Car Talk

[Davydine]

5 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

My previous car was a Skoda 2 litre Superb 5 door  (2011)  which covered just shy of 350,000 faultless miles and I would have happily kept it if licensing had permitted ( we have a maximum age of 8 years old for cabs in Cambridge City.

Blimey, hopefully my Superb will be good for a few miles yet! As a matter of interest, what fuel / additive  did you use?

[rightsaidfred]

A car is a car is a car, it gets me from where I am to where I want to be and gets used to carry what ever I need it to, I started with a Ford Prefect and have run Fords ever since, cheap to run easy to maintain with spares readily available (in the old days from a breakers yard) and I have never had a  problem and only change them when replacing parts costs more than the car is worth, I have used supermarket fuel ever since they started selling it both Petrol and Diesel with no noticeable issues the only thing I am fussy about is keeping brakes within good parameters and good quality medium range tyres as they are my only contact with the road and can make the difference between mine or someone else`s life or death.

As I had to pay all my running costs from a hard earned salary and now pension I have never treated a car as anything other than a tool that needed to justify its existence alongside everything else I own.

Fred

[BroadAmbition]

I would tentatively suggest any normal mass produced car that has covered 350’000 miles would be akin to Triggers Brush!

Griff

[misswhiplash76]

14 hours ago, Davydine said:

Robin, I bought my car just over 2 years ago when I got the chance to opt out of my company car scheme.

I had a choice of a brand new, entry level, Vauxhall Insignia or a 3 year old top of the range Skoda superb. (The L&K model) I was reluctant to buy the Skoda because of some sort of snobbery on my part (you remember the jokes in the 80s about them right?) but I took it for a test drive and fell for it completely! It is incredibly comfortable, sufficiently fast, handles very nicely, tows my caravan, and can fit all my family in easily. The stereo is a thing of joy and the DAB radio is excellent. It also has a built inTV and will park itself, but can't say I use either feature much!

I only ever fill it with Tesco diesel and the fuel consumption is consistently 55mpg. I drive bout 25,000 miles per year. I get over 30 mpg when I tow the caravan.

A minor service in a Skoda main dealer is about £150 a major one about £250. I recently had the cam belt changed (recommended at 5 years old) a major service and front brake disks and pads all for just over £1000

I would have another Skoda in a heartbeat and for the £40k you mentioned you could have a brand new top of the range Kodiaq, which is their large SUV, rather than a second hand BMW.

Having said all of that, what others have said about it just being a car is absolutely correct. I could do everything I need to in an older, cheeper car, but I think I have got a good balance. Skoda is part of the Volkswagen Audi group, but I am not paying for the Audi badge. I see no reason why I shouldn't keepthis car for another 5 years when it will be 10years old and have don 150,000 miles. I reckon I will have had my moneys worth.

Just my 2p

David

iim with you on that skodas are the busness.we have had 2 octavias.2.0 petrol and 2.0 diesel.cheap to maintain and very reliable.im driving a c5 now worst thing i did getting rid of octavia

 

[oldgregg]

9 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

Go with a Lexus and you get a great reliable luxurious car - then you also have to deal with a petrol engine that is large and smooth. That means higher tax, higher parking permit prices and yet not much to write home about in out and out performance. That soft ride also means it has the traits of other higher riding SUV's - body roll. Go for the Hybrid to reduce the tax costs and give some better MPG and loose a bunch of boot space taken up with the batteries - add weight because of them and the electric motor assembly and that eats into the performance still further. That is just an example, there are many more.

They're a bit heavier certainly, but now that the platforms are being engineered with electrification in mind (and they definitely weren't before) the packaging is a lot better and batteries aren't just shoved wherever there was a space ie the boot floor or under the rear seats.

But any SUV is heavier, slower, worse at handling, less economical and less stable in strong winds than a regular car just because of the laws of physics - so any car is a compromise. A Lexus IS hybrid weighs a lot less than an X5, and an RX hybrid weighs about the same depending on model.

The Prius is a horrible car. Great tech but way too slow and why did they not restyle it for Europe like everyone else does with Japanese models? I wouldn't drive one unless I was being paid to.

But now that there are a broader range of models and some performance models then it seems logical. Why turn fuel that you've paid for into heat (and brake dust) every time you press the brakes? Seems mad (and a bit prehistoric) not to recover that energy so yes you do have to carry round a battery pack, but the penalty for that isn't quite what you think it is because the weight is offset by the amount of energy it stores.

