The Car Thread: Mark III

[dataDave]

The Tesla prevented what could have been a pretty grim accident last night, while also stopping us from attending our concert. We were in the overtaking lane, overtaking. My car slammed the brakes on, then before I knew what was happening the person I was overtaking just suddenly swerved into our lane, then back out of it. There’s no way I would have reacted anywhere near that speed by myself. We were practically parallel with them.

[charlesr]

That's pretty cool.

I've been nursing the car around over every tiny bump and corner for a week and a half while a windscreen crack grew gradually bigger and bigger with every body flex New screen fitted now and has a green strip along the top that is excellent at cutting out the sun if it's exactly at that angle, but also ensuring I can't see any red light now if I'm first in the queue at the lights.

[JU!]

I finally got round to getting a GR Supra after exiting the 2017 GT86 I had for 2 half years. Supra is incredibly quick whether as much fun as the GT86 especially at slower speeds, not sure but could be due to the skinny Primacy tyres on that letting you slide all over the place. Gr Supra interior certainly a step up on usual Toyota though and Apple Car Play.

[fishbowlhead]

Oh very nice, pics?

[nonny]

https://www.wallpaper.com/transportation/carice-tc2-electric-sports-car-is-close-to-perfect?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=00EXPLORER00%2Fmagazine%2F+Tech+Future+Files

Wish all electric cars coming out were designed like this... cute little porsche style EV from the Netherlands that caught my eye recently

[Neon Ignition]

This is going to sound daft but as I'm yet to drive one...


For those who have tried out several EV cars, is there much variance between models in terms of how they 'feel' to drive or does the fairly standardised electric motor design create a similar feeling sensation to the drive unless switching between larger/smaller car types?

[Blobcat]

Really dumb question coming up I know so please forgive me.

My renewal on my car insurance is coming up and I think its about time I change provider. I've been happy with them for over 10 years and the 1-2 times I have looked elsewhere in that time, I have found minimal difference in price and I didn't want loads of bells and whistles.

I cancelled my AA membership last year as my colleague at work pointed out I was spending a fortune on it and it was really stupid with when I was worried about cost of living (I was paying around £30 a month after I had to add my front door cover the one time my car died on me 2 years ago). I am now interested in having some other cover but not stupidly expensive.

My insurance has jumped over £150 more this year and I see it as a good time to change. Going to comparison sites I see I can pretty much get what I am quoted for my current one but get more and some sort of breakdown cover.

I've never changed insurance providers before, do I call them to cancel the renewal or does the new provider do anything? Is there a chance I will try to get charged with the renewal whilst sorting a new provider nearer the time?

I HATE calling up people and the hassle of that has put me off in the past but I want to put all my ducks in a row before going ahead and actually get value for money this year. My current provider (Elephant) have reduced it before one time I called them up but the last 2 times I have had to call them about other things (Changing my car and discuss some changes,) they have been more and more difficult to get through so I'm getting anxious.

Any advise would be great. I'm thinking about moving to Hastings/ Premium at my first look at comparison sites. I will try and call my provider before I go ahead with anyone else. Due for renewal on 20th on an Nissan Micra from 2020

[Anpanman]

I estimate you have a recurring policy as you haven't mentioned them calling you if you want to continue. Therefore you will have to contact your insurance company and tell them you are not renewing. They will then try the sales route and ask why, have you had a better offer etc. Simply cut them off and tell them you are going elsewhere, you are not bound by law to give a reason and so forth.

You should be able to tell from the comparison site or the website of any potential new insurer whether or not they will continue to take your payments annually there will also probably be information on how to change this aspect.

I would definitely get your new policy started before cancelling your old one though. I would also advise having windscreen cover included.

[QualityChimp]

My car has died.

It's a Fiat 500 we've had for about 13 years. It's got to the point where the amount of work needed is greater than the value of the car to pass the MOT.

So now I have to face the hella confusing battlefield of buying a car.
New/used?
Lease/hire/buy/finance/loan?
EV/petrol/hybrid?

