"swap for small car or van, tax to January 09"
Seen in town on the back of an R reg Jeep.
Bodywork Looked in good condition for its age, running on half worn `general Grabbers` or something chunky like that.
Never seen it spelt out so bluntly before, so Lets hope they enjoyed its earlier ownership as surely there will be few takers. It must have been a different ball game 10 years ago for the Jeep.
We kept pace for a few hundred yards, me doing 63mpg and him no doubt, around 18mpg..
What`s betting that in 10years time, someone is running alongside me in an electric car (News this AM) and thinking the same of mine?
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Frankly there never was any good reason to buy a Jeep.
Ugly, awkward, unreliable, uneconomical, cramped and simply bad. It was a dinosaur before it left the production line.
Remember that at 18mpg, it is not much worse than my Outback, and there are more than a few people on here who would like one of those........
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Ugly awkward unreliable uneconomical cramped and simply bad. It was a dinosaur before it left the production line.
just about sums up the Land Rover Defender as well IMO. [Grabs tin hat and hides behind waste-paper basket]. But there still seems to be a market for them.
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It reminds me of that famous picture from the American stock market crash, the bloke with his foot on the running board,
No job, lost everything, $100 will buy this car.
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A few weeks ago at the Canary Warf motor show I thought the same thing when looking at the Land Rovers, Cadillacs and other assorted bloatware.
A year ago these cars looked desirable, now they look stupid
MVP
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They did too in 1973 I remember. You couldn't give a big-engined car away. Then we all got used to the fuel cost. The difference this time is the 'green' VED increases that will tax cars like this off the road. The zeitgeist has changed. Mr and Mrs Pious in their Prius think owners of big cars are planet killers, while jetting off on holiday or sitting in shirt-sleeves in winter in their centrally-heated house. At least it'll save the polar bears :-)
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And no doubt they'll be running their washing up machine and tumble drier at full blast as well...
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An article in my local paper - quoting Parker's guide - said that the big petrol 4x4x had 'no trade-in value'.
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We've seen this before - not neccessarily in a recession either. I remember when the Jaguar XJ12 and it's badge-engineered clone, the Daimler Double-Six became virtually worthless because of huge fuel consumption and high maintenance and repair costs.
I reckon in a few years most cars will have some sort of hybrid energy recovery system backing up an economical diesel engine. I saw in Commercial Motor that a retro-fit hybrid system is now available for Ford Transits. Obviously it's not a fully integrated electric-drive hybrid system like the Toyota Prius, but more like the Honda electric assistance system.
Edited by Sofa Spud on 22/07/2008 at 15:01
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Recently I've seen lots of Mercs and BMW's for sale privately. These great big gas guzzling behemoths look rather forlorn sitting on people's driveways getting covered in dust and brid poo. With a few more off the road maybe there'll be a little bit more fuel for the rest of us for a while longer.
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>>With a few more off the road maybe there'll be a little bit more fuel for the rest of us for a while longer.
Dream on, China and India will burn it instead.
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Every little helps Nick
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Do you work for Tesco? :-)
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Dream on China and India will burn it instead.
Well, that's not quite how it works. Unless we take steps to put our own houses in order we have no chance of persuading other countries to do the same.
"Stop burning all that oil"
"Why not, you do?"
If we take a lead then we can show them how to do it and maybe even make some money exporting cleaner technology.
Equally, if we say "no point, China will burn it all" then it just runs out more quickly. It's not some kind of race to see who can finish it off the quickest, which is the logical conclusion to your statement.
I personally don't think fuel prices or VED are the deciding factor in people selling these cars. It's more likely people overspending on credit cards and the like, coupled with their short-term mortgage decisions biting them on the botty that are having a far greater impact on people's finances.
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Ford as usual, bang on in terms of strategy - I'm not a fan of their products.
They sold Jaguar and Land Rover at exactly the right time.
659.
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Yes but no but...
I am as I have said before about to change my lifestyle from high mileage to 5,000 a year at best and am in the market for a bargain luxobarge and to date sellers are NOT dropping prices significantly.
It may come but not yet.
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Ford as usual bang on in terms of strategy - I'm not a fan of their products. They sold Jaguar and Land Rover at exactly the right time.
I think not! LR been in big profit for a while, Jag now in profit & selling XF's like hot cakes, order now delivery is October. 3 cars out of the local Jag showroom last Wed.
Ratan Tata was quoted last week after a UK tour of the factories, as saying Ford may regret their decision.
They had to sell JLR to help balance the books, but whether they'd have don't it otherwise i debatable. Their main money pits are American health costs & continuing with the SUV/truck market for too long.
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I think not! LR been in big profit for a while Jag now in profit
Erm, that is bang on in terms of timing then. Profitable businesses tend to sell for a lot more than unprofitable ones. They might be profitable now, but how is their long term future looking?
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>>no point, China will burn it all
Did I say this? No, thought not.
>>It's not some kind of race to see who can finish it off the quickest, which is the logical conclusion to your statement.
You must work with different logic to me. But I really can't be bothered to type any more. :-)
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>...getting covered in dust and brid poo...
Was that meant to be 'bird' or - depending on the kind of wedding hires these big cars get used for - 'bride'?
};---)
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I would type but I'm laughing too much!
Edited by Pugugly on 22/07/2008 at 21:54
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>> >> Dream on China and India will burn it instead. >> Well that's not quite how it works. Unless we take steps to put our own houses in order we have no chance of persuading other countries to do the same.
