[tomtom]

Fultonious trying to hasten the current descent of the oil industry with that clap trap

Paul - Volvos - tried a V50, actually got almost the same amount of space in the boot as the old V70, pretty nippy, the dog would love it, BUT you would hate it any time you tried to do anything with the controls inside the car or store anything in the driver's cabin bigger than a roll of fingertape. It's fiddly as fuck.

(I have no problem with the controls....and it will be the comfiest car you have owned..)

[SA Chris]

Fultonius trying to hasten the current descent of the oil industry with that clap trap

Maybe oil will just get used for all the other zillion things it's handy for, not just wasted as fuel.

[chris j]

In this case it's simply consideration of the stats where the Honda's don't seem to overly excel? I could be wrong here.

I must admit my Octavia was bought primarily because it excelled on the stats and I discarded the Japanese contingent for the same reason. The boot capacity is bigger than my old Focus according to the stats but in reality it is less useful and you can get less stuff in it unless you stack it to the roof as it's narrower but taller. The stats for the 1.8 turbo petrol were outstanding, fast and economical, but if you use the fast pedal you might as well have got a big N/A 6 cylinder as the economy will be about the same..

I've come to the conclusion at the moment that in reality everything with a similar engine and weight is more or less on the same level for performance and economy and you might as well buy on whether it has enough enough space, the seat is comfy, the stereo is easily useable (one thing VW have right for me compared to many others which are utterly incomprehensible) and it's got enough go for easy overtaking. I wouldn't worry about reliability except for specific well known examples (BMW 2 litre diesel, Mini 1.6 turbo, Porsche 996/997 bore-scoring...) as again everything except Land Rovers are so much more reliable than they used to be so we're talking fine margins and as you said greater reliability can often be offset by more expensive parts and waiting times as with the Japanese brands.

Incidentally, V60, tiny in the back, your dog won't thank you! V50 and V70 are the proper estates though a V70 probably belongs with Mondeos and Mazda 6's

[Paul B]

In this case it's simply consideration of the stats where the Honda's don't seem to overly excel? I could be wrong here.

I must admit my Octavia was bought primarily because it excelled on the stats and I discarded the Japanese contingent for the same reason. The boot capacity is bigger than my old Focus according to the stats but in reality it is less useful and you can get less stuff in it unless you stack it to the roof as it's narrower but taller.

That's not much of a concern, the dog isn't short (perhaps 26" TTS). Looking online the vRS seems to offer v. good value for money (comparable to the Exeo), coming in cheaper than the other cars listed. My one concern is that the 3-series is an absolute joy to drive and I wonder if everything FWD will feel like a wobbly boat in comparison?

Also, I'm happy to spend less than what I've stated if people think a slightly older vehicle would be a better bet.

[chris j]

My one concern is that the 3-series is an absolute joy to drive and I wonder if everything FWD will feel like a wobbly boat in comparison?

In that case stick with the BMW, a hefty diesel anchor stuck over/in front of the driven front wheels in the VW/Audi/Skoda way and the steering wheel squirming everytime you accelerate in the damp isn't a route to driving nirvana!

There seems to be plenty of 3 series out there to fit the bill, there also seems to be one or two 5 series tickling the edge of your budget if the dog might like more space, though I appreciate this is again nearing Starship length...

[blacky]

I have an Octavia Vrs diesel and I think it's ace. It's plenty fast enough and you can re-map to 200ish bhp. It handles a million times better than my old fabia vrs diesel - doesn't torque steer or unsteer overly. I don't think it's particularly showy inside, but it is a really nice and comfortable place to be. Does 50+mpg on a run and has a massive boot. Beware there are 2 engines though. PD (sounds like a tractor) and CR (smooth) which swapped over early in 2008. I looked at 320ds and found I couldn't get a decent one, i.e. M-sport lowish mileage, leather for the money. 

[Paul B]

I have an Octavia Vrs diesel and I think it's ace. It's plenty fast enough and you can re-map to 200ish bhp. It handles a million times better than my old fabia vrs diesel - doesn't torque steer or unsteer overly. I don't think it's particularly showy inside, but it is a really nice and comfortable place to be. Does 50+mpg on a run and has a massive boot. Beware there are 2 engines though. PD (sounds like a tractor) and CR (smooth) which swapped over early in 2008. I looked at 320ds and found I couldn't get a decent one, i.e. M-sport lowish mileage, leather for the money.

Did you like the Fabia vRS as we both loved ours (even if it was a bit wobbly). 320ds - That's why my current one was bought at 140k miles (£3.5k)!

[Ally Smith]

I've a VRS Octavia Diesel too - you're welcome to a nose around it if you want? I don't think it a showy interior. However, i would disagree with the understeer/torquesteer comments - you've obviously not pushed it hard on a damp roundabout!

Like the other chap said, the 1968cc VAG 170PS PD/Pumpe Duse/Unit Injector engine is one to avoid - have a  of the injector problems.

A standard 140PS Octavia Estate could fit the bill, with some good examples out there for your £8k budget. You'll have to pay more, or accept a higher mileage for a VRS.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201601190215411?sort=default&model=octavia&page=1&radius=1501&price-to=8000&transmission=manual&fuel-type=diesel&minimum-badge-engine-size=2.0&body-type=estate&search-target=usedcars&postcode=WA16%208AF&make=skoda&maximum-mileage=up_to_80000_miles&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&logcode=p

[SA Chris]

Never seen a Tesla here. How long do they take to recharge anyway?

