Self service

[Sonic]

In a world where where more and more stores are using those blasted self check out things, how refreshing it was to pull into a petrol station today and have my car 'attended' to. I thought I'd woken up in 1957 - they washed my screen, filled my tank, even offered to check my tyres - All for the same price as my local supermarket filling station. :up:

[MrJan]

All for the same price as my local supermarket filling station. :up:

Are you sure? All the small independants like that around my way charge at least 5p a litre more than Sainsburys/Tesco etc.

[Sonic]

Got the receipt here. 1.34 per litre. Tesco is at 1.33 here.

[MrJan]

Blimey, that's good going. If you go anywhere but the main chains (Shell, Esso, Tesco, Morrisons etc.etc.) around Exeter it costs quite a bit more. Mind you I filled up last night and it set me back £58, and that's only 8 days since my last £50+ fill up. The sooner I find a cheap diesel the better, but if I'm selling my sould I want it to be on my terms so taking a while to find a car that I'm happy with.

[Sonic]

The terms 'diesel' and 'happy with' cannot appear in the same sentence ;)

[MrJan]

The terms 'diesel' and 'happy with' cannot appear in the same sentence ;)

Indeed, that's why I've been 'getting a new car' for the last 6 months or so :D Sadly the terms 'petrol', '34 miles a day', '31mpg' and 'trainee' are not bedfellows so I need to move to the dark side :( If I could stretch my budget and search radius I reckon I could get a Jag S-type or summint, that would leave me halfway happy. Alternatively a MG ZS diesel would be amusing for a bit (used to have the shape Civic that it's based on and loved that), but they all seem to be oop country.

Back OT. A bloke at work was talking about his missus filling up at a manned filling station, apparently the amount of fuel you get depends on the blokes workload in the workshop. If he's busy then you'll be lucky to get a gallon before he's heading back inside.

[Sonic]

Yeah, I feel your pain. I had the choice of the Alfa in petrol or Diesel - I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I mean walking out to see your beautiful Alfa Romea on the drive, only for your heart to sink EVERY day when you turn the key. ;)

OT - as long as you only get charged for the gallon put in! :D

[Daniel]

Indeed, that's why I've been 'getting a new car' for the last 6 months or so :D Sadly the terms 'petrol', '34 miles a day', '31mpg' and 'trainee' are not bedfellows so I need to move to the dark side :( If I could stretch my budget and search radius I reckon I could get a Jag S-type or summint, that would leave me halfway happy. Alternatively a MG ZS diesel would be amusing for a bit (used to have the shape Civic that it's based on and loved that), but they all seem to be oop country.

Back OT. A bloke at work was talking about his missus filling up at a manned filling station, apparently the amount of fuel you get depends on the blokes workload in the workshop. If he's busy then you'll be lucky to get a gallon before he's heading back inside.

Is a Jag S type dizeezel going to even do 40mpg though?

I'm lukewarm towards diesels, you always miss the lovely revvy nature of a petrol engined car when you drive a diesel. Plus there's the effect of having that extra weight out the front which affects the handling. I can see the point of a diesel in a medium- large car like a golf or bigger, but in small cars you have that extra weight murdering those front tyres constantly and you've got turbo lag but not a huge amount of power like you would from a petrol turbo engine. I quite fancy something golf sized and I quite fancy a petrol turbo engine in it or perhaps grudgingly a dizeezel.

[Daniel]

Yeah, I feel your pain. I had the choice of the Alfa in petrol or Diesel - I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I mean walking out to see your beautiful Alfa Romea on the drive, only for your heart to sink EVERY day when you turn the key. ;)

OT - as long as you only get charged for the gallon put in! :D

:up:

[MrJan]

I mean walking out to see your beautiful Alfa Romea on the drive, only for your heart to sink EVERY day when you turn the key. ;)

I think that one sentence may have saved me. Was considering a TD 156 but you've just confirmed the wrongness of that, thank you.

[MrJan]

Is a Jag S type dizeezel going to even do 40mpg though?

Don't have a clue, as they're far too expensive for my budget I didn't bother looking into it. Would've thought an X-Type would though, afterall that's just a jazzed up Mondeo.

Edit: Oh and I know that I'll miss the petrol engine. I'll miss the sound, the power delivery, the revving etc. But needs' must, so it's either a bean can or a diesel :(

[Daniel]

Don't have a clue, as they're far too expensive for my budget I didn't bother looking into it. Would've thought an X-Type would though, afterall that's just a jazzed up Mondeo.

This is the only Jag I can find which is near 40mpg http://www.fuelly.com/driver/malkie/xtype and it's doing 37.

Our 500 banged in 4 straight 50mpg + tanks before the last tank and it runs on petrol so it's cheaper to fill up. Sure it's small but that's still good for a petrol. Once I factor in the fact that it would have needed a full set of new tyres by now and the fact that petrol is cheaper than an equivalent diesel then I think it's the far more economical way to go about things. Just ask Mark how many tyres his Fiesta has been through!

