Graham Butcher

This mini caught fire 2 days ago (petrol car) and even with the fire being as vicious as it was, once the fire brigade arrived on scene, 2 hoses deployed, the fire was effectively out in just 90 seconds. Allegedly according to the person in the video, they had a BBQ on the front seat of the mini, WTF?

Well you will know how people love to cut corners etc, eBay buyers etc, you will be amazed just how lapse we are in allowing dangerous goods into the country. The claims that are written into the packaging, none of which are true or even present. Look at these 3 videos by another electrical engineer on a extension sold by eBay sellers, where he puts it through tests to show how it could easily cause a fire and it has a claimed rating of 10A., enjoy. 👍👍

Using a cheap imported lead is a recipe for a disaster, 2.5Kw flowing to electrical heater at 250V is 10A exactly and if your voltage is 220 that becomes 11.363A. The minimum cable size for that would be 1.5mm2 and for for cables of 10m or more in length that would increase to 2.5mm2 to 4mm2 to allow for volt drop to be within acceptable safety standards. Most of the extension leads sold in DIY sheds etc are going to be in the realms of 0.75mm2 to 1.0mm2 cable and maybe on the more expensive leads 1.25mm2 or 1.5mm2. Cheaper discount stores will be anything from 0.3mm2 to 0.75mm2, even though the actual product packaging might well state that the extension lead is rated at 10A, it isn't, this really is an area why it is vital for safety sake to gen up on the subject.

No need to do that, it would depend on the actual car in question. My point is pretty clear, surely? The supplied cable that came with the car is going to be up to the job of supplying the current. Every metre of cable added on will add to the overall impedance of the entire circuit feeding power to the car. It is that extra cable that is the point of where everything can suddenly go downhill rapidly, you can buy extension leads from Poundland that may only just be capable of handling 5A max. The cable it self may well be copper coloured aluminium, the plug pins maybe even made from hollow extrusions, the socket contacts may be of poor quality etc. It might be an idea to try and find out how many fires the Fire Brigades think are down to such poor leads. Most people really do not much of an idea when it comes what is and what is not safe to use. Just as @Luckypants said about people warming their ICE up by leaving it idling, so some people will and do, add on cable to their granny leads.

Yes, that is correct, as I was talking about a granny cable. The 10A might not be delivered if it is plugged into an ordinary extention cable, as these can be of variable quality and capacity depending on where they came from.

That is one thing however that you should never do with an ICE, causes more damage to the engine then gentle driving does while it gets upto temp. As to the EV, that surely depends on how the car is connected to the grid, a granny cable might not be capable of supplying the load, especially if it is a long one.

Going second hand is the way to go in my view as you can get some pro gear with very low shutter count for not a lot of money and then you have the choice of either with normal consumer grade lens or pro lens, again for not of money as they have already had the initial depreciation hit. have a look at MBP site as they have some good buys and they usually come with 12 months warranty as well. I have a Canon 7D, which when it was new was well over £1,000 but now costs as little £174 Used Canon EOS 7D | MPB Then chose your lens.

@B33fy wow, a Austin A40, introduced in 1958 and was in production up to 1967, I wonder how many of todays cars will last as that long?

What is the issue you have with the Euro 6 TDI?

Agreed with with the touch screen stuff and also many of the other gadgets, its just more s*** to go wrong. I too was thinking along similar lines, hence why I decided to buy my old company car when I retired intending to keep as long as possible but that all changed 2 years ago when it was written off by someone doing a U turn right in front of me. Now the one I got to replace it with is drinking oil and it looks like the DMF has gone now, so that and my knee is making me think about get rid of it and into something easier for me.

I doubt renting / leasing is open to me at my age. Most hire companies will not touch me with a barge pole and even credit is extremely difficult to get, even some credit cards, as the only source of income is my pension.

Correct, but as those cars are designed to fit / suit the average family, like I said earlier, who are considerable smaller in height to me and my family who are some 6" taller than average. I already have one of the largest cars (Skoda Superb) if not the largest car without entering the real premium sector, in price, insurance, tax and running costs. The reason I'm looking around now is that I think its time to get something that is easier to get into and out of as I'm not as mobile as I once was and I'm suffering from a very painful right knee and muscles in the lower leg as well. People will buy whatever suits them, assuming that they have the required readies so all the RR's and Bentleys, Audi A8's etc are not either going to be within my budget and will be just as difficult for me to ingress and egress as my current car. I need something in a similar interior size but with a much higher seating position, so I can sort of step in and out of rather than having to crouch down.

