What do you drive?

[sidcow]

On 02/07/2022 at 09:06, Sid4ever said:

I will bring mine round to show you. 

[trekka]

6 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Ooohhh, he'll get the hump when he sees this. 

[BOF]

On 01/07/2022 at 19:44, Xela said:

While I'm not usually a fan of 'moderns' I must admit I am liking the look of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV car. Looks fantastic. 

Yeah there's a brutalism to them. Quite 80s angular in a way. I like them. Very imposing.

[Chindie]

On 02/07/2022 at 02:06, supermon said:

Quick question, would anyone recommend buying a diesel despite not really doing much motorway journeys? They are cheaper and I seem to find better quality cars with diesel. I've been looking at Mercedes C Class 2015 model and higher.

Few friends have said they have their diesel and do city driving with no issues and others are saying to steer clear of diesels. So confused...any thoughts?

Alternative is to go for petrol, can't find any decent hybrid cars for my budget, after a saloon, but the value for money isnt as good.

Diesel only makes sense if you do lots of miles. It's more expensive a fuel and the economical benefits only really show themselves on long runs.

The DPF will start to cause you problems if you are only doing short journeys and you can only fix it for so long. My dad had this issue with a VW Passat. It was only doing short journeys, city diving, regularly, with longer motorway runs a handful of times a year. Eventually the DPF started to play up requiring a motorway run to clear it, once a week with the car stuck in 'limp' mode otherwise. This only works for a while though, and you end up with a very big bill to replace the DPF inevitably.

There's a reason the diesel cars are cheaper.

[Chindie]

25 minutes ago, BOF said:

Yeah there's a brutalism to them. Quite 80s angular in a way. I like them. Very imposing.

In fairness it looks like a late 80s/early 90s Alfa went through the machine from the Fly with 'the 2020s' so you would like it

 

[BOF]

Just now, Chindie said:

In fairness it looks like a late 80s/early 90s Alfa went through the machine from the Fly with 'the 2020s' so you would like it

Guilty as charged.

[Risso]

23 minutes ago, Chindie said:

Diesel only makes sense if you do lots of miles. It's more expensive a fuel and the economical benefits only really show themselves on long runs.

The DPF will start to cause you problems if you are only doing short journeys and you can only fix it for so long. My dad had this issue with a VW Passat. It was only doing short journeys, city diving, regularly, with longer motorway runs a handful of times a year. Eventually the DPF started to play up requiring a motorway run to clear it, once a week with the car stuck in 'limp' mode otherwise. This only works for a while though, and you end up with a very big bill to replace the DPF inevitably.

There's a reason the diesel cars are cheaper.

We had that problem on the Isle of Man, which believe me, over there was a big problem. "To clear the DPF drive it for 30 miles at 60mph". And where would you suggest we do that over there?

[bickster]

24 minutes ago, Risso said:

We had that problem on the Isle of Man, which believe me, over there was a big problem. "To clear the DPF drive it for 30 miles at 60mph". And where would you suggest we do that over there?

TT Circuit

[bickster]

On 02/07/2022 at 02:06, supermon said:

Quick question, would anyone recommend buying a diesel despite not really doing much motorway journeys? They are cheaper and I seem to find better quality cars with diesel. I've been looking at Mercedes C Class 2015 model and higher.

Few friends have said they have their diesel and do city driving with no issues and others are saying to steer clear of diesels. So confused...any thoughts?

Alternative is to go for petrol, can't find any decent hybrid cars for my budget, after a saloon, but the value for money isnt as good.

You are more likely to get hammered for daily congestion / clean air charges which very soon are likely to come into effect in cities all over the country. They were meant to be in effect here now but have been delayed a year due to COVID, same in Manchester

[Risso]

1 hour ago, bickster said:

TT Circuit

That's OK when they shut the roads for the actual TT, not so good when you're passing a school in a 30mph zone during the rest of the year!

And it's not just the DPF, having to put that AdBlu stuff in is a ballache as well.

[StanBalaban]

3 hours ago, BOF said:

Yeah there's a brutalism to them. Quite 80s angular in a way. I like them. Very imposing.

Whilst not as colourful, I was a big fan of the interior of my (now departed) 1989 Merc 560SEC, complete with a Japanese market AMG steering wheel, in lieu of the big airbag wheel.

