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

It’s had etch primer, spray sealer, then stone guard, all new brake pipes, and waiting for all new OEM Mercedes bushings to be delivered on Monday.

And a great deal of wire-wheeling.

I love it. It handles well and is easier to park than the Skoda Octavia we had previously. The ICE is good and links up with iphone and android no problem. Interior is solid and everything works and is intuitive. It's v comfortable and even if I drive for several hours I'm not tired afterwards.
There's ok space in the boot although it's MUCH smaller than the Octavia. I had to get a 470l roof box for our summer trip around the west country and Wales.
The rear doors are quirky: They don't feel like they close terribly well but work fine.
And although there's restricted rear view you soon adapt to it.
We went for the basic Cooper, if you can I'd go for the Cooper S and it's not the quickest.
I've not had much luck with it though - in the past few weeks have been driven into by a lorry requiring a new rear door and other work, and had a road rage incident with a Neff van who scratched the front wheel arch surround...
I was previously a bit snobbish about the BMW minis as I've owned "proper" mini coopers and my first car was a Morris Mini Clubman but they kind of keep the flame going.

These guys don't muck about do they?

No - which is great, I'm looking forward to getting the car back next week.

i'd def go for a hydractive estate

Yep, they definitely fit the "comfy as fuck" bill. There is a couple of models though, well, in Aus. Not sure which but I have heard the larger wheeled variants had different (sportier) valves in the spheres so could be upset by sharp bumps, like road joins. Either way, It's a lot of car for not much coin.

Alternatively, just drop a 240 estate body shell off and get them to do a little swaparoo.

As long as the oil meets the factory spec, that is all that matters. Aldi don't make oil, they buy it in from a supplier same as halfords or tesco et al.

I'd avoid eurocarparts tripleqx oil, it is made for ECP in Turkey and when I used the correct spec for an oil for change the engine sounded quite rattly and seem quiet again after changing to another oil. Think it was tesco as they sold their oil off cheap a while ago when the bottle design/supplier changed.

I can get a very low mileage 2012 Kia Picanto Eco Dynamics for free that hasn’t moved since February what sort of issues might need attention? Close elderly relative doesn’t want to drive any more.

if it's only been stood (outside?) since Febuary, i doubt it will be too bad.

Normally brake corrosion and tyre degradation are the main issues with being stood outside for any period of time, but if the tyres have air in them and it's only been that long you might find it just needs driving a bit to clean everything up.

Unless some sort of wildlife has moved into the engine bay and started nesting, of course

Be fine.

Maybe service it. It is free, what more do you want.

Finally watched the hillclimb vid. That's great - the little ignis engine sounds absolutely unburstable. Does the back end skip about a little bit? Felt like there was a little bump steer going on. Really makes me want to get involved. Will have to wait a few years until the kids get old enough to help me as pit crew.

Cheers! The M15A engine is great, it's got really high compression and VVT so it's quite good from 400-6800rpm. It doesn't get any bump steer really, but the plate type LSD does pull the steering wheel about a bit so that might be what you see in the vid. Back end is reasonably planted but it does lift off oversteer if provoked. The hillclimbs are cheap as to do here, $60 to enter

Ah. awesome - yeah was looking at the wheel corrections and just assumed it was the back end shifting. Looks like a load of fun. I'm thinking of using my 306 XSi as base for a very basic hillclimb/club track day car. Nothing crazy at all, just to learn and have fun. I have a set of light weight Citroen wheels to chuck on and I'll get some braided brake lines and good fluid and give it a go soon. Really wish I'd kept my old GTi6, or at least kept the engine, gearbox and Quaife diff. My engine won't rev out that nicely though.

Yeah it's just the diff is quite aggressive, it's a plate type 1.5 way one designed for gravel rallying really, so it's got aggressive ramp angles etc for that. It's a lot harder work to drive than with an ATB.

GTi6 / XSi will be great, particularly on sealed stuff.

It may well have a flat battery, so bring jumper cables.

Sure you've thought about this, but let it idle for a decent period of time before driving off. I'd probably also chuck one of those redline fuel thingys and take it for a decent drive - but that's more feels than based on anything solid.

Bring a new battery. The one in it will likely be permanently ruined.

I’d think 7 months isn’t long enough for much else bad to happen as long as watertight and there’s air in the tyres. The petrol might have gone off and it won’t start or run badly, but diluting it with fresh will solve that.

I'm considering a second-hand Yaris hybrid (rock and roll I know). 3 years old and ~ 30k miles.

I'm assuming Toyota are pretty good at this kind of thing now given the number Priuses you see having done > 100k but is there anything to watch out for?

Usage will be mainly 5-10 mile city journeys with the very occasional 250 mile trip thrown in.

There's an argument that recalls are a sign of a manufacturer that cares about quality. Also, nearly all of these are in the U.S. and we all know that U.S. car manufacturing quality is awful.

Toyota make 10 million vehicles a year, how many have they made in total?

There's no way that 40% of Toyota purchases have needed warranty repairs.

Surely Tesla owners accept the recalls @Stonehedge because they want to be at the bleeding edge?

Commiserations. Surprised by the welding needed?

You’re not wrong.

Perhaps the third chart is the most enlightening; percentage of recalls volunteered by the manufacturer vs forced by the industry watchdog.

Re: Toyota, search for Toyota recall scandal.

Any recommendations for a car cleaning and detailing kit?
Was just going to order Perfect Bodywork, Wheels and Interior as that sounds like what I'd want, but I have no fucking clue. I want to give it a proper clean and apply as much of a protective coating as is reasonable (at least I think that's what you do).

Behold!

Surely Tesla owners accept the recalls @Stonehedge because they want to be at the bleeding edge?

That's got to be a large part of it. Kind of reminds me of the long period of my life I insisted on having smartphones before the iphone was invented or Android was a thing. They were ropey as fuck and not very practical but I still "needed" one because they were bleeding edge.

Tesla are Palm and Blackberry AICMFP. Would be particularly amusing if the iphone of electric vehicles turned out to be the iCar :D They've had about 5,000 people working on it for years in relative secrecy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_electric_car_project

That looks better