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Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !! (Read 277857 times)

tommytwotone

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#1125 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
January 31, 2023, 07:46:15 pm
No experience in this type of car (or budget, I'm strictly Sheds - I'd be telling you to eBay search for Saab 9-5 Estates...)

Only other thing I'd consider / look for would be big Volvos. I've searched for them in the past though, and struggled to find ones without big miles on the clock, but I guess that's a sign that they just keep going.

Arguably slightly more refined that the others suggested here, most probably better seats (for those long slogs down the Autoroutes to Font), plus the obvious Volvo estate benefits of massive space in the back and ridiculous safety.


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#1126 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
January 31, 2023, 08:21:19 pm
Appreciating that this question has been answered several times in this thread (and others) has anyone got fresh advice on a family car to buy with climbing/bouldering trips in mind?

From this thread I have Skoda Octavia or Superb in mind, with Berlingo a further possibility (even though I’m not a fan of the aesthetic).

Aiming for something for two adults, two young children/babies, plus associated paraphernalia, alongside at least one but hopefully two pads.

Goal would be weekend crags with occasional Font trip. Last time I rented a small SUV, think was a Vauxhall Crossland X, seemed to work pretty well with no spare tire.

If I only one car then would need to use for commuting as well. Currently using Corsa which seems to be on last legs and just about coping with one child, no climbing stuff, but unlikely to be big enough for two.

Given the recent changes in fuel prices etc does anyone have any suggestions/experience with above cars/requirements that might help?

Also trying to bear in mind environmental impact and don’t really know how changing to an electric world in the future may effect things now. Any insight much appreciated!
I have an Octavia vRS estate (2015 model) and two young kids. We manage to get one medium sized pad plus all our stuff in for week-long Font trips although it's a bit of a squeeze. You could probably manage two medium pads if you scimped heavily on packing. Maybe we managed one medium and one small one year. Another option might be to rent an extra pad from Padadise while you are there, I used them in October, they are good.

For normal days out bouldering the boot will take four medium/small pads (ie that fit sideways inside 1m width) in the boot with the back seats up. However if you have any large pads ie Saturn size, you'll have to put half the back seats down.

Not quite sure what you are getting at wrt your last paragraph but we run an ID3 (electric VW similar to a Golf) alongside the Octavia; the Octavia is only ever used now when we absolutely need the bigger boot space. The ID3 is better at everything else, apart from being environmentally friendly. That's obviously an expensive solution though, unless you have another car to replace. If you just want one big car with a big boot and don't want to shell out for an expensive EV SUV type thing (estate options are still poor at the moment) then the best option is to buy a used estate and save up for an EV in a few years. Don't bother with hybrid as an interim step.
On the plus side, used EVs are coming down in price now, especially as more of them get towards 3 years old. I'm hoping to get something bigger to replace the Octy in a year or two.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2023, 08:30:00 pm by Sidehaas »

Lopez

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#1127 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
January 31, 2023, 11:09:10 pm

Only other thing I'd consider / look for would be big Volvos. I've searched for them in the past though, and struggled to find ones without big miles on the clock, but I guess that's a sign that they just keep going.

Arguably slightly more refined that the others suggested here, most probably better seats (for those long slogs down the Autoroutes to Font), plus the obvious Volvo estate benefits of massive space in the back and ridiculous safety.

Massive caveat on that. Avoid late '14 to '15 models like the plague. In fact, wise to stick to earlier models only (i loved my v50). That was the date at which Volvo decided to get out of working with Ford and go it alone, and the results aren't pretty if you are unlucky enough to end up saddled with one, built whilst they were still trying to get hang on how to design and build a car.

The official moan is as follows

Had one of these for 2 years. Spent the first year trying to keep up with all that was going wrong with it, no sooner you fix something the next issue pops up, till i decided enough is enough a year ago and stopped working full time on it.

In this last year of me not putting all my money and time into it, the car has become a classic, not so much in the traditional sense, but more in the literal one, of a car built in the 1940s.

I got no air-conditioned or dehumidifier, no power steering, no glow plugs, barely working injection, a turbo that works part time and most of that is on strike anyway. Clogged non-working swirl flaps (i clenaed the whole thing in the honeymoon year and it's clogged again). Blocked egr cooler (as previous), no wind screen washer, a failing parking brake, and god knows what else i'm forgetting. ABS and traction control failed twice in that time so i did hold the full house at times. This is an 8 year old car with 125000 miles...

That fiat 500 in the other thread sounds like a freacking Bentley in comparison  :'(

Best part, got my mot due in 2 weeks which will fail unless i sort the washer and power steering. Can fix the washer easy enough (if i can be bothered tbh) but the power steering i'm being quoted £2500 by volvo to fix.