 

[foreveryoung]

2 hours ago, StanBalaban said:

Whilst not as colourful, I was a big fan of the interior of my (now departed) 1989 Merc 560SEC, complete with a Japanese market AMG steering wheel, in lieu of the big airbag wheel.

 

Cars were well made then, not cheap mass produced junk they mostly throw out now. The 1990's S class, like the one Diana died in, was one of the last of the best built Mercedes. It's all technology now while trying to keep it as light as possible

[Xela]

5 hours ago, Chindie said:

In fairness it looks like a late 80s/early 90s Alfa went through the machine from the Fly with 'the 2020s' so you would like it

 

Lets hope it became reliable on the way  

[Xela]

10 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Cars were well made then, not cheap mass produced junk they mostly throw out now. The 1990's S class, like the one Diana died in, was one of the last of the best built Mercedes. It's all technology now while trying to keep it as light as possible

I love the old Mercs. Massively over engineered. Any 80s or 90s models were beautifully crafted. 

Like you say, it started to go a bit shitty in the 00's following the merger with Chrysler. 

[StanBalaban]

16 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Cars were well made then, not cheap mass produced junk they mostly throw out now. The 1990's S class, like the one Diana died in, was one of the last of the best built Mercedes. It's all technology now while trying to keep it as light as possible

Totally agree. I'm a complete sucker for cars from the 80's and 90's.

[supermon]

6 hours ago, Chindie said:

Diesel only makes sense if you do lots of miles. It's more expensive a fuel and the economical benefits only really show themselves on long runs.

The DPF will start to cause you problems if you are only doing short journeys and you can only fix it for so long. My dad had this issue with a VW Passat. It was only doing short journeys, city diving, regularly, with longer motorway runs a handful of times a year. Eventually the DPF started to play up requiring a motorway run to clear it, once a week with the car stuck in 'limp' mode otherwise. This only works for a while though, and you end up with a very big bill to replace the DPF inevitably.

There's a reason the diesel cars are cheaper.

Thanks for this insight, been to-ing and fro-ing with the idea but think I'll go for petrol, I don't think it's worth the headache.

I had the same reservations, I too was thinking yeah it'd be fine for a bit and then boom it'll go to shits

[Loxstock92]

On 16/06/2022 at 17:57, Loxstock92 said:

Evening all

found a car that fits the bill of what I’m looking for. Going to test drive on Sunday. Car I believe is very well priced as it is so don’t think there’s room for haggling.

Something that keeps running through my head. I don’t NEED a car right now but will by end of the year/beginning of next when son starts childcare. Am I right to assume that it’s looking likely that used prices won’t come down between now and then, even if we go into a recession?

So I bit the bullet and went ahead and got the car, yippeeeeededd….until it wouldn’t go into gear and the clutch pedal was stuck to the floor today. Had to leave work early as mrs was driving and had to swap cars. Waited 2 hours for AA technician to come out and reset the fault code.

now to decide whether to get it repaired under warranty or reject it

[TheAuthority]

On 04/07/2022 at 10:10, foreveryoung said:

Cars were well made then...The 1990's S class, like the one Diana died in, was one of the last of the best built Mercedes. It's all technology now while trying to keep it as light as possible

Seat belts weren't great though.

[foreveryoung]

11 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Seat belts weren't great though.

Guess they are if you wear them

[BOF]

Something to infuriate on this fine summer's day.

Quote

BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month

75 comments

The auto industry is racing towards a future full of microtransactions

BMW is now selling subscriptions for heated seats in a number of countries — the latest example of the company’s adoption of microtransactions for high-end car features.

A monthly subscription to heat your BMW’s front seats costs roughly $18, with options to subscribe for a year ($180), three years ($300), or pay for “unlimited” access for $415.

We’ve asked BMW for the exact details of this roll-out, but it was unable to say when the subscriptions had been launched in which countries. It’s no surprise that BMW isn’t trumpeting the news, though. Since the company announced in 2020 that its cars’ operating system would allow for microtransactions on features like automatic high beams and adaptive cruise control, customers have decried the move as greedy and exploitative.

Carmakers have always charged customers more money for high-end features, of course, but the dynamic is very different when software, rather than hardware, is the limiting factor.

Charging more for high-end features feels different when you already own them

In the case of heated seats, for example, BMW owners already have all the necessary components, but BMW has simply placed a software block on their functionality that buyers then have to pay to remove.

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**** rocket polishers.