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

My main enjoyment of <2015 Volvos is you simply need a torx 20/25 and you can take the entire thing apart!
That and an eBay sourced VIDA you can have dealer diagnostics that give you step by step on every single repair. Alas they cease to work with the SPA platform and moved it all to the cloud. Sigh, £££, etc.

Bit late, but I picked up a '99 V70 for a smidge over £1k, 3 years ago.

The only thing it's needed in that time (other than routine service stuff) is £140 on some suspensiony bits for the last MOT. It returns 33-34mpg for me. I don't care when someone 'parks' into it.

Had 5 bikes and 3 people in it once, eventually.

Love it.

Had the other side done last night, so at least I now have go faster scratches on each side :'(

Someone targeting where you're parking?

People are cunts.

I think just cunts...

Sorry to hear. Trying to be positive is it someone being careless? Hopefully just unlucky and not targetted.

I took the car out yesterday and parked it the other way, today I noticed scratches on the side which was now facing the road. All around the same height. Got a quote for £600 to repair which sounds steep to me

Nothing obvious about this parking which would piss people off?

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Is that a school in the background?

yeah

Mmm. New Bog roll... 😎

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Depending where you are, is that a body shop or dent person coming to you? Decent paint and materials cost soon mounts up.

What would be people prefered 2nd hand cars in a £5k budget?

I'm looking for a practical car that's is cheap to run and could occasionally fit a bike in the back (I'm happy to take the wheel off if needed). I'd like to use it for some long trips, but mainly London miles. I'm not too fussy about brands or the image that the car would give me.

As you can see, I'm not a car person and I've never owned a car, more of a two wheels person - multiple bicycles and motorbikes. But lately, I have quite a few situations where a car is the best tool for the job and using Zipcars are now becoming a bit of a hassle given how often I do.

I'd also like to try and avoid increase my carbon footprint too much - but a new electric car is out of reach, unfortunately.

Panda of course!

Ford focus
Skoda fabia

And of courses forum favourite Honda jazz.

Ford Focus would be my bet. Loads of them around, cheap to run and service, practical enough. Petrol 1.6 in the best trim you can find, £5k should get you a 2012 one under 60k miles.

The answer to new car questions is always Toyota or Honda (or possibly Mazda or Kia).

Honda Jazz would be perfect for London. Amazing amount of space in the back with the magic seats folded up. Even better a hybrid version is within your budget. Not perfect for those longer trips but would handle it non the less.
A self charging hybrid Toyota would be great too. Auris estate is available for a little over your budget.

Apologies for becoming thread killjoy but I've been thinking about environmental stuff a lot recently having had a kid and was disappointed by the lack of electric / hybrid chat on this thread. If anything it seemed to be getting more 4x4/ Subaru focused. As a cycling based forum I'd hoped for a more forward thinking consensus.

Totally with you here mate, moved my 3l scooby on for that same reason.

I also think fast car / driving culture is at odds with increased cycling and walking.

Made the change to my position and now feeling smug...... but changing the world at large is challenging!

✊

A lot of people read this forum. It has the power to change a lot of opinions. Some interesting electric / hybrid car projects on here could inspire others.

The petroleum industry has really f*cked up this planet, knowingly.

Anyways, up until very recently I would have called myself a petrol head , but things have to change now. Quickly. I'll always be into classics but if you are buying a car right now a Toyota is probably the answer. First because of a well established hybrid line up. Second because they are one of the few manufacturers (along with the others I listed above) that build to last.

Rant over. Cheers.

I don't think the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. There are far more damaging things to society and the planet that I could take part in than taking my car to a trackday or enjoying a flowing B Road when the opportunity presents itself to do so.

I almost exclusively walk and cycle Monday to Friday, I have a (fast) car for weekends and other limited use where only a car will do.

I'm not sure how solid the argument is for electric cars in terms of saving the world. For cleaner air in cities, sure it's obvious.

On a planet level though, the whole life environmental cost of electric cars is still pretty high. Lots of things people can do to reduce "footprint" other than or as well as car choice.

I agree entirely that individual car choice is not going to change the world. Concrete production etc are the big changes that need to be made
Maybe the biggest changes an individual can make are not having kids and voting for the greenest political party. (Or as Frankie Boyle says become a cannibal and eat an airline pilot)
But it's mindset / culture change. And as I said, this forum can have a big influence.

Apologies for becoming thread killjoy but I've been thinking about environmental stuff a lot recently having had a kid and was disappointed by the lack of electric / hybrid chat on this thread. If anything it seemed to be getting more 4x4/ Subaru focused. As a cycling based forum I'd hoped for a more forward thinking consensus.

Don't worry, I make a point of scratching big flash SUVs every time I see one.

While some cars are more awful than others (especially pre-ULEZ diesels), all cars are terrible in various ways and pretending you can buy your way out of that by getting a hybrid or an electric or whatever is silly.

I hear this a lot, but from what I've read small electric cars for majority of short to medium journeys have a significant advantage over petrol or diesel cars.

More so if you charge from renewable electricity, hence me installing a big solar array at the same time.

The same cannot be said for the bigger / heavier / faster electric cars. I think their benefit is less due to the size and amount of material required for the large batteries.

In response to El Gonzo, I'm not saying they are mutually exclusive but my experience of cycling around certain car enthusiasts is pretty negative. I too thought a rip on a B road was relatively harmless but would you say the same if they were ripping past you or your family on your bikes? What I'm saying is fast driving / dynamics / speed being used to sell cars is pervasive and it affects the culture on the roads.

I have seen too many friends and acquaintances killed and injured on the roads by people going too fast and paying too little attention.

Calling @Tenderloin.. we've found th culprit