The Car thread

[kenny]

1 minute ago, The Bear said:

The Mini Clubman is supposed to be a good car. 

That is what we have. Its been a good purchase, the seats are clearly straight from a BMW.

[Livid]

On 26/01/2025 at 00:28, dsr-burnley said:

1.2 is fine.  I've got a 13 year old Corsa that does about 45 mpg over that sort of distance and it's easy peasy driving up to 75 mph or so, which is plenty.  If you want to push it to 80 mph then you have to hold the wheel firmly and your mpg goes down.

I moved out of my 09 plate Corsa last week. Can’t say I was ever in love with it but I took really good care of it and it never let me down. Just done over 130k and it was time. 
 

Swapped to a 66 plate 1.6 Tdi Blue Motion Golf Match. It was the old pool car at work, great condition and really low mileage for its age. They gave me a great deal and I had looked after it for the last few years so knew the history. 
 

Right car at the right price so it was a bit of a no brainer to take it. 

[lcfc278]

11 hours ago, Livid said:

I moved out of my 09 plate Corsa last week.

Good to see you're getting back on your feet mate!

[Livid]

10 hours ago, lcfc278 said:

Good to see you're getting back on your feet mate!

Rude!!! 

[tom27111]

I've done it. I've bought an EV.

 

Nothing spectacular, it's a 3 year old Nissan Leaf.

 

Purely a financial decision...I'm saving £150 on company car tax, £200 a month for fuel, plus...my company pay me £250 car allowance a month.

 

No brainer. 

[Clogger_]

12 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

I've done it. I've bought an EV.

 

Nothing spectacular, it's a 3 year old Nissan Leaf.

 

Purely a financial decision...I'm saving £150 on company car tax, £200 a month for fuel, plus...my company pay me £250 car allowance a month.

 

No brainer. 

They're great value and by all accounts pretty reliable. Also fast! Enjoy your step into the future ;-)

[tom27111]

Just now, Clogger_ said:

They're great value and by all accounts pretty reliable. Also fast! Enjoy your step into the future ;-)

 

Do you want a job? 

 

Second hand value can't be beaten. Prices have dropped off a cliff.

 

Literally a 32k car brand new for 12k after 3 years.

 

Like I say, not my dream car, not even close. But a financial dream.

[tom27111]

28 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

I've done it. I've bought an EV.

 

Nothing spectacular, it's a 3 year old Nissan Leaf.

 

Purely a financial decision...I'm saving £150 on company car tax, £200 a month for fuel, plus...my company pay me £250 car allowance a month.

 

No brainer. 

 

Yes, I'm paying £200 on PCP, plus insurance at £70 a month, but I'm so much better off.

 

Yeah, it's a Nissan Leaf, but my company car was a Fiat Tipo, so I'm saving money and I'm a bit cooler 

[Jattdogg]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

I've done it. I've bought an EV.

 

Nothing spectacular, it's a 3 year old Nissan Leaf.

 

Purely a financial decision...I'm saving £150 on company car tax, £200 a month for fuel, plus...my company pay me £250 car allowance a month.

 

No brainer. 

Mate, a car is a car. If money is no object then by all means splurge. For regular folk, save some cash, vacation, visit the bunny ranch or do something else thats fun. I suppose if cars is your fun thing, then buy that jag lol.

 

I love my subaru ascent but I mean I'd have been happy with a Honda pilot or a smaller suv. I am keeping my eyes open though as my 2010 civic is not lookin so sexy. It o my has 150,000km on it but the paint is a hot mess. Plan on driving it till it dies or I get tired of it. I see some rust spots forming now...boooooo.

 

Ps! Enjoy the ride that seems like a great buy!

Edited 8 February by Jattdogg

[Pliskin]

So Im going to go EV. After a conversation with a friend about how much it’s saving him financially, I’ve decided to go for it.

 

Ive lined up a VW ID 4, it’s a great price, and would end up being the cheapest car I’ve owned recently. 
 

Question is, can any current EV owners offer any advice at all? In terms of running costs, services and anything about the model I’ve chosen? 

[fox_favourite]

9 hours ago, Pliskin said:

So Im going to go EV. After a conversation with a friend about how much it’s saving him financially, I’ve decided to go for it.