With used cars diesels still command a premium over their petrol cousins so I think if you choose carefully you can have petrol motoring for less than a diesel OR for not much more and we all know petrol is more fun to drive :)

[MrJan]

With used cars diesels still command a premium over their petrol cousins so I think if you choose carefully you can have petrol motoring for less than a diesel OR for not much more and we all know petrol is more fun to drive :)

I've largely given up driving for fun, too much traffic and I just cba any more. So working on about 250 miles a week (a rough average of what I generally do) I think that diesel is the easiest way to get the grunt that I want for the money/economy. The road that I drive to work on is tedious as hell and the lack of overtaking opporunities and the large hills mean that I generally like to have a car with a good bit of poke. Even the 1.6 Civic I had (which only got 35mpg) would be a bit wimpy, hence wanting a turbo diesel. I'm not after a small car either, have looked at Mondeos, Leons etc. don't want a Focus because I don't think the interior is a nice place to be (which is surprisingly important for me), don't want anything French and VAG cars hold their value too much in the second hand market. All a bit of a pain in the arse, mid-sized diesels that aren't French are a bit rare when you're looking at cars around 10 years old.

[Sonic]

And I've just killed your idea of buying Italian - sorry dude.

All this said, the better half is looking to replace the Seat Altea family car, and all we've looked at so far are D's. :( I really am slowly turning beige!

[Sonic]

I've largely given up driving for fun, too much traffic and I just cba any more.

HUH?! *breath catches in chest*

Serious intervention is needed.

[MrJan]

HUH?! *breath catches in chest*

Serious intervention is needed.

It's just too much of an effort to actually find a nice bit of road that isn't potholed to f*** or full of grockles and old people, especially round this time of year. If you do find that road then it's a poxy 40 limit or covered in cyclists.

I'd far rather run a cheaper road car and spend the extra cash on entering a few more sprints/hillclimbs :)

Edit: Oh and then there's the ever increasing risk of getting nicked. E.G I reach 60 at about the redline of 2nd gear, where's the fun in that. If I red line 3rd then I reckon I'm nudging 90, which on a 60 limit bit of road is asking for trouble.

Edit of the edit: Just found these stats, not sure how reliable they are but sound about right:

Speed in Gears:
5th gear (6500 RPM): 142mph
4th gear (7000 RPM): 122mph
3rd gear (7000 RPM): 98mph
2nd gear (7000 RPM): 67mph
1st gear (7000 RPM): 40mph

[Sonic]

I know what you mean - but there's always a corner, or a short stretch of road to have a play. Near me, there's and exit slip the goes through 270 degrees and back under the main motorway. At full bore it can be taken just under the national speed limit, so whenever I'm there I'll always drop back from the car in front so that I can have a smile on my face by the time I've come out the other side.

Raggin' it , but legal - best of both worlds :)

[Daniel]

I think that's a slightly defeatist attitude Jan!!!!

I think it's all about finding the right bit of road and the right part of the day.

I love this corner on the horseshoe pass
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=53.01431,-3.215279&panoid=t5K_TsVpkqyPXMMmMh5oGA&cbp=12,264.34,,0,16.83&ll=53.014319,-3.215475&spn=0.025354,0.066047&z=15 have a look at how the road curves and take a look at the gradient behind
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.014344,-3.215647&spn=0.025354,0.066047&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.014295,-3.215804&panoid=AWLW6slyCLIcIG863jCnyQ&cbp=12,216.5,,0,3.5

and this one is an absolute pain to get right :)

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.011866,-3.215432&spn=0.025355,0.066047&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.011503,-3.215595&panoid=htLQQZ4ycT616Mt8WXKzeg&cbp=12,150.31,,0,8.65

Both are a challenge at legal speeds and you can see when traffic is coming :)

I think if I was driving something with a huge amount of power or something that handled well it'd be frustrating but the 500 doesn't have much power and it's only one mid corner bump away from going off the road :mark:

Love this corner too -> http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.230689,-3.438597&spn=0.100906,0.264187&z=13&layer=c&cbll=53.230633,-3.439306&panoid=zA3LM0fs72lb9qi-oNsWVQ&cbp=12,203.63,,0,7.08 which is at its most fun taken uphill during the winter on skinny winter tyres when its -10 and they're grumbling ever so slightly at being asked to do too much with not much grip :D

It's the small joys which make driving less of a chore for me :)

I don't know what your budget is, but one car I'd certainly consider would be a new shape Fiat Bravo as they're very well screwed together and have depreciated a shedload so are quite cheap for what is quite a new and well equipped car.

[Daniel]

Edit: Oh and then there's the ever increasing risk of getting nicked. E.G I reach 60 at about the redline of 2nd gear, where's the fun in that. If I red line 3rd then I reckon I'm nudging 90, which on a 60 limit bit of road is asking for trouble.

