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There are amazing choices of cars and power trains of all flavours on UK roads and available new or used if anyone is changing cars or buying one. It is really only those that need to go into the ULEZ / LEZ,s or lives in them and has non compliant vehicles that needs to change what they own or drive. If VW Group had carried on as they planned to with developing Diesel Hybrids but for smaller cars that would have been sensible. An Audi A2 1.2 TDI Hybrid. for Euro 7 emissions. A modernisation of the A2 that really was ahead of it's time but just too expensive for them producing. There really are too many bigger and bigger passenger cars in the UK and the size and weight being dealt with by electrification or being full BEV. Bigger batteries to take heavier cars further between charges. Capping the Max Speeds available to 100 mph while in the UK on roads. GPS Limited might just be something to have the Car Importers & manufacturers offering up cars suitable for the UK roads.

Do you not just keep watching e-bay for someone selling a used Mk3 Fabia Monte Carlo Hatch one, or buy a new one from Skoda? The only thing being it is mostly for Estates that are advertised from breakers. Or am i missing something and you do not want a Monte Carlo rear bumper just one of that style?

On the A77 Crawler lane the speed limit is not higher because no centre barrier, Maybole by-pass as well like on parts of the A9 where people think 2 lanes in their direction so open it up. Elephant Racing is very much of a problem.

The A77 as well. I like to get behind a yellow McBurney HGV through the 60 mph limit and speed cameras from Girvan to Ayr. Or the coaches between Stirling and Perth where even a 70 mph limit and 23 miles of average camera is not keeping some to an indicated 70 mph. (Different speed limits for some vehicles in Scotland from RofUK and some pilot speed limits for some vehicles.

The lacquer can often be cut back (fine sanding) and then sprayed again with lacquer. As we had to do right back in the 1970,s with Silver Fords, and ever since. Recent issues even with Mk3 Fabias.

Maybe check out the other threads.

If you can prepare the panels properly you will find a painter to then do the primer and paint at not too crazy a cost, location dependent. Wrapping and getting it right is not as easy as it looks watching others do it. But cost it and see,

As already said, you still need to sand down / remove the lacquer coat before wrapping. Not just feather the edges because the lacquer left under the film will lift eventually. Check with the Film supplier about a colour match and the price. You might get a surprise.

@Winston_Woof i doubt any that post on here, or very many that read the stuff have not had ICE vehicles and know about putting fuel in. Oopnorth some of us keep fuel tanks pretty full all the time when parked up. That old thing about condensation and cold weather and how hygroscopic it is even when winter formulation is delivered between late October & March. Old habits die hard!

@skomaz different strokes for different folks. Different phone types and charge / use times. I always plug in my mobile to charge while driving as i have been caught before with phones not fully charged or charged enough for what ever i end up needing it to do, or where i might end up being, stuck at a roadside or charging bay. I tend to do the same with EV,s or Electric Bikes, full charge and know that any change of plan or emergency is within whatever limit. When i get places in an EV i like it to be charged incase of the need to get back. 99 year old mum and all that kind of thing.

Vauxhall is one of those brands that have people getting new cars and them never getting to the end of an agreement, the car is back at a dealers long before that. That is what comes with targeting younger people with cars that are over priced but look like monthlies are cheap. They get to know the car is crap and want something better. @Graham Butcher you can have as many points of view as you like best have plenty while you can. All about the banter. ? Have you tried an EV yet, or do you ever intend to? VW partnering with Chinese car manufacturers or even those from the USA is not 'simply clever'.

@Graham Butcher I know you are retired and unlikely to be driving after 2035. Maybe best not get an ulcer bothering about stuff that will never affect you. If we put our fingers in our ears and shut our eyes it will not happen. PS There are issues of some kind as far as people waiting on Skoda ICE cars that Dealers are not telling the customer what it is. Today a member says they have been told 'DSG software'. There are always reasons for vehicles being bunkered, and Skoda do not Sell / First Register many cars in the UK even in the best of years and it will be VW Group UK or in the EU that controls the numbers & the fleet emissions etc.

They are way overpriced BEV cars anyway from Vauxhall and what it has is people paying a silly price for financing these vehicles. They are basically piling them high and getting the cash flowing. They are getting desperate to shift enough Zero Emission vehicles and are going to make better offers to punt them. Just as all the other Manufacturing Groups will need to. The final quarter of 2024 is going to be interesting for just how the Dealerships have to behave to get First Registrations, then the 1st quarter of 2025 shifting Pre Reg BEV,s and more new BEV,s.

A Social divide, or a geographical one. In Scotland there was 6 year interest free loans available to Buy a new car. (BEV) Then that was changed to Interest Free Loan to buy a Used BEV. That might have been introduced with influence of the Used Motor Traders in Scotland that need to shift more Used Cars. A total co-ck up as usual getting these loans, as is grants for chargers etc. But it all looks good on-line or in press releases.

@Winston_WoofMost cars are rented. As in a majority so over 50%. On the never never and not owned by the drivers. Company Cars. As to Private cars, personal lease, purchase, borrowed or your own money. There are people buying BEV,s to keep, and ones that did a few years ago and are keeping. They will work out if kept long enough as the usual 2-3 grand a year that they cost them and they still own them and spent less on servicing and maintenance and fuel. Those days are coming to an end now with the latest on BEV,s or ones bought in the last couple of years.

