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

From the lockdown exit plans, would test drives not be possible in a month or so in England?

Edit to add.. Seems that this is a grey area currently.

https://www.carwow.co.uk/blog/buying-a-car-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Not the greatest start to new car ownership. Volvo C70 2006, looks like suspension top has sheared off. Hopefully just needs a cheap part replaced. Any volvo heads on here know where I might be able to find a replacement?

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Actual top mount shattered? C70/V40/V50 like 2005-2015? They often do that, Ford parts bin part I think.

Lemforder used to be the OE supplier of the older cars, FoMoCo (ford) will likely be the oe of the newer ford cars. Easy to change though as its just the top of the damper (rear?). Soak everything in plusgas/doubleTT/kroil a few days leading up to when you are going to do it. Change both as a pair, jack up corner of car, trolley jack under arm, remove road wheel ,lower arm gently until damper loose enough to remove, Keep trolley jack locked otherwise road spring will fly out at you. Should be able to do both on driveway in about an hour so long as no seized bolts. £40-45 per corner for a mount. Don't bother with cheapo ones via ecp, they will disintegrate in a year if you are lucky.

Good knowledge and yep rear RH side. Managed to find the OE number but not sure this is something I want to attempt in the street. Might take it to a Volvo indy up the road in Shoreham. Do garages (like bike shops) get offended if you turn up with your own parts for them to fit?

I just realised this is probably the only internet location where I can whine about having to get rid of our Euro 5 diesel because of the ULEZ. While also wholeheartedly supporting it. If I did that on an auto forum it would just lead to a climate denying mob.

Did I miss this conversation about 300 pages ago?

Obvs for the 'grams.

That is a seriously nice looking car.

If you say you bought them to fit yourself, but have found it too difficult to do you should be okay.

Charger looks amazing. Saw this pretty 1957 Merc today that I'm sure is worth a few quid these days.

Very nice , is it my eyes or does it look a bit lowered ?

I’m similar tbh. Totally support ULEZ, but have an old diesel. Part of me wishes I’d looked for a petrol but such is life. It also means I just don’t use it for short journeys.

It might be worth checking the emissions with the manufacturer.

I've got a nominally non compliant, older car - it was made before euro 4 was the appropriate standard. Upon application, the manufacturer was able to provide the original emissions certificate for it ,proving they meet the Nox emissions level for the ulez even without the euro certification.

You can then register the car with tfl as an exception. I totally support the ULEZ, but don't also don't think that avoiding scrapping a old car which meets the standard is hypocritical.

I have the links and email addresses tucked away in my inbox somewhere if you're interested.

I'll not be running a servo and i'll be removing the remains of the ABS system at the same time

With the possibility of holidays coming up I think I'm going to need a roof rack and box (2017 Yaris Hybrid).

I assume I can fit them but I can't find anything in the manual about attaching, load, etc

Any recommendations (both for for box and rack)? Are the aero ones worth the extra price, should I just buy the Toyota ones?

Roof looks like this

Cheers

I went through this and here's what I learned.

RACKS:
Get a good one. I suggest the only nonnegotiable characteristics are 1. Quality reliable kit 2. Uses your factory mounting points and 3. Works with sunroof if present.

The negotiable aspects are as follows in my mind, ranked: cheaper>looks good>aero.

You don't have to worry about this, but there is a component of noise on freeway speeds with sunroof open, but this is really hard to predict and probably aero is quieter.

BOX:
So many options and we got a really cheap one that is a utter faffshitclustershow to mount and remove. Needs threadlock and a tool box. It also requires duct tape at the front to prevent freeway speed winds blowing open the front leading edge in a terrifying manner. It's terrible. We definitely get what we paid for, but we've made it work. In less neurotic hands, I'd suggest the one we have is a liability and unsafe.

Summary:
Don't skimp on these items. These items are important, have a lot of design elements and are placed under high demand.

I would only go with Thule, Yakima or OEM, unless the market landscape has improved dramatically in the past two years.

Read reviews of racks that fit these criteria for your car and you'll be fine.

Finally, I suggest looking for open box deals because believe it or not, people use these racks for one trip and then return citing a made-up excuse. We got lucky and got our Yakima for an extremely cheap price.

They're great if you're into the farmer/dishevelled aristo/Hackney artisan flava.

But much smaller inside than you'd assume; rear legroom is appalling. Thirsty also, as mentioned by someone else.

That has been mentioned before and meh.

Cheers. Thule looks like the obvious option from a quick search. Still struggling to find the max roof load for the car though which may influence what I go for.

Where did you look for open box deals, sounds like a good plan?

Don't bother with cheapo ones via ecp, they will disintegrate in a year if you are lucky.

Yeah wondered how their branded parts last such a short time.

Are removing the sensors and rings as well as the abs unit?

EDIT: Being nosey

I have to keep one of the front rings and sensors because i believe it's how the speedo works on the Ignis, otherwise i'd ditch the lot

We had this with our crappy old Skoda. It actually looks like the TfL database is more up to date now and it would have been fine without special dispensation.

But my ULEZ fail is a BMW 320d. Very advanced for 2010, but about double the NOx of Euro 6.

It's not a good thing. But we only drive out of London in it. Have a fully electric vehicle (and plenty of bikes) when we're in the city.

It's just annoying. The BMW is high spec, serviced at the same dealer all it's life, garaged, and gets >60mpg on the long haul. It's our way of avoiding European flights.

That sounds like a complete ballache. And was something I wondered about - is there any way of ULEZ sorning, so to speak?

Like, if it’s garaged, and proven to be so, do you still have to pay the £15/day? I’m pretty sure there isn’t, but it just strikes me that there will be many others like you who will be in a shit situation.

My little black Suby continues to delight, the handling is so much better now... I am now chucking it around roundabouts without fear of it tipping over or trying to go sideways on me...

Can't get over how different it feels...

I also realised yesterday that the new wheels give it a bit of a black cab vibe, which gives it maximum municipal golf club points... 👍

You only have to pay on days you drive it. For occasional use cars it could make sense to just pay rather than swap it.