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I thought as much, I spent about a month over in Germany in 2009/10 and never saw a Ssangyong and 3 months in Basel which is on the German border and never saw a Ssangyong there either so I presumed they hadn't really broken into the European market. I'll pass that on...

 

The problem ATM is that she's determined to load the car up with her rammel an drive over so trying to convince her to get a German reg car is pretty hard.... But I'll press on with it. What are the rules on "foreign" cars staying in Germany... the person in question plans to be there for at least three years before returning which strikes me as being ample time for the local Polizei/DVLA-equivalent to insist that the car is re-regged under the German system and with the local British army base shutting down in 2009 there's no longer the cover story of being a soldiers wife/gf to appease the law.

 

More generally, I'm no 4x4 expert.... certainly not of the comfortable variety seeing as I've only played around with a FUBARed Series 3 LR, what's hot and what's not?

 

IIRC a UK licence is valid for one year in Germany (as a resident), after which she'll need to apply for a German licence. There'll be plenty of info about that on the Net. UK-registered vehicles are OK over there as long as they're insured (either appropriately via a UK insurance company or e.g. ADAC will insure foreign-registered vehicles) and tested (trip back to the UK for an MoT). That being said, back in the 1990s I was able to insure a UK-registered LT28 minibus through ADAC without it even having a current MoT – not sure what the story is now though.

 

I'm no expert about 4x4s either, but newer Land Rovers (Range Rover P38 model onwards, Disco TD5, Disco 2 / 3, etc.) seem to be rammed to the gills with electronic components that can & do fail. I've not bothered with anything newer than a Disco 300 TDi myself, which are durable enough if you get a good one. If she goes for one of those, check for rot in the rear arches / boot floor, front inner wings, sills, and make sure the HG isn't blowing at the back of the engine (which is where they tend to go if they do go). A crunch going into 2nd gear is not unusual with the R380 gearbox fitted to the 300 TDi, caused by worn synchromesh.

 

As an alternative, Mercedes G-Wagen seem to have have a good reputation... perhaps someone else in here can help you with some info about them?

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Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

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Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Lidle sell some great screenwash, good down to -60 undiluted. Is great stuff and around £4 for five litres. Just filled up my daily with it. So far so good and its -3.

Heard some good reports on it on here so must be fine!

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Thanks John, I'll pass on the stuff about the TuV and the license... Some sense has made its way through to her and she's no longer looking at the Ssangyong, after a brief diversion through a very silly VW Toerag and some very sensible Mitsubishis she's now settled on the idea of an Outlander. Not as bad as some of the suggestions and I'll try and steer her towards something even more sensible seeing as there doesn't seem to be a single one under £10,000 that isn't shagged and there's comparable Hyundai's in good nick going for half the price.

The advice on cars seems to go through one ear and mostly come out through the other with the odd bit making sense so there's not all that much I can do except point out the bleeding obvious....

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Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Vodka.

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Doesn't a Mitsubishi Outlander have a bit of a weedy towing capacity?

Proper 4x4s (TLC, Patrol and Defender/Disco/RR ) tend to have a 3.5 ton capacity, G-wagons are around 3 and I think Jeep Cherokee / Grand Cherokees are 2.5 and above.

I believe horses are heavy things which require heavy trailers.

 

I'm not sure what kind of G-wagon £9k gets but its going to be an old one.

They had car engines for the first 15 years or so and lacked low down torque so needed to be revved to move at acceptable rates with consequent fueling costs. The later diesel ones are likely to cost a lot more.

 

I'd be reckoning on going with not much stuff and then doing a run back to the UK in a few months in my new lhd gerry wagon to collect the belongings I'd require.

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Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Vodka.

 

Oddly I was toying with alcohol as when I was a chef I remember making vodka flavoured ice cream that wouldn't set properly.

Unfortunately I only have Absolut in the house, which is too good for screenwash :lol:

 

Lidl's is probably a better bet for the recommended screenwash.

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Doesn't a Mitsubishi Outlander have a bit of a weedy towing capacity?

 

I'd imagine so. Just because it's a 4x4 doesn't mean it can tow 'owt. A Lada Niva can't tow as much as my BX (860kg vs 1100kg). You want a big capacity for towing horses. The weight of trailer and horse can be considerable. I've seen a horse trailer on its side on the A14 before now - with the horse still in it. You don't want to go there.