Thing is, the clever boys at Volvo won't let you just replace the failed module, or refurb it, or fix it in any way. No, you got to buy and replace the whole steering rack, which you can only buy from Volvo, and of course it has to be brand new as they set up the modues so that once they are coded to a car they cant be reprogrammed for another one. No ebay jobbies allowed.

So it seems short of me spending next week touring MOT centres waving wads of £20 notes see if i can find one of those mythical dodgy MOT centres that's the car getting scrapped.

Oh, and last week a freaking mouse huddled up in my engine bay and got the munchies while in there, so just spent the whole week searching for munched through cables all throughout the engine bay and splicing them while the dash was lighting up with errors like a christmas tree. Still Volvo's fault for making this piece of shit so sexy  :spank:


tommytwotone

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#1128 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
January 31, 2023, 11:20:38 pm
14/15 plate? LUXURY

I think you underestimate the level of Shed at which I operate!

I'm talking 03 plate V40s or V50s, proper Shedman fodder...buy for a grand or two, waft about in for a bit and then send off to the great big scrapyard in the sky.

TBH my last epic Shed (Saab 9-3 Aero) did nearly 4 years of faithful service off a £2k initial "investment" so I'll take that. It's successor (a £1400 2003 Mini One) is still staggering on.


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#1129 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
January 31, 2023, 11:33:34 pm
Ha, got to thank TFL for that. Had to get rid of the 50 to get an ULEZ compliant car.

Totally agree on the shed approach. Got the V50 for £2500 and it was a 2011, also the top of the range se lux to boot.

 Worked flawlessly for 3 years with nothing more than basic maintenance. Incredibly comfortable and practical to the point i'd spend up to 6 weeks at a time travelling and living on it (helps that i'm a shorty). Really good fuel economy as well

Sold it to a mate for 1000 quid for him to use as company car/van and it's still going strong.

I'd revert back to one of those in a snap if i could

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#1130 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 01, 2023, 04:58:29 pm
Thanks all, hugely useful. Was wondering about whether there would be much benefit of a superb over Octavia, but sounds like not much on balance.

Last font trip got away with a single moon warrior, which I assume counts as medium size, and ample opportunity to rent out there.

Not quite sure what you are getting at wrt your last paragraph but we run an ID3 (electric VW similar to a Golf) alongside the Octavia; the Octavia is only ever used now when we absolutely need the bigger boot space. The ID3 is better at everything else, apart from being environmentally friendly. That's obviously an expensive solution though, unless you have another car to replace. If you just want one big car with a big boot and don't want to shell out for an expensive EV SUV type thing (estate options are still poor at the moment) then the best option is to buy a used estate and save up for an EV in a few years. Don't bother with hybrid as an interim step.
On the plus side, used EVs are coming down in price now, especially as more of them get towards 3 years old. I'm hoping to get something bigger to replace the Octy in a year or two.

That was essentially what I was getting at, unsure of any benefit of getting a hybrid and wondering about the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel cars once they ban their production. I guess that will be incredibly gradual.

erm, sam

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#1131 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 01, 2023, 05:26:14 pm
1L Ecoboost engine update. The garage had hoped a new oil pump and belt would be ok, but in fact it needs a full stripdown and regrinding crank?cam?shaft etc.. Will cost 2500 plus vat, if they don't need to source a new/2nd hand crank/cam? shaft.....
So, spending a grand proactivly to change the belt at 50,000 or what ever, whilst painful, is a deffo positive saving..

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#1132 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 01, 2023, 05:31:40 pm
Have you considered just replacing the engine? Looks like £1300 can get a reconditioned one with 6 months unlimited mileage warranty off eBay. Even with fitting should be a fair bit cheaper than you have been quoted.

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#1133 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 01, 2023, 08:33:08 pm
That was essentially what I was getting at, unsure of any benefit of getting a hybrid and wondering about the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel cars once they ban their production. I guess that will be incredibly gradual.
Hybrids are basically marketed as a stepping stone for people nervous about going electric, but for the vast majority of people now, any anxiety is unnecessary (I took my son to Font in ours, it was ok). Full electric is much better than a hybrid and prices aren't much different (everything is expensive!)
Used combustion petrol and diesels will still be around for many years, only new ones will be banned. Although by 2030 there will be a decent range of used EVs up to a good few years old, so they'll be available at a better range of prices too.