 

Ive lined up a VW ID 4, it’s a great price, and would end up being the cheapest car I’ve owned recently. 
 

Question is, can any current EV owners offer any advice at all? In terms of running costs, services and anything about the model I’ve chosen? 

Can't comment on the ID4, but I have the ID3 for 6 months and actually really like it. Got it at an incredible price second hand. So easy to drive, especially if you do town driving. A few things I've learnt:

 

- get a wall box at home! That will save you a lot and make sure you're on a tariff that is cheaper over night. I'm with octopus and get get charged 7p pKWh at night. If you use public chargers that'll be 75p up. So cost would be £30 per charge rather than £3-£4 at home. 

 

- charge to 80% to increase the longevity of the battery is what I was told. I charge it to 100% every so often especially if I'm doing a long trip. But to commute to work daily, I charger to 80 and generally charge again at around 20%ish

 

- car tax will go up in April, which I'm hoping you were told at purchase? Is it new or 2nd hand? You got it at the right time as it'll be free for you for a year, so at renewal it'll be £195. If it's new, you'll have a new car tax (yuk) which is more. I think £605 for the first 5 years. If you've gone second hand like I did (just under 3 yes old) then it'll go up to £195 from your next renewal. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

 

- expect range drop off In winter. Weather does make a difference, unless you got a heat pump? Mine hasn't.

 

- my insurance was higher, but I haven't had to renew yet from when I bought it, but can't comment. But I'm sure you've done your research on that. 

 

- defrosting the car remote is such a lazy thing I thought I never needed. I bloody did! 

 

- i went from a diesel Sportage to a ID3. Space in the back was almost the same for passengers, but driving it took a few days to get used to. But it's made me lazy, and now I'm just hit me 40s it's exactly what I wanted. The silence is great at traffic lights and driving around. 

 

- use B mode on town. It takes some getting used to but when you do it's great. It doesn't stop completely, but it great and you'll only need to use your breaks if you need to stop or some drip does something stupid. Use D mode on faster roads, but you will need to use your breaks. It rolls further without touching anything. Again odd sensation when you first drive it, bit easy to get used to. 

 

- service is every 2yrs with the ID range, which will save you money. There isn't much to service. 

 

Enjoy. My neighbour has an ID4 and they like it as well.

 

I hope that helps. But the one thing you need to do asap is get a home charger if you haven't already. That is where the savings are. You'll spend around £1kish give or take on a decent one. I wouldn't got for a really cheap one, they have a high chance of  failing to charge/poo parts. 

Edited 9 February by fox_favourite

[Pliskin]

5 hours ago, fox_favourite said:

Can't comment on the ID4, but I have the ID3 for 6 months and actually really like it. Got it at an incredible price second hand. So easy to drive, especially if you do town driving. A few things I've learnt:

 

- get a wall box at home! That will save you a lot and make sure you're on a tariff that is cheaper over night. I'm with octopus and get get charged 7p pKWh at night. If you use public chargers that'll be 75p up. So cost would be £30 per charge rather than £3-£4 at home. 

 

- charge to 80% to increase the longevity of the battery is what I was told. I charge it to 100% every so often especially if I'm doing a long trip. But to commute to work daily, I charger to 80 and generally charge again at around 20%ish

 

- car tax will go up in April, which I'm hoping you were told at purchase? Is it new or 2nd hand? You got it at the right time as it'll be free for you for a year, so at renewal it'll be £195. If it's new, you'll have a new car tax (yuk) which is more. I think £605 for the first 5 years. If you've gone second hand like I did (just under 3 yes old) then it'll go up to £195 from your next renewal. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. 

 

- expect range drop off In winter. Weather does make a difference, unless you got a heat pump? Mine hasn't.

 

- my insurance was higher, but I haven't had to renew yet from when I bought it, but can't comment. But I'm sure you've done your research on that. 

 

- defrosting the car remote is such a lazy thing I thought I never needed. I bloody did! 

 

- i went from a diesel Sportage to a ID3. Space in the back was almost the same for passengers, but driving it took a few days to get used to. But it's made me lazy, and now I'm just hit me 40s it's exactly what I wanted. The silence is great at traffic lights and driving around. 