 

I wonder about a Brit-registered car over there for three years too. Isn't the limit here in the UK just six months?

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TBH, I stupidly hadn't thought about the towing capacity of the Outlander.... I suspect there's a reason why I've never seen one with a towbar. I was trying to point her the way of a Mitsubishi L200 Trojanmabob/Shogun, there seem to be enough decent spec ones of a relative youth and in good nick for half the price of a Outlander. She's been wowed by the low insurance on the Outlander and horsey-forum bollocks, but saving £1,800 over the four years on insurance is bugger all compared to the £6,000 saving on the intial purchase cost. Allegedly they'll tow a horse just fine, but I suspect it's advice from people lugging round small ponies in small trailers, not mega-money dressage horses in monster trailers.

 

The problem with purchasing there is her German is appalling, I'd normally help seeing as I am fluent in Swiss-German (...long story and yeah, it is different) but it'd take serious time to get my German up to car-buying standard and basically, I can't help her then.

 

It is going to be a right old project to swing her the way of proper 4x4s, I'm in the unusual position of having someone ask me about 4x4 and not start off with a Land rover bleedin Defender. I suppose the most obvious answer to her problems would be a Dacia Duster or one of these puppies.... :wink:

 

800px-1977_Simca_Matra_Rancho.jpg

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Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Vodka.

 

Oddly I was toying with alcohol as when I was a chef I remember making vodka flavoured ice cream that wouldn't set properly.

Unfortunately I only have Absolut in the house, which is too good for screenwash :lol:

 

Lidl's is probably a better bet for the recommended screenwash.

 

Lidl screenwash is great, I've tested it down to -13C so far.

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AFAIK, the driving licence change is a recommendation and not a legal obligation. You can drive on your original one.

 

On the other hand, I am convinced that there's an EU-wide law strictly prohibiting permanent residents of one country from driving cars registered in another country. No guarantees that you'll get caught, but Germany isn't the best place for breaking any law.

 

I also use Lidl screenwash. It is ace.

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AFAIK, the driving licence change is a recommendation and not a legal obligation. You can drive on your original one.

 

Correct. If you have a licence issued in an EU member country then you can drive in any other country within the EU for the rest of your days. You don't have to change to a licence issued in the country you move to.

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AFAIK, the driving licence change is a recommendation and not a legal obligation. You can drive on your original one.

 

Correct. If you have a licence issued in an EU member country then you can drive in any other country within the EU for the rest of your days. You don't have to change to a licence issued in the country you move to.

 

Hmmm... this wasn't the case when I was stopped by ze Polizei in Nürnberg in the mid-1990s, but I've just double-checked & it now appears to have changed :D

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I might have the chance of a backstreet garage, which has been run as a business up until this point. If I bought it to use as a non-business (to garage and work on my own cars and for general storage) would I be liable for business rates/council tax etc? The garage is in a residential area not an industrial estate.

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...Yeah don't worry I've compiled a list of big Jap 4x4s (Lancruiser/Patrol/Shogun/Warrior etc) to recommend to her and I'll work from there which I'll pass on tonight.

 

Doing some basic maths it seems 1x horse is about just over 500Kg and a decent Ifor Williams trailer is nigh on 900kg... there's a strong chance that she'll be taking two horses in the trailer at times which will be pushing the towed weight up to nearly 2000kg which, now I've taken my head out of hangover mode, would clearly be a pretty effective way forming a rolling road block with some serious static roadblock potential in an Outlander.

 

We'll see how far this gets, thanks shiters.

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Of course, I'm being very lazy here, but just to save me pissing about charging up a dead battery, does anyone happen to have the skillz to tell me which of these four relays does the indicators. It's a 306.

 

relays.JPG

 

Cheers me dears.

.

 

Think it is the grey/black one. Should have three pins IIRC.

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Attention MEKANIX.

 

There's a Clio Williams for sale near me that dropped all it's oil on the road and the sellers claiming it's because of a knackered oil pump. He's saying the oil pressure warning lights never came on but who knows.

It's the F7R as found in the Renner Megane coupes as well I believe. Am I better just presuming the engines dead? If it not what sort of jobs involved in changing the pump? Is it an engine out job? I'm shit when things get really oily so I'm not sure I fancy doing it myself.

 

Thanks

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