Admittedly, the life of the battery pack is a bit of a worry. After 250k miles you may need to replace it.

[oldgregg]

50 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

I would tentatively suggest any normal mass produced car that has covered 350’000 miles would be akin to Triggers Brush!

I've seen some old VW group 1.9TDI's (mostly the Skoda version which was detuned and thus lower stress) with over 400,000 miles on them and was told it was just good, regular servicing that got them there.

They're the exception rather than the rule of course, but it does show even VW group used to be able to make good cars.

[CambridgeCabby]

1 hour ago, Davydine said:

Blimey, hopefully my Superb will be good for a few miles yet! As a matter of interest, what fuel / additive  did you use?

Normally used Shell diesel, did not use any additives .Serviced her every 18,000 miles and used a good quality semi synthetic oil , also I had NOT had the engine re management carried out after the VW “dirty diesel” scandal , my colleagues that did lost fuel economy and performance noticeably 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Sorry i had to disappear without finishing my post last night.

Second, Superstore petrol,

When you look at the superstores petrol prices, it IS`NT because they use petrol WITHOUT addatives etc, it`s because they a) buy in huge quantities, and b), they usually buy from whoever can give them the cheapest price at the time. I once dated a lady who worked for one of the major retailers (quite a while back) and she told me they were currently buying their fuel from the "Gulf" petrol / oil company, but they had bought from other major fuel companies when their price was the cheapest.  All petrol companies now have to sell petrol that meets current regulations, and it`s just not finnancially viable for them these days to refine several different grades of petrol (or diesel). So for all you know, when you fill up your fuel tank at Morrison`s, Tesco`s, Sainsbury`s etc, you could be filling up with fuel from Texaco, BP, Esso etc etc etc. 

 

One example of manufacturers parts against so called "pattern parts",  Back in the late 70s, i bought "points" for my then Suzuki GT250B. When i was buying them in the local Suzuki dealership, he asked i wanted patternm or genuine parts. I asked what the difference was, and he said the pattern parts were NOT covered under warranty, and that the "genuine parts" weere £3.75p per set (being a twin, i needed 2 sets), and the pattern parts were £1.50 per set. The following year when i was giving it a service, i again went to buy some points and said i better have the genuine parts as the pattern ones were not covered under warranty. The salesman (different guy from the previous year) told me that was rubbish as they were in fact, the same part just supplied in different packaging, and showed me exactly what he was saying by getting each set out. They WERE exactly the same, with the same part number in the same place etc. It turned out "Nippon Denso" were the supplier of all Suzuki electricl components.

Another example was a good friend from work had a Suzuki Carry mini van, and wanted to change the cam belt. Back in the early 90s, from Suzuki, the cam belt kit was £38.00.  Now, those of you in the know, will know the Bedford Rascla mini van is EXACTLY the same as the Suzuki Carry (except for the front panel) with all the same engine, chassis parts, electrical systems etc. So my friend went to the local Vauxhal / Bedford dealer, and bought exactly the same parts for around £12.00.  

It`s always worth doing a little research and asking questions, because it MIGHT just save you a small fortune over time.  You never know, you could even save yourself enough to book a holiday on the Broads?.

 

 

[oldgregg]

34 minutes ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

Another example was a good friend from work had a Suzuki Carry mini van, and wanted to change the cam belt. Back in the early 90s, from Suzuki, the cam belt kit was £38.00.  Now, those of you in the know, will know the Bedford Rascla mini van is EXACTLY the same as the Suzuki Carry (except for the front panel) with all the same engine, chassis parts, electrical systems etc. So my friend went to the local Vauxhal / Bedford dealer, and bought exactly the same parts for around £12.00.  

I don't know how true it is, but I was told by someone some years back that the parts you bought from the Bedford dealer would come in a Suzuki box as well....

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

1 hour ago, oldgregg said:

I don't know how true it is, but I was told by someone some years back that the parts you bought from the Bedford dealer would come in a Suzuki box as well....

Another thing,  Karen`s Dad has a "Cheverolet Trax", which is exactly the same car as the Vauxhall Mocca.  The Cheverolet version is now badged as a Daewo or however they`re spelt.

[oldgregg]

Take a good look at the Vauxhall Crossland, Grandland and the Peugeot 2008 and 3008....

