The Thumped Motoring Forum (10 Viewers)

[ann post]

No

But widows have lower expectations

On mature reflection, considering the reason i'm running a large van like car is to fix up a house, which involves a lot of picking up a big think at some stupid DIY barn somewhere, If that is your reason to get a car you'll end up paying a bit more than I do. setup costs and all that,..

 

[magicbastarder]

great. the car is now making a loud clunking noise when you operate the steering. i suspect it could be one of the joints on the steering geometry doohickey thing shifting. not exactly reassuring to drive if you think one of the things which governs which way the wheel points, is loose.

 

[magicbastarder]

talked to my mechanic on the phone, he reckons it's a small part has snapped off the main spring, based on what i told him. i just checked, and the car is sitting marginally lower on the side the noise came from. you wouldn't be able to see it just by looking at the car though.

 

[ernesto]

My Da has just offered to sell me his micra as he’s upgrading to some imported Toyota hybrid estate thing next week.
We’ve been talking about getting a little runaround for herself until I get the old Mercs up and running again.
TBH I’m warming to the idea. Had one about 7 years ago, great car and this is a souped up 1.2L model

 

[ann post]

talked to my mechanic on the phone, he reckons it's a small part has snapped off the main spring, based on what i told him. i just checked, and the car is sitting marginally lower on the side the noise came from. you wouldn't be able to see it just by looking at the car though.

I had that feature for a few months once, I didn't notice and neither did the mechanic till a bit of it fell out one day.

 

[ann post]

My Da has just offered to sell me his micra as he’s upgrading to some imported Toyota hybrid estate thing next week.
We’ve been talking about getting a little runaround for herself until I get the old Mercs up and running again.
TBH I’m warming to the idea. Had one about 7 years ago, great car and this is a souped up 1.2L model

It's not too common to know exactly where a car is coming from either.

 

[magicbastarder]

I had that feature for a few months once, I didn't notice and neither did the mechanic till a bit of it fell out one day.

he was right, i found a probably 3 inch length of the spring sitting in the suspension, freshly snapped. he'd warned me a couple of years ago that the springs in VAG cars often go after eight to ten years.

 

[ernesto]

It's not too common to know exactly where a car is coming from either.

Yeah it’s been well
Looked after and recently had the clutch done too. With herself driving to ballyshannon twice a week we Might have to pull the trigger

 

[ernesto]

My Da has just offered to sell me his micra as he’s upgrading to some imported Toyota hybrid estate thing next week.
We’ve been talking about getting a little runaround for herself until I get the old Mercs up and running again.
TBH I’m warming to the idea. Had one about 7 years ago, great car and this is a souped up 1.2L model

Right, quotes are coming in about €800 for herself which is fucking insane.

Anyone any recommendations?
Has to be cheaper than that

 

[GO]

I bought a van..a Peugeot Bipper. Its fucking tiny..about 600mm shorter than the Corolla. But it has a roofrack for my ladders and It was cheap as chips. Also its spotless looking. Its a little flyer as well. All my driving is city centre pretty much so smaller the better.

No Cvrt on it but I'm hoping it passes!

 

[ann post]

Right, quotes are coming in about €800 for herself which is fucking insane.

Anyone any recommendations?
Has to be cheaper than that

Holy fuck.

 

[ann post]

 

[ernesto]

Holy fuck.

Ended up getting it down to 670 which is still batshit crazy

 

[Deadmanposting]

Ended up getting it down to 670 which is still batshit crazy

What did @annposts’s spreadsheet say about running a car?
It’s like 2 or 3 grand before you put a drop of juice in it or drive a mile.

 

[Deadmanposting]

An interesting piece of writing from Dan Neil in a BMW review about how car design is being pulled eastwards

But those who would command this ship of wonders must first get past its looks. The designers’ vision board has words like “confidently dramatic,” “boldly modern” and “progressive.” But many enthusiasts think the new house style is an ugly stupid disaster. I’m paraphrasing.

Indeed, you may be sitting there thinking, What the hell, BMW? You deserve an explanation.
It starts with the notion of intention. BMW’s new design language—led literally and figuratively by dominating twin-kidney grilles—might seem like a blunder until you understand the growing centrality of Asia to BMW’s business, roughly 43% of global sales (the U.S is about 15%). The visual antecedents of the XM design are not the glory-wagons of ancient Bavaria but the mecha-warriors and battling bots of manga and anime.

If you’re wondering what superhero culture has to do with it, you’re probably old. I can’t help you with that. I do know that when we look at the fiendishly faceted XM we’re seeing evidence of a geographic and generational shift in automotive taste-making, that for decades relied on Western tropes of streamlining and aeronautic design. It’s robots not rockets.

The grille forms in new BMWs (like the iX SUV and i7 sedan) may look exaggerated to Westerners but appear perfectly proportional to audiences in China, where large, status-seeking grilles are part of the automotive vernacular. In subtle ways BMW’s new house design skews younger and slews eastward.

It also carries political freight in the home market. German automakers are under intense pressure to reduce emissions ahead of a proposed EU ban on tailpipe emissions by 2035. BMW’s dramatic break in styling is part of a larger effort to signal the company’s progressive change of direction.

It’s also helpful to remember that, as my mother would say, the XM is for other people—a small number of high-net-worth collectors, enthusiasts, influencers and incorrigible showoffs. While all BMW models will incorporate the new look to some degree, the XM is the kinky, bratty flagship.

 

[ernesto]

An interesting piece of writing from Dan Neil in a BMW review about how car design is being pulled eastwards

Fuck that shit. They all look like mangled transformers. Give me 70s styled cars any day.

 

[Deadmanposting]

They all look like mangled transformers.

I had never really made that connection in my head.
I guess I could see that they looked more outwardly mechanical, but really moreso why they looked like that.

 

[ernesto]

I had never really made that connection in my head.
Either between that's what they looked more outwardly mechanical, or why they looked like that.

“Autobots, fuck off”

 

[ann post]

Ended up getting it down to 670 which is still batshit crazy

She'd better crash it for that price

 

[ann post]

What did @annposts’s spreadsheet say about running a car?
It’s like 2 or 3 grand before you put a drop of juice in it or drive a mile.

aye pretty much. could be done around 2 grand, but with more old car risk factors. I must be mad like. I could have 100eu a week taxi budget.