July 2025
Hi, we're pondering buying a cabriolet for touring in UK and Europe. We'd keep it for a coupfe of years and then probably sell it. I like the idea of an MX-5 but it might not be so much fun for swallowing long motorway stretches. A4, C-Class around 10 years/ around 70-80k would appeal.
Thoughts on models that have decent reliability in that age/mileage? Read more
I'm currently driving a Ford Focus MK3 Hatchback, and as far as hatchbacks go, it's pretty spacious in the boot and for passengers.
I am however looking for something bigger, that I can fit in a pram and some extra bits and two car seats in the backseat without it feeling cramped.... Read more
I had a Toledo. The interior was indeed a bit...er..primitive. Brilliant for kids though as everything is made of incredibly hard plastic.
I have been spending a lot of time with a mate taking him to look for a new or newish car.
He seems to tust my judgement a bit.... Read more
Unfortunately, Mazda seemed to have dropped the stone (light cream effectively) leather interior option. I have a 23 plate CX-30 with this and with the light headlining, it has a really nice and airy interior. There are lot of soft touch materials around the interior including the door cappings which tend to be hard plastic on so many cars. Apart from the styling of a car, the interior has a big influence on my buying.
Hi recently got wacked for £40 of bank charges after returning a hire car because the hire car company charged the damage deposit of 900 Euros to my card then returned it, rather than simply taking an imprint or charging 0.01.
Not had this happen before so a nasty little surprise.... Read more
Barclaycard - fine booking in the UK but abroad:-
"Barclaycard charges a 2.99% non-sterling transaction fee on purchases and cash withdrawals in foreign currencies, both within and outside of Europe."...
Trying to decide if its worth shipping tools back to the UK from Taiwan, The Price and Weight for 10 socket sets of a range of quality was obtained from Amazon. with a UK postcode set as the delivery address.
Amazon arent necessarily cheapest (Prime Tools seem to do Bahco better, for example) but they usually list the weight.
I dont believe one always needs best quality tools, but you might need better in the UK than in Taiwan, because rust, and nice tools are ...er...less nasty, so If replacing in the UK I MIGHT use Halfords Advanced or Sealey Premium for simplicitygood vibe//lifetime replacement/ (despite my age),
My Taiwan tools are probably not that good on average, though many are King Tony or Black Hand, both of which seem fine
Price/kg ranged from 63.05 GBP for a Bahco S138 set (bit of an outlier) to 6.67 GBP for a Pollok 216 set, with an average of 19.52/kg.
This approach could be extended to other categories of tools, but for some non-reason Amazon is now insisting on US pricing, so that'll do.
So 20 quid a kg is now my arbitrary cutoff top price for tool shipping. Shipping is expensive, but AFACT at present without specific quotes (Shippers want weight/volume before quoting, while I want their rates so that I can decide what's worth shipping, generating a bit of a chicken/egg/Catch 22) , doesnt seem to be quite THAT expensive,
As long as I dont get stuck with import duties for my old junk Read more
I was just about to mention EVA, incredible baggage allowance by modern standards.
A scary experience in the Mini on the M5 near Exeter yesterday on the way back from an excellent week in Brixham. We initially thought we’d run over something after a loud bang, but then the tyre deflated and we quickly pulled onto the hard shoulder. Turns out the front offside coil spring had snapped and then dragged on the tyre, bursting it and damaging the wheel.
After breathing a sigh of relief that we’d got to the hard shoulder safely, we then had a 2 hour wait for recovery. But our very cheap Rescue My Car policy worked wonders. The recovery truck took us to Bristol where a courtesy car was waiting for us to drive back to Birmingham. The Mini has just been delivered home a day later. ... Read more
I hope that you will replace both at the same time...
Scary time but happy you are all safe.
If my A/C is not working too well, is it ok to use the 3 in 1 can that has the
sealer and the oil and the gas all in the one can?... Read more
Part of the problem with AC, according to my local dealership, is lack of or intermittent use.
Yup - use it or loose it.
Apologies for long post but context is important to the question raised.
My daughter has a 2007 Jazz 1.4 DSi CVT with 82000 miles which she has had for 5 years and essentially got her real driving experience after passing her test.... Read more
And it reminds me how much I hate car buying and all the trawling round you have to do..
Apart from its being very reliable, that may be the strongest reason why I have my old Pug 207SW repaired each time it gets written off in a minor prang .... :-)
Fiesta s with the eco tech engines and even Honda s 1litre three cylinder engine which has a wet belt are on the list.
But all modern cars which show warning lights for every conceivable minor fault can cause a headache for second hand dealers who are required to provide a six months warranty under the Sale of Goods Act .... Read more
Dealers have always been reluctant to take part exchange cars built in certain countries because of their poor reliability record but one small dealer told me that he always bought and sold VW Golf’s mainly because when sake eight out of ten buyers would opt for a Golf
I make the mistake of buying a brand new, 25 plate VW Golf GTI
It's an awful car. And the dealer support is actually worse !!!... Read more
To make matters worse, they talked me into buying a GardX damage protection policy. Needless to say - a small dent and stone chip claim was refused as they felt they couldn't fix it
That's been the down side of buying my new(ish) Suzuki last year. I managed to avoid all the usual cross selling when picking it up but I've had an endless stream of calls ever since. The only thing I've taken up is a service deal and Ala Gap insurance arranged separately. As I bought cheap and cash price I got a 4 year replace with new car policy, didn't cost much....