[grendel]

the worlds highest mileage car with over 3.2 million miles is a volvo.

the volvo 340 had a renault engine, when I had one that was eating through head gaskets the renault gasket was 1/3 the price of the volvo one.

you cant even join the volvo high mileage club until you have done 250,000 miles, the next step is 500,000, then a million

 when you consider that of the 20 cars that exceeded a million miles, there are 4 volvos in that list as well as 4 mercedes

two of my volvos exceeded 250,000 miles and would have done more, but on both the cost of parts to replace things like clutches and complete exhaust systems exceeded the £1000 to buy a replacement with half the mileage.

[Matt]

Unless you have the money to buy a hand-built supercar they're just not genuinely exciting, so as a daily driver you're best off with something solid like a Lexus, Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Kia or Hyundai. No they're not considered as exciting, and that's because they may not have invested quite as much of your purchase price into marketing the product via TV ads, having the brand in a racing series, events etc etc. The money has been spent on developing the product, making it reliable and getting the basics right.

The accountant in me made me go for an Hyundai!

No regrets so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Norfolk Broads Network

[Paul]

I would urge caution to anyone using additives in their fuel, lubricant or transmission. Adding anything to these systems other than the manufacturers recommended fuel, oil or ATF will invalidate any manufacturers warranty and most aftermarket warranties. Not having had to worry about such things for most of my motoring life I have sampled a number of different products and most of them are little more than snake oil. 

With regard to fuel I've never found hard evidence that one fuel is better than another and every time I have tested premium fuels I have never seen anything to justify the extra cost. All I do know is that the Greenergy tanker which supplies the BP station in the village also supplies our local Tesco.

As for tyres you pays your money and takes your choice. A tyre which performs well on one vehicle might not perform so well on another. There are tyres from recognised brands which I wouldn't have on my wheelbarrow whilst there are some budget brands which are very decent. 

Regarding car brands then it's much like tyres, except that you can find hard data on the web as to which brands and which models have proved more or less reliable based on warranty repair claims. Japanese brands have been top of this list for many years and remain so today. Honda, Suzuki, Toyota, Mazda and Lexus fill thetop five spots. German marques were once known for their reliability and build quality but this has not been so for years. As the complexity and technology of cars has increased Japanese manufacturers have managed this much better than those in Europe. 

As for Robin's X5 and it's intermittant tail gate then welcome to the world of BMW ownership. Since the introduction of iDrive in 2001 BMW has been plagued by electrical issues. Ask any garage technician what kind of repair they like the least and to a man they will tell you electronics. They are often intermittent, usually give no indication of where the fault lies making them time consuming and expensive to address. 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Re Tyres, most of my driving life was done on a tight budget, hence budget tyres. At first, i had some good ones which had good grip, and a "reasonable life span. Later, they became more expensive, because the tyre retailers realised that a lot of drivers were buying them, rather than spending out on much more expensive brands. Then i started (out of financial necessity) buying real "budget" budget tyres, called "Wan Li`s" or something like that.  I`ve always put the best, or new tyres on the front because of braking and steering, and did so with the Wan Li`s. They were terrible, seriously so in the wet, and would drift on steering round corners, wheelspin on pulling away, and sliding while braking. Then i decided to get some mid range ones and put them on the front, and swapped the suicide tyres to the back. That was fine, steering was great as was pulling away and braking, but when it got wet one day, i was driving to work, and at the roundabout on the industrial area of Bournemouth airport, i lifted off the throttle and turned left. A couple of seconds later, i was facing back the way i came.  Result?, i took the plunge and bought some more mid range ones for the back.

I still don`t pay a lot for tyres, and still buy middle of the range. They give good grip, and reasonable mileage, considering i now do around 7,000 miles per year.  I don`t have the millions to pay for top brands.

[Paul]

There are two brands of tyres I avoid at all costs, wanli and sunny, except there are sunny'son the back of the Merc which were fitted when I bought it. A lot of tyre we treat as midrange today began life as budget brands to achieve recognition, Avon, Hankook, Vredestein and Kumho come to mind. Out of choice I would fit Toyo Proxes T1R's to any high performance car. I used the previous version of these throughout my racing career and they stick like the preverbial to a blanket, though the cost of that is that they wear slightly quicker, but that is the trade. Sadly they don't make the correct size for the front of the Merc, just about every other option is available but the one I need. As I like to match tyres on all four corners I thought I'd opt for Hankook Ventus V12's. Alas they are not made in the rear size.......

I love my merc, but the different tyre sizes front and rear is proving a real ball ache!

[scaniaman]

Hi Robin, there appears to be a few BMW independent garages around Norwich area, STR , Herring&Palmer and M Kraft  all do fixed price servicing.There also looks to be a well regarded garage in Bury st Edmunds called Warnes. may be worth a look it gets a mention in the Beemer user forums.