[Anpanman]

I'm going through something similar, ours is nineteen in October and I'm being pressured we 'need' a new one. Only has a leaky roof!

[Neon Ignition]

Ours has just passed it's MOT without issue as it enters its 11th year of life. Had it since it was 2 and getting through that MOT only cost us... £750
It's making a notable whirring sound when it accelerates from a cold start which is annoying but three checks at three garages later and none of them have found anything so it's now a 'learn to ignore' thing.

We do a lot of mileage so I'm wary as the car gets older but I think we'll be trying to get several more years out of it yet rather than introduce the cost of paying hundreds monthly on a new one. Our next will 101% be a petrol car and I'm now dead set against buying new as it's ultimately a huge amount of dead money for no gain. I did, a while back, look at a lease based option so I'd at least side step having wear and tear to worry about but most options for anything remotely decent (and not in the slightest fancy, high powered etc) costs the same per month as buying practically new so is redundant. Buying second hand and changing car more frequently from the next one seems the likeliest option.

[Anpanman]

Ours has only failed one MOT as it normally sails through which it did last time, nothing much at all has gone wrong with it, the leaky roof I could easily fix as it's where the roof rails fit on but cannot be bothered. I've been beaten into submission to change it,

We are a bit different to your situation in that we do very little mileage, I'll buy brand new or very nearly new. Don't want an EV and although I'm not happy about a hybrid either there isn't much choice for me in a pure petrol.

[CMcK]

Ours has only failed one MOT as it normally sails through which it did last time, nothing much at all has gone wrong with it, the leaky roof I could easily fix as it's where the roof rails fit on but cannot be bothered. I've been beaten into submission to change it,

We are a bit different to your situation in that we do very little mileage, I'll buy brand new or very nearly new. Don't want an EV and although I'm not happy about a hybrid either there isn't much choice for me in a pure petrol.

Why don't you want an EV or hybrid?

[Anpanman]

Why don't you want an EV or hybrid?

Fair question...

It's really all about the batteries, as with our current car I'll want to keep the new one around twenty years (I've done under 40k), which means I would be very unfortunate if an engine died on a new petrol bought today with that mileage though in reality I'm only now doing a quarter of that, savings on fuel mean nothing to me nor does a seven year battery guarantee.
I'm more likely to have to replace a battery than an engine in say ten or fifteen years time, not 100% but certainly more likely.

Honda is saying currently that hybrid batteries will cost £1000-£3000 so that's an amount I'm going to have to factor in. I don't have any experience of hybrids (or hydrogen) whereas I have lots with EV's and everything else.

All that said I'll probably get a hybrid - three of the four I've got on my list are mild hybrids, in twenty years I'll be eighty if I'm still here and that age brings other considerations. Anyone younger than me certainly twenties and thirties and who changes vehicles every few years it's obviously a different proposition.

[QualityChimp]

In contrast to Anpanman, we're starting to drift towards EV.
I've asked a load of friends who have them what their thoughts are and everyone is positive.

The battery life is obviously a big concern, but I watched this excellent video trying to bust some myths about them.
There's a great section from 3:47 where they're speaking to a guy who makes classic cars electric and he points out that a lot of the myths come from clickbait articles and it's worth remembering that.

He goes on to discuss battery degradation and says:
"if they like go out and Google Tesla battery degradation for instance and you'll find that after around about 200 000 miles you'll be down to around about 90 percent of the original battery capacity that you had when you started"

90% after 200 000 miles! How many people do that in their cars?! Yet, the story we're told is that the batteries fail after 6 months.



Another interesting video was this WhatCar? video where they pick 10 charging points in an area and see how many are available.
The ones that the ZapMap app said were closed really were, so in a real-world scenario, you'd avoid them anyway.



My main issue is that everyone has an opinion about buying a car!
One friend says he'd avoid PCP as it's a scam to keep you buying new cars every 3 years, another 3 mates all have PCP and love it.
Buying new means you lose money as it leaves the forecourt, but it also means you're covered by the warranty and any extras like roadside assistance.
Buying used it better value, but you're more on your own if it develops a fault.