 

- use B mode on town. It takes some getting used to but when you do it's great. It doesn't stop completely, but it great and you'll only need to use your breaks if you need to stop or some drip does something stupid. Use D mode on faster roads, but you will need to use your breaks. It rolls further without touching anything. Again odd sensation when you first drive it, bit easy to get used to. 

 

- service is every 2yrs with the ID range, which will save you money. There isn't much to service. 

 

Enjoy. My neighbour has an ID4 and they like it as well.

 

I hope that helps. But the one thing you need to do asap is get a home charger if you haven't already. That is where the savings are. You'll spend around £1kish give or take on a decent one. I wouldn't got for a really cheap one, they have a high chance of  failing to charge/poo parts. 

It’s second hand, like yourself I had to double take at the price. It’s two years old, performance package…. No heat pump but the price was too good to be true so I went for it…. Luckily the house I purchased late last year actually has an electric wall charger, which is one of the main reasons I went for it, as I wouldn’t have to buy one. 
 

Tax was covered, and it’s cost me slightly less to insure than my previous car which is nice. 
 

Service was one thing I was wanted explaining, they said similar, the guy even said to me with EV cars it’s not as pressing, just get it in like you say every two years should do! 
 

It does drive really nicely, I set myself a low bar growing up and I’ve had my dream car in a golf GTI, so now I’ve got that out of my system I wanted something that was going to cost me less to run, and everyone I’ve spoken to says EV definitely saves you a lot of money. I’m glad I’ve gone for it! 
 

Thanks for the advice! 

[Spudulike]

If only they could improve the range. It's stopping me from getting one. My yearly mileage has dropped off a cliff since I gave up work but still need to do a 270 round trip for home games. Not spending a huge amount on a Musk Mobile and don't want to be expensively topping up on the way home in dark, freezing February.

[fox_favourite]

1 hour ago, Pliskin said:

It’s second hand, like yourself I had to double take at the price. It’s two years old, performance package…. No heat pump but the price was too good to be true so I went for it…. Luckily the house I purchased late last year actually has an electric wall charger, which is one of the main reasons I went for it, as I wouldn’t have to buy one. 
 

Tax was covered, and it’s cost me slightly less to insure than my previous car which is nice. 
 

Service was one thing I was wanted explaining, they said similar, the guy even said to me with EV cars it’s not as pressing, just get it in like you say every two years should do! 
 

It does drive really nicely, I set myself a low bar growing up and I’ve had my dream car in a golf GTI, so now I’ve got that out of my system I wanted something that was going to cost me less to run, and everyone I’ve spoken to says EV definitely saves you a lot of money. I’m glad I’ve gone for it! 
 

Thanks for the advice! 

VW must be doing great deals. I couldn't believe mine either! I still managed to haggle more out of them. Loads cheaper than anything else and I have saved loads since, with extended warranty as well. 

 

Good you've already got a home charger, that's saved you even more money. 

 

Sorry I can't offer more on the servicing, but it sounds like we were told the same thing. 

[tom27111]

Just a little reminder to EV owners...

 

SORN your car with the DVLA this month or next month, then tax it again the next day.

 

VED on all EV's, whatever age, will be charged from 1st April at a rate of about £165 per year.

 

If you tax it for a year before 1st April, you'll get the entire year for free.

 

If your tax is due in April or May, you'll have to pay the whole fee.

 

 

[jgtuk]

11 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

Just a little reminder to EV owners...

 

SORN your car with the DVLA this month or next month, then tax it again the next day.

 

VED on all EV's, whatever age, will be charged from 1st April at a rate of about £165 per year.

 

If you tax it for a year before 1st April, you'll get the entire year for free.

 

If your tax is due in April or May, you'll have to pay the whole fee.

 

 

Great advice 👍

[fox_favourite]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

Just a little reminder to EV owners...

 

SORN your car with the DVLA this month or next month, then tax it again the next day.

 

VED on all EV's, whatever age, will be charged from 1st April at a rate of about £165 per year.

 

If you tax it for a year before 1st April, you'll get the entire year for free.

 

If your tax is due in April or May, you'll have to pay the whole fee.