Paul

[dnks34]

3 hours ago, Paul said:

There are two brands of tyres I avoid at all costs, wanli and sunny, except there are sunny'son the back of the Merc which were fitted when I bought it. A lot of tyre we treat as midrange today began life as budget brands to achieve recognition, Avon, Hankook, Vredestein and Kumho come to mind. Out of choice I would fit Toyo Proxes T1R's to any high performance car. I used the previous version of these throughout my racing career and they stick like the preverbial to a blanket, though the cost of that is that they wear slightly quicker, but that is the trade. Sadly they don't make the correct size for the front of the Merc, just about every other option is available but the one I need. As I like to match tyres on all four corners I thought I'd opt for Hankook Ventus V12's. Alas they are not made in the rear size.......

I love my merc, but the different tyre sizes front and rear is proving a real ball ache!

Theres another I can add to your list, Kingstar apparently made by Hankook.  I bought 2 once for the front of my car and even after re balancing the vibrations from them were awful.   I got caught out with them again a few years later not remembering the issues and when I noticed vibrations again I realised what they were, different car by that time but vibrations were the same.  They were from a local independant where I refuse to buy now. 

Ive had Hifly tyres in the past, that was meant to be what happened to you when braking in the wet but I had no trouble with them! 

I have Continentals & Pirellis on new cars that have had shocking characteristics in the wet so I really dont think spending £££ on car tyres makes you any better off, they all must be tested to be sold in the UK budget or premium.  Like many things I believe you are paying for a brand, when I find a good budget I stick with them till I find a better one.  I dont buy into this only thing between me and the road so spending £££ per tyre will keep me alive longer.......if I had a motorbike I might think differently!

[HEM]

My last employment (lasting 2 months under 20 years) included a company car.  I had 3x Passat, 2x Golf Plus and a Touran, all diesels (the last 4 being 2-litre 140 hp).  We were very sad to see the Touran go when I retired - I could have taken the car over but the leasing companies don't really make good offers plus there is such a media campaign in Germany against diesels that we shied away from a possible deal.  Its also probable that I would not drive enough to warrent a diesel (road tax is high here; fuel costs lower than petrol).

To cut a long story short we ended up at a nearby Toyota dealership where they had a Verso S+ (1.8 litre petrol) in the showroom.  It was what they call a "Tageszulassung" - I don't know if the equivalent happens in the UK but some dealerships who are just short of some sales target buy the cars themselves & register them for one day.  They then sell the cars at significantly reduced prices but have collected the bonus for meeting the target thus making a profit overall.  The cars are technically 2nd hand but have never been driven and usually only a couple of months old.  Stood next to it was a Yaris (1.5 litre) - similar deal.  So we said "what if we take both?" & got first annual service free plus each tank full of fuel.

Cars are nice to drive - the Verso is not quite in the same league as the Touran but does have fair carrying capacity.  We do miss the power of the turbo diesel - especially when joining the Autobahn.  The Verso is not an "exciting" car to drive but so far reliable & I took it to the UK (Scotland) & back last Autumn.  My wife's Yaris is quite nippy & looks good.

We'll see how things look in 5 years.

[LondonRascal]

When I bought the car it had some budget tyres, less than 3 months old fitted on the front and some older Dunlops on the rear. I can't remember off the top of my head what the budget's were but remember having to Google to find the company and their swish website. When someone has to keep saying in their sales spiel how good they are compared to other names, and then has a 'life time replacement warranty for workmanship' I feel less confident than if they did not need to say such.  I then could not find anyone positing warm reviews of the tyres .

Anyway, they seemed fine to me so I was not too bothered and put it down to how online reviews tend to be. Then I was driving to Stalham in heavy rain on the B1152 which heads away from Acle. There were some pools of water by the side of the road but nothing too deep and everyone was doing about 45 MPH. However the car was just very skittish, the pull to the left on the wheel when went through any of the water was pretty bad too.  Long story short, got the new tyres and opted to change all four.  It was found the alignment was 'well out' but being a BMW I wanted to find somewhere to do this with a Hunter system. The change since has been night and day, initially they were more noisy but now are quiet and sure footed even in some awful rain and sleet on early morning back to London. I feel far more happy having spent the extra on tyres that should also last longer because of their compound.