[Fultonius]

Yeah 40 mins or so on their supercharger stations.  https://www.teslamotors.com/en_GB/findus#/bounds/55.867696330292,-4.2686922697085,55.864998369709,-4.2713902302915,d?search=supercharger&name=g2%203lx

As you say Harbich, just now it's the well-off who are buying them, but the target price of £30-35k for UK versions of the Model 3 brings it much more in line with normal users. It's also spurring other manufacturers to get on the bandwagon (BMW, Chevrolet etc.)

I don't think range is so much of an issue any more - most of us stop within 3 hours anyway and the uk average trip length is a whopping 7.1 miles. A wee bit of extra planning and plenty of "supercharger capacity" will help, but I do see regular motorway drivers shying away for a while - 40 mins charge time is only when the stations are free (obviously) so if there's a bit of a queue you could be fucked!

Range is more affected by use of the brakes than the fun pedal (although, clearly, the former will come hand-in-hand with the latter). I guess what I'm trying to say is that full-load is not vastly less efficient than part-load, but "spirited driving" will reduce range do to braking losses.

[chris j]

Lots in Norway, but then EVs have a large tax advantage over there which I believe makes buying a Tesla not much more expensive than buying a Golf. I've seen 3 or 4 around my part of Devon, along with a couple of BMW i8's and i3's and there's a Nissan Leaf just down the road from us.

[chris j]

You see quite alot of the Mitsubishi PHEV 4x4 tanks around - which due to being able to do about 30 miles (downhill on a warm day, with a light right foot) on an electric charge (they are essentially a hybrid with a bigger battery) benefit from the UK £5k cash back deal.. (despite reverting to 30mpg once their juice is gone).

I forgot about those, the UK's biggest selling hybrid last year, as Mitsubishi UK decided to price it more or less the same as the diesel version. You see quite a few round our way, I think they are popular among frugal-minded pensioners as well as consultants if my parents are in anyway representative of their demographic...

[galpinos]

Not Leafs, but on the same line quite a few businesses in Manchester are running Nissan e-Nv200 electric vans, including British Gas. My issue is, as someone who, like may in Manchester, lives in a terrace with on stree parking, how do I charge my car? Unless I had a dedicated parking spot with under pavement cabling from my house to a my won charging point, how would it work?

I've seen a couple around Manchester - which (to my total surprise) now has a Tesla garage/showroom on the A6 at Heaton Chapel (not the most salubrious area)..

There's a fair few on the M56 of a morning, Cheshire types on their way to work in Manc. There's a few i3s around which would appeal to me if it wasn't for the charging issue above (and the fact they're out of my budget....). There's also an i8 that parks in Chorlton but guessing by where it is parked, it's powned by a local drug baron/knocking shop owner and just the less flashy option than the three identical Bentlys that are normally there.

[Johnny Brown]

here in BC most electricity is from hydro, so genuinely zero emission

Genuinely zero? No concrete dams? Even if that makes for vanishingly low levels of emissions, dams of course have other environmental impacts. I'm not an anti, but nothing is perfect.

[galpinos]

here in BC most electricity is from hydro, so genuinely zero emission

Genuinely zero? No concrete dams? Even if that makes for vanishingly low levels of emissions, dams of course have other environmental impacts. I'm not an anti, but nothing is perfect.

Have you seen the Patagonia film Damnation? Raises some interesting points on this...

[blacky]

I have an Octavia Vrs diesel and I think it's ace. It's plenty fast enough and you can re-map to 200ish bhp. It handles a million times better than my old fabia vrs diesel - doesn't torque steer or unsteer overly. I don't think it's particularly showy inside, but it is a really nice and comfortable place to be. Does 50+mpg on a run and has a massive boot. Beware there are 2 engines though. PD (sounds like a tractor) and CR (smooth) which swapped over early in 2008. I looked at 320ds and found I couldn't get a decent one, i.e. M-sport lowish mileage, leather for the money.

Did you like the Fabia vRS as we both loved ours (even if it was a bit wobbly). 320ds - That's why my current one was bought at 140k miles (£3.5k)!

The fabia did me well and was stupidly economical, but the white seats did my head in and it wasn't very refined. It was quite fast, but I didn't find it particularly fun to drive due to the understeer and all or nothing power delivery. The Octavia is much better in my opinion, as it should be being based on the mk5 golf. I should have said the understeer / torque steer issues are particularly worse than on other quick front drive cars I've owned. In fact I would say the Octavia is the best car I have owned for wet conditions (18inch wheels + Goodyear efficient grip tyres). Still, if you gun it on a wet roundabout you're gonna straight line into the bushes

Btw I paid 7250 for mine with 63k

[Fultonius]

Run of river is, on the whole, better - flooding of vegetated areas causes a one-time release of methane and has many other environmental impacts. Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions for any form of hydro are still way lower than conventional power.

If you take coal as a baseline, the life-cycle GHG emissions of all types of hydro lumped together are ~ 3% of that.

[cofe]

Anyone got/had Green Flag breakdown cover as an alternative to AA/RAC? Much better prices when annual Euro cover factored in...

[a dense loner]

Yes I've had it. Has anyone got/had bad nosebleeds when they were younger?

[cofe]

Hi Lee

[lagerstarfish]

Yes I've had it. Has anyone got/had bad nosebleeds when they were younger?

have you tried shopping at Waitrose?

the staff are much more helpful than at B&Q

[a dense loner]

Not surprising really. We were actually talking today in John Lewis that the staff were much more pleasant than anywhere else and it was almost a joy to part with our money.

[lagerstarfish]

what compression problems did they recommend for someone who drives a modern diesel?

[tomtom]

what compression problems did they recommend for someone who drives a modern diesel?

I don't know, but Pistons with small heads can take more compression;)

[a dense loner]

Cycling to the joker early morning, 100% success rate. And scotch eggs