The Zee

What I paid for the house is irrelevant, it's now worth about £270k and if you are interested: 1) I have worked and paid in for 50 years 2) Never taken anything out - not even child benefit 3) I leave the house about 5:30 am for work and don't usually get back until about 7:30 pm, six days a week - it's the price I pay for wanting my own home. 4) Why should I have the government taking more of what I have worked for over my life - they have already had enough from me 5) I am not one of the country's scroungers, it's my taxes and others that keep many people sitting around all day doing nothing and taking everything, I am just an honest person trying to provide for my family during my life and after my death 6) I have worked bloody hard for what I have got, to give my wife the best security I can give her. Is that too much to ask?

If the value is less than £100k it won't be touched, but if it is worth £105k the government will take the £5k to bring your asset down to $100k.

Spoke to my wife last night and she went to the car to do what Rustynuts suggested and found that the radio is now working fine. Very strange. Rustynuts - if it happens again I will try your solution. thanks, Andy

My wife and I like many others bought our house for our old age security. We have also like many others little savings – but a small emergency fund. Coming up to retirement we have paid our taxes and National Insurance for nearly fifty years in the belief that if we ever need any state help it will be there for us. Not anymore. We have been fortunate that we have never had the need to use any hospital services and only occasionally needed a doctor. As I understand it the government proposes that they can take a charge on our property for any long term old age care leaving just a floor of £100.000 left in the value of our house for us. Lets assume that I need long term care, I am twelve years older than my wife and statistically she will live longer than I will. By the time I die all that will be left of the propertys value will be £100k. Roll forward a few years after I have fallen off of the perch, and my wife finds she can no longer cope with the stairs and needs to move into sheltered accommodation. She needs to sell the house, and this is when the charge in taken by the government against our house. They take what “is due to them” and my wife is left with £100k. You cannot even buy a beach hut in the South East for that, so she cannot sell as there is not enough left for her to buy another place. She will have to struggle on. All her options have been taken away by the government. If we had been reckless in our lives, instead of being prudent, and stayed in rented accommodation and spent all our money on partying and holidays, the state would have to pick up the cost as we would have no assets. But no… we did what we thought was the correct thing by trying to look out for ourselves – what fools we have been. What is the difference between some young person needing long term care and the elderly. The young will get it but the oldies will not – age discrimination ! If I need long term care and wish my wife to retain the full security of a roof over her head the only honourable thing I can do is kill myself before the thieving government take away our hard earned security.

Thanks Rustynuts. I am away on business until Saturday. I will try that when I get home. Cheers

This morning the radio died. Just went silent. No background hiss. The sd card and ipod still work fine as does the sat nav. It's coming up to five years old, does this mean a new unit and at what cost?

That would persuade me. I don't want or need 7 seats. The back is for our dog. I don't like paying for something I will never use. Be interesting to see if it happens. Thee must be a lot of people out there who want high spec but not 7 seats.

Yes you are correct, it is one of the rarer models. Last time I looked there was only 114 registered in the UK. The colour you are talking about is Amethyst Purple, same as mine. It is the kind of model that someone will be specifically looking for. A well placed advert should do the trick.

Recently a friend of mine got done for being over the drink drive limit. It was his own fault and knew he should not have driven, but that's another story. Whilst discussing this we drifted onto the topic of speeding. Now I am no expert and don't know the exact criteria for the following, but it got us thinking. If I am not mistaken if you are caught speeding a few mph over the limit and it falls within the "offence" range then you get points and a fine. If at a higher speed there is the chance that you may be offered a driving couse and keep a clean licence. After the course you should be a better driver. So my question is this, get caught a little over the limit and get points or drive faster and keep a clean licence? (This if course does not include any insurance issues).

....That I am spending more time looking at the road directly in front of me for potholes than taking in the wider view of the road ahead, having already replaced two tyres this year. Is this just me? Or others doing the same?

A neighbour a few doors up from me has a BMW M5 which he constantly informs me is so good, so fast as he looks down at my humble Superb, that I want to chuck. Well last night returning home to a couple of inches of snow found him at the bottom of the hill to our road wheels spinning and going nowhere. He got out, slid down the road to me and informed me "you won't get up there tonight". Now I know it was my winter tyres and not the car but I couldn't resist saying to him "or course I will, it's a Skoda you know". Well I pulled out drove safely up the hill and pulled onto my drive. So smug.

Welcome to the best Skoda site on the planet

I take it you have Themisto's on the car at the moment. If so, might I suggest you jack the car up, take one off and try it. You will know for sure then.

Don't forget you get 15% off anything you buy in Cotswold Outdoor shops in store or on line.

The battery on my 4 year old Superb is showing signs of retirement. I believe the standard one fitted is lead acid, can anyone confirm this? Was considering changing for a more modern Calcium or Silver Calcium type but have read conflicting reports based on the alternator not being up to the task of charging the Calcium types fully. Any battery expects on here to offer advice? Many thanks

Well for the first time I have bought some winter tyres. Have had them mounted on my existing Themistos so are 225x40x18 Goodyear Performance GEN-1. Couldn't face the idea of steels for six months ruining the look of the car. Let's see how they go. They can stay on the rims at the end of winter as my wife has kindly bought me four brand new Themistos for my new summer tyres when the time comes. Just hoping for a bit of snow and cold now.

Hi Guardian did mine early this year. 1. Looks good 2. A lot less heat loss 3. Cooler in summer 4. Quieter 5. Aluminium framework went up first followed by hugh amount of insulation topped off with tile effect that near enough matches the roof of the house. 6. Interior plastering done to a very high standard. 7. It's no longer an occasional use conservatory but has been transformed into an all year garden room. 8. Slightly less natural light level but that's what we wanted as in the summer it was unusable due to the heat even with the roof light open. It's right up the top of the lit for the best home improvement we have undertaken.

As it's the 2 litre petrol (it would have had the 6 speed DSG as standard, there was no manual option). It's a great set up and pretty bullet proof. With regular servicing it should go on for years. I have had mine for four years and wouldn't consider selling it. As your know the trade is pretty poor. Stand back and look at it and ask yourself would you be as comfortable in anything else?

Another welcome from East Sussex. Hope your search goes well.

Welcome

Welcome.

Welcome.

Hi Tell us what you drive. We don't bite.

I have just had 16 tons delivered and have be wondering about its source. If they own a large piece of ground it must run out sometime.

Went to B&Q and purchased a Ripley 4 seater firepit set, a 3.5 metre overhanging parasol and 4 base weights. The table top went on the roof but the 4 extra wide chairs (fully assembled), the fire pit, fire pit cover, cold drinks bucket, parasol and four weights all went inside still in their boxes. Guy at B&Q genuinely amazed. Any body stuffed more into an estate?