 

 

Wasn't sure you can do that! But that is great advice. 

[Dreadnought]

Make sure you switch your electricity tariff to one that allows you to charge at a cheaper rate overnight and that the chars get you have allows you to do this. Older Pod Point chargers won’t do this. 

[fox_favourite]

This is a really useful vid for explaining tax. He suggests the same thing @tom27111does. 

 

Also a good channel of ev info. 

 

 

[The Bear]

4 hours ago, tom27111 said:

Just a little reminder to EV owners...

 

SORN your car with the DVLA this month or next month, then tax it again the next day.

 

VED on all EV's, whatever age, will be charged from 1st April at a rate of about £165 per year.

 

If you tax it for a year before 1st April, you'll get the entire year for free.

 

If your tax is due in April or May, you'll have to pay the whole fee.

 

 

You don't need to SORN it. You can apply for road tax as early as you like online as you are losing £0 for any lost months. 

 

I did mine last March even though it wasn't due until June. 

[FoyleFox]

13 hours ago, Spudulike said:

If only they could improve the range. It's stopping me from getting one. My yearly mileage has dropped off a cliff since I gave up work but still need to do a 270 round trip for home games. Not spending a huge amount on a Musk Mobile and don't want to be expensively topping up on the way home in dark, freezing February.

There are plenty that do more than 270 and the range is vastly increasing.

If you bought one, you could charge whilst at the match. People with home chargers rent theirs out at a much lower rate that the Corporate ones. If you were here long enough or you could just top up enough miles to get you home, paying a few ££, instead of a lot of ££ in fuel.

I just did a 300 mile trip, just charged an extra 80 or so miles for £20 ish, during a normal comfort break.

[Spudulike]

10 hours ago, FoyleFox said:

There are plenty that do more than 270 and the range is vastly increasing.

If you bought one, you could charge whilst at the match. People with home chargers rent theirs out at a much lower rate that the Corporate ones. If you were here long enough or you could just top up enough miles to get you home, paying a few ££, instead of a lot of ££ in fuel.

I just did a 300 mile trip, just charged an extra 80 or so miles for £20 ish, during a normal comfort break.

£20 to do 80 miles  Did you recharge at a motorway services? My petrol Golf does around 55 miles per gallon. 

 

Not convinced EV is for me. Not yet anyway. Far too much hassle, transport shouldn't be that difficult.

[Bellend Sebastian]

5 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

£20 to do 80 miles  Did you recharge at a motorway services? My petrol Golf does around 55 miles per gallon. 

 

Not convinced EV is for me. Not yet anyway. Far too much hassle, transport shouldn't be that difficult.

Unless you're on the road all the time you'll be paying that once in a blue moon. 

 

IF you can charge at home you're looking at 1 to 1.25 p a mile on the right tariff. 

 

I've driven 18,000 miles in my EV and I've been to Cornwall, the Lake District etc from Leicester and the hassle has been pretty tiny, and relative to the costs I'd say non existent. 

 

If you cannot charge at home, it makes no sense at all from a cost perspective though

[Spudulike]

36 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Unless you're on the road all the time you'll be paying that once in a blue moon. 

 

IF you can charge at home you're looking at 1 to 1.25 p a mile on the right tariff. 

 

I've driven 18,000 miles in my EV and I've been to Cornwall, the Lake District etc from Leicester and the hassle has been pretty tiny, and relative to the costs I'd say non existent. 

 

If you cannot charge at home, it makes no sense at all from a cost perspective though

Wouldn't be once in a blue moon for me though. It'd be every home match!

[RobHawk]

Advice needed

 

So I've got a 52 plate honda civic that I need to get rid of. Its recently had a new drive shaft, engine running well with no issues but it does need some work to replace part of the exhaust. Mot until October.

 

Having looked around online, in full working order I'd be looking at it being worth £1000-£1500. 

 

If I was to scrap it, I'd get £200. 

 

So I'm looking to still sell it, with the previso it needs work and hoping to get £500-£750 for it. 

 

I've never sold a car before, let alone one that's over 20 years old, so my question is where's the best place to sell, autotrader, gumtree, Facebook or somewhere else?