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Post by Martin on Jan 26, 2024 13:13:51 GMT
Or in the case of that car, Shit looking bodykit!
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Post by Martin on Jan 26, 2024 11:55:28 GMT
Was a leather Dashboard an option alongside Full Merino? I'm not sure, but that would explain the difference.
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Post by Martin on Jan 26, 2024 10:26:39 GMT
We will stick 3-pin for now, one of the guys that used to work for me here is now at Pod Point so I'll give him a shout if we need one. We have solar on this house (on it when Tina bought it just before we met) and a new smart meter shows the input/output. charging the car is 2.5KW or so, which on a sunny day even at this time of year is about what we generate when its on the panels. So charging the car is a bit like having the kettle on, for a long time, but with this size of battey its doable on a 3 pin, it just means parking front-in like that as they don't like extension leads. You shouldn't use a normal extension lead, but it's fine to use a thicker / more industrial one (1.5+ mm2), which is what I have as the sockets are at the back of the garage. It doesn't get hot and I've got one with an RCD for a bit of extra safety. When we had the extension built and aircon fitted we needed a new larger fuse box etc, so it made sense at the same time for the electrician to run a suitable cable for a 7KW charger down to the garage. The extension lead was going to be a temporary solution, but it works well as the battery is only just over 14kwh, so I haven't bothered to get the charger fitted yet. You can pay quite a bit getting a lead from places like evcables, but there are lower cost options, like this one: toughleads.co.uk/products/ev-extension-lead?variant=19514035994712You can get them for less if you don't need them to be weatherproof (I don't, as the charger sits in the garage), just make sure they are over 1.5mm2.
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Post by Martin on Jan 25, 2024 22:01:37 GMT
I’m still not sure about it, will have to see one properly. I specced up a Turbo without going mad and it was £112k in a foc paint colour. I thought £87k was too much for a Macan when we quite seriously specced up a GTS for Lindsay, another £25k is a lot and like most more expensive EVs, too much for a private buyer. It is a ‘Turbo’ so a better standard spec than the GTS and you can now have Matrix lights (not sure why no HD Matrix) which I’d struggle to buy a car without plus a few other things you’d expect on a car of that price which you couldn’t get in the old Macan. How does a turbo work with an EV? Sad that it’s become a trim level across all the models.
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Post by Martin on Jan 25, 2024 19:57:53 GMT
I’m still not sure about it, will have to see one properly. I specced up a Turbo without going mad and it was £112k in a foc paint colour. I thought £87k was too much for a Macan when we quite seriously specced up a GTS for Lindsay, another £25k is a lot and like most more expensive EVs, too much for a private buyer. It is a ‘Turbo’ so a better standard spec than the GTS and you can now have Matrix lights (not sure why no HD Matrix) which I’d struggle to buy a car without plus a few other things you’d expect on a car of that price which you couldn’t get in the old Macan.
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Post by Martin on Jan 25, 2024 19:23:46 GMT
Fun fact…..the building Carshop Swindon is based in was the first EMI CD pressing plant in the UK.
Car looks good and is a decent spec.
That era or idrive is really intuitive imo, you’re lucky it isn’t the latest version! I’m pretty sure phone setup / Bluetooth is in ‘Communication’. As you can connect more than just a phone these days it does make sense.
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Post by Martin on Jan 25, 2024 15:29:03 GMT
You mean F30-shape... But yes. I do love the design of them. But for my money a 440i is a better car more of the time for most people. It has a nicer-sounding engine as well and you don't suffer the M tax. If only they did a 440i with a full merino interior....I can't find any They did, but they are super rare. There were a couple of unregistered ones when we were looking at cars for Lindsay in early 2018. They were well spaced and under £40k!
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Post by Martin on Jan 24, 2024 19:19:57 GMT
Pickup has increased from £450 to £560. All other quotes are higher as well, so it seems I am stuck with it. I’d accept that before they change their mind! I’ll be relieved if my renewal is less than double last year.
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Random
Jan 24, 2024 8:46:48 GMT
Post by Martin on Jan 24, 2024 8:46:48 GMT
That’s great to hear. Sadly not a common story anymore either. In other news, I’ve just fallen victim to a salesman who called to my front door. Selling broadband fibre. I’m currently with Virgin who once the 12 month wooing period was up, pushed my 500mb from €45 to €70 a month. Vodafone is my new suitor. Also using fibre, but discounted as I’ve 2 business phones with them, giving me 1Gb for €30, rising to €40 after 6 months. I had been planning to move provider anyway and Vodafone have better customer service than most over here. Twice the speed for half the price isn’t bad, although the reality will probably be closer to the previously quoted speed for half the price. Apart from Virgin, do all the other providers not just use BT lines (not sure what happens in Ireland though) Yes (Openreach, which is part of BT group) and I'm pretty sure it's the same in Ireland. My Division looks after all the Warehousing/Transport (consumer and engineering) for both Virgin and BT Group. Not Vodafone though Rodge....
