The Car thread

[Bellend Sebastian]

2 hours ago, Tommy G said:

My point wasn't really about being insecure, or whether you can afford it, or your height ....more about how naff they are. 

 

I presume they break down a lot like the rest of the land rover collection, or get nicked...

My mate is a mechanic for a garage that does a lot of work on JLR vehicles, and shared the fascinating fact with me that a Land Rover Discovery (not sure which one) head light unit costs £800. £800!

 

Maybe all headlights cost that much now, it might explain why insurance keeps going up

[Bellend Sebastian]

3 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Maybe all headlights cost that much now

My exhaustive research (about 3 minutes on Google) suggests that it's expensive but not THAT expensive compared to other brands. 

 

Five hundred quid for a recent Ford Focus headlight!

[Greg2607]

14 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

My mate is a mechanic for a garage that does a lot of work on JLR vehicles, and shared the fascinating fact with me that a Land Rover Discovery (not sure which one) head light unit costs £800. £800!

 

Maybe all headlights cost that much now, it might explain why insurance keeps going up

that, the cost of labour, the proliferation of injury claims, the need for a hire car, it all feeds in.  

Most insurers don't actually make a profit on the premiums themselves, or at least a very very small margin.  They make money on investing those premiums and getting returns.

 

if it's a challenging investment landscape they will also have to raise premiums to keep the business liquid if investment returns are poor. 

 

Blame the regulators lol. 

[Jon the Hat]

15 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

My exhaustive research (about 3 minutes on Google) suggests that it's expensive but not THAT expensive compared to other brands. 

 

Five hundred quid for a recent Ford Focus headlight!

I can tell you the headlight on the Discovery 4 is at least twice the size of the focus once, having owned both.

 

Don't get me started on the cost of the bloody zenon lightbulbs.

 

Landrovers are not and never have been a car for people who cannot afford a decent wedge a year on maintenance.  Also don't get me started on the sodding Ford 2.0 Ingenium engine and its timing chain which appears to be made of Lego.  Lego made of platinum.

[The Bear]

On 10/06/2025 at 23:59, djskydiver said:

Any MOT testers here?

 

I’m trying to understand the rules around removing the back box is it going to fail a mot or is it discretionary per tester I.e noise etc?

I'm just in the garage having my MOT done right now, so I thought I'd ask this for you. 

 

He said it would very likely fail the emissions test. The silencer material in them also filters some of the emissions out so would likely fail on that according to him. 

 

There's no noise regulation so to speak but they can fail at their discretion if it's excessively noisy. 

 

He said you can obviously take it off and put it back on for MOT as some people do with CATs. But that's the only option.

 

 

[Chiltern Fox]

Hello - wonder if anyone can help? I need to replace one of my bootlid struts. I was expecting a metal clip on the top and bottom fixings, which I need to ease off using a flat end screwdriver. However, mine don't have this metal release clip. Do I just pull them off or do they have a release?

 

Thanks.

[Kopic]

Driven a few more cars through work recently. Last week i had a 2023 Jeep Compass - an absolutely atrocious car. Shit dashboard, horrible rattling and creaking, the window washers didn't work and it was horrific on mpg. Due to the washer issue, I had to get it swapped out. The company rent intermediate automatics (so suvs, estates usually), and I was swapped out to a manual Fiat 500. Ragged the absolute shit out of it. Again, what an awful car. I seriously do not understand why anyone would buy one. Kept ringing to get it swapped out again, eventually on my last day away I ended up getting an electric 2025 Ford Explorer. Never driven full electric before, was very enjoyable. Lovely car, and quite quick too. Wanted to keep it but it got dehired the next day. Still not sure i'm ready to switch to electric yet.

 

This week I'm in a 2025 ford puma st. It's quite nice, but is a bit uncomfortable on bumpy roads, and makes a bit of a racket inside when bouncing along. Again probably wouldn't have one.

 

Wonder what I'll get next. So far the only one I'd consider buying is the passat i had a few weeks ago, lovely car.