@Graham Butcher 'Just do not get an BEV' if it does not suit your driving needs or life style or where you live / park. If Employers impose one on you and you can not say no then they require to make provision for charging. Not on your time, on theirs. @skomaz As you will have gathered i never bother about what England does as that is not the UK. There is an election on and the Labour Party are going to fill 1 Million Potholes in England. Which is nice if the Unions are not having the workers out on strike.

10,000 miles a year drivers so 200 miles a week drivers public charging and with no home charging might do the odd short charge or a once a week sticking the car for an hour or 2 on a charger. Plenty EV drivers might be more like 5,000 miles a year of local driving and the occasional long run. They might not even need 1 hour a week on a public 50 kW charger. But that 100 miles of a Rapid charge at a PodPoint is going to be £15.50 & maybe even more. Not much cheaper if they are charging longer on a 7 or 11 kW charger or on a 22 kW AC maybe just the same.

The additional Tariff the EU are to impose of 17.4% to 38.1% on electric cars produced in China is going to be interesting and more importantly if the UK follows suit. The EU & UK manufacturers are going to have to be getting on a producing and selling more desirable cars at prices people are prepared to pay. BMW / MINI have GWM building the new MINI in China but they might need to get them started being built sooner than planned in Oxford or elsewhere in Europe.

It was & is Lab Conditions and to the regime on the screen. The European Kidology. The USA,s EPA is nearer real world. As to Stop / Start, Cylinder Deactivation, Coasting being worse in some conditions, i doubt very much because they engineered in that at the low temperatures and the likes they are disabled. I would say the Emissions Control Systems, DPF / SCR & GPF are more fuel wasters. but then VW dealt with that in the past by cheating with Defeat Devices, Software, and cheated testing with the likes of diesel in the engine oil. For the WLTP that had gone to 0w 20 FS IV to help matters. Now others are at it with 0w-8 engine oil. ...................... In 1,000 km / 621 miles driven on a tank of fuel, or maybe the 721 miles i might get when keeping the toe off the accelerator & making the most of coasting being enabled that would be a lot more than just 31 miles of coasting. But true, the difference of doing 25 miles or 31 miles might make a difference not to be noticed. Lots of turbos happen to be better performing in a bit of wet weather / damp, and then there might be losses with tyres in the rain. Swings and roundabouts. But then colder denser air in winter or just colder temps and the summer tyres on dry cold roads with less grip / traction / friction is also small differences. Back to Many a mickle maks a muckle. As Hypermilers know.

I just do not believe that it is only 40% of UK drivers that do not have access to a driveway or offroad parking. I know they say drivers and it is not about properties, but there are a lot of drivers living in hi-rise building,s, flats, blocks of 4 etc etc. EDIT. Posted the wrong page. sorry.

@Stonekeeper Exactly i know the car and driver. I would not touch with your bargepole. Maintenance. That is a Brake Fluid change @ 25,000 miles / 2 years and a look see, a pollen filter & MOT 2 months before it is 3 years old. Unless it does need brake pads, discs, wipers or tyres. It will not need tyres, they are in storage until it gets handed back. My last mobility cars had ridiculous prices quoted to me by Motability to buy, and i could have bought them at Auction for the money that dealers paid. The Alhambra i had for 3 years sold at Arnold Clark,s for a lot less than they paid, and they paid less than i offered Motability for it. But then again i know how it was used and abused and what a liability it was. PS I first bought Ex Motability cars when i was 18 years old, Mini Automatics 3 years old from a list, sight unseen, then Metro Automatics. 1 owner amputee automatics, sold by my mum back in those days. Automatic cars were scarce. As Supplying Dealers got the right to Buy Back and started doing Interest Free loans. (Arnold Clark) and others it got harder to get the better condition cars.

I just had a look on Autotrader at the Asking Prices of MINI Electrics. Quite some drop in price over what the RRP,s were for them at 2-3 years old, but even at 1 year old. Level 2 were a bit a good bit lower priced new than level 3. There are ones advertised that have been doing a fair few miles and the lowest price one has 65,000 on it. I can not buy mine at 3 year old from Motability as they have stopped doing that. You have to ask a Dealer if they can buy it and then sell it to you. Quite likely if i want one it would be best buying just from the market than from the dealer that supplied my car. I will be interested in how the New Generation Cars, small and big battery do as used cars in 2 1/2 to 3 years time. By then it will be clear if there are snagging faults or more serious issues, and how the prices have been going.

Indeed. Henry's is pick which one and luck of the draw. Depends who might be working there at the time. And not much choice is Glasgow, and near there are some best avoided, Arnold Clark & Park's.

There is a load of crappy BEV,s going to be on offer for sale that might well need some servicing after you buy them at 3 or even 2 years old. The real issue in the UK can be the lack of trained technicians and establishments that can get the car in and do the service or plug in and check. Same with PHEV,s though, like a Superb or Octavia PHEV that should have the DSG Service at 40,000 miles and are being sold without that having been done. Even Skoda Approved Used ones.

Thank someones god that they do not all activate the Hazards just when someone touches the brake to change lane. What all cars might or might not have done in the past is changing now and into the future. As to Performance cars, what a PITA the drivers of those can be when they want to be in your back seat and if you let them past they are going slower than you were and proud that they 'Took you like a King'. or D!ck!