WelshPlod

Depreciation arguments aside...... my idea of the MFGV is that is the amount left on the finance. So if you hand the car back, then that is the debt that needs to be cleared. That is very different to what the car is worth at the end of the term - whether it be positive or negative equity.

Difficult to answer really....... I have a Octy 3 150 Diesel with DSG. I drive BMW, Audi and Volvo in the "day job" and they all have auto boxes. There are sometimes when I have had that hesitation that some people talk about when the DSG is mated to a diesel engine - I put that down to the fact that I tend to leave mine in Eco mode. If I change the drive mode to "normal" or "sporty" then I dont suffer that hestiant problem and to be fair, its not really a problem, just a little blip every now and again. Having had intensive training in driving autos in different scenarios, most problems with driving autos arise from the fact that the DRIVER expects the auto to be exactly like a manual - its not. You still have to drive the car and use the auto box. Its like the auto pilot on the plane - you cant just tell the plane to take off and land, you have to have some control and give feedback. As an aside, I'd never go back to a manual. Where's the fun in that?

Ok. I'm going to say this really slowly. The POLICE dont staff speed camera vans to the best of my knowledge. There may be one or two forces (the smaller ones) where police officers MAY be deployed in speed camera vans. The camera vans and static cameras are placed sites nominated by the local authority road safety partnership. The police do not make money from dishing out speeding fines. They receive 10 or 15 quid for the admin cost of processing the film, sending out NIPS/summonses or the correspondence for driver awareness courses. Private companies tend to run driver awareness courses ......and get paid a handsome fee! Personally, I think the police would run them better but thats a personal opinion. No one seems to mind police officers pulling over suspected drink/drug drivers and locking them up and getting them off the road. No one seems to moan about police seizing uninsured cars or taking from unlicensed/disqualified drivers. Why the negativity around speeding? Speeding is part of the "fatal 5" - dangerous/careless driving, mobile phones, drink/drug driving and speeding. As someone who has attended countless RTCs and too many fatal RTCs for my liking, speed is a contributory factor in virtually all of them. However, I'm not going to go all pious on you. As a human, I am able to exercise judgement and discretion - is 80/90mph on a dry motorway at 2am when there is no one else on the road a big deal. Nope...... so perhaps what we're talking about here is "inappropriate speed." As for our discussion Gadgetman...... i think its a perfectly normal thing to ask your neighbours if they saw/heard anything if you were teh victim of a crime. It's hardly rocket science in terms of investigation. As for crime figures.... the organisation I work for record crime "at source." i.e. if you phone and say that you've been assaulted, youre given a crime number over the phone. The attending officer then has to provide "additional verifiable information" to have the matter 'non-crimed' and each year we are assessed by independent auditors. Personally...... it makes no difference to me whether the matter is a crime or not. I attend, do my best for the victim, do my best to bring the offender to justice and do my best to keep everyone safe. Lastly, neither my self or my colleagues have a vested interest in cooking the books. We all hope that crime figures will increase exponentially to show the government that #cutshaveconsequences.

Interesting post Gadgetman........ but can only speak from Welsh perspective as its what I know for certain. Have I booked people for speeding.....yes. However, Id like to think that I've used my discretion in the vast majority of the cases - a well timed/well rehearsed *******ing can often be more effective than a hasty ticket. However, this side of the bridge - speed camera vans are located at sites promoted via local authorities through the GoSafe organisation and no police officers staff these vans. Anecdotally........ they're not well liked by the police either! As for attending every report of crime and investigating everything - which is what you appear to be saying above. I disagree. And there are two very distinct issues. Visibility and Investigation. Case screening goes on now...... its where the call taker (not a police officer) will listen to the initial report, assess it and determine that the chances of solving that crime are quite low. I maintain that I think it is reasonable for you as a victim of crime (such as a shed break in) to ask your neighbours if they've seen or heard anything or whether there is CCTV or the method of entry into the shed. This allows the call taker to determine if police attendance is worthwhile - finite resources etc. What is the point in sending a police officer to something that we are very very unlikely to resolve positively (i.e. offender caught, charged and found guilty in court). I believe it gives unsupported hope to victims that by the police attending that there will be a positive result. Surely its best to manage expectations from the outset i.e. during teh call tell the victim that a police officer wont be deployed, that CSI wont be deployed and explain why. There is merit in crime prevention officers attending and also PCSOs attending to post leaflets through doors in the street and adjoining street to remind us to be vigilant in terms of property security. That is visibility and prevention as opposed to investigation.