[Bellend Sebastian]

Fairly harrowing article, the main takeaway being that if you ever have the opportunity to use full autopilot in a Tesla (if it even gets passed for use in the UK) then don't.

 

Includes the fairly meaty allegation that autopilot automatically disengages immediately before an accident so it can't be blamed for it.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/05/the-vehicle-suddenly-accelerated-with-our-baby-in-it-the-terrifying-truth-about-why-teslas-cars-keep-crashing

[Nalis]

Is it better to book a hire a car in advance or risk a last minute booking a few days before? 

 

Booked a last minute one a few months back with less than 48hrs notice and got an automatic for £22 quid a day. Cheapest I can find is £35 a day for a period around a few weeks away. Tempted to wait but not sure if I just lucked out the first time.

Edited 10 July 2025 by Nalis

[Grebfromgrebland]

On 05/07/2025 at 09:20, Bellend Sebastian said:

Fairly harrowing article, the main takeaway being that if you ever have the opportunity to use full autopilot in a Tesla (if it even gets passed for use in the UK) then don't.

 

Includes the fairly meaty allegation that autopilot automatically disengages immediately before an accident so it can't be blamed for it.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/05/the-vehicle-suddenly-accelerated-with-our-baby-in-it-the-terrifying-truth-about-why-teslas-cars-keep-crashing

These sound bad but looking at the article all of it sounds like user error and not paying attention to the road while in autopilot.

 

 

[dsr-burnley]

4 hours ago, Nalis said:

Is it better to book a hire a car in advance or risk a last minute booking a few days before? 

 

Booked a last minute one a few months back with less than 48hrs notice and got an automatic for £22 quid a day. Cheapest I can find is £35 a day for a period around a few weeks away. Tempted to wait but not sure if I just lucked out the first time.

Yes and no.  I understand that conditions may be different between hiring a car for a week when on holiday in Spain, and hiring one for three months for business purposes in the UK.  I'd find out where youy're going and what you need the car for before I made any commitment.  

 

Last time I hired a car I got one at a high rate with damage fully covered, and it arrived with bumps and scrapes at every corner but lovely to drive.  For driving on Majorca, it suited me fine.  We booked it on a daily rate via the hotel, and I'm certain there are cheaper ways to do it, but this was zero hassle and zero risk.

[Jon the Hat]

On 05/07/2025 at 16:20, Bellend Sebastian said:

Fairly harrowing article, the main takeaway being that if you ever have the opportunity to use full autopilot in a Tesla (if it even gets passed for use in the UK) then don't.

 

Includes the fairly meaty allegation that autopilot automatically disengages immediately before an accident so it can't be blamed for it.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/05/the-vehicle-suddenly-accelerated-with-our-baby-in-it-the-terrifying-truth-about-why-teslas-cars-keep-crashing

I can't imagine trusting my life to something built by Tesla tbh.  I find the autobraking in my BMW IX3 disturbing enough without even considering ever relying on it to actually avoid an accident.  

[brookfox]

Drove my mates i40 M50 yesterday. First time I’ve ever driven pretty powerful EV and WOW. Put your foot down (when safe to do so!) and it absolutely flew.

[Bellend Sebastian]

My neighbour was cleaning her Dad's old but still nice Mercedes with an old school stiff bristled broom that you'd sweep the patio with, and then he came out and enthusiastically carried on the job himself so I guess that's fine

[Legend_in_blue]

I always smile when turning into Fosse Park driving past the long line of "white" Teslas charging up.  What an immensely boring set of cars to lay eyes on.  Can imagine it's pretty tricky picking out the right one from a distance when returning from the shops too!

[Jon the Hat]

1 hour ago, Legend_in_blue said:

I always smile when turning into Fosse Park driving past the long line of "white" Teslas charging up.  What an immensely boring set of cars to lay eyes on.  Can imagine it's pretty tricky picking out the right one from a distance when returning from the shops too!

They’ve become very common for sure.  Also I find them quite similar 

[The Bear]

White is the base option and cheapest colour which is why you get so many of them. It costs an extra £1000 or so to have a different paint job. Or at least it did when I bought mine. I still went for dark blue though as I'd just had a white car before that. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

What colour car would you have if the whole palette of colours were available?

