Aspman

The politics will kick in before that with tariffs etc, it'll just mean higher forecourt prices, the established brands will put up their prices as well. I think for me cars will be the equivalent of a washing machine, I'll buy (probably lease) the cheapest thing that does the job. If they all look cheap and nasty why pay a premium? We'll inevitably get an electric but it'll be nothing special as I will no longer care. If it autodrives so much the better. I'll get a classic for the garage as something to enjoy.

Neighbour just signed up to get solar plus batteries. Not DIY. He got 6 quotes but didn't take the cheapest. He went with a firm that has an accreditation, effectively ones of their jobs was also to check other peoples work (sorry can't recall the cert). He was also able to access a cheap loan from his mortgage provider. Apparently it's not advertised but most lender have 0% mortgage top ups for green projects so it is worth asking if you have a mortgage. interesting things - solar panels are very cheap now, not much more than glass panels. Batteries are expensive making up about 40% of the cost. Installation is also expensive another 40%. You deal with the energy company matters as you actually won't use what you generate. If your deal is good you will charge the battery on cheap rate to use through the day. Your solar is sold back to the grid. There is an argument for not bothering with the solar and just having battery storage to pull down cheap rate electric.

Saw one of them when they came out. I thought they looked like a cheap Chinese toy with the plastic grill, then I saw the price. Also had a very brief shot of an iX3, basically to move it out the way. Was shocked by how cheap and nasty the interior was. Really awful. I'm kindof done with cars right now. I don't find much appealing at all, it's all very monotonous dull and cheap looking for high prices.

Revolutions in Perth is a little like this. They're a Morgan dealer but have lots of odd things coming in and out. I was at a loose end and wandered in one day and ended up shooting the breeze with the sales/owner chap for about 45min. https://www.revolutions.uk.com/ That XJ13 is agonisingly pretty

Stumbled across this today. Related and sums it up for me quite well https://www.countrylife.co.uk/comment-opinion/sensory-overload-if-the-modern-car-is-all-about-safety-then-why-dont-i-feel-safe-273169

Yep had a cube for a few years on the main telly. Got it because at that time it was the only device which was supporting 4k streaming. We've firesticks as well but tey can be a bit laggy, the cube is significantly snappier but you'd have to consider if it's worth the extra money.

Our Mini Countryman has some sort of similar feature and a small numberof times (only 2 or 3) it has randomly triggered with it somehow imagining that there is an object in front of us. Same as you, brown trouser WTF moments. More often that not the radar cruise option switches itself off for reasons unknown and switch back on (even as normal manual CC) unless the ignition is switches off, a bit of a PITA in a 100mi motorway stretch. TBH radar 'active' cruise has been a massive disappointment and I'd never spec it on another car. The Eye-Sight system on the Subaru has been far superior to the radar based mini.

BMW/Mini system is a bit of a PITA. There are reminders you can clear yourself (MOT), alerts you can clear with an ODB reader and some stuff that you need to go to them for. I had to pay the robbing barstewards £175 to clear a sensor alert caused by going through some heavy rain.

I think I've seen that Porche in town before. Not usually a fan of white cars but that pearl white on the porker looks good. Must be slumming it if they're shopping at the Factory Store there.

We'd like to be able to activate our downstairs hall light from upstairs. We could get smart bulbs etc but we have about 10 downlight spots in the hall and that's a fair old wodge to replace with hue bulbs. Wondering if there are non-smart wireless light switch options anyone is aware of?

I think my Jimny appreciated at least on the forecourt

It is possible to make DVDs from the files on an SD but it's very unlikely that the files will be compatible with such an old system. If you want sat nave then a seperate stand alone system, or a new screen that you can link to your phone is likely your best option.

It was always going to be so. as soon as there were enough EVs on the road they just become 'cars' and are therefore a target for taxation. ICE cars will get hit with punative taxes as well soon enough to drive them of the roads. But I'm sure that expensive exotics will be somehow exempt through 'classic' rules. So your chap with a 20yr old Ferrari won't pay but a 20yr old transit will.

Absolutely. When we went through the lockdown car shortages when the factories and chip-fabs we're shut down car prices went through the roof. As predicted when the shortages eased the prices stayed exactly where they were. Now we are paying luxury car prices (according our VED bands) for some very ordinary cars. But you'll note that depreciation largely affected the buyers and less so the seller. Trade-in prices are as a poor as they ever were but second hand car prices are higher than ever so the profit margin is higher. Some of that is justified, dealers costs are higher than ever too but I would love to know if dealers margins are up. Cars have aways been a mugs game, you just need to accept the losses on them.

got a picture I'm afraid but it was a mint late edition, Golf R32. Looked completely standard. Was silver though rather than the blue it looks best in.

Gentlemen, hang onto your breakfast, I give you the new Mini Countryman Hideous yet also completely bland and characterless

You might be up for a record for the oldest non-spam thread resurrection

Makes sad noises - https://www.smallbonecars.co.uk/detail/1341755/used-maserati-quattroporte-3-0-dv6-4dr-automatic-clitheroe This was mine if anyone ever finds they're looking for a Maserati Q.

It's symptomatic of the short termism in western governments. they need to show return or improvement within a 4yr cycle so consideration of a 10-50yr cost is very rarely considered. For a politician better to get the road built now for nothing then to borrow £200M, even if it'll cost billions over decades. the long term is always someone elses problem.

Whatever the automatic gearbox in place I always put it in neutral if I'm stopped for any length of time. In D the car is still pulling forward and putting pressure on components. I guess arguably changing from D to N also wears components but you have choose one way or another. But I'e never tried shifting whilst moving. I've never had an issue with braking to stop with an auto.

Hmm plenty of big tech companies have been working on holograms for decades and got precisely nowhere. [clicky click] Ford is patenting the idea of how to use a hologram, not inventing the hologram projector.

Basically you are encouraged to waste leccy, you only get free above your average consumption. We signed up to it (why wouldn't you) and I think we saved about £2 over 3 or 4 events. You did have to opt in to start with but then they went to auto if you'd opted in previosuly. If you had a big battery you could opt to charge during that time but if not it's a bit of pointless marketing. They could just discount everyone's power but no.

Late to the thread but is anyone compairing tradein on ICE? I'd humbly suggest that trade in deals are worse than ever anyway. And the difference between trade-in and forecourt price has never been higher. Maybe EVs are worse but I think ICE deals are pretty awful too.

I drove my first electric car today. Evvah. They left a BMW ix1 when they took the mini. So I drove it (all of 50m to the back of the house). No comments on the drive at all tbh but I would say that the interior of this £45-50k car was ghastly. It felt very cheap and quite nasty. Wonder if EVs have allowed manufacturers to put in some 'futuristic' features which are in fact outstandingly naff and cheap.

I'm somewhat reassured that my garage looks pretty much the same as Lee's right now If I find a way to make it look nice I'll take photographs