As for the Tailgate, fixed that myself today, cause of the issue was the aftermarket rubber boot liner. It had slipped back and was putting pressure on the lower tailgate portion just enough to make the sensor think it was not secured. If it is not secure the upper tailgate will not open or close electrically. Having moved the rubber mat forward, the lower tailgate now closes easily and without needing some force to get it closed. Problem has gone away.

I also decided to find anywhere local that had a Range Rover Sport for sale and have a look at one. I duly did and like it as much as I dislike it. It just is not put together as well as the BMW, neither are the plastics as high quality and the switch gear while chunky looking does not have the feel you might expect. The leather is far better, the seats are like mini armchairs and I like the little armrests.  It is taller and you get a more 'commanding' view but it feels like the sort of car you can just cruise in, no need to push it to hard just enjoy the journey and, sit back and relax.  While I did not take it for a test drive, I know the performance is way down on the BMW's and it guzzles fuel more, and produces more emissions, but it is older and that is to be expected.  I could not swap the BMW for one of those, and while nice idea to have I think it would be the type of thing I'd do for 3 months get it out my system and move on.

 

[Ray]

There is, of course, another car you should try Robin, named after you and famously driven by another London rascal......

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

17 hours ago, Paul said:

There are two brands of tyres I avoid at all costs, wanli and sunny, except there are sunny'son the back of the Merc which were fitted when I bought it. A lot of tyre we treat as midrange today began life as budget brands to achieve recognition, Avon, Hankook, Vredestein and Kumho come to mind. Out of choice I would fit Toyo Proxes T1R's to any high performance car. I used the previous version of these throughout my racing career and they stick like the preverbial to a blanket, though the cost of that is that they wear slightly quicker, but that is the trade. Sadly they don't make the correct size for the front of the Merc, just about every other option is available but the one I need. As I like to match tyres on all four corners I thought I'd opt for Hankook Ventus V12's. Alas they are not made in the rear size.......

I love my merc, but the different tyre sizes front and rear is proving a real ball ache!

Hi Paul, cheers mate, you`ve said the name of the budget brand i first used, but could`nt bring to mind ..... KUMHO.  They were brilliant, held the road extremely well (i was always very throttle happy in my young days) even in the wet,  but the trade of was longevity, and they would need replacing after about 20,000 miles, and they were WELL AND TRULY warn out. 

[Paul]

8 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

I then could not find anyone positing warm reviews of the tyres .

beware of online tyre reviews, very few people who post them have any idea how to accurately assess tyre performance. Many people who post tyre reviews I'm convinced have never used the tyre they are supposedly reviewing and if they have I doubt they have checked that their wheels are accurately tracked and aligned. I asked the question about tyres on the MB owners forum recently wondering what tyres other people were using on my particular model (partly due to the inability to find tyres I like in both front and rear size as posted earlier). I was amazed the number of people who came back to me suggesting their particular choice of tyre was supremely quiet, gave fantastic grip, was brilliant in the wet and lasted for ever. Of course no tyre lasts forever and the more dry grip it gives the faster it will wear. That's just the science of rubber compunds. Softer = more grip and faster wear, harder = less grip but longer wear. The tread pattern on the car has nothing to do with dry grip, that is for clearing water. The better the tyres wet grip the more roadnoise it will give which is down to the block pattern which clears the standing water. Choosing tyres is always a compromise that suits you and the vehicle you are driving. 

Beware making judgement on your old tyres. The inaccuracy of your tracking will have greater impact on their performance than their quality. If you tracking and alignment is not correct then the tyre does not sit accurately on the road and will not offer the performance it should. Your comment about the pull when travelling through standing water should not be seen as a failing of the tyre, actually quite the opposite. That pull is caused by the slowing of the wheel caused by the friction of the tyre clearing that standing water and getting rubber onto the road surface. The greater the pull the better it is doing it's job. A tyre with little or no pull in those circumstances indicates that the water is not being cleared and your tyre is travelling over the surface of it - aquaplaning. When this happens you lose the braking and turning ability of that wheel.

[FairTmiddlin]

3 hours ago, Ray said:

There is, of course, another car you should try Robin, named after you and famously driven by another London rascal......

 

Problem is that other London Rascal never drove a Robin it was a Regal.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

2 minutes ago, FairTmiddlin said:

Problem is that other London Rascal never drove a Robin it was a Regal.

That`s what i said to someone a while ago. It`s surprising how many people called it a "Robin Reliant", when in fact it was a "Reliant Regal Supervan". The  Robin of course being the "Reliant Robin" and not the other way around.   Here`s a question for you, what was the 4 wheeled version of the Robin called?.