Aspman

No touch screen but I've figured it out. There are teeny little touchpads on either side of the steering wheel just needs a swipe of the thumb to skip. Easy when you know how. Also no touch screen you have to the the wheel, touch pad combo thing. Which works but isn't wonderful. Yeah, salesman warned me about 'crabbing' they are prone to it, the 63s even more so. Luckily for now I'm a very low mileage driver so not the end of the world. The tailpipe is wonderfully antisocial though. It barks and farts and bangs even when you've not got it set to noisy. Also no eco-mode on the AMG they don't even pretend

Yes a few times, not the same setup and I don't know if the VW and Skoda software are the same. The last time after an update was something incredibly stupid. The "Automatically unlock charger" option was switched from "No" back to "Yes" by the update. What that meant was that when the smart charging finished a session (which might only be a few minutes) the car unlocked the charger and it wouldn't start charging again until the charger was removed and reseated. So we were only getting minutes of charge a night. Been fine again with that off. Previously was the VW software going to sleep and not waking up for smart charging. We found that unpairing the car from the Octopus app and charger app helped. The VW software is unreliable so better to leave it set to take charge charge anytime and leave the sequencing to the charger.

#1 son is about to turn 16. He's asked for new headphones for his birthday. Looking for some recommendations. He uses them a lot when playing guitar connected to his amp. Also listens to predominantly guitar / heavy rock music. Suspect they need to be bluetooth compatible but also cable option. thinking over ear rather than on or in ear.

Just one pic for now. I've taken the bow off

MB command system is a dogs dinner though. Drove the whole way without knowing how to skip a track on Spotify. Still don't know if I have active cruise or not (need to read the spec sheet again). No touch screen but touchpad/wheel where the gear shift should be and two more little thumb sized touch pads on the steering wheel. Too easy to flick things by accident and till too hard to do things without taking your eyes off the road. But the nanny (speed warning bongs) and drunk toddler (lane keeping assistance) are nowhere to be found🥳 It's hard to describe why but the car feels Germanic, I think the actual driving experience is close to the BMW. Same solidity and weight to controls things. Feels familiar even though I've never had a MB before. Need to find some tunnels now...😈

Needs a wash after the trip up tbh. The dealer was actually closing the site the day after I got the mb they had no valeters on site so the poor sales guy had to do it himself for the handover. He was a a proper MB petrol head as well, he was genuinely pleased his last sale for MB was going to be an AMG.

Aye it's 98RON first with a tolerance for 95

Well trip all done C43 in hand. I think we've been lucky again seems like the car we wished it would be. Good condition, comfortable, fast, big enough etc etc. The full antisocial exhaust option is lots of fun as well. Dealer warned me about mpg on test drive, and indeed on the test it got 14mpg. But on the long motorway run home at moderately sensible speeds I got approx 35mpg which I think is pretty good considering. Being less sensible giving it the beans with everything on Sport+ and the thing howls. Outright speed feels very similar to the 335d. It does seem to be a car that triggers middle aged men though.

Cheers I hope so. I'd agree the BMWs seem over priced right now, I'm also not keen on their interiors. They've cut a few corners too many I think. I was avoiding hybrids as I'm not buying new or even nearly new I really want to avoid a dead hybrid battery or battery issues. Plus I want some old school motoring while it's still an option. I've had some approved used fun as well when making claims, a mini with battery issues when the warranty ad said literally "everything is included even the battery", then you make a battery claim and "ah well it's not always covered", ditto JLR when a tailgate issue becomes bodywork which isn't warranty covered. Was checking spec last night on the C43 and it is old enough to have the switchable sport exhaust option. So should burble nicely too.

Availability really. I've looked for 340i and 540i estates but they are very rare on the market. Conversely warm and hot Merc estates are relatively easy to find. The Mercs are also coming with 2yr warranty inclusive as approved used. If it existed an M550i xdrive estate would be just the perfect car but it doesn't exist. My former in-laws consider themselves 'Audi people' and I can't bear the idea of being in 'their' brand. Petty, maybe but it is what it is. If I was doing more miles I think the decision would be easier tbh. I like big dervs having very much liked the 335d I had and a 540d would be sweet. But I'm only doing 3-4k a year now and we have the ID3 to commute in. The kids rule out coupes really. The 850i is fast but seems like a bit of a midlife-crisis car. Just a bit sadder than an M5 or M550i. TBh I was looking rather longingly at a Lexus LC500 as well but my son is 3" taller than me and still growing.

Deal done, pick up a C43 estate next week.

Think I might have ID the next motor. Merc C43 AMG Estate Fast without being pointlessly fast plus cheaper in every way than the C63.

And timing chain and cam bearing issues. Just out of interest I could insure an AM Rapide S for £900. They really don't want any LR on their books do they

Thought we were headed back to JLR for a bit then I did an insurance quote. £2000. For a comparison the Subaru was £250. I’ll keep looking i think.

That's the Subaru sold. Again with motorway that was £2-3k over any trade in offer. Seems a bit mad. Why offer such rubbish trade ins then bid higher on Motorway? It's been main dealers every time for me on motorway as well. Having a dig around thinking maybe something like a 540i Estate would be ideal but again like rocking horse poo There is an older E320 estate not too far away, I'm just not sure I'm old enough for a merc.