Tbh in this country I think you have to be a bit of a dingbat to get caught speeding. Back in Australia I got caught speeding 3 or 4 times and got a point on my licence. Here I've been driving for about as long and have done more miles and have only been pulled over by the rozzers once and that was because I overtook a marked police car doing just over the speed limit. Explained to the guy that someone had his high beams on behind me and he agreed and they asked me who the car was registered to, had I been drinking and so on and sent me on my way without a lecture, breathalizer or anything :) I guess I just have an honest face :angel: :p

[GridGirl]

Funny you should say that Barry as my other half got done for speeding in third gear in a 2.0l diesel with a car load of holiday junk and two bikes on the roof at speeds of no more than 88mph on a 60mph stretch of road but with no proof of the speed he was doing. It's a long story which involves a really dumb Audi driver and an unmarked Golf R32. We learnt that the Lake District Police have unmarked R32's as well as marked up Impreza's and Evo's and I can only presume the dumb Audi driver booked himself a place infront of a judge. Who say's diesels aren't nippy if your in the right gear.

[MrJan]

Diesels are quick but the point is that I'll feel less inclined to open the taps (at least that's the thinking, not sure how that'll work though). At the minute I just enjoy the noise so any open stretch of road means that I'll recline it.

I can find nice roads but I like a good run to really enjoy myself. I like that there's one corner on the way to work that I can get sideways and there's plenty of other corners that are nice, just not nice enough to warrant the £1000 or so that it costs me to enjoy, especially when I can still enjoy a decent set of corners in any car. when i first got the MR2, and to a certain extent with the Civic, I used to look forward to a weekend when I could head out for a drive, but that just doesn't happen any more as I'm too aware of how much it's costing.

Budget for a new car isn't exactly brilliant, most things that I'm looking at will have over 100k on the clock. I'm trying to keep it to under ten years old but keep getting tempted by German stuff that's on a T plate or something

[Daniel]

Diesels are quick but the point is that I'll feel less inclined to open the taps (at least that's the thinking, not sure how that'll work though). At the minute I just enjoy the noise so any open stretch of road means that I'll recline it.

I can find nice roads but I like a good run to really enjoy myself. I like that there's one corner on the way to work that I can get sideways and there's plenty of other corners that are nice, just not nice enough to warrant the £1000 or so that it costs me to enjoy, especially when I can still enjoy a decent set of corners in any car. when i first got the MR2, and to a certain extent with the Civic, I used to look forward to a weekend when I could head out for a drive, but that just doesn't happen any more as I'm too aware of how much it's costing.

Budget for a new car isn't exactly brilliant, most things that I'm looking at will have over 100k on the clock. I'm trying to keep it to under ten years old but keep getting tempted by German stuff that's on a T plate or something

Fair enough. What's the budget then? Will be interesting to see what you get anyhoo. One thing I quite like about the 500 is that it seems to just settle into a 60mph cruise so the chance of getting caught speeding is minimal which contrasts with the Subaru in which you'll look down at the speedo and see some silly licence losing number on the speedo, that said the speedometer isn't even working at the moment :p

Not thought of getting something smallish and economical with a small engine? My experience of cars of the vintage you're talking about is that they've come to the point where people no longer maintain them properly and there's always a big risk at that point.

[MrJan]

Fair enough. What's the budget then? Will be interesting to see what you get anyhoo. One thing I quite like about the 500 is that it seems to just settle into a 60mph cruise so the chance of getting caught speeding is minimal which contrasts with the Subaru in which you'll look down at the speedo and see some silly licence losing number on the speedo, that said the speedometer isn't even working at the moment :p

Reminds me of the FIAT Uno that I learnt to drive in, took 3 days to get to 60 but could happily be nudging a ton without too much effort. Never quite understood why such a gutless car was geared so high.


Not thought of getting something smallish and economical with a small engine? My experience of cars of the vintage you're talking about is that they've come to the point where people no longer maintain them properly and there's always a big risk at that point.

Budget is certainly under 2 grand but isn't exactly fixed. It seems that anything over about £1600 makes me squirm at the thought of buying, so I've sort of told myself that 2 grand including initial service/works and the insurance change. I know that it's a risk buying cars at that age but I think that, until you're spending double what I want to, the extra expense doesn't negate enough of the risk to be worth it. You can also be looking at the company car/rep mobile end of the market which are quite often serviced well and looked after. Around the mileage that I'm looking at I risk having to sort cambelt, suspension, CV boots/joints, clutch etc. But I may also end up with something like my MR2 which cost £1150 and hasn't missed a beat in over 30k miles :burnout:

Ultimately I'm not going to buy something that I don't feel is worth it. For example I test drove a Mondeo the other day that had about 96k on the clock but the interior was a bit tatty and there was more rust on the doors than my current car, so I walked away. And miles/age isn't everything, I'd rather have a 10 year old VW with 120 thousand than a 6 year old Citroen with 70 thousand. I like to think that by being careful I can reduce the risks...although that probably just highlights my lack of experience buying used cars :D

[555-04Q2]

In a world where where more and more stores are using those blasted self check out things, how refreshing it was to pull into a petrol station today and have my car 'attended' to. I thought I'd woken up in 1957 - they washed my screen, filled my tank, even offered to check my tyres - All for the same price as my local supermarket filling station. :up:

We get that at every service station over here as a standard service, for free. Even the pissy little service stations in the middle of nowhere do it. And they say we are third world :s hock: