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

The Mk1 C4 Picasso and the Mk2 Berlingo are fundamentally the same car with different shaped sheet metal. The Berlingo comes with fewer gadgets but that's about all that separates them.

It's the electrics that are the problem though. Otherwise they're decent cars.

Oooh, very lovely. Shame things like that used to feel obtainable and are now the preserve of people who pop them in the corner of their massive garage to gather dust.

I agree that a nice SE spec E39 530i is a lovely thing, but I'd sooner buy one for £3k, refresh it for £2k and not lose £10k in depreciation.

I bought a 525i E61 as a daily estate but it just added to my BMW problems, so I bought an insignia that I don't care about, which was definitely the right move.

My new not so sensible i4 family wagon arrived on the work scheme at the beginning of this month. I was going to get the 40 version but once you add a few basics to the spec it worked out about the same monthly cost as the M50 which has a very good base spec so I decided to go full silly.

It's a very comfy cruiser and I love all the tech, seems to have a real-world range of about 260 miles when motorway cruising in the winter. It gets to 60 frighteningly quickly but you can definitely feel the weight cornering compared to the TT - appreciating it's not exactly a fair comparison given the size difference.

Reminds me, am selling a Bosch oil filter element for lots of the cit/pug/mini and diesel 2.2-2.4 diesel. Brand new sent in error free to you lot.

the time has come - my lil bro has taken his car back and so I need to get a replacement. need it for occasional supermarket/IKEA trip and maybe one or two longer (50 mile) weekend trips and quarterly commute to perth office (140 mile round trip). needs to be automatic too, reliable and not worried about it being too swish. torn between a suzuki swift (reliable, decent little city runaround but maybe less nice on motorways), a skoda yeti (more comfortable, nicer on longer runs, DSG box nice to ride but maybe slightly too much car and DSG maybe have reliability issues?), or a golf (compromise between the two but still DSG). ideally would like something max 60k miles and up to 5k. budget might defeat all three choices tbh so might have to stretch. any others I should be considering? focus?

Berlingo comes in auto.

Seemingly good on budget too.

I may ride an arkose but will not consider a berlingo or jazz sorry

I always hate writing this in case it jinxes it, but my dsg is fine. As was the one in my mate's Passat. I'm not sure what the actual stats are on their failure vs Internet folklore.

I'd go for the shortlist of yeti>Golf>Focus. But worth trying them all out.

My reading of your use is that having comfort for those long miles and some practicality is what will have the biggest impact on your enjoyment.

Left field choice is a Mini Cooper. So many sold therefore lots of choice. It's comfortable for long journeys - I've driven down to France in my Mini One plenty of times and it's perfectly comfortable for motorway miles.

Not a prince engined mini.

Our mini Cooper suspension is a bit jiggly, so much so I wondered if they left the transit shock blocks on!

Had a day stay medical procedure on the gentleman's vegetables and came home in the Mini Cooper. Blimey it was a rough journey

There's an old US advert about doing a circumcision in a car...... Not in a mini Cooper lol

Great buy. Mine was £9k with 60k. I would have to think really long and hard it you offered me a brand spanker 5 series estate in exchange for it. I can’t think of a better car of any sort at any age. Trouble is I’ve liked it so much I’ve put another 30k on in less than 3 years so rolling the clock back to 23,000 woul be a massive win.

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Dimension wise they’re only a couple of cm longer that the current 3 series touring and so much more spacious inside. Also far better looking imo, I’ve kinda not got much further that 2005 of any manufacturers designs.

Yours is a beauty

First decent spots in ages, fancy a vintage roomy 3 litre stylish estate, behold this spotless 55 year old Ford Zodiac I saw yesterday.

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And continuing the time capsule old Ford theme, saw this absolutely mint 1981 2.3 litre V6 Ford Granada Consort yesterday too, amaze.

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Exactly this, modern suspension is a different gravy now to suspension tech of 10years+

I have a A4 B9.5, 130i on BC coilovers and a recently acquired Porsche Cayenne.

The A4 is on ridiculous wheels with next to nothing rubber sidewall, non-adjustable, just OOTB suspension. Yet somehow the ride and compliance is in a different league to my other cars. I’m amazed how well it deals with the awful Somerset roads.

great spot!

My learned friends what about the Nissan Cube? Any potential pitfalls from a discontinued import only vehicle?

I know nothing about them other than that I love them.

Mate of @furious_tiles has one.

@cake or I can get you some feedback on my mates Cube. Know he loves it though

AdamC3046 was at the little meet I go to last Sunday of the month - The Sunday Startup. I look forward to my sedate exit featuring on his Youtube in a day or 2.

It was available in the UK for a short time, but only the gen 3. I think they are great, still look good, regret not having one. Arguably the gen 2 is better looking. There's plenty here, it's a Nissan, go for it!

Mechanically it is a Micra/Clio. Get the engine codes read as the 1.2 can have camchain issues. They have quite a following and lots of help for information.

Any panel damage and the car will be beyond economic repair as finding new panels will be difficult so may be insurance issue and a few insurance companies won't quote.

Personally I like them and would like one wrapped to look like a postman pat van. Was looking for one for a friend with mobility issues as the car is easy to get in and out of.

Does that mean the new panel supply is available now?

No idea, but personally I wouldn't be too bothered about panel availability, unless as you say, insurance is unreasonable.