If we take a lead then we can show them how to do it and maybe even make some money exporting cleaner technology.
Does anyone seriously think that a country like China will take the blindest bit of notice what chav ridden once Great Britain has to say? Maybe this would work if a country like the US or even the Mighty former USSR were to show a lead.
We really do not command that sort of respect anymore.
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We really do not command that sort of respect anymore.
Agreed. And why should anyone else respect this stupid jumped-up little place?? We have nothing - NOTHING - that commands the respect from any other countries now!
Getting back to the original topic, if the Chinese and others want to drive large luxury cars, why the hell should'nt they and who are we to stop them? It narks me that we all seem to be having to drive little econo boxes whilst the the drivers in countries that were until recently classed as third world are now aspiring to luxury cars; good for them, but where is our pride? Another twenty years from now and this country really will be the peasant of the world, yet no doubt telling others what they must do/think/drive/say/eat etc!!!
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why should anyone else respect this stupid jumped-up little place?? We have nothing - NOTHING - that commands the respect from any other countries now!
Deary me. Have you people been talking to Belgian journalists, or just watching American movies on TV?
Just what exactly would command the sort of 'respect' the rest of the world gives to itself? Low-slung trousers and a bored-out starting pistol?
Read some history. Look around. And don't let the media get you down.
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>> We really do not command that sort of respect anymore. Agreed. And why should anyone else respect this stupid jumped-up little place?? We have nothing - NOTHING - that commands the respect from any other countries now!
good for them but where is our pride? Another twenty yearsfrom now and this country really will be the peasant of the world yet no doubt telling others what they must do/think/drive/say/eat etc!!!
Please could you refrain from doing the UK down. We're great here, there are far far worse places and we should count our blessing. Sorry to to sound pompous or whatever but comments like that are counter productive and extremely un-helpful.
sorry but you know where the door is.
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>> comments like that are counter productive and extremely un-helpful.
I dunno davidh. Demonstrates the depressive effect of choice in the media. 500 rubbish TV channels can have that effect on the impressionable.
Edited by Lud on 23/07/2008 at 00:13
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I agree that one of the problems on this forum is the degree of 'anti-UK' sentiment. I teach a lot of students from mainland China (electronic engineering). For the most part they are stunned at the quality of life in the UK. Although there are a lot of rich people in China, in reality they represent a tiny tiny fraction of 1% of the population. Many of my Chinese students are not used to 24 hour a day electricity (only about half the country has it) and the idea of driving around in a luxury car back in China would be unattainable. And remember that China is still a country where saying something insulting about the government can land you in prison, if overheard by the 'wrong' person.
With its huge population, China is well aware of the potential for environmental catastrophe and is working hard on environmental technology. They are trying to develop large-scale production capacity for wind power and electric vehicles. I am told they are also building some 'eco-towns' which will have a ban on anything other than electric vehicles.
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The Chinese are also planning 50 new airports in the next ten years, 15 of which are the size of Gatwick. It puts worrying about another runway at Heathrow in perspective. A new coal-fired power station on stream each week and we have protesters wanting to shut down Drax.
Yes, every little helps, the polar bear will drown on a thursday afternoon rather than a thursday morning.
The only way forward is if all nations join together on this. The west want caps on emissions set at a country level, which suits relatively low population countries with high emissions. The east wants emission levels set per head of population, which suits highly populated countries with currently relatively low emissions but which need to catch up with our standard of living. I can't see a resolution in the near future.
The real problem which won't be addressed is not so much too many emissions per head, but too many heads in the first place and increasing rapidly. Until mankind stops breeding so fast, we're doomed eventually.
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>I dunno davidh. Demonstrates the depressive effect of choice in the media. 500 rubbish TV channels can have
>that effect on the impressionable.
Yeah, let's go back to a few state controlled media outlets and a bunch of tame newspaper editors/owners. What the proles don't hear about doesn't depress them does it?
Kevin...
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The USA's 300m population use 25% of the worlds oil
China's population of 1,300m use 9%
If the Chinese used oil at the same rate per person as the USA, they would consume more than the worlds total oil output on their own
The USA is the problem, not China or India
MVP
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I was talking to a Japanese colleague over lunch yesterday, and I can tell you there is a lot of respect and admiration for the UK and its people in Japan. The reasons that so many Japanese companies base themselves here is not only financial. We are acknowledged as some of the hardest working, pragmatic and resourceful people in European. His words, not mine! :-)
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I think it's also born of practicality. My brother used to lecture in a specialist technical subject in Japan. He speaks little Japanese but found that many educated Japanese people spoke English. Few of them spoke any other western languages.
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The USA's 300m population use 25% of the worlds oil China's population of 1 300m use 9%{snip} The USA is the problem not China or India
Europe is less energy-greedy than the USA, but still a whole lot more greedy than India or China. Simply pointing the finger at the USA won't solve the problem.
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The USA is the problem not China or India
USA is a problem, but China is catching up fast.
If this article is correct, the International Energy Agency predict China's oil imports will equal those of the USA by 2030:
www.iags.org/china.htm
It claims that:
China's numbers of cars in use is increasing by 19% per year;
By 2010, China is expected to have 90 times more cars in use than it did in 1990;
China currently imports 32% of its oil requirement but this will double by 2010;
Petrol price in China is one third of what it is in Europe.
(I've never heard of the IAGS before?)
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