The new news 24 thread

[Supernaut]

I pay about £400-odd to insure the Megane for 10k miles including commuting. Fair enough.

The BMW is over £500 for 5k miles, social domestic and pleasure only.

I'm in the middle of fucking nowhere too.

[Split_Pin]

I had to dash over to my mum's house yesterday evening because her car insurance renewal came through and it was INSANE. She's not confident at applying online and using GoCompare so I always help her.

She's 76, clean licence, no accidents ever, declared diabetic, drives a 3 year old 1.2 Corsa and has a 3 year review period on her licence so the annual premium is a going to be a bit pricey. It was £271 for last year but the renewal came in at £715! I cancelled the renewal immediately, went on to our favourite opera singer's* website and found her a new policy with RAC, same benefits, same things declared for £277.

Definitely shop about.

[Metal Guru]

23 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I had to dash over to my mum's house yesterday evening because her car insurance renewal came through and it was INSANE. She's not confident at applying online and using GoCompare so I always help her.

She's 76, clean licence, no accidents ever, declared diabetic, drives a 3 year old 1.2 Corsa and has a 3 year review period on her licence so the annual premium is a going to be a bit pricey. It was £271 for last year but the renewal came in at £715! I cancelled the renewal immediately, went on to our favourite opera singer's* website and found her a new policy with RAC, same benefits, same things declared for £277.

Definitely shop about.

I’m guessing the algorithm the first company uses, triggers a very high rating for over 75. I doubt if any real human people were involved.

[Supernaut]

25 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I had to dash over to my mum's house yesterday evening because her car insurance renewal came through and it was INSANE. She's not confident at applying online and using GoCompare so I always help her.

She's 76, clean licence, no accidents ever, declared diabetic, drives a 3 year old 1.2 Corsa and has a 3 year review period on her licence so the annual premium is a going to be a bit pricey. It was £271 for last year but the renewal came in at £715! I cancelled the renewal immediately, went on to our favourite opera singer's* website and found her a new policy with RAC, same benefits, same things declared for £277.

Definitely shop about.

Aye, but the £500-odd for the BMW was the cheapest I could get, through a specialist broker.

The companies on comparison sites all either wouldn't quote at all or wanted 4 figures.

[Split_Pin]

I don't know how that is, I ran your car through GoCompare and I got very reasonable quotes around the £260 mark. I'm 46 and I'm guessing you are late 20s, anything above 25 and the price starts to come right down.

I presume my e46 has a few more safety features but it's the cheapest of my 4 cars to insure,  something like £14 a month.

I would have thought living where you do would be a much safer post code as well. Weird. 

£400 for the Megane seems pricey as well.

BMWs not been modified has it?

[Split_Pin]

26 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

I’m guessing the algorithm the first company uses, triggers a very high rating for over 75. I doubt if any real human people were involved.

Aue I think there hoping enough people won't open the emails/letters and let it auto-renew.

[Supernaut]

2 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I don't know how that is, I ran your car through GoCompare and I got very reasonable quotes around the £260 mark. I'm 46 and I'm guessing you are late 20s, anything above 25 and the price starts to come right down.

I presume my e46 has a few more safety features but it's the cheapest of my 4 cars to insure,  something like £14 a month.

I would have thought living where you do would be a much safer post code as well. Weird. 

£400 for the Megane seems pricey as well.

BMWs not been modified has it?

Ha! Try 37.

I have no idea if it's been modified or not. Hastings refused to cover it when I sent photos of it claiming it was modified, but they wouldn't elaborate.

I've actually un-modified it in my ownership. I took the silly exhaust off. The only actual tangible modification is the non-original radio that does bluetooth.

 

Christ knows. I still stand by my belief that they pull a number out of their arses sometimes.

[Metal Guru]

2 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Ha! Try 37.

I have no idea if it's been modified or not. Hastings refused to cover it when I sent photos of it claiming it was modified, but they wouldn't elaborate.

I've actually un-modified it in my ownership. I took the silly exhaust off. The only actual tangible modification is the non-original radio that does bluetooth.

 

Christ knows. I still stand by my belief that they pull a number out of their arses sometimes.

They probably have quotas for certain groups too, so as not to be too exposed to one type. So if you’re in “boring beige middle aged, low risk , low reward” and it’s full, £250 becomes £500+. They don’t really want anymore business of that type, but are happy to take it at a silly price.

