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What do you mean?

That's what venture capitalists are for. Incidentally, Musk did this with Tesla, and everyone loved him until he lost all his lefty credentials and now he's hated by the woke because he bought Twitter, now X. Nevertheless, he's made a good product and the market have responded accordingly. Teslas are everywhere! (I seem to recall you bought one yourself, did YOU get it wrong? 😋) This is a good point and an important caveat: As soon as someone starts tippling the scales to try and steer the market in a preferred direction, they mess things up and the market reacts. Yes, if you heavily subsidise EVs and punish ICE vehicles, then you can tip the scales sufficiently for the market to buy the subsidised vehicles. (Just look at all the whooping and hat-throwing on here over an hour's free electricity. Some people are cheaply bought.) But of course then you have to keep the subsidies in place until you have killed off the opposition. Incidentally, you can do this with any business, and it's simple enough: 1) Set up shop competitively adjacent to your business rival. 2) Undercut them so strongly that they either go bust trying to match your prices, or go broke through lack of business. (A partner with deep pockets is essential here.) 3) Once they're out of business, buy up what's left of them, stock, property etc. and revise your prices to whatever you want (without shocking your customers away with a sudden increase), seeing as you've demolished your competition. This is called predatory pricing and in the UK can be challenged by reference to the Competition Act 1998, or reported to the Competition and Markets Authority, but it's difficult to prove and I suspect many have gone bust trying, especially against a wealthy opponent with deeper pockets and more expensive lawyers. Reasonably free markets are not hard to achieve, but then a successful free market doesn't need a whole lot of oversight/governance, just facilitation and protection against corruption. An example of facilitation would be finding a way of letting people change their energy supplier quickly and easily, without intrusive disconnection and reconnection. For those who love state control over everything, that is unacceptable. "What if people don't do what I want them to? No no no! We must have regulation over absolutely everything! Besides, whatever would all the bureaucrats do!?!". Luckily, as I'm not a far-left ideologue (I'm not throwing shade at you here, Wyx), I'm capable of giving definitions for words I use. From my perspective, the "market" is the aggregate term for the exchange of scarce resources which have alternative uses. If you let people freely trade, and the only authoritative intervention is to facilitate free trade, then the "market" will allocate those scarce resources correctly, in line with the needs and desires of the people who wish to exchange those scarce resources. Using gold as a currency facilitates the market. Fiat money subverts it. (Now ask me to define what a woman is, I'm one of the few people on Brisky who can honestly and accurately answer that question. 😋) LOL no. 😄 What I'm saying is the exact opposite of that. The market should NOT be manipulated at all. Not even a little bit. Facilitation is fine. Offering protection against predatory pricing is okay, though if someone comes along and does it better and cheaper, well TS. That said, if it's a foreign state-backed company, then I think it's reasonable for predatory pricing protection legislation to be used to protect local businesses against that. Yes they do, and as a result, the market is manipulated by that leverage and influence. I am against that.

I don't think the difference in diameter/circumference between the two tyre sizes is going to make a 10mpg difference. There are so many variables that could impact the MPG, it's beyond me to point to what the problem is, before looking at the possibility of a problem with the car. Tyre pressures, fuel, temperature, tyre rolling resistance, wheel weight etc. But 10mpg down certainly sounds like a problem to me.

I would be getting a definite diagnosis of the problem before shopping around for a new DMF and clutch pack for your DSG.

That's not logically consistent. Businesses are always keen to attract customers from rivals. If the incumbent manufacturers fail to continue to improve their products, new competitors will sweep in and take the market from them. This is nothing new. The market is ALWAYS right, which is why people in positions of power who wish to promote products the market has rejected, have to subvert the market by penalising people for buying the products they desire, and providing incentives to persuade them to buy products they find less attractive. Get a "free" home charger. "Free" charging. "Free" VED. Get a big subsidy off the cost of your new EV. etc. Get an inflated part-exchange price for your old product. There's also a problem when the "free" stuff runs out. As people used to charging for free, £0 VED etc. suddenly find that when they have to pay for what they are used to getting for "free", the product/service isn't as attractive as it once was. ("Free" meaning someone else was paying for it.) If you threaten people, you can intimidate some of them into not buying what you don't want them to. With sustained propaganda, you can even shame some of them into not buying what you don't want them to. But it's difficult/expensive to get them to buy something they don't want, which seems to me to be where the EV market is now with the general public.

But it IS ideologically correct, so until reality really gets in the way, the ideology will prevail and to hell with the consequences. A good start would be to ban all MPs from using ICE vehicles, and force them to use the EVs they think we should all have to use. That might clear up a few misconceptions about the real-world issues people face when relying on EVs. It might be a good idea to give the public more EV experience opportunities, to help broaden their appeal. Mandatory EV courtesy cars, perhaps?

This might actually be more use, as it highlights peak power against RPM. (Data is originally from www.automobile-catalog.com.)

Get a quote on here for comparison. https://www.whocanfixmycar.com/services/skoda/octavia/timing-chain

There should be no punitive quota system in place, IMO. Let the market decide, the market is ALWAYS right. It's damaging and as you highlight, it can be used as an excuse for the failure of a poor product. That said, not having your poor vehicles bought should be punishment enough, without throwing Government fines on top. In the real world, the wheels seem to be starting to loosen on the "Green" gravy train (it's too early to say they're coming off), so things might improve in time, though there are a lot of vested interests keen to make sure that train keeps rolling on. But in the end, reality will always foil utopian ideology, however hard it's pushed.

Were either of the mechanics DSG specialists? It certainly seems like the first guy was not entirely competent, and the second guy may not have solved the problem. But until you clean the area properly and monitor it for further leaking, you won't know for sure. If nothing else, you might like to leave a review of the first mechanic somewhere, noting his simian ancestry and questionable pedigree.

Applying punitive measures for companies failing to meet arbitrary EV sales targets means some people will feel the sharp end of the punishment. Fortunately none of the lovely affluent Briskodians will be affected, but some Vauxhall workers will have a less than merry Christmas this year. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/stellantis-shut-its-van-factory-luton-england-2024-11-26/

These are the differences for the MK3 Octavia. Take your pick.

Hello. Do you mean 15000km or 1500km?

Why not have two cars? Your comfy sensible car, and a fun toy. A quick search on Autotrader turned up this as a random example. £2.5k would get you this, rather than a load of mods which might well damage your Superb.

John "Two Jags" Prescott has died. Perhaps an omen for Jaguar itself.

"Ooh! Suits you, Sir!"

Hahahahahahahahahahaha! 🤣😂 I can't wait to see what they come up with in their revision of Jaguar's history, as they try and atone for the "toxic masculinity" associated with Jaguar cars. 😄

1) I'd have bought a different car. 2) I'd talk to a tuner about a sympathetic stage 1 tune and do nowt else unless you're absolutely rolling in cash, in which case see point 1).

Yes. The mechatronic unit are the weak link. Timely servicing is key, way before the 80K interval. If, as you seem to predict, my DQ381 fails disastrously at some point, I look forward to your (much deserved) "I TOLD YOU SO!" about my failed gearbox. If it doesn't fail by the time I sell the car, and I'm 4 years into my ownership now and anticipate to keep the car 20 years, then I reserve the right to put forth my point of view that the DQ381 is a robust and reliable gearbox, if looked after.

Beyond that, the Government are about to steal a bit more money from EV owners in the form of VED starting April next year, which I'm sure they'll find some stupid way to waste.

Hi Tom! What engine did you go for?

There are going to be a LOT of assumptions that have to be satisfied for that graph to be true. Scientists are humans, each have their own agenda. The willingness of the media to portray climategate as proof that one shouldn't trust scientists also born out of their own agenda. Difference is, the scientists are beholden to the scientific method whereas the media can write anything as long as there is skippet of relatable information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method That also explains why we have a few scientists and individuals who are saying the opposite from consensus. Those individuals also have their own agenda to push. And it begs the question who do we trust. Individuals who have not managed to get their conjecture through the hundreds of years scientific method, or majority of scientistic who have all reached consensus? My "agenda" is a desire for me, my family and my extended family in the form of my people, to be left to get on with life with minimum disturbance or interference from anyone else, and with the least amount of government possible. All of my politics boil down to that.

I'm really not seeing these reports of DQ381 problems, and the gearbox guy I spoke to (who services them) said they're pretty bulletproof, so long as the oil changes are observed, ideally a bit earlier than the 80K miles recommended.

Do you or another driver of that car wear a ring on your left hand?