as well as prices. I used to save such issues every few years and still have them for reference. My earliest is Oct 19 - 1968- 2s 6d Motor complete car by car guide Show Number. Here are a few fun facts.....
Aston Martin DB6 (top speed 147.6 mph) £4497. A.C. 289 quickest to 50mph ...(not 60 in those days) 4.4secs. £3068. Jaguar E type 4.2 (fastest 150mph) £2117. Mercedes 280SL £4003. Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 (no Ferraris tested) £7797. Lamborghini Muira £9525. Austin Mini £561. Ford escort 1100 £652. Cheapest - and slowest (58.3mph, 0-50 33.6secs) was Fiat 500F £543. But it did do 53mpg 'touring', 43.6 overall.