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#1134 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 01, 2023, 09:05:37 pm
That was essentially what I was getting at, unsure of any benefit of getting a hybrid and wondering about the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel cars once they ban their production. I guess that will be incredibly gradual.
Hybrids are basically marketed as a stepping stone for people nervous about going electric, but for the vast majority of people now, any anxiety is unnecessary (I took my son to Font in ours, it was ok). Full electric is much better than a hybrid and prices aren't much different (everything is expensive!)
Used combustion petrol and diesels will still be around for many years, only new ones will be banned. Although by 2030 there will be a decent range of used EVs up to a good few years old, so they'll be available at a better range of prices too.

If my memory serves me right, you live in the Netherlands?

I'm all for getting an EV myself, but I'm under no illusion that the UK is still quite poorly served by charging infrastructure. NL has nearly 30% of all the chargers installed in the entire EU!!  https://www.acea.auto/press-release/electric-cars-half-of-all-chargers-in-eu-concentrated-in-just-two-countries/

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#1135 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 01, 2023, 09:14:14 pm
That was essentially what I was getting at, unsure of any benefit of getting a hybrid and wondering about the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel cars once they ban their production. I guess that will be incredibly gradual.
Hybrids are basically marketed as a stepping stone for people nervous about going electric, but for the vast majority of people now, any anxiety is unnecessary (I took my son to Font in ours, it was ok). Full electric is much better than a hybrid and prices aren't much different (everything is expensive!)
Used combustion petrol and diesels will still be around for many years, only new ones will be banned. Although by 2030 there will be a decent range of used EVs up to a good few years old, so they'll be available at a better range of prices too.

If my memory serves me right, you live in the Netherlands?

I'm all for getting an EV myself, but I'm under no illusion that the UK is still quite poorly served by charging infrastructure. NL has nearly 30% of all the chargers installed in the entire EU!!  https://www.acea.auto/press-release/electric-cars-half-of-all-chargers-in-eu-concentrated-in-just-two-countries/
Haha no, Dutch name but my ancestors moved across here about 170 years ago!
The charging infrastructure needs to improve and keep growing with demand but actually, if you know what you are doing, it's now perfectly adequate for long trips in the big majority of England (and also France through to Germany and Scandinavia). It has come on loads in just the last 12 months. It's poor in Wales and relatively sparse in Scotland (although per person they supposedly have more chargers).
So yer, the infrastructure is not a reason to avoid EV any more for longer trips, for most people. The horror stories you see are a mixture of deliberate BS and user error (mostly the latter - you do have to do some reading around the subject). For day to day stuff, they are less convenient if you don't have a home charger (ie driveway, basically), but super easy if you do. And obviously the cost of a new car is a barrier to many.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2023, 09:19:47 pm by Sidehaas »

erm, sam

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#1136 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 02, 2023, 08:56:15 am
Quote
Have you considered just replacing the engine? Looks like £1300 can get a reconditioned one with 6 months unlimited mileage warranty off eBay. Even with fitting should be a fair bit cheaper than you have been quoted.

I considered it for about 5 mins before concluding I knew too little about cars/the specific problem to make the call. If the same thing happened again I might do it differently. The engine is now out of the car being worked on, so feel like I might as well carry on...

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#1137 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 02, 2023, 10:36:09 am
I was pretty unimpressed with the Ford garage charging my MiL an extra over for the oil on the £1350 EcoBoost timing belt change. Surely, surely, if you've quoted someone for changing a WET BELT you've accounted for the need to put oil back in the bloody engine when you're done?

They also charged her VAT on top of the quote which I'm fairly damn certain I'd confirmed was included at the time.

I'm finding main dealers to be far worse than any indy dealership I've dealt with. Trying to get the paperwork for my Panda's recent work is nigh on impossible.

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#1138 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 02, 2023, 01:17:58 pm
That was essentially what I was getting at, unsure of any benefit of getting a hybrid and wondering about the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel cars once they ban their production. I guess that will be incredibly gradual.
Hybrids are basically marketed as a stepping stone for people nervous about going electric, but for the vast majority of people now, any anxiety is unnecessary (I took my son to Font in ours, it was ok). Full electric is much better than a hybrid and prices aren't much different (everything is expensive!)
Used combustion petrol and diesels will still be around for many years, only new ones will be banned. Although by 2030 there will be a decent range of used EVs up to a good few years old, so they'll be available at a better range of prices too.

So you drove UK to Font full electric?? Easy to charge in France?

