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

Finally found a garage to look at the Outback, turns out the caliper was seized. New caliper and 2 sets of pads and discs fitted looks to be £267 including VAT. Fairly happy we can drive home and not too pricey although shame I fitted new pads and discs 500 miles ago.

Spotted an XC70 which isnt a million miles away or mad priced, guess it would do job well.

This was my second choice car when i was looking, purely because the boot is a bit smaller than a passat (or outback)

Is it a D5 or a petrol?

still no idea how this will play out but was interesting collection of cars when architect and potential builder tipped up earlier

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Which was the E30 owner?

D5

Id rather an outback but supply of anything is non existent

Love the new Honda e. Shame the range limits its use so much

Not many g wagon here.

Very late to the convo, but where is here?

Unless you're green-laning surely most modern 4wd/awd cars with decent clearance and the right tyres will do what you need.

Sounds like you want a Jeep, so go for it. I'd go for a Grand Cherokee. Better VFM and a nicer place to be than the standard Cherokee and the budget Jeeps feel budget and small.

Unless you need hard core off road capabilities I'd look for which crossover SUVs scored well vs the equivalent Range/Land Rover in whatever year and buy a 2nd set of off-road capable wheels. If you do need hard core off road capabilities, then I think you want a LR or RR as they probably do on road refinement and off road better than anyone else.

Catalonia Spain and I plan to live in the hills up dirt roads and go deeper into the mountains in summer and winter.

Either I got a crossover and a burly manual 4x4 or just get one car that can do bad tracks. I don't really want a jeep, but it meets the needs. Other 4x4 options here are pricey, montero, land cruiser etc

Tbh I might just get this cheap 2.4T xc70. Shohld out last me.

Look what I just found on Wallapop!
Volvo V70 2001
http://p.wallapop.com/i/660369877?_pid=wi&_uid=15320987&_me=s_android

With an XC70 of that age check that the angle gear hasn't stripped and turned it into FWD - also, note that some owners will deliberately convert them to FWD, so either get it well checked over by a mechanic you trust, or get someone (possibly not the current owner) to watch you launch the car on a loose surface in order to see if the rear wheels apply any drive to ground.

Do such things as generic luggage covers exist? The retractable type, very similar to a roller blind.

I'm not having much luck finding one.

The very young builder. Living the dream

It was good to have a little poke around it. Certainly the nicest looking of the small electric cars

WeChillAnyCar

Can recommend. Though they came 90 minutes into the 2 hour time slot. I seem to have bought the only secondhand car in history that "just needed a regas".

Also noted that the flow rate was way too low and I needed my polen filter changed and told me where to do it locally.

I got exactly the same spiel. "Never use 4. Should be blowing your hair about on 1". Hmmmmm.

good tip thanks

Car buying advice. Looking to get a 2-4 year old Skoda for ~£10k.

Been advised to go to a Skoda dealer who has second hand cars opposed to any old second hand car dealer.

Any pros/cons of going to a sokda dealer over a generic second hand car dealer?

Main dealer will be more expensive but less chance of getting a dog.

Car supermarket type places are worth a look.

Car supermarket type places are worth a look

@will101 ^ this.

They will mostly be auction or direct deal lease / company cars. More likely to have regular service intervals etc than a generic dealer but better prices than a Skoda main dealer.

Only potential benefit to going to a Skoda dealer could be a continuation of an existing factory warranty but I imagine that'll be unlikely.

Such a nice car. The dash looks amazing.

I need a major service for my 6 year old Polo. Worth going down the VW Service Centre / dealer route? The previous owner did, and I definitely took some comfort from it when buying. Also need the aircon looked at and a rattle in the bumper sorted, though I'm thinking about taking that elsewhere.

Main dealer = Get what you pay for.

Any other dealer = Pay for what you get.

Look locally. There are usually interesting VW specialist independent garages. I use one for my Beetle and they are fantastic. All ex-dealer mechanics, always interesting cars on site, always very busy.

Wood Street Motors on Valentin Rd are generally reasonable. I used to take my Passat there before I got rid of it.

If you can get a recommendation for a good VAG indy I'd do that. VW service aren't crazy priced, but they are still a fair bit more expensive. And Oddly sometimes you find that main dealers omit things that should be done but aren't overly expensive, and include random shit like replacing spark plugs annually.