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

Probably missing something but why buy a car for it to sit on a drive, i assume you’ll want it to be insured, not easier to view/buy a car when you’re actually back in the country?

Off to look at cars tomorrow. Honda HRV or CRV are what we’re aiming for.

One of the HRVs I’ve seen is a 1.6 petrol. It’s a big-ish car and that seems like a tiny engine

Yeah but JOY MACHINE

dealer insisted that I commit to buying the car in order to be able to test drive it.

Same experience for me this week. That and some very aggressive upselling. Got to the point where they were refusing to sell me the car unless I bought the add-ons.

I pity that fixie.

I'd rather have witnessed then the boring bimmer sale last month.

not sure what age you are looking at, but I have been using someone else's 2010 petrol CRV in the last few days. It is poor on fuel by today's standards, and high VED, but seems such a quality thing. It is a high spec, no rattles, all the switchgear works and feels solid. Very comfortable etc. Just not green.

It's 4 years later, 4 years after I entered a 0% car lease purchase thing at the start of the pandemic... And today my car is paid off.

I chose to do the final sum, been squirrelling away the money for the final lump sum, and now the Volvo v60 is all mine.

Still really happy with it, love the car like it's the first day I bought it. Still get so much joy driving it and enjoy needing to go to Glasgow or Exeter, and love that within London I'm nearly always just running pure electric drivetrain, but for long distance I can use the petrol and make a run to Glasgow without stopping once.

The only thing I don't enjoy are the price of tyres 😂 £300 per tyre is not a joke, and I'm replacing two per year on average due to road debris punctures, all have happened within London.

Insurance is cheap though, it's a great of a car and I'm barely paying £650 per year for insurance within London.

Anyhow... Happy bunny today, finally did that last payment and next month I can feel a bit wealthier at I won't have that car payment go out and not will I be setting aside the money for the savings.

Since joining LFGSS I’ve had an 850R estate, then a C55, an E63, and I was in the middle of buying a C63 when I moved to Singapore. I’ve also had a V220d day-van and still have a 996 model 911.

You can see from this that I like fast estates, and vehicles that can move lots of stuff/support multi-day journeys.

I was made redundant at the start of the year and that’s had an impact on my thinking, I’m hopefully going to get a new job soon - but I’d like to make something of the break, after getting a new role so I don’t constantly worry about it.

Therefore if I get the nod for the new role my plan is to spend a month in the South of France this summer, with a couple of bikes, researching the area for a move in the next 10 years or so.

The majority of my time will continue to be in Singapore, but I’m hoping to spend more time in Europe. Therefore whatever the Europe vehicle is it will be left with a friend for the majority of its life, being used by me when I’m in here. That means that a lot of the suggestions go way over budget, well - my budget anyway.

In an ideal world I’d like a V63, but strangely Mercedes never fitted their twin turbo V8 to their big MPV.

Yes, I have looked at renting something

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moving to France sounds like a nice plan.

how long a rental does £5k get you?!

Edit - £6k.

A month

I reckon I could buy something big and somewhat quick and then sell it again and lose less than the 6k of the rental, although maybe I am lying to myself.

Have you considered anything a bit more environmentally friendly?

Genuinely not trolling. I have an electric car (polestar 2), which I hate as the range is awful. But I wish we didn't have it, and the alternative for me would be car free life.

How good is public transport in the part of France you plan to live in?

Maybe a bike?

The only thing I don't enjoy are the price of tyres 😂 £300 per tyre is not a joke, and I'm replacing two per year on average due to road debris punctures, all have happened within London.

And I thought I was jinxed...

You neednt dude. Bike sees plenty of love and new chain and spring tlc imminent

I shouldn't make assumptions, and I am sure there is loads of kit dammit has to take around the place, but if I was travelling solo or with another adult, the idea of trains to south of France and maybe taking one bike with me for the trip would be ideal.

I’m certainly open to the idea, but the Achilles heal of SV’s seems to be long distance travel- driving from London to Briancon would require quite a lot of time spent charging I believe?

I want to take a road bike and at least one, preferably two mountain bikes with me.

Range is the problem. In retrospect we should have got a twin engine Volvo.

In terms of ease of use, imho would be easiest to buy a bog standard Passat estate or similar for £10k from a car supermarket, then sell it when you get back. Will be much easier to resell as there are many many more buyers out there than for a £25k V8 beast. Worst case sell it to WeBuyAnyCar and you might lose £2k

V90 T8.

Go fast, carry lots, save the planet.

I hadn’t thought of wbac’ing it

I can do Cambridge to Cahors (700miles) in 14 hours including three charge stops in the Model Y.

It’s also basically a van with the seats down and drives itself on the peage.