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

Looking for some advice,

Have a freelander 2 and want to up the luggage capacity so we can do week long driving holidays with 4 adults, Labrador and spaniel. Currently can’t fit luggage in if we take the dogs.

Don’t particularly like the idea of a roof box as the already poor fuel economy will go further south.

Has anyone used the tow bar mounted storage or are their other options I haven’t considered

Don't mention it when you check it back in and you might get away with it. I've sent back a hire van with similar and never got charged

Todays fuel update

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Is the damage just to the sticker?

You might get away with that.
My wife caught a rental transit on our gateposts and sliced about a metre of it open like a sardine can, and they never noticed.

Luck of the draw, potentially. I worked for a hire car company and the employees were (at my particular branch of a single company, at least) ne'er do wells, one of whom literally couldn't see well enough to note fairly significant dents and scrapes (let alone the speedometer) but wouldn't get glasses due to the expense. One other driver got caught drink driving, appealed the conviction and got his ban extended. Nigel Crumplin was his name - funny the things that stick with you.

Having remembered his name I Googled him - he's the one on the right.

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Tippex the white bits, marker pen the black.

Nice, pics?

We had a rare sunny afternoon on Sunday so I took a few.

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In good shape that, nice!

The scratch is pretty savage. It’s actually down to the metal on the white paint.
I’ve sharpied the black bits and it deffo helps. Picked up a touch up kit from Halfords but after very gingerly adding the primer, my confidence is wavering.
Will give it the gentlest of rub downs tomorrow and see if the actual touch up paint makes it look any better.
Just wiping the scratch down to remove dirt made a decent difference too.

The good news is that a colleague recently returned a van that had a proper dint in the back door that they pushed back out and replaced the damaged trim. They didn’t notice, so I’m hoping they continue with similar form when I return this one.

Pray for rain?

I returned a luton van with a similar scratch on the side to Sixt in Clapham, the guy questioned it but I literally said “it must have been there before” and no further questions were asked.

Smear the scrape with vomit, crap and mashed up durian fruit. Hopefully that might offend the senses enough to ignore.

I handed back a lease car while giving the collecting person tea, kit kat and hobnob. The scratches were described as "light road dirt". Best couple of quid I ever spent.

Yeah it’s nice and straight with only a few little bits to sort out immediately, next of which is reconditioning the headlights and maybe looking for a replacement non driver side mirror body. It’s a bunch of fun to drive too. The 5 cylinder turbo has an awesome sound and it really shifts and grips well for a big heavy wagon. Hopefully it’s good news at the garage on Saturday.

Just joined the Vito gang (albeit a far more austere offering than the V-Class @Dammit has...)
It's a vehicle for the business but I'll likely make good use of it now that I've ascertained my surfboard will just fit in the back and obviously will be handy for bikes (and never-ending home renovations) too...

Any top tips on small upgrades or mods worth having welcomed (leather steering wheel/ cover will be a must but otherwise spec seems pretty nice.)

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Woo, new zen motoring
https://youtu.be/GMxYm0r8bY8

Might just get away with it…

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Looks lovely, nice rims.

I’d love to know how you go about polishing the headlight lenses, mine are getting very cloudy as well...

This is an excellent colour!

I miss my 850R now.

The Superb has been an absolutely Superb replacement though.

I dithered on whether to buy fancy wheels for it but after some browsing I decided keeping stock wheels but 25-30mm lowering and 10mm spacers will keep it looking OEM. I went for the Eibach pro-kit lowering springs, I truly have turned into the "old men" I rubbished in my early 20s.

"Coilovers or GTFO" used to be my motto.

I'll GTFO thanks, with my DCC set to comfort.

haha honestly think thats good enough.

Recently had a hire van that had a fancy reverse camera. On day 2 (super remote Scotland, don't think i'd even used reverse by this point) went to open and shut back door to get stuff out. Door wouldn't close properly, open and slam harder...
two things happened. The clasp at the top of the door fell off, the right hand door felt loose in my hand, and noticed I'd been slamming the door on the reverse camera that had fallen off and was now in about 8 pieces on the ground. Epic.
the worlds BEST epoxy job you've ever seen took place over the next week as I carefully pieced each bit of the plastic shroud, waited for epoxy to cure by cooking on the vents each day as we drove around making deliveries. Then when set, sanded and filled to perfection. Last day put it all back together including better than even merc could do job of realigning back doors.
Dropped it off without hinting about the back door/camera. Guy INSTANTLY went to back door to check something, and the checker guy mentioned 'damn, thought this was the one with the wonky back door, must have been that one thats just gone out'.
So they knew about it, and would likely have fucked me for it, even though happened on the previous rental. Nice.

Another time I reversed a brand new 3 series (1st hire) into a cliff and dented its arse. Bent it back into shape PDR style with a few sticks and a rock from the inside. Then drove it for 2 weeks through every puddle and ditch in south Germany to hide the still fairly obvious dent.

Yeah the rims are decent, 18” with 235/40R18 eagle F1’s on there.

The headlights have to be sanded down and polished back to clear basically. You can do it with a pack of different grit wet and dry paper and some metal polish like Brasso but Autoglym do a kit for it.

@NurseHolliday It’s ‘willow green’ apparently, also known as feint metallic green. It pretty much changes colour in the sun and it goes well with the beige leather interior which my wife tells me is a sign of an old man’s car.

I used a kit from Halfords. Worked well but took a little time to do.

You will need to either use a sealant with a UV protection in it, or garage the car to avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight after sanding - otherwise the lenses will go milky again surprisingly fast.

New rear brake pads, fluids, filters and a fresh MOT for the Dad Max.