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Post by Martin on Jan 23, 2024 16:51:14 GMT
There are already sub 3 year old M4's with less then 10,000miles on for under 50K. I know they are hideous but when a 3 year old M3 touring hits 50K they will be hard to ignore. I'd rather an Alpina B3 but the monstrous depreciation of the M3/4 doesn't seem to have much of an impact on Alpina depreciation. That should make them very easy to ignore! I've moved on from hideous to unnecessarily ugly, maybe by the time the Touring is under £50k the looks might be a bit more acceptable. It's getting more and more difficult, but I really don't ever want to buy a car that fails to make me 'look back'.
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Post by Martin on Jan 22, 2024 15:03:46 GMT
List price is £50k now and discounts are back, so not a massive increase. That's with the plastic seats. £53k for leather so a 25% increase. Forgot about the ‘faux leather’ / pleather / vinyl! You can still have his and hers for the price of an i5….
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Post by Martin on Jan 22, 2024 14:37:58 GMT
Was it only 2 and half years ago my X3 2.0d M Sport was only £42k? List price is £50k now and discounts are back, so not a massive increase.
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Post by Martin on Jan 22, 2024 14:32:01 GMT
Prices have gone silly. Hot hatches can be £50-60k, £100k for an M3, it’s easy to spend close to £100k on a Boxster etc. It doesn’t seem that long ago (nearly 6 years, time flies) I paid £55k for a 1,300 mile nicely FG’d 750i and that felt like a lot of money.
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Post by Martin on Jan 22, 2024 7:56:47 GMT
Yes, it gets to a point where the value is in the condition (plus future risk) and nothing to do with age. So spending money keeping one right is well worth doing and maintains value whereas on a newer car, you spend money fixing something and it doesn’t make any difference.
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Post by Martin on Jan 22, 2024 7:03:44 GMT
£400 is a lot less than I was expecting. Not much more than half the cost of a std service on a new one.
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Post by Martin on Jan 22, 2024 7:01:56 GMT
It was even worse than I expected. I’m with Rodge, no desirability at all and I’ve always really liked the 5 series.
It’s not just that it’s a poor value / poor performing electric car, a lot of the issues (looks, interior, quality) will still be there on one of the Hybrids. Hopefully they will drive better, but I’ve configured a 550e and it was £96k, that’s just the things I’d want not ticking every box.
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Post by Martin on Jan 21, 2024 13:39:37 GMT
Will be on Harry’s Garage this afternoon
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Post by Martin on Jan 20, 2024 10:55:43 GMT
Yes, I know prices have increased across the board, especially EVs and an i5 can easily be over £100k as a start point is too much imo.
Completely agree with the comments about the i-Pace, it’s a massive wasted opportunity. They were in a clear lead when it was launched and should have developed the package plus spun off a couple of other variants.
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Post by Martin on Jan 18, 2024 18:26:33 GMT
My Range Rover was completely faultless in 40,000 miles and just over 3 years. I don’t think that’s anywhere near as rare as some people think.
The 750 had a leaking oil pipe into one of the turbos and a coolant leak about a year later, it never let me down mechanically, but did need recovery when I had quite a bad puncture. My Dads 630 GT has had a few issues, latest was a stuck fuel flap just before Christmas. The 535d was much better, that was fault free over 96,000 miles / 3.5 years.
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Post by Martin on Jan 17, 2024 17:56:16 GMT
I still wouldn’t choose one, but that really is good value.
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Post by Martin on Jan 15, 2024 11:47:45 GMT
Boxster GTS 4.0. If it needs to have 4 seats and Susan likes SUVs, then a Macan. I’m struggling with anything on a lease, the Fisker Ocean is interesting although not exciting. The material quality won’t be a match for her current car and I’ve no idea how well it drives or what the lease cost is, but it’s X3 size and has decent range and performance.
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Post by Martin on Jan 15, 2024 11:31:43 GMT
I have a real problem with the 911 at this time of year as the windows have to drop down to open the doors. You can pull the door open without the windows dropping but you can hear the electrical motors having a melt down. Then when you try and shut the doors they wont because the window hasn't dropped. I really don't feel like peeing on the doors every morning so a better solution would be gratefully received. Keeping it in a garage is the best solution! If that’s not an option, then worth trying this for under a fiver. amzn.eu/d/an8eOrz
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Post by Martin on Jan 15, 2024 8:45:50 GMT
That looks very clean for a car that's 10+ years old, especially one that lives in London. Due credit to its owner. I made the mistake of quitting the office at 3pm yesterday and going home to give the cars a quick snowfoam wash - they were so dirty it was an embarrassment. When I was finished they were considerably cleaner and just about presentable but this morning it was -6 at the house and there were two block of ice in the driveway. The doors were welded shut and the wipers were bonded to the windscreen. It took several jugs of cold water to let me open the door and then over 10 minutes with the engine running to defrost the windows. The ice was so thick the scraper surrendered together with my frozen hands. Only -4.5 at the office but it looks like it will be a nice sunny day. Have you tried gummi pflege on the door seals? The Range Rover suffered from frozen door seals unless you ran the FBH for a good 30mins, but that solved it. I’d also recommend the ‘Swedish Ice Scraper’, it’s great at tackling thick ice. It was -3c at home this morning after raining quite a bit yesterday evening, so everything was frozen. I activated the heating through the app about 25mins before I was due to leave and it was fully defrosted and very toasty inside.
