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What and when was the last proper bASe car sold in the UK?


timolloyd

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The bottom of the range Sandero just has the bare bones, no stereo, and now a 3 cylinder engine, clockwork windows, and white bodywork, no spare wheel or jack, just the legally required airbaggery etc, but it is only £6k

..... ooof! Black bumpers + TURrrrrrrBott3pot!

 

Wouldn't buy anything* else!

 

*My AIWA has euro plugs (as fitted in ToMM© atm) so just unplug :)

** probably a temp/digi gauge :(

 

TS

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Do some moderns not even have a temp gauge now? Seems silly.

My Mercury is a high spec Brougham model and that’s got no temperature gauge. If it gets too hot there’s a warning light but that’s it.

God knows why they didn’t fit a gauge? Efforts to get a clean uncluttered dash maybe? Mind you you’ll be doing incredibly well to overheat such a beast!

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I either like a SHITLOAD of dials all going off at the same time in various directions - or a speedo and fuel guage.  No compromises.  Weird huh?

 

The Polo Fox is a good shout.  Obviously my Mercedes 190 is a contender in some respects (all windy windows, no sunroof, carb powered, no rear headrests and only one option ticked) but, ultimately, it was still an aspirational car from a respected manufacturer.  The first buyer could have bought a Ford Sierra with sweet FA for far, far less.

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I either like a SHITLOAD of dials all going off at the same time in various directions - or a speedo and fuel guage. No compromises. Weird huh?

 

The Polo Fox is a good shout. Obviously my Mercedes 190 is a contender in some respects (all windy windows, no sunroof, carb powered, no rear headrests and only one option ticked) but, ultimately, it was still an aspirational car from a respected manufacturer. The first buyer could have bought a Ford Sierra with sweet FA for far, far less.

The thing about Mercs of that era is they never fitted blanking plates so you didn't feel like you were missing out on anything.

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Mrs DC's 2005 Yaris 1 doesn't comes with a temperature gauge either, now I come to think of it. Just a red warning light if things start getting a bit toasty warm.

 

post-17915-0-67355900-1520267712_thumb.jpg

 

Fuel, revs, odo, speed. That's yer lot.

 

But it's an all-singing, all dancing Colour Collection run-out model, so deffo not base. Look, chrome tailpipe trim!

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I think i'd prefer a temp warning light to a gauge, i'd be more likely to notice a new light appearing on the dash than a gauge that's always there suddenly creeping up.

 

I know there is the whole "but by the time the light comes on there is no time to act" argument, but with modern 'damped' gauges they don't tend to move until its shooting off the scale anyway.

 

Both would be good

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Not a contender, but I was surprised at the baseness of the Hyundai i30 pool car I got from work a while ago.  It was on a par with the Citroen Xsara I used to have: the CD player could cope with mp3 but it didn't have climate control - otherwise the same in terms of gadgetry.  Quite similar to drive, too.

 

Unusual to see zero progress in 15 years.

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Do some moderns not even have a temp gauge now? Seems silly.

Rather that than the fuckwittery BMW used to fit and polluted the 75 and ZT with. Some Barvarian geniuses decided that any temp between about 75c and nearly fucked would read as the exact centre of the gauge- so they give you a gauge where none of the central section actually reflects reality. Twats.

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Rather that than the fuckwittery BMW used to fit and polluted the 75 and ZT with. Some Barvarian geniuses decided that any temp between about 75c and nearly fucked would read as the exact centre of the gauge- so they give you a gauge where none of the central section actually reflects reality. Twats.

That’s common across most new cars now. People feel happy ifthe needle sits slap bang in the middle, so that’s what they get, stupid.
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Seems nuts to me - if it’s so fucking clever why don’t they do it with the fuel gauge ????

 

Moden fuel gauges are damped too, they just seem to have done it much better because they're still accurate - well, mostly.

 

If you drive an old car the fuel gauge is all over the show depending whether you're on level ground, accelerating, cornering, braking etc.  On really old cars they even used to slosh up and down with the fuel in the tank - I remember by mums Talbot Sunbeam being like that.

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I think i'd prefer a temp warning light to a gauge, i'd be more likely to notice a new light appearing on the dash than a gauge that's always there suddenly creeping up.

 

I know there is the whole "but by the time the light comes on there is no time to act" argument, but with modern 'damped' gauges they don't tend to move until its shooting off the scale anyway.

 

Both would be good*

 

*sort of 'LowFuel' light, but in reverse....  :-P

 

TS

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Moden fuel gauges are damped too, they just seem to have done it much better because they're still accurate - well, mostly.

 

If you drive an old car the fuel gauge is all over the show depending whether you're on level ground, accelerating, cornering, braking etc.  On really old cars they even used to slosh up and down with the fuel in the tank - I remember by mums Talbot Sunbeam being like that.

 

My GS did that :)  Quarter of a tank on a fast left-hand bend, empty on a fast right-hand bend (or possibly the other way round).  Great fun.

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My 1993 Renault 5 Campus was pretty basic. No central locking, temp gauge etc, windy windows and fixed rear ones. It did have a dealer fit leaky sunroof though.

The problem with no temp gauge is when the fan switch fails, and you don't know that the switch for the light is also defective, the first warning is the noise of coolant boiling in the expansion tank...

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There has to be a poverty Citroen C1 out there...

 

On the current generation even the most basic ones are loaded with gratuitous trinketry, sadly. On the originals the base spec was 'Vibe' (later 'VT') which had no air conditioning, glovebox lid, rev counter, electric windows, side airbags, colour coded trim or alloy wheels.

 

I don't reckon the Vibe makes it into the pantheon of great base spec cars though, as they did include the shocking decadence of power steering, a radio and painted bumpers, as well as the same engine as the rest of the range.

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My Kia has an it's cold/ it's cooked light only too.

 

Mother's colt has it's cooked only.

 

Even the oft praised by What Volkswagen? Etc VW Up is properly grim in high spec -engine vibrates like a cement mixer at idle and painted metal interior are not nice.

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The Renault Dauphine didnt have a temp guage, neither did the Renault 12 L

 

Brother's base 72 Viva didn't have a passenger sun visor like the Polo mentioned above; My 77 Renault 12L had no temp gauge as you say, but boy did it have a lot of pretty coloured warning lights - blanks: totalling 12 IIRC :apt . Both Viva and 12 were in standard base white with sweaty black vinyl seats. Also mum had a couple of Fiesta L's which were also white and equally basic.

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