It's a newish car so nothing can be wrong with it.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I've not driven any of them and I've no doubt they're deeply appreciated as brilliant machines to someone like you who appreciates the fact they're RWD, handle well and return decent MPGs.

 

The people I'm referring to can spend their money on what they want, of course, but when they do six miles a day commuting to work and back, don't know what FWD and RWD means, and have a generous budget which could easily put them in a decent, if slightly older 330 (petrol or diesel), but have simply gone "NOOO MUST BE NEW AND GET IT NAOOO", I facepalm a bit inside.

 

Someone with criteria of "very comfortable, very safe, lots of toys, practicality is a must" ended up in a poverty spec three-door 116d, when a higher equipped 1 year old V40 would have been better in every conceivable way.

 

What I've realised from this post is that I'm definitely guilty of blaming a car when I should be blaming an attitude more, and I don't know what relevance it has to this thread or anything, so I'll show myself out.

 

You've made some valid points there, I agree with all you've said. On one hand, I'd love a nice new 530d Auto. On the other, I'd have that £150 Vectra SRi as well. I was shot down by the usual clever suspects for saying the Insignia was actually a pretty good car, especially at some of the heavily discounted prices (£13'500).

 

New cars are not shit.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Agreed - there was a lot worse neglect when the MOT was less stringent.  I dunno what sort of MOT they have in rural Ireland but I've seen some horrors that wouldn't pass ours - maybe they are just more relaxed about it (fair play to them).  France was hilarious before they had an MOT and it's not exactly strict now. I went to see a French bloke I know who mucks around with old cars - he had a Vespa 600 (car) and he was busy filling up a hole in the floor with mesh and filler - I told him that wouldn't pass a UK MOT and he was amazed.

 

I think the issue is that it's more difficult for those of us who want to tinker with stuff and repair it when it goes wrong - partly things are much better made and that's good, but also they often seem to be deliberately designed to resist any attempt to repair (?recycle) them and demand expensive replacement in the event of failure.  I read on the ALDI forum when I had one about a geezer with a recent model where the day running LEDs in the headlamp had failed and the only way to solve that was replace the whole unit at a cost of several hundred pounds.  Never mine the cost though - what a waste or the earth's resources.

 

Fair enough - I haven't driven one, just seen a lot with bald front tyres.

 

 

Incorrect.  Just plain incorrect - I wouldn't exchange the fun* I get from tinkering with and occasionally even driving my cars.

 

 

Who said you can't have both? 

 

As for modern tech - Man is clever. Manufacturer makes something that 'can't be repaired'.

 

Some bloke then works out how to repair it.

[twosmoke300]

On the whole modern cars are light years more reliable than old stuff but more expensive to fix . You pays yer money and takes yer choice

[Chris2cv]

I can certainly agree that most people I know do absolutely no maintenance to their cars, viewing the MOT as a service. It is then the manufacturers fault when something major goes wrong. I believe that it is the materialistic society we live in that always has to have the latest technology and anything else is disposable. A friend once went through 5 phones in a year! I have had 3 in 20 years!

 

 I could afford a new car. I have a 13 year old car that still serves me very well, and a 31 year old car for sunny days. Will any new car reach 10 years old? I don't doubt that they could, but very few of them will. .

[Urko]

Who said you can't have both? 

 

No-one - but you said I would have a new car if someone else was paying - and despite the ludicrous idea that "someone" else would be paying - I wouldn't. 

 

As for modern tech - Man is clever. Manufacturer makes something that 'can't be repaired'.

 

Some bloke then works out how to repair it.

 

 

The difference being that it would be better for things to be designed with some concept of replacement - which brings me to something that probably should be in the grumpy pedant thread - but how in flip's name do so many manufacturers get away with making changing a headlight bulb a seven hour job for three contortionists?  The EU seems to be good at regulations, how about one that says you need to be able to change any exterior bulb without tools within 10 minutes.

 

My ALDI A3 (pez) ate it's EGR valve - the issue is a plastic quadrant gear - it's well known and documented (and occurs on the Skoda and VW with the exact same engine) and would be a piece of piss to mend if one could get the part - which probably costs VAG about 5p to make.  Instead one has to buy a whole new valve at around 100 squid and junk the old one even though it's 99% operational - just stupid.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

No-one - but you said I would have a new car if someone else was paying - and despite the ludicrous idea that "someone" else would be paying - I wouldn't. 

