... and now I know

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Sinned
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Sinned »

Well, my take on cars is to remember what my father ( a master motor mechanic ) advised, "Remember that ALL cars are just heaps of scrap metal, some just look better than others." I have no loyalty for any brand or model although I have found Skodas [1] particularly reliable. I go for cheap [0] on the basis that if you get a pup you can resell it cheap, buy again and have not lost a lot of money. I keep a car for 5 years or so, scrap it and buy again. The economics are obvious and my outlay on cars has been and still is minimal. I think that to pay £10k or more for a car is ludicrous and mere vanity.
Fully comprehensive motor insurance costs me just over £100 a year. It's not cost effective for me to get rid of one of our two cars even though we could probably get away with one. If anything I would go for an older more classic model as my next car having fewer electronics, more understandable and easier to repair, assuming that parts are still available. A Mazda MX5 or little Lotus Elan ( 60's version ) appeals. I feel that I'm in a lucky situation.

BTW I know that the motor servicing/repair business is completely different in the US so I do take that into account.

[0] in the region of £500 - £1000.k
[1] Czech company now part of the Volkswagen group. My father used to work for Skoda and I had four, one after another, as he could gets them cheap and he had the expertise to diagnose a fault for me to carry out the repair. They're out of my price range now.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
Shilo
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Shilo »

A recent survey of car reliability in “Which” the consumer magazine, found that some of the most unreliable brands of vehicle were the so called luxury category with Landrover and Tesla being particularly poor. Despite my prejudice over Japanese brands being soulless, they appeared amongst the best.
Personally I have relented and bought a Kia simply for the 7 year warranty and functionality.
For me the days are long gone when I performed my own maintenance. Modern day electronics are a mystery to me
Last edited by Shilo on Thu Aug 27, 2020 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Big and Bashful
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Big and Bashful »

Just a wee word of caution for those cars with long warranties, Kia etc. offer great warranties, if something breaks, they will replace it. Super, smashing, great! However, if that replacement bit fails, it will not be covered by your warranty. You can then find you are having to pay high prices for more replacement bits. The other downside of having cars from these companies is that trade-in prices can be really low unless you go back to the same company and trade for another from the same manufacturer. Fine for some folk, not fine for others I suppose. I wouldn't know, I have never had the money for a new car from any dealer, just repeating what I have been told.
Sooner or later I am going to have to bite the bullet, put my 2008 Renault Septic to sleep and look for a car, in a couple of years I should be mortgage free and will think about the next chariot, last time I hired a car it was a Hyundai i30, all the toys I like, my first experience of a DCT which I really liked, a good engine and comfortable. I would seriously think about one of those, or possibly an affordable hybrid if there is such a thing. Maybe in a couple of years there will be hybrids that can tow more than a breadbin without costing a fortune! (Most cars that use electrickery either can hardly tow, or cannot tow. Some cannot be towed! Great if you break down or have an empty electric tank in one of the UK's new "smart motorways" where there is nowhere safe to stop!)
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denimini
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by denimini »

I totally agree with Carl about the emissions era carburetted engines which used more fuel to reduce a percentage of a particular gas - when they were new - and got worse as little valves clogged or wore out.
When I bought a car (always low mileage second hand) I would carry out a sort of exorcism, removing a tentacled mass of pipes, wires and things. Afterwards I would install a Weber DCD Carby (well designed old technology) and tune it using a wide band oxygen sensor (modern tech). I would also install a coolant monitor. Most basic engines are very reliable these days.
Reliability is important where I live because often there is no mobile reception, little or no traffic and a long way for someone to come and help or tow you (if I did get a message to them and they can find me).

In my stable I have one Brit, 3 Japanese and a Malaysian. I do all the work on them myself. The Malaysian did not require an exorcism as it has electronic engine management. The Landrover required a different sort; removal of all vestiges of the Knight of Darkness.