TBH Stevestruck you've pretty much agreed with me. Its not the officers who are the problems, its the system that they are working within. As i've said before and maintain, no one goes to work to do a bad job. Everyone joined the service, including me, to make a difference and change the world. Somewhere along the line that gets beaten out of you. Do i go to work to neglect victims of domestic abuse - certainly not! But by the same token, there has to be an appreciation by the public that the demands that the service had on it 30 years ago are completely different to the demands facing it now.There is an element of consumerism in modern society - I pay my council tax (some people do) and therefore I expect the police to solve all of societal ills because Ive made a monetary contribution. Do i think its reasonable for people to take some initial actions themselves when they are victims of crime? Yes. Take for example your example of having your break-in broken into. Very annoying - i can empathise having had my shed and very expensive bike nicked.....oh and my car broken into and stereo nicked, and having every window on my car smashed just for being a plod. Did I ask my neighbours if they'd seen anything - yes. Had they? No. Did CSI come out to my shed? Nope. Why - because there was nothing for them to examine. Virtually impossible to get fingerprints/DNA from wood. Did I have CCTV? Nope. Did someone in the street have it - maybe. When did the crime occur - not sure. Is it reasonable to pay an officer to sit down and view hrs and hrs of footage from multiple cameras along "possible" escape routes. Probably not. If you werent happy with the outcomes each time you've had contact with the police above then why didnt you make a complaint? Do something constructive about it instead of publicly badmouthing coppers - the vast majority of whom are hard working and come to work to do their best. There are 110,000 copppers across the country. Looking after 61million people. The poor service you've had doesn't reflect fairly on the rest of the service. As you can tell, it grinds me having my vocation sullied constantly particularly when I feel that I work hard and I know that my immediate colleagues do too. As for your point Gadgetman - point well made. I spend more time looking at my speedo these days than concentrating on driving and enjoying driving. Sadly, people seem to attribute speed traps to the police and that its a money making machine. If this were true, then given the financial state of teh service, the roads would be littered with them. I speak merely from a welsh point of view as I dont know with any degree of certainty what the picture is like 'cross the border, but here in dragon land, the local authorities are the driving force behind speed traps and a Quango/NGO known as "Go Safe" administer them. There are no police officers actively involved in the enforcement of speed through speed vans. The police's involvement is the administration of the dreaded NIPs and summonses and thats because of our position within the Criminal Justice System. For that purpose, we receive something like £8 from each fine to cover the cost of the admin work. The rest goes to the speed awareness companies, local authorities and the government coffers.

I don't understand what you're trying to say Steves truck

I'm going to start this with a "there but for the grace of God go I." I havent been on a speed awareness course, but was asked if I had by the insurance company when I renewed. While its not a conviction, it is something in your knowledge and a material fact that should be disclosed to the insurance company. Whether they choose to do anything with that information is a matter for them, but at least if the wheel does come off (literally or metaphorically) - you're covered. When you take out insurance, you are entering in to a contract. They provide a service/cover based on information which you provide them and the price is based on the risk. Surely it would be better to just get it all off your chest, tell them everything, and that way there's no worrying when you need the service they offer?

WOW........ thought this was a post about a lorry that clipped a car causing no damage and didnt stop and its suddenly turned into a police bashing forum. There are a multitude of reasons why failing to stop/failing to report incidents never go any where - usually its one persons word against another. Evidentially, that is insufficient to put before a Court. I take issue with the assertions that plod up and down the country are lazy/uninterested/unsympathetic. It would be easy to deal with an incident, as per the original poster, if that was the only thing that I/or others had to do that day. More often than not we are investigating between 10-20 incidents at any one time with new ones being assigned on a daily basis. The job in essence is easy, as is the process of investigating incidents. The numerous processes that we have to follow and systems in place so that we account for every minute of every day take over and get in the way of officers doing the job they want to do. Ask yourself...... do people really go to work to be lazy and do nothing and give a crap service. Lets try and have a balanced discussion on things, not just a plod bashing session. From the other side of the fence...... if everyone got jobs, didnt drink, didnt argue with loved ones, didnt resolve arguments with violence, didnt touch people they werent supposed to, drove according to the laws, didnt take stuff that dont belong to them and didnt sniff things they werent supposed to then a plod's job would be a lot easier and service would be improved #justsaying

Sorry guys.... Im away this sunday (typical). BUT, I would like to meet up providing it doesnt turn into a rally etc

lol. typical welsh response ....... trying to organise a "simple" meet lol. I'd love to meet up guys - weekends or evenings are better for me, providing these things dont turn into rallies etc. Clue is in the username!

Hi Where in S.Wales are you? Stop thinking about buying a VRS and do it

Hi. I have an Octy Elegance (03) which is just under a month old. I love it. It has the Amundsen head unit (and I treated myself to the Canton sound upgrade). I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 and have no issues connecting the phone to the unit and playing media or making phone calls. However, If i use any other music player on my phone apart from the proprietory samsung music player, no details of the audio tracks/albums are displayed. I dont think its a Skoda issue........ but has anyone else had this problem and are there any fixes? Also..... why do only some of the contact pics in my phone book appear on the screen. Thanks

Thanks chaps. Picked it up on Thursday. Chuffed to bits with it. Skoda Octy 3 - Elegance 150 2.0 CR tdi, DSG. Race blue estate

yes... real plod! I do try to keep my eyes open, except when driving home from nights..... then I have to hold the buggers open!

I'll keep my eyes open

Hey. Picking up my new skoda octavia 3 today. It's my 2nd octavia, the first being a vrs tfsi. Got me hooked! Looking forward to the tips and banter

Hi Picking up my new car today. Brand new octavia 3 elegance 2.0 cr diesel dsg. Very excited! Any others in South Wales area - I'm in Neath

Hey - fellow newbie here. IN neath - mk2 Octavia VRS

Just a quick line to say hi. I picked up my 06, 55 plater Skoda Octavia VRS last week. 5 dr hatch in the fastest colour - blue! It's the 2.0FTSI. Well pleased with it. The mpg is taking a bit of getting used to as I chopped in my beloved 02 Mk4 VW Golf GTI diesel (ASZ). Enjoying the performance of the VRS though. Really impressed with the Columbus system but got loads of questions about it!. Any other VRS or Octavia or Columbus gurus near by?