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#1139 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 09:06:40 am
That was essentially what I was getting at, unsure of any benefit of getting a hybrid and wondering about the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel cars once they ban their production. I guess that will be incredibly gradual.
Hybrids are basically marketed as a stepping stone for people nervous about going electric, but for the vast majority of people now, any anxiety is unnecessary (I took my son to Font in ours, it was ok). Full electric is much better than a hybrid and prices aren't much different (everything is expensive!)
Used combustion petrol and diesels will still be around for many years, only new ones will be banned. Although by 2030 there will be a decent range of used EVs up to a good few years old, so they'll be available at a better range of prices too.

So you drove UK to Font full electric?? Easy to charge in France?
Yes, very. There are big charging sites with multiple fast chargers at good intervals on the Autoroute and they all worked with a payment card that I got in the UK with my car (unlike the UK, most sites on the continent don't take a standard contactless credit card). I did have one occasion where I tried to access an autoroute charging station from a local road and couldn't because of a locked gate (this was at Arbonne la foret), so I had to drive out of my way to another site at Nemours. But that was mostly down to my own cockup with navigation.
The journey from Calais to Font probably took 45 minutes longer than it would have in my Octavia. At 130kph consumption is high so it takes a bit longer to charge back up, but I couldn't be bothered slowing down.

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#1140 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 09:31:59 am
Lots of UK electric cars heading to the alps last year with skis on the top.  I was impressed.   I guess you just have to accept that it'll take a few hours longer over all and be well organised with knowing where the charging stations are.. planning your journey and stops etc.

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#1141 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 11:46:55 am
Ha, got to thank TFL for that. Had to get rid of the 50 to get an ULEZ compliant car.
What make/model did you go for as ULEZ compliant?

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#1142 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 06:08:15 pm
Ha, got to thank TFL for that. Had to get rid of the 50 to get an ULEZ compliant car.
What make/model did you go for as ULEZ compliant?

I got a Volvo V60 in the D4 flavour. Early VEA engine one as they were euro 6 from 2014 onwards. Seemingly they achieved that by having all the emissions sticking to the inside of the EGR/cooler/manifold/emap pipe/etc instead of coming out the exhaust  :shit:

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#1143 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 08:34:17 pm
Ha, got to thank TFL for that. Had to get rid of the 50 to get an ULEZ compliant car.
What make/model did you go for as ULEZ compliant?

I got a Volvo V60 in the D4 flavour. Early VEA engine one as they were euro 6 from 2014 onwards. Seemingly they achieved that by having all the emissions sticking to the inside of the EGR/cooler/manifold/emap pipe/etc instead of coming out the exhaust  :shit:
Sweet. Any recommendations for cheap (ie. >£5k) ULEZ-compliant estates, preferably petrol?

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#1144 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 08:42:47 pm
AutoAlex swapped his 3.0D X5 for a large petrol engined Porsche Cayenne and was suggesting that most diesels pre 2016 were screwed but for petrol engines that was much earlier, 2006 perhaps?

If that's correct there must be loads. In other news, if any London bound 335d Touring owners need to get rid then please let me know.  :tumble:

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#1145 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 03, 2023, 10:47:02 pm
Sweet. Any recommendations for cheap (ie. >£5k) ULEZ-compliant estates, preferably petrol?

Not a a Volvo V60 in the D4 flavour with the early VEA engine  :-\

As Paul mentions above, petrol engines only have to be Euro 4 which means any car made on/after 2006 will be compliant, so you are spoilt for choice really.

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#1146 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 16, 2023, 08:52:40 pm
So, got it fixed eventually. They did have to get new bits as they couldnt regrind as it was too knackered. Cost a fortune, but still cheaper than getting a new car, just about...
If you have a 1l ecoboost engine, replace the wet belt at 50,000 miles or 10 yrs! Or else.

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#1147 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 17, 2023, 11:21:13 am
If you have a 1l ecoboost engine, replace the wet belt at 50,000 miles or 10 yrs! Or else.

It's 10yrs or 150k miles isn't it? If they need a £1350 service every 50k miles compared to VAGs £350-450 ish at a similar mileage then  :worms:

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but did anyone else with air-suspension not know that your car likely has a jacking mode and not engaging it when putting the car on a lift or just changing a tyre isn't very good for the bags?
« Last Edit: February 17, 2023, 11:38:37 am by Paul B »

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#1148 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 17, 2023, 12:38:21 pm
Good tip.

Also, if you’ve got an EV, many brands need a ‘Jack Pad’ (<£5 online) or you risk irreparably fucking your battery if you jack it up.

I narrowly missed finding this out first-hand.

erm, sam

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#1149 Re: Cars, Cars, Fucking CARS !!
February 17, 2023, 04:11:48 pm
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It's 10yrs or 150k miles isn't it?
You are probably right. I had stopped paying attention by then.

 

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