[Supernaut]

3 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

They probably have quotas for certain groups too, so as not to be too exposed to one type. So if you’re in “boring beige middle aged, low risk , low reward” and it’s full, £250 becomes £500+. They don’t really want anymore business of that type, but are happy to take it at a silly price.

Fuck knows, one of these mysteries of the universe.

Since I got my first car in 2010, I've never paid less than about £400 to insure anything. I've also never paid more than mid-£500s either. I've had a right eclectic mix of vehicles too.

[Metal Guru]

10 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Fuck knows, one of these mysteries of the universe.

Since I got my first car in 2010, I've never paid less than about £400 to insure anything. I've also never paid more than mid-£500s either. I've had a right eclectic mix of vehicles too.

My first insurance was £450 (in 1982), and I don’t think I’ve ever paid much more than £500 since. Currently at around £350 (for a modified Impreza) and has been as low as £169.

[Split_Pin]

27 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

boring beige middle aged, low risk , low reward

I resemble that remark, sorry for filling up the category 😂

Agree 100% on the random figure out their arses though! 

[lesapandre]

Tesla sales down by a third:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2025/jun/05/european-central-bank-eurozone-interest-rates-inflation-lagarde-construction-car-sales-stock-markets-business-live-news

                         'Oh Dear What a Shame.'

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

I resemble that remark, sorry for filling up the category 😂

Agree 100% on the random figure out their arses though! 

37 isn’t middle aged. I remarked I was middle aged when I was about 55. My wife pointed out, I’d be very unlikely to live to be 110.

[comfortablynumb]

13 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Nah, Allegro binnacle

Very similar, if not identical, to early Rrc 

But then, that's Austin rover Leyland land rover etc for you!

[wuvvum]

15 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Honestly, how the fuck?

I keep seeing loads of folk on here paying thruppence ha'penny for insurance yet I pay more than 500 quid just to insure ONE of my cars.

I'm 46, I have a clean licence and I live in the arse end of nowhere, so other than my new-found penchant for crashing into things I'm generally a fairly low risk.  Plus that policy is SDP only, it doesn't cover commuting - I'll need to have a separate policy in place for the Leaf which does include commuting, which is going to be about the same price again.  Although by the standards of when I were a lad the Leaf is basically a hot hatch (150bhp, 0-60 in 7.9 seconds) so 450 quid for that isn't unreasonable I suppose.

[mk2_craig]

18 hours ago, Tickman said:

I find being old has helped massively with the cost of insurance.

Third party fire and theft on a six year old 1.1 Fiesta was something like 550quid in 1995 when I turned 17, I’ve just coughed up 450 odd for a years comprehensive cover on a five year old Focus ST with the 2.3 petrol lump. That’s a bit of a hike after years of insurance policies having been around the 200 mark but I suppose it’s not bad on a £ per bhp basis (even if I’m barely averaging 50 miles a week in it) 

[captain_70s]

Purchased a nice mid century cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

With insides.

1960 Kolster-Brande QF80 Majestic. £115 new, £2.3k in today's money!

Sadly it ain't gonna be showing a picture again...

[Sunny Jim]

Woot! The Grim Sleeper, a black hearse that the DVLA think is a grey "limosuine" has an MoT pass as of this afternoon. One advisory for "underbody covered in underseal" which I didn't need advising about as I'm well aware it's there but I'm not going to quibble.

 

 

 

[High Jetter]

46 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

underbody

I thought the bodies were supposed to go inside? 😀

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

Purchased a nice mid century cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

With insides.

1960 Kolster-Brande QF80 Majestic. £115 new, £2.3k in today's money!

Sadly it ain't gonna be showing a picture again...

Oh it might.  That's not a massively unusual screen size from memory, so a "no hoper" with a serviceable tube might turn up one day.  Shame as looking at the condition of the dropper resistors in there it looks to be a really low hour set.

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

Purchased a nice mid century cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

With insides.

1960 Kolster-Brande QF80 Majestic. £115 new, £2.3k in today's money!

Sadly it ain't gonna be showing a picture again...

Shouldn't be too hard to hack it all to bits and mount a cheap flat screen in there.

