Johnnyc

I presume you aren't just referring to fuel prices though. I can save 25% on diesel by just going over the border into Donegal, Ireland.

I think you picked me up wrong. I fully appreciate why diesel cars come at a premium over their petrol counterparts. The manufacturers need to pay for all that R&D that has and continues to improve diesel engines all the time. Who would have thought you could get 177 bhp, 0-60 in 8.2 secs and a combined mpg of 57 from 'any' car a few years ago letalone a 2 litre diesel but BMW have done it. I was actually refering to fuel. Maybe i'm being niave but all fuel comes from crude oil and differs only in the extent of refinement and additives that goes into the final product. As diesel fuel is less refined, isn't it actually 'cheaper' to produce?

IMO diesels are a damn sight more easy to live with than petrols. Yes the turbo charged petrol cars out there are quick and torquey but you really sacrifice on the fuel economy. Normally aspirated petrol cars feel totally breathless in comparison with their diesel counterparts even if a bit cheaper and are IMO tiring to drive too. Diesel is the way for me everytime. I drove from Derry to Belfast the other day and during the 75 mile trip used very little fuel at all. It was a pleasant journey and my wee diesel Golf didn't flinch at the climb over the mountain at the Glenshane pass on the way up. I never even dropped out of 5th gear. A similar petrol car would have to be coaxed up the hill by changing down. I averaged 65.5 mpg and by driving an extra few miles and nipping over the border, I filled up for £0.99 per litre. It's a no brainer. Incidentally can anyone explain why diesel is dearer than petrol in the first place? Diesel is much less refined than petrol so if anything should be cheaper. It can't be blamed on demand because demand for petrol is still higher than for diesel although if you factor commercial demand in then more diesel is used than petrol. Hmm that seems a bit unfair.

Yep been there and done that but now I know the secret to a happier less hastle free life. STOP doing things for other people out of the goodness of your heart. Make sure you always have an angle. It's the key to success and genuine people respect you for it. If you don't stop then make sure you think hard about what you are sacrificing and who you are sacrificing it for before doing it. It may seem heartless and losing the 'i'm superman and can do anything' feeling we all get from time to time isn't easy but at least people won't take you for granted anymore. They will know they are damn lucky when you actually DO agree to help them out though.

That's right. There's one on the other side too but it needs to be programmed to operate. 1 offside foglight is sufficient to comply with UK legislation. With regard to faulty lamps, as already pointed out in the previous posts, a failed sidelight is automatically compensated for by using a brake lamp with reduced output. My understanding is that once the backup lamp 'so to speak' fails, the dashboard lamp fail warning light comes on. John

Boss suggested a 320d SE but the whole BMW image thing ain't me. I have to admit to liking the new A4 2.0TDi even though there's a 3 month waiting list. A Passat would do but he reckons there's a reps image associated with it. Time will tell. A car is a car to me these days anyway. As long as it goes and it's free I really don;t care. I'd actually be content enough to stick with the Golf for a while. It's pretty cheap to run. John

The more expensive the watch, the more money it loses and the more expensive it is to replace and repair. I once bought a 1 month old

Been lying low this last while but thought i'd drop in to say hi. Hope you are all keeping well. What am I saying of course you are well. You are Skoda owners! When I changed jobs and gave up the Octy Company car 6 months ago I thought i'd landed on my feet in a nice new job with a 2 yr old £19k Primera 2.2 Dci SVE I picked up for £8k. Hmm how wrong was I? Job wasn't what was promised (yup I was lied to) although the car was great. It wasnt quite as quick as the Octy but still had 138bhp. I loved the electric leather seats, xenons, sat nav, reversing camera, sports suspension and 17" wheels. Trouble was the Primera was really just a Renault so it ate injectors for breakfast and turbos for tea. What a nightmare! Thankfully it was under warranty with only 33k miles on it so Nissan reluctantly fixed it saving me a mere £1,800 +vat!!! So now I have a new job and the Primera has a happy new owner (give it a month or 2) for the princely sum of £7k ('he' paid 'me' btw. lol). New job comes with the promise of a company car but i'm going to be careful in my decision on that so i've just bought a car to get me through the summer. Imacculate 05 Golf 1.9 TDI SE for £7.4k. I know I know but the Golf won't lose much money over the next couple of months and although a VW isnt quite the image my new boss wants me to have, it's acceptable. Sadly a Skoda isn't. I've tried educating him to no avail and given up in disgust. I have to admit the Golf is a great car and the 1.9 engine is actually very good too. Switching from the the Nissan to the VW was like going from a biscuit tin to a tank! I favoured the superior 2.0 TDi over the 1.9 in the Octy but the 1.9 105 bhp TDI Golf is remarkably powerful feeling to drive and absurdly economical. The interior and trim materials however are far outclassed by the Octavia. What were VW thinking? Anyway i'm happy for now especially when it comes to refuelling. As a Ballymena man once said 'she'll run on the smell of an oily rag!'. Johnny

Cheers but what do you mean the processor is stingey! What should I be going for? Even with a cheap n nasty pc most components should have a reasonable lifespan. Apart from the cases being as thin as paper (and just as sharp) I find the biggest issues are insufficient cooling and crappy fire hazard PSU's that are undersized and about as stable as my 1 year old on a mountain bike. Is Vista worth having? Does Vista itself require an internet connection for anything other than initial registration or checking for updates like XP? How does it differ from XP significantly and am I asking for trouble if I want it to work with my existing HP Laserjet or Designjet printers?

Help me please. Budget is tight but looking to buy a half decent home pc. Primarily for email, internet and to run AutoCad. I'll not be doing any 3d stuff so lightning graphics not essential although I prefer to use 2 monitors so i'll be sticking in another video card in any case. My real problem is speed. I recently changed jobs so had to give back my Core Duo laptop. That's left me with a 1Ghz machine i built about 5 years ago with 256Mb of ram and a 20Gb HDD! It really struggles once word, Autocad and firefox are running. Is this good value? It looks ok but i'm dubious about Vista. I have lost touch and know nothing about it so would appreciate some feedback on the negative comments i'm hearing. XP does the job just fine for me and if Vista allows microsoft to monitor my every hardware and software installation or change i'd rather stick with xp. Under normal circumstances i'd build a pc for myself but like i say i'm out of touch, dont have the time and doubt i'd build one for much less money than the one in the link above. Thanks in advance Johnny

Welcome to brisky martin. J

Not sure about that. If it's a proper Skoda kit you would like to think so. Tbh the display is just a novelty for your passengers. I instinctively look over my shoulder or in the mirrors, not at my radio! You feel daft looking at the radio display and I've never really trusted it. Having said that the nice thing about the radio integration is that with factory fitted kit, when you select reverse, the radio volume decreases automatically so you can hear the sensor tones. Sadly I say goodbye to my Octy on Friday at which point (ironically) in my new motor I 'will' start looking at the radio when reversing as there's a reversing camera instead of sensors. Oh I do love my gadgets. lol J

Some do though, don't realise it and then end up losing it. :( Life throws a few curve balls. There absolutely no doubt about that! J

Not according to 3 brokers i've spoken to. It's at the descretion of the insurer. It's called 'bonus protection' not 'premium protection'.

I agree with the migraine theory. I got my first 1 a couple of years back. Felt like i'd been stabbed in the head. Was in the car making a right turn at the time too. Was closely followed by severe nausea. I felt like I was dying. I now know better obviously. lol J