Hmm, Jags are also deceptive, they are actually far smaller then you would think. I have both driven and been a passenger in a Jag XJ6 and there is bugger all rear legroom unless in a LWB model, very few of them, and the costs of ownership are sky high.

The Kia Niro is not a small car either, I expect that some of that may well be down to the fact a of the Asians are reasonably compact them selves, British men are an average of 5ft 10" and the Asians are average is around the 5ft 6" apparently, which would help explain why the Mazda CX60 was so cramped inside which was the complete opposite of the cars external appearance would suggest.

I will be checking them out in person, but I have Autotrader set on a radius of 100miles from my location and I want a diesel auto and in fact many of those listed make zero reference to the presence of a ramp etc and is only discoverable when flicking through the photos. The photos also show the front seats close to the steering wheel so the drivers seat is too far forward for me, and the space behind it would be seriously eroded when I put the seat in a suitable position for me. Like I said I will looking around for these in person where I can god try this out personally to make sure that I don't discard it without checking.

In the end she went with a Yaris Cross hybrid, and you are correct, it is not a plug in one either. the only pure ICE that she get was a little Aygo which even though the Yaris is not space demon (her old car was also a Yaris) the Aygo was woefully inadequate for her and she lives on her own so does not need a massive car, most of the time it is only her and my other half in the car. I think you are trying to read in between the lines in what I wrote, she has been looking to replace her 10 year old car for some time, and the only cars she has either had has Ford Fiesta and a Toyota Yaris, which was her best car to date and so wanted to get another Toyota. When I mentioned the 3 weeks, it was if go back and read it again, saying that 3 weeks ago, she took delivery of the new car, so it was not a rushed event, far from it. Out of all the Toyota lineup, only the Aygo and Yaris was within her budget and the other models are various forms of hybrid or full electric anyway.

At the weekend I went looking at other cars that may be easier for me to get into and out of and I looked at some large SUV type cars such as Volvo XC70 and XC90, Mazda CX60 and even Kodiaq although looking at them they appear to be massive in reality they have less interior space than the Superb and the boot space is also less (to keep it under the luggage cover). These cars all seem as mentioned above to be huge and impressive, but that is all blot in the body panels, thick doors high ground clearance, high bonnets etc. All the VW Caddy's on the second market all appear to be converted to include a ramp for wheelchair access, and the space between the front and 2nd row of seats is restricted.

Good luck finding a brand new pure ICE vehicle these days suitable without going over the Luxury car tax bracket.

In my book, they are not, the other half is tall and me and my boys are all 1.93m tall and most families these days are taller than they were years ago, so my mind most so called family cars are anything but. Only really being so when the kids are kids and not teens or adults. As to boot. well that is laughable, granted it might be similar sized to that of a mini, focus etc but quickly becomes full when shopping. When my other half and sister in law go to Madeira, they take a suitcase each and with 2 cases and 2 carry on handbags, my boot is full.

That maybe, but Fabia is still a small car, in fact it's more like a 2 seater with space for 2 tods in baby seats.

You say there is no pressure for people to buy electric cars, have you actually tried to buy a new pure ICE car recently? My sister in law has just 3 weeks ago taken delivery of a new car and unless she wanted just the smallest base model in the Toyota range (just 3) all the rest of the wide range of cars, all feature electric in some format, something which she did not want. In the end she had to, if she wanted another new Toyota, something a little more interesting than a basic roller skate, reluctantly had no option other than to go for a hybrid. That is in itself a pressure is it not? Maybe not direct pressure, but indirect, due in large parts to the fines that companies face if they don't sell the required annual quotas electric models, so yes, its pressure.

I have just watched this video and they expose the body shop and insurance industry by actually repairing a written off BMW 1 series car in a day for a fraction of the cost of the cost that the insurance company claimed.

Despite all the pressures being brought to bear on people switching over to electric vehicles both for the private and also the corporate markets, the government once again clearly demonstrating that there is a two tier system in place, one for us and another for them. Instead of leading from the front, which would be the right way to go (don't ask others to do what you are not/cannot do yourself), they have fallen way behind their own targets for the 7,116 cars and vans in their own fleets. So much for their net-zero policy, what next? Government fails to meet its own EV fleet targets despite pressuring drivers to switch | Regit

I think @Breezy_Pete is possibly right, this sounds like it just needs almost a full nut and bolt restoration and a lot money.

More about the car carrier operated by Zodiac of London.