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Post by Martin on Jan 14, 2024 16:16:35 GMT
What makes the number plates 4D as opposed to just 3D? Am I missing something? Do they light up or move about? I think they’re only called that so there’s a difference between them and 3D gel plates.
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Post by Martin on Jan 13, 2024 15:20:54 GMT
It's not just travel and accommodation, everything has rocketed in price and the UK seems to be more expensive than other places. My daughter bought me a Massimo Dutti shirt at Christmas which cost €49.95 in Spain but is £59.95 here. I also had some Zara aftershave which my wife particularly liked and that cost peanuts, at €15.95 in Spain. In the UK the same aftershave is £29.95. More to the point, as Brits we can also shop duty-free in Europe. Sure, through Global Blue etc, you don't get anything like the full VAT back - it's more like 12%, but that's still a worthwhile further saving if you need to make a bigger purchase. But we do get cheaper cars. The UK price of my Macan GTS with options today (it's gone up since I bought it) is around £82k (before tax etc). The retail price in Italy for an identically-specified Macan GTS is EUR116k, or pretty neatly £100k at today's exchange rate. And that's not a Porsche-specific thing. Do you know how residuals compare? It’s probably not a great time to compare with how they’re falling off in the UK at the moment, but interesting to know if you get some of the extra cost back.
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Post by Martin on Jan 12, 2024 15:20:50 GMT
I saw a blue one in MK at lunchtime and I it looked pretty good out on the road, more interesting than the vast majority of EVs. A few minutes later as I was passing Newport Pagnell, I saw they have taken over the old Land Rover garage on the edge of town and it had a full showroom so I dropped in for a look. I wasn't there for long, but enough to know its very spacious for the size (similar to an X3) with a decent boot and plenty of legroom for me in the rear, I still don't like large touchscreens but at least it had a drivers display as well, some of the materials don't feel great but probably are very good for the price as it's a £38k-60k car and the top of the range model has a lot of kit plus real world range of high 300s (claimed 440) and decent performance (0-60 in 3.7). It did look and feel well put together, massively better than a Tesla, not a huge surprise as it's built by Magna Steyr. I only looked at the Extreme, but it had plenty of standard kit...solar opening roof, electric seats F&R, 3D sound system etc. They're offering a 6 year warranty and breakdown cover and a 10 year warranty on the battery covering it if it drops to less than 75% capacity. Without driving it, I think it would make an excellent family car and even though £60k is a lot of money, it does feel like decent value in todays market. You can drop all windows or just the rear window from the key, reminds me of my 5 series estate.
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Post by Martin on Jan 12, 2024 11:07:05 GMT
That’s not something my wife would ever suggest, I’m not even sure my ex wife would! I’ve still got a full head of hair, as has my Dad who’s in his late 70s so a moot point, not that I would consider it anyway.
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Post by Martin on Jan 11, 2024 21:05:20 GMT
You just have to divide the cost by 14, it won’t seem too bad at all then.
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Post by Martin on Jan 11, 2024 21:03:08 GMT
It's a difficult balance to get right for sure. I get anxiety if I don't have something booked! It’s not getting easier to justify, prices are so much higher than 5-6 years ago eg long haul flights +35-40% and now we need 3 seats it’s broadly double what we used to pay pre 2020. Everyone we know with kids plans their holidays like military operations and well in advance. Not having kids, we can afford to be a bit more relaxed about costs - there has to be a silver lining to it! I wouldn’t go as far as it being like a military operation, but I’ve always enjoyed the research and planning in advance. We tried to be less relaxed about costs and did seriously think about cutting back on flight costs this time, but couldn’t do it in the end.
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Post by Martin on Jan 11, 2024 17:30:59 GMT
Yes it finishes at 6 years old. The government website says its "only" for 5 years.......... from the first renewal. Such weasel-words, why not say its for 6 years? Bastards. The Giulia hits the new rate in March 18.... What's annoying is that the Porsche - as a barely used classic - presumably remains >£600 forever. Let me know how you get on when the renewal comes through as we reach that milestone 4 months after you.
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