Starts putting on running shoes

[High Jetter]

54 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Starts putting on running shoes

Dead, before you can lace them. 😁

[Split_Pin]

Attended to the 75s sunroof drains today, I thought they'd been fixed years ago but I think all this torrential rain has washed any crap on the insides of the tubes down tho the bottom.

The drivers side was easy as the arch liners had been off a few months ago to weld the front of the sill and Gingernutzz had used new screws. The ends of the pipes stick out the bulkhead behind the arch liner. They are horizontal and have duckbills at the end so inevitably block up. The rears point downwards behind each rear wheel so gravity usually carries the muck away.

I snipped off the duck bill and a gush of stinky water came out. 

The other side was a bit of a war as the plastic screws holding the liner on were all stuck and chewed up as soon as I started unscrewing them. I managed to get them off with pliers but they'll need replaced. Even though I'd snipped the end of this pipe about 5 years ago, it had totally blocked up, quite surprising. This emitted a huge gush of water, helpfully over my feet and legs. 

It's in my garage drying out for a few days now and then it's good to go.

[auntiemaryscanary]

This enlivened my tedious commute home today...

...on the very edge of a car repair forecourt.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, auntiemaryscanary said:

This enlivened my tedious commute home today...

...on the very edge of a car repair forecourt.

Oo, Marathon!

[Mrcento]

19 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Ha! Try 37.

I'm 36, if it makes you feel any better i've been looking at a diesel 3 series and the cheapest i can get on one right now is £710..... My average quote for pretty much anything is around £580. I can't and never have been able to get multicar insurance either, always near enough 1000 more than 2 policies would be, and 1000+ per car on top of that no matter what they are.

Insurance just take a scunner to some people for no apparent reason, something in the algorithm (or a combination of tiny things in the details) just add up to be enough to give the 'f off you aren't the perfect 54 year old professor, married, mother of 2, living in a rural cottage with a garage driving a grey Toyota Avensis type of client we want' price.

[Cavcraft]

Started an ad hoc new job yesterday, working at a garage a few miles away doing basic servicing and helping out as/when.

 

Turns out they specialise in VWs. 

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Turns out they specialise in VWs. 

I can never remember with you... Is that good or bad?

I suppose it's better than Iv*cos.

[Datsuncog]

Spendy week.

Dropped the Avensis down to the Mechanic Of Choice on Monday to get the belts done - service record reckoned they were changed only 13,000 miles ago - but that was also back in 2009.

New water pump, tensioners, and auxiliary belts were fitted too. The alternator drive belt didn't look too clever, so I imagine everything else was just as perished.

With fresh coolant, it came in at just a smidge over £600.

Not at all unreasonable given the work involved, but still the biggest garage bill I've had in recent years.

The tyres were equally suspect...

Five completely different brands and tread patterns, with one Michelin dating back to 2003 (oddly, that was the best in terms of wear and condition so probably the spare) and another harking back to 2007.

So, down to the local indie for a new set of shoes all round.

A matched set of Davanti DX390s this time - Michelin boots would have cost another £70 on top, and the last time I fitted them the walls were cracking after only about three years. 

So I figured the Davantis were good enough, since we're not often on the Nurburgring with a couple of nuns and a bootfill of kittens on board. Not since COVID, anyway.

Simply having the same tread pattern and circumference was probably more important; and also getting the rims balanced.

Thick end of £300.

I'm too used to running cars with tiddly 13" and 14" wheels, me.

And that reminds me, the wheels and wheel trims could definitely do with some paint to tidy them up.

With a new battery needed the weekend we bought it...

...much-needed new number plates (which were bought online and nope, the seller asked me for no documentation whatsoever)...

...and a working double-DIN stereo with Bluetooth connectivity (the original Sony CD/Cass unit was sadly completely bricked)...

...that's over a grand we've dropped on it since purchase.

Still, hopefully it'll only need recommissioning once!

MrsDC loves it already, so we're seeing it all as an investment rather than a sunk cost.

Still cheaper than a couple of monthly payments on a new car...

[beko1987]

£600 inc labour for the belts etc isn't bad, I was just above £250 on just parts with the belt kit, expensive coolant and thermostat then got to spend a rainy Saturday morning fitting it all 🤷

Remember if she picks up a nail next week it's her fault...