Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I’m now in the car buying game, this is a first for me so have no idea what I’m doing. Looking for a smallish estate that I can park on street in London. To fit bikes and possibly a future small human. Can’t afford anything over £12k I’d say. Used, obv. Petrol. Ok to drive on the occasional longer journey.

I’ve driven various marks of golf hatchback (petrol) and diesel Volvo estates in the past, but never actually owned my own set of wheels.

Any tips ? Have been looking on autotrader without a clue. Mate has one of these that he likes...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002117205794

The front registration plate keeps falling off, duct tape doesnt do the job.

What works?
Is driving around with the front plate in the windscreen illegal?

Screws?

3m double sided tape. Like this....

@Dammit... ?

That entirely fits your bill, you could get one with a smaller/less powerful engine if you wanted a little more fuel economy, but if you like having a little punch to overtake on longer journeys then the 1.8 TSI will be a decent engine.

Obviously, VW and Skoda do alternatives that are basically the same car, just varying levels of interior quality.

Don't be mental. It's not going to be a crazy cost.

You're never going to have a car that works like a new car, ie nothing goes wrong for at least 3-5 years, unless you actually buy a brand new car or buy a fully rebuilt car with all new parts.

It's a minor inconvenience that's caused no long term damage.

At least you didn't crack the block trying to be clever!

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Alpina...

The company that should have TVR's rep but because they sell cheaper cars with minimal mods, they manage to fly under the radar.

The 1.4 TSI 150 with ACT is the engine to have IMO. Surprisingly punchy for a diddly engine, and shuts down two cylinders when cruising to save fuel. I drove a Leon with that engine from Switzerland to Bavaria and back and it was impressively good.

There's a black one on auto trader I like to look at when I'm feeling risky. I spoke to my mate whose E61 M5 touring went up in flames and he reckons the 550 should be bullet proof, but there's still risk with power steering, ABS, and fuel system.

Also the fancy optional stuff BMW put on the E60/1 like HUD and soft close doors were still a bit unreliable then.

Is driving around with the front plate in the windscreen illegal?

Yep

I don’t think I could ever recommend a bmw from that era to anyone

Check out Yahoo auctions Japan to keep an eye out for suitable Japanese wheels.

ET 15 won't be too low offset for the Mini? You might need more like 30ish to get the 8" wide wheels sitting nicely without mental camber and some arch work.

Also you're in Ireland, right? So check out JDM distro, they're Ireland based and import stuff to sell from Japan. Often they're weak widths but if you get a bargain on some 3pc 6-7" wide wheels you could get them rebuilt with new lips or barrels.

The good thing is Rotas seem to hold their value (I don't know why) so if you bought interim wheels you could potentially only lose a little bit of money.

Ta. Octavia and Passat, I guess?

. double post

Low offset Work Kiwami in the gunmetal or the GT silver (the kind of chrome finish) could look really good with the concave.

They wouldn't be cheap, but much more reasonable than a set of 3 piece Work wheels.

Golf and Octavia, the Passat is quite large.

Anyone else think the new golf looks like a diddy Passat?

For that matter, the Tiguan looks like the SUV version.

#amiright

Everything VAG make looks increasingly the same

Prolly froightened of dropping a bollok like BMW.

Work Kiwami

These are quite nice alright. I've been eyeing up some of the Gram Lights (57CR, 57DR and 57 Transcend are all quite nice) and I had been having a peep at Buddy Club actually, are the cheap ones any use because they're VERY cheap indeed!

I've also been keeping an eye on JDM Distro, Croooober and UP Garage although the shipping costs from Japan seem a bit painful so I need to figure out if there's any cheaper way to get them back if I did find a bargain. I'll try Yahoo Auctions too!

Irritatingly it's not really the most common wheel spec so the stock options for anyone who's selling used JDM wheels aren't flooded with 15x8 4x100 wheels, I've widened the search to 7j-8j but I think anything bigger than 8j would be silly and I don't want to get into running nonsensical camber either so realistically offset will need to be probably absolute minimum ET25...

I can see myself ending up ordering a set of Work Equip 40 if I don't find anything soon though to be honest. It's not that they're terribly expensive in the size I want but it would have been nice to nab a bargain and have some cash towards the coilovers and other bits.

I share a car with my MIL as we both have pretty minimal mileage. With the current coronavirus shit and a baby on the way I've been using it more than normal and it's currently parked outside my flat as parking restrictions have been temporarily suspended.

Restrictions will be back soon though and visitor parking permits are pricey. I can't get a resident's parking permit though as it says I need the log book or V5C registered to my address.

How easy is it to change one of those and will it screw up the insurance or tax or anything (I'm currently the additional driver on the insurance)? Cheers