I am enthusiastic about electric vehicles but fear that they will only come with "auto correct" - and slam on the brakes when a roly-poly bush blows across the road, as happened to a friend of mine. Lucky a road train was not behind him, although perhaps the rear camera might have detected that and fed it into the mysterious algorithm. :roll:
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
Shilo
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Shilo »

Correction on that Any part which is replaced is covered for the remainder of the warranty not another seven years.
Also you don’t have to buy new. I myself bought one 1 year old and had the six years warranty transferred automatically. Incidentally it was £8000 less than buying new. As you are probably aware cars generally lose around 33% in the first year Another option is to lease (rent) but you never own the car and are faced with having to pay vast amounts every month just for the kudos of driving some shiny metal around.
I prefer to by a reliable vehicle and keep it until it starts to cost money to keep on the road.
You pays your money and you makes your choice
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Kirbstone
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Kirbstone »

In 55 years of car ownership I've done the rounds. In the 60s most people here drove British cars and people like my Dad who was a country physician drove a succession of VW Beetles. I learned to drive on this make and took my test in one (1960).

Professional remuneration and the facility to run one vehicle on 'the Practice' steered me early on into buying cars new. Triumph & Rover featured, but with the arrival of family, Peugeot estates were bought, three in a row. Parallel were Citroens, three of those, too. Big problem with all of them...patchy paintwork and rust. Not so a vintage 1928 Alvis 1250 with four-seat alu. touring bodywork over an iron chassis, soft top with side screens. Try approaching downhill to a roundabout in that one and you'll learn to double-declutch double quick, otherwise you're right into the boot of that car in front with servo-assisted brakes! Chopped her in for school fees later on. Added value! She's probably worth six figures now.

Pity those put in charge of BMC and later BLMC had no investment foresight and they were crushed under by the Germans and later the Orientals.

Enter Audi. Three of those, each of which was properly painted, didn't rust and Very Solidly Built. Then a long love affair with W 124 Mercs, pretty in their day, petrol guzzling and ultimately unreliable. One rusted badly. I kept it too long.
Next came a Fiver Beemer touring, one with M-sport all over it, a Ferrari in sheep's clothing. MOH hated it and its image and also it drank oil. Thumbs down on that one & it had to go.
Getting old now and appropriately I drive a Volvo. Indestructible, very frugal, no image problem and does the job.

Tom
Carpe Diem......Seize the Day !
Ray
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Ray »

Yup, Volvos are good cars. We have one - an XC60 (2018). Not too big, luxurious, refined, comfortable. Perfect for us and the dog.
Shilo
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Shilo »

Kirbstone wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:14 pm .

Pity those put in charge of BMC and later BLMC had no investment foresight and they were crushed under by the Germans and later the orientals
Couldn’t agree more. Governments of the day discouraged profit and hence the capacity for investment. Couple that with poor management and the power of the unions , they were doomed to oblivion. Before the advent of the Japanese car, it was generally accepted that you would return to the dealer after 500 miles with a long list of faults to be corrected BMC and its successors never had any imagination when it came to product development. They would take a good design and keep it until it was superseded by the competition. Only then would they do anything about it. Cars in those days rarely lasted for 10 years and engines only around 60000 miles. A lot of this was down to poor build quality and the fact that they were only designed to do so.
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Kirbstone
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Re: ... and now I know

Post by Kirbstone »

Shilo,

Talking about a 'long list of faults at 500mi., My very first car was a new 1966 Triumph Vitesse overdrive saloon with a webasto opening roof which I drove to Ankara (Turkey) and back with a friend within months of buying it, so it had 3000-odd miles on it when I submitted it for its first service.

The list of mechanical parts replaced on the guarantee would almost buy me a replacement car!

Enjoy your Volvo SC 60. Quite a motor. I have an admiration for the new generation of high crossovers & SUVs which are offered by every maker now, but on this sainted island we have a 'traveler' problem and practically all the public car parks are fitted with an overhead bar at the entrance to keep the tinkers out. This is so at two rowing venues to which I (used to before Covid!) regularly take my single sculling boat on the roof of my car. The proliferation of private sculling boats among the moneyed classes means that there is no longer 'room at the inn' for an old lag like myself to store his boat, so transport from home has to happen for now.

'Normal' estate cars are the answer as they allow my boat on the roof to pass beneath the said bars. My first Volvo was a little V50 which was a ladies' car, truth to say. The tailgate swung up to a height just right to decapitate me but was fine for MOH. Enter the present V70 with a flatter roofline run aft and a higher tailgate (like the old Merc.) No photo yet.

Tom
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