 

I always liked a dark British Racing type green, but pretty much all car makers abandoned that about 20 years ago and it's rarely been seen since.

 

My current car is green, but not really as it looks grey from some angles and is clearly a very unpopular colour choice given the number of them I've seen. To my surprise it's still an option but not as surprising as that the weird gold option is still available, of which I've seen one, ever.

 

Colour options seem generally very dull these days and manufacturers rarely go out on a limb - remember when Ford brought brown back about 15 years ago? Lasted about two years - whilst I found the idea of owning a brown Focus or Mondeo very appealing, the motor buying public clearly did not

 

 

[Bellend Sebastian]

In other car related stuff, I do love me a fast charger. 

 

Obviously the downside is the cost, but I got 65% in 19 minutes at Exeter Services yesterday. This was great after having had my first ever experience of a public charger not working at Gloucester services on the same journey

[Izzy]

3 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

What colour car would you have if the whole palette of colours were available?

 

I always liked a dark British Racing type green, but pretty much all car makers abandoned that about 20 years ago and it's rarely been seen since.

 

My current car is green, but not really as it looks grey from some angles and is clearly a very unpopular colour choice given the number of them I've seen. To my surprise it's still an option but not as surprising as that the weird gold option is still available, of which I've seen one, ever.

 

Colour options seem generally very dull these days and manufacturers rarely go out on a limb - remember when Ford brought brown back about 15 years ago? Lasted about two years - whilst I found the idea of owning a brown Focus or Mondeo very appealing, the motor buying public clearly did not

 

I've got a Jag XF 67 reg in British Racing Green.

 

I bought it at the start of lockdown and didn't really do my research properly. In hindsight, I should have gone for the 3.0l petrol version not the 2.0l diesel.

 

The thing that sold me was the colour tbh. There's very few around and the metallic flakes absolutely pop in the sunshine.

 

The best colour car I've ever had by a mile and I won't be getting rid of it any time soon.

[Bellend Sebastian]

44 minutes ago, Izzy said:

I've got a Jag XF 67 reg in British Racing Green.

 

I bought it at the start of lockdown and didn't really do my research properly. In hindsight, I should have gone for the 3.0l petrol version not the 2.0l diesel.

 

The thing that sold me was the colour tbh. There's very few around and the metallic flakes absolutely pop in the sunshine.

 

The best colour car I've ever had by a mile and I won't be getting rid of it any time soon.

I mean, no other colour should even be allowed on that car.  You made the right choice

[FoyleFox]

I'd noted car insurance seemed to have stopped increasing quite as ridiculously in recent months. My renewal came today and it's £220 down on last year. 

Sadly, I can't rush out and treat myself with the money as this year starts me having to pay £195 for car tax. 

Better than paying both though. 

[Parafox]

On 21/07/2025 at 10:31, FoyleFox said:

I'd noted car insurance seemed to have stopped increasing quite as ridiculously in recent months. My renewal came today and it's £220 down on last year. 

Sadly, I can't rush out and treat myself with the money as this year starts me having to pay £195 for car tax. 

Better than paying both though. 

 

Mine has gone down too. By about £50 pa.

 

I was all set to go through comparison sites after I was told products are cheaper for the first year when you accept insurance through them. They weren't so I stayed with my current company.

[Parafox]

I have a question about stop/start systems.

 

I have a (very dull) Peugeot 2008 with  a stop start system.

 

I was wondering why the engine restarts if I open a door or unclip a seatbelt.

 

 

[Greg2607]

14 hours ago, Parafox said:

 

Mine has gone down too. By about £50 pa.

 

I was all set to go through comparison sites after I was told products are cheaper for the first year when you accept insurance through them. They weren't so I stayed with my current company.

we are in a "soft market" for insurance, so if you have a clean claims history, businesses will be clamouring for your custom. lots of undercutting and ridiculous pricing happening in the market. mainly unprofitable, so expect premiums to raise a bit next year.   We typically follow the US market and it's started to harden again in the US, so this time next year will see prices going up again a little.