 

 

 

The difference being that it would be better for things to be designed with some concept of replacement - which brings me to something that probably should be in the grumpy pedant thread - but how in flip's name do so many manufacturers get away with making changing a headlight bulb a seven hour job for three contortionists?  The EU seems to be good at regulations, how about one that says you need to be able to change any exterior bulb without tools within 10 minutes.

 

My ALDI A3 (pez) ate it's EGR valve - the issue is a plastic quadrant gear - it's well known and documented (and occurs on the Skoda and VW with the exact same engine) and would be a piece of piss to mend if one could get the part - which probably costs VAG about 5p to make.  Instead one has to buy a whole new valve at around 100 squid and junk the old one even though it's 99% operational - just stupid.

 

 

40 years ago, Alfasud brake calipers could leak fluid from the handbrake lever. An expensive adjustable caliper was thus scrap for a 5p seal. You couldn't repair a failed K Jetronic warm up regulator in 1983.

 

Good call on the headlight bulbs though.

[twosmoke300]

To be fair there aren't that many bulbs you can't do in ten mins if you are prepared to get stuck in !

I moaned like fuck about rover 75 ones on here a while ago and a few of you said they were easy .

I had another one in last week and there was a removable cover in the arch liner . Easy job then . The first one I did didn't have one !

[Bren]

People are brainwashed into handing over their wages in pursuit of a lifestyle that is sold to them.

 

Car on finance. Phone on contract. Rent. I could go on.

 

Then you get "I cant get together a deposit for a mortgage".

 

It's because you're handing over your wages on unnecessary things you fuckwit.

 

Lose the phone, the car and start saving. Buy an old shitter to get you about. It can be done.

 

But you dont want to, do you?

 

As for roadtesting a 116 BMW? It's not a McLaren is it? Pretentious fuckwits.

[HH-R]

I can see why some people buy new cars, if they just need something to go to work and back and maybe the shops then getting a new Corsa/Ka/etc on finance and handing it back every 3 years for a new one makes sense. They can budget monthly outgoings for the car - it should be fairly consistent and there should in theory be no repairs or probably even tyres to worry about in that time. I know a few people who get a new Corsa every 3 years, though they're not my cup of tea at all, they love their Corsas and wouldn't bother looking at anything else because it suits their needs. It's an appliance to do a job that they don't want to have to think about.

[Lacquer Peel]

ANCAS.

[Urko]

To be fair there aren't that many bulbs you can't do in ten mins if you are prepared to get stuck in !

I moaned like fuck about rover 75 ones on here a while ago and a few of you said they were easy .

I had another one in last week and there was a removable cover in the arch liner . Easy job then . The first one I did didn't have one !

 

 

True - my sis asked me to change hers once - I went off to the garage for a torch, by the time I got back up my driveway, she'd done it herself!

[Des]

40 years ago, Alfasud brake calipers could leak fluid from the handbrake lever. An expensive adjustable caliper was thus scrap for a 5p seal. 

 

But in fairness nobody ever phoned around for those seals, on looking underneath for the leak and being presented with rampant structural rot it's the totter they would call.

[Station]

 

I like them, they're cheap now, at 2.5k for an average spec model.

[forddeliveryboy]

They just wouldn't work on roads round here. Springs, dampers, tyres. I followed a tourist in one last week, at 50mph it was like a bucking bronco crossed with a pneumatic drill. 

[xtriple]

I've had new cars, lots of new cars over the years. They are fine and dandy and, for me, it was a way of actually keeping a car for more than five minutes. You see, I knew I'd lost a shitload the minute it was driven off the forecourt so I wouldn't sell it and lose all that money. If I bought something used, I always had an eye on the potential profit in it so would flog the bugger as soon as possible!

 

Now, I'd rather have my old cars than my new Honda. Yes, the Honda was great, economical, reliable and under warranty etc, but it was a tad.... boring. The two I have now are far from boring (hell, every journey in the dollop is fraught with 'will it, won't it?') and even though the dollop has cost more than a small fortune, I love driving it/owning it. It's great knowing that both my cars are mine to do with as I wish - if I wanted to go outside with a gallon of petrol and a match, I could and there is no PCP/lease company going to sue me or bum rape me when I return it because of the scratches or dents...

 

I must admit though that there is fantastic peace of mind in a new car: no MOT to worry about, servicing (if you bother) is cheap and easy, and if anything goes wrong (and you bought from a manufacturer that gives a shit!) it's all covered. That is worth quite a bit in itself.

 

However, I do not like NOT owning my own car! I include HP in 'owning' as it will be yours at some point, but leasing one, it's never yours, you are limited as to what you can do with it, any changes from factory are a bit of a no-no so fancy wheels and stuff has to be reversible.

 

Oh, and after all my whinging that NO ONE does anything to their car, not even washes it around here, the chap over the way was washing his Ford Fiesta on steroids (I don't know what it's called... C MAX?) when I got home! As he takes the pee out of me washing my cars all the time and usually calls out ' You'll wash that away soon!' I returned the favour! Turns out it is its annual wash 'cos it's going for an MOT tomorrow!

[rovamota]

Nothing at all wrong with buying a new car if you can afford it. A friend of mine runs an ATS centre and a girl came in with a flat tyre on her newish Vauxhall Adam. It had 17" alloys on it and as she'd driven several miles to the garage with the tyre flat she'd killed any chance of it being repaired. When he told her a new tyre would be £70 she burst into tears because £70 was half her monthly payment on the car and she wouldn't be able to afford both. In the end her parents had to cough up. 

 

 

For some car owners a full service history is a pile of car wash receipts.

[Felly Magic]

And a lot of these people who lease new cars are very limited to the miles, some are as low as 7k per year before the so many pence per mile charges are added on when the 3 years are up, and I don't think half of them realise this when they sign on the dotted line either

[Mr A Lawrence]

My wife's Motability car has a 20k per year mileage limit on it.

[sierraman]

A lad at our work leases a Seat Ibiza, it's a nice car I'd have one for sure. Anyway he'd clobbered the kerb and wanted to know if he'd done much damage, had a look, worst he'd done was kerbed the alloy and probably knocked the tracking out. But looking at the tyres they were a proper pair of Duncan Goodhews, bald as fuck, the pads on front and rear down nearly to the backing, cheap shit 'love you longtime' tyres all round. Can't see the dealer putting that back on the forecourt in a few years when he returns it. I can see a big list of 'this isn't right, that isn't right' when he takes it back along with a big fuck off bill to make it even vaguely saleable.

[2MB]

That's nonsense. Car neglect is nothing new. If it were, 80% of Mark 2 Jaguars would still be on the road. We'd be overrun with 3 million old Cortinas, 3 million Escorts etc. Watch an old TV programme from the early eighties and see the state of some not very old cars. Scrapyards 40 years ago were full of old shit cars that nobody looked after and serious tyre issues were far more common.

Regarding the 1 Series - I had one recently for 8 days and 2000 miles, a brand new 118d auto. It was absolutely superb - fast, very quiet at speed, 50 mpg overall, steers and handles like a dream and it had a very good ride too. Brilliant navigation system and a nice well made feel to the whole car. Most cars piss you off on some way, but this didn't. But I am willing to listen to someone who probably hasn't actually driven one.

This 'new cars r shit' is bollocks. Face it, if someone else were to pay the bills, we'd all have one gladly.

Can't agree more on neglect being as old as 4 wheeled transport. Everybody is guilty of it to a degree: we still throw in the towel when keeping an old crock going is beyond pointless. I for one wouldn't have a modern if it were free. Most people can 'afford' a shiny new leased bmw or similar i.e. Get approved for the credit. Personally I prefer older cars for reasons covered many times on here. I also tend to forget where I've parked so something that stands out in some way is a bonus.

The state of the tyres on some nearly new motors is worrying though, it is indicative of the fact that people get shiny new shit, ignore it wearing in any way and wang it in landfill when it falls for the first time.

[Bren]

Like I have said before - old cars are really good for showing how good new cars are.

[SiC]

Anyone who says new cars are shit either hasnt driven one that is their kind of car (I.e. if you love comfort+wafting, don't test drive a Bini) or they have preconceived notions that all new cars are crap. Also getting a car on finance is no bad thing - use someone else's money for depreciating things and use your own for appreciating things. If you really enjoy having a new car (nothing wrong with that, we all enjoy older stuff but everyone is different), then buying entirely outright wouldn't even make sense. Infact a lot of the finance deals out there are better value than trying to negotiate discounts from a dealer - mostly because sizable discounts have been done.

 

The reason we're seeing so many new cars on finance is because money is so cheap. Banks need to make money and car loans are a good way of doing that for them, so there is a lot of competition. Also car manufacturers need to make money, so put together good deals to shift units. I wouldn't be surprised that once interest rates start to rise and things get a bit tighter, things will quieten down.

 

I'd like a new car and could afford the monthly repayments on one pretty easily. However I love more putting that £200-£300 or so (cost of a golf/civic/etc sized car) in a savings account. I wouldn't love owning a new car and drive it around where I live (a city) though. Everytime I park, 60% of the time I'll come back to another door ding. Annoying and frustrating on my cars, but a new car ding would be costing money everytime it happened.

 

There are people who barely can afford the financed cars they have, but I wouldn't be surprised that when hard reality kicks in, they'll make different decisions next time. But if people want to make that decision then fine, as long as they're happy with it and get enjoyment out of the car.

 

Another little thing, on PCP/HP finance, as long as you have paid 50% of the term of the car you can give the vehicle back. You'll loose whatever has been paid in already BUT you don't get a blot on your credit history or anything else. This happened a lot back in 2008 when a lot of people found they were paying more for their car than it'll actually was worth by the end of the term.

 

Banks don't like it, but there is not a lot they can do - apart from being difficult.

[scaryoldcortina]

I don't think new cars are crap. I think new cars are expensive.

[DodgyBastard]

Anyone who says new cars are shit either hasnt driven one that is their kind of car...

 

 

There's absolutely nothing appealing to me about new cars. I'm not saying they are shit but there aren't really any new cars that I've looked at and thought phwoar, I really want one of them. I'm not much of a fan of old cars either. I like late 70's to early 90's stuff.

Back on topic, the people on this forum and other enthusiast forums are a small minority of road users, the vast majority of road users probably don't check their oil and water on a regular basis or check their tyres. This includes cars old and new etc.

 

Ah fuck it, All new cars are shit.

[Barry Cade]

I had a 2 year old Volvo V40, which was given to me new, free tax and a service package. A few weeks ago I begged the person who gave it to me to take it back as it had been a worry and responsibility since I'd got it. I'd notice everything, every mark, crumb on the carpets etc. I worried about the DPF, the oil they used at service, which tyres I would fit when it needed them, kerbing the diamond cut alloys. I was just paranoid, got annoyed at the poor performance, and the far lower MPG that was advertised. I was always really annoyed that the back bumper was a slightly different shade, which made it look like a CAT C and that was normal for the V40, and loads of other new cars. I got pissed off at the lack of visibility and the fact that it was a bitsa, some Ford,some Volvo, some PSA and some Chinese.  I do miss the DAB radio. it lost pretty much exactly £12,500 in 2 years and 4 months.

 

I now have a 2001 Saab and love it, scratches and all. I've been tinkering,polishing and oiling. Missed that!

[Negative Creep]

People are brainwashed into handing over their wages in pursuit of a lifestyle that is sold to them.

 

Car on finance. Phone on contract. Rent. I could go on.

 

Then you get "I cant get together a deposit for a mortgage".

 

It's because you're handing over your wages on unnecessary things you fuckwit.

 

Lose the phone, the car and start saving. Buy an old shitter to get you about. It can be done.

 

But you dont want to, do you?

 

As for roadtesting a 116 BMW? It's not a McLaren is it? Pretentious fuckwits.

 

 

Sorry but I can't agree about the deposit. I've been driving crap cars for years, never have holidays, new iphones etc and have never come close to having enough for a deposit. I know we've had a big thread on this, but houses are simply out of reach for a lot of younger people

[Bren]

Sorry but I can't agree about the deposit. I've been driving crap cars for years, never have holidays, new iphones etc and have never come close to having enough for a deposit. I know we've had a big thread on this, but houses are simply out of reach for a lot of younger people

I take your point - not everybody can afford a deposit.

 

However, I know people earning much more than the average wage who complain they cannot do it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

hey wow its the thrice-weekly ANCAS rant thread.

[Chris2cv]

My 13 year old Clio is better than my 31 year old car in practically every way - economy, comfort, speed etc, but has very little character, there is no spirit of adventure in taking it out for a ride. I do not doubt that a new Clio is superior to my one in the same ways, as will be most if not all modern cars.  What concerns me is the huge amount of computers on modern cars, which can easily make a well loved low mileage car beyond economical repair by ten years old. On the 2cv the closest thing to a computer is the £2 Halfords clock, that has been on it for 20 years!  Of course things wear out, but there is no £600 cat or £900 ABS pump, so bills are normally manageable. These prices are recent quotes I have done at work, so are not unrealistic.

 

  I am certainly not saying that modern cars are crap, but I believe that most people think that they are disposable. With old cars you tend to find a way around problems or get pattern parts, most moderns just seem to get cheap then get scrapped.

[SiC]

hey wow its the thrice-weekly ANCAS rant thread.

I wonder if pistonheads have the equivalent thread of AOCADANS - All Old Cars